Thursday, September 18, 2014

Enjoying the steps to autumn


The banner has been hung in the stairwell at church and is basking in a spotlight, no less!

Considering all that mix of fabrics, it actually doesn't look too bad.

I think the message is enough without all the extra words.






I have been working slowly on the four-inch blocks and have completed 100.

Today I took them to my quilt group and laid them out on the table.




I am still looking for a plan to put them together.

I have more sofa quilts than I use so I prefer to make a single bed size.  I would need several hundred to do that if I just sew them together.

One friend suggested making them into eight inch blocks by sewing four together and putting a star block alternating.

I thought of making an eight-inch star of each block but that may lose the pattern of light pieces.
If anyone has an idea, I am open to suggestions.





Fall is definitely in the air. The higan-bana  or spider lilies have begun to bloom here and there.

"Higan" is the autumnal equinox and these are the harbingers of fall. One neighbor has a planter full of white ones but these are the most common sight. I love seeing them along the borders where forest meets the fields.




And, what do you think this is?

Last night as I was walking to the station after choir practice, I noticed young people hanging out along the edge of the sidewalk.

Some had blankets spread on the ground.
Some had folding chairs.

There was even a pup-tent!

The line went on and on. It is a 30 minute walk to the station ... actually two stations away where my train crosses with the very expensive ride ... and about two thirds of the trip were all these young people. At the end, there was a policeman making sure the line was out of the way of pedestrians as those kids placed their stuff.

Well, curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. I had to ask.

Next morning the sale of I-phones will begin near the church.
All these kids were in line waiting for the store to open so they could be first (a relative term in this case) to buy one.

Sometimes when some much-wanted thing goes on sale, one can see a line forming the night before. It is something I have seen while making early morning rice deliveries, but those lines are at most a block long and often someone pays the homeless guys to hold the spot until just before the store opens in the morning. This was a VERY LONG line and all made up of young people. Not a weekend either. School? Jobs? By now, if they are not sleeping after having stayed up all night, they are texting on their new gadgets.

Ah, life in Tokyo ... streets lined with spider lilies or shoppers ... Never a dull moment.

And now ... it is off to Scout Camp ... where it is scheduled to rain tomorrow. Rain gear packed. A Scout is prepared!

18 comments:

  1. No hardship to sleep out, camp on the street, if the reward is a new iPhone, the latest !!! I prefer to keep my plain old one and the lilies, lovely brightness on the footpath sides. Hugs, Jean

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  2. I have to tell you I love the way you have the blocks laid out now
    something about the color moving from one to another is really appealing to my eye.
    keep going!!!
    Iphone craze didn't seem to be as strong here as it had been in the past.
    from what I heard a lot of people opted this time to order it on line!
    Kathie

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  3. Your banner looks wonderful!! Love the colour changes in your 4 inch blocks.
    Hope you find a way to make it bigger.
    Yes, we had long lines at our store here, for the phones. Glad I don't care about them.
    Hope the camp goes well.

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  4. I really like your quilt as it is, the colours are very beautifully layout. Happy scouting, hopefully with very little rain. Jaana

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  5. Android all the way for this girl, and I haven't even bothered with the last two upgrades. I was happy to learn about the spider lily from you a couple (3?) years ago. I soon spotted them in the gardens at the Guest Home.

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  6. Love how the quilt looks on the wall and I think the words are just right and sends the message.
    I am happy with my phone, it works, does the job and until it dies I will not bother to upgrade;)

    Debbie

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  7. Hello Julie, the quilts are so wonderful! I love the rainbow colors of it!! I love the flowers too.
    Have a lovely weekend! Hugs.

    Sandra

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  8. Hallo Quiltfriend! Nice top you have done.Like the colours and the pattern.It´ll look great on your bed.Greetings from Lena in Stockholm,Sweden.
    I have a blog,so if you want to take a look the address is;
    www.quiltarkatt.blogspot.se

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  9. Now that your poster quilt hangs so prominently in the spotlight it WILL get a lot of notice! The many kinds of fabric really make up the church, wouldn't you say?
    The four inch blocks are stunning as they are, so if I were you I'd just go on making enough blocks for a single bed size quilt - it might take time, but is there any rush?
    On my daily walk I pass a bed of beautiful spider lilies. Their bright read colour sparkle in the dark green shadows of the trees.

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  10. I like the layout of the quilt in a rainbow effect, very pretty.

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  11. Lovely, lovely quilts, Julie!I love the rainbow affect. Such patience you must have to work all those 4" squares!

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  12. I don't think I ever wanted anything SO much I queued out all night! so true ... Autumn is coming .. its so nice to see the colours and smell the cooler air x

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  13. Ditto to what Queenie said - except for the daily walk past the bed of spider lilies - the four inch blocks ARE stunning - and I REALLY like the pattern of the light pieces. If there is no rush - I would just keep on keepin' on - ;))

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  14. Love spider lily. I hope I can get a few in my garden. Unfortumately haven't seen them in Ireland yet!

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  15. Wild about the iPhone line - I still remember the incredibly long line with Ben and Jerry's icecream opened at Omotesando. Your banner looks wonderful in its spotlight and it deserves to be there! I, like some of the others above, love the rainbow arrangement of your blocks and would keep piecing. Or.... add a border of applique something-or-other all around to enlarge the quilt?

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  16. We've stayed up late for the latest Harry Potter book releases, but, that is because the local bookstore had a 6+ hour, downtown wide party for the events (about 30-40 stores all participated). We stayed up more for the party than the book.

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  17. HAHAHA! I saw your photo and that was my first guess - the new iPhone! I don't know how people do it. I could never sit outside and just hang out for hours and hours to get the latest and greatest. I even imported my last phone from Hong Kong and spent 1/4 of what the normal version would cost in the US. And it works great!

    I LOVE how your blocks are coming out! I think it's going to be a beautiful quilt!!!!

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  18. Gorgeous quilts!
    I figured as much - young people camping out in a long line. I saw a line for the second Halo game in San Francisco. I can't imagine camping out on a sidewalk for a 'wanted' item. I would do it for survival or a needed purpose only.

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