Executing:

git clone git://gitorious.org/qt/qt.git qt
cd qt
git checkout -b 4.8 origin/4.8
./configure -static
make

Results in:

g++ -Wl,-rpath-link,/usr/nec/qt/lib -Wl,-O1 -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.0/lib -o ../../../../bin/designer .obj/release-static/fontpanel.o .obj/release-static/qttoolbardialog.o .obj/release-static/main.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_toolwindow.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_formwindow.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_workbench.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_settings.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_server.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_actions.o .obj/release-static/qdesigner_appearanceoptions.o .obj/release-static/saveformastemplate.o .obj/release-static/newform.o .obj/release-static/versiondialog.o .obj/release-static/appfontdialog.o .obj/release-static/preferencesdialog.o .obj/release-static/assistantclient.o .obj/release-static/mainwindow.o .obj/release-static/moc_fontpanel.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_toolwindow.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_formwindow.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_workbench.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_actions.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_server.o .obj/release-static/moc_qdesigner_appearanceoptions.o .obj/release-static/moc_saveformastemplate.o .obj/release-static/moc_newform.o .obj/release-static/moc_versiondialog.o .obj/release-static/moc_appfontdialog.o .obj/release-static/moc_preferencesdialog.o .obj/release-static/moc_mainwindow.o .obj/release-static/qrc_designer.o .obj/release-static/qrc_qttoolbardialog.o -L/usr/nec/qt/lib -L../../lib -L../../../../lib -lQtDesignerComponents -L/usr/nec/qt/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu -lQtDesigner -lQtScript -lQtXml -lQtGui -lSM -lICE -lXrender -lfontconfig -lfreetype -lXext -lX11 -lQtNetwork -lQtCore -lz -lm -ldl -lrt -lpthread
/usr/nec/qt/lib/libQtDesignerComponents.a(propertyeditor.o): In function `qdesigner_internal::PropertyEditor::setupPaletteProperty(QtVariantProperty*)':
propertyeditor.cpp.text+0x7f2): undefined reference to `QtVariantProperty::value() const'
propertyeditor.cpp.text+0x8d8): undefined reference to `QtVariantProperty::setAttribute(QString const&, QVariant const&)'
/usr/nec/qt/lib/libQtDesignerComponents.a(propertyeditor.o): In function `qdesigner_internal::PropertyEditor::setExpanded(QtBrowserItem*, bool)':

...and many more undefined references...

I got the build to work in my clone with the attached patch, but it's very likely that this isn't the correct fix.