Inari

This is the quilt I made for the "Mythology" challenge of Twelve by Twelve.
I wanted to make another quilt inspired by my travels to Kyoto. I first focused on Shinto, which is the old religion of Japan and is very rich in legends and myths.
Inari is an important kami. She's the goddess of rice, agriculture, business and probably other things too. Fushimi Inari is one of the main shrines where she's worshipped. It is located south of Kyoto.
The torii, the famous red gates of Shinto shrines, were one on the symbols I wanted to use in my quilt. I printed them with a homemade stencil.
The foxes, kitsune in Japanese, are Inari's messengers. I used a thermal screen and a homemade stencil to print them on my fabrics.
The multicoloured lines were inspired by the origami cranes that are found in shrines and temples everywhere in Japan.
Of course, I had to dye indigo fabric for the background.
Here are some close-ups of the quilt...
A mosaic of inspirational pictures, from my last three trips to Japan...
And the first three quilts of my 20x12 series...

And now, I'm off to our Twelve by Twelve blog to see the quilts made by the other members of the group.