Kotatsu

Okay this isn't entirely unrelated to quilting, but it isn't exactly quilting related either.

Am I making sense yet?

Good.

So, when I was in middle school and high school, I was completely captivated by everything Japan. Culture, media, fashion, food, language. You name it! Though I've never actually been to Japan, it is on the top of my "must travel to" list. I still admire the culture, the food, and the language. I am not as obsessed with it as I once was, but there are still things about Japanese culture that I love unconditionally.

One of those things is the Kotatsu. See Exhibit 'A':

Exhibit 'A'

This magical invention is called a Kotatsu. It is a low table (think coffee table) that has a low powered heater under the removable top. You sandwich a blanket, quilt, or futon in between the frame and the table top to create a warm cozy area for your lower half.

The Japanese people aren't the only ones who have come up with this idea. The Spanish have the Brasero and in Iran, the Korsi. They are all essentially the same thing. A table with a heater, covered in blankets to trap the heat.

Now, why on earth would I be talking about this crazy foreign contraption on an American blog about quilting?

WELL.

We got ourselves a Kotatsu! It hasn't arrived just yet, but I am just way too excited about it. As a quilter, I think having a Kotatsu will be a great way to cycle and showcase various quilts I've made and I am pretty set on making quilt specifically for the Kotatsu.

I'll be honest... I haven't even done a sketch for what this quilt would look like, but I am hoping that this will be my first publishable pattern. I don't think the demand for Kotatsu quilts is very high so I will have to make a flexible design that would work as a regular quilt.

Come on. That looks so god damned cozy. There is no way you can tell me that doesn't look like the best thing ever. Yeah. That's what I thought!

So, the major challenge I am seeing with a Kotatsu quilt is that the table covers up most of the center. My thought is that this quilt shouldn't have any intricate piecing, at least not in the center of the quilt as it will be covered 90% of the time. Perhaps this quilt could utilize a panel, or a simple square patch center with a butt-load of pieced borders. Japanese Kotatsu Futon (That is what they call the blanket that goes over the Kotatsu table) are usually floral, or have some sort of pattern and embellishment. I definitely want to give a bit of a nod to the Japanese style, but with something that will actually look like it belongs in my house.

Kotatsu Futon always seem to be super fluffy and heavy looking. Now, pretty much every quilt I make uses a single layer of thin cotton batting. This makes for a nice thin quilt that is also pretty warm. I am thinking that for this project, something a little loftier is in order.

Now, this might be a huge mistake, but I have seen other people do it before and I am pretty sure that means I can do it too! This Ikea comforter is $10. My thought is that I could use this comforter in place of the cotton batting for something a bit heavier without breaking the bank. I wouldn't quilt it too dense. Probably 3" diagonal lines or something. Definitely straight lines.

Then the question is... what to quilt? I have a few ideas floating around in the old head muscle, but I will share those some other time. Are you excited? I'm excited. Was this post kind of disappointing? Yeah it probably was. Oh well! I think you will be okay. The prognosis is good.