sophisticated dolls with autonomous action, and i
This design is a cheater quilt with a robot theme. In Japan, during the Edo period (the 1700s), very sophisticated dolls with autonomous action, and interaction with the environment were made. They are called karakuri ningyu and their task was to bring a cup of tea (or sake) to their ‘master’. A karakuri doll is activated after winding a spring. It starts moving a predefined distance as soon as a cup of tea is put on the tray. It walks the predefined distance, stops and bows. The cup can be put off the tray. When the cup is put back on the tray, the doll makes a U-turn and walks back to its origin. This cheater quilt is made in Japanese style. You can see both the doll and the mechanism. The quilt style is Japanese. Japanese motifs were used for the different patches. If you would like to use these motifs to make a real quilt (or for other purposes), have a look at my designs with those motifs. You can see a doll in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvb8p7DQkE&feature=player_embedded . Actually, replicas of the doll are for sale here http://otonanokagaku.net/english/products/edo/detail.html .