Working from an unfinished turn-of-the-century Pennsylvania quilt top, Joanne transformed its strong diagonal lines into a light, airy, summer-weight Japanese Haori. Although the quilt blocks were already put together and sashed with wide claret strips, Joanne found that to get the blocks to lie flat, she would have to dismantle the top, and re-square the individual blocks before reattaching them to the sashing. This necessary restructuring provided a welcome opportunity to really tailor the layout of the diagonal blocks into a slimming Haori shape.

The construction of the garment follows Japanese tradition with the inset side panels all being hand-finished, with no outside stitching at all, so that the garment can be resized if desired.

Contemporary cottons in black, red and white add strong optical accents to the neck binding and the eye-popping lining.  The delightful piping replicates the diagonal lines of the quilt top and the ribbon and button closure adds a light-hearted finishing touch.

This lively, yet sophisticated three-quarter-length jacket has the ability to remove pounds from the full figure of the self-assured woman who wears it.   Its blues, blacks and reds make white hair glow.  Even better, while this Haori makes you look younger, it also makes you feel caressed and cherished.