Friday, May 29, 2015

Celebrating a finish!



All Done!
I finished up the quilting yesterday but it was raining and blowing, so a picture had to wait.

I am not very good at getting the pictures right, especially when it comes to color and focus. I really can't understand 90% of the stuff on the dials and the booklet that came with it is all in Japanese. (and I probably wouldn't understand it in English either).

I began reading and making blocks to go with each story back in February 2013, thanks to a fellow blogger, Starwood Quilter. The quilter's book club ended suddenly in 2014 and, wanting to put those 17 blocks to use, I finally figured out how to arrange them all by setting them on point. The finished size is 63" x 83".

Though they hardly show in this picture, I put a label 
on the back of each block with the title and author of the book
and the name of the block plus any additional information about the choice of blocks or fabrics.


I am really happy to have the quilting done before the heat sets in. Now I will be working on two projects. I need to finish the border on grandson Ben's quilt. I have been collecting purple and lime green fabrics and I think I have enough. I just need to come up with a plan as how to use them in a border.

My other short list project is a small quilted object ... table runner? ... for the rice store lady who has so kindly lent me her floor space on multiple occasions. I drafted a pattern and made templates and began to cut pieces so I would have take-along work ... then promptly lost the templates. I have spent three days looking and probably could have made a few hundred more in that time. I may give up and do that.


Here is my next project ... I got 50 silkworm eggs and they began to hatch two days ago. Now part of the morning walk with Nikko is picking mulberry leaves. These are tiny new leaves so you can imagine how small these little caterpillars are. I have to move them to the fresh leaves with a paintbrush. One thing I like most about these pets is that they stay right there and wait for food. They don't leave the box or get in trouble while I am out. They will go with me to scout camp in a few weeks (where I will have to protect them from ants). 

In showing these to the scouts, they are a good example of what happens when we are removed too far from nature. Because of centuries of relying on humans, they cannot find their own food, even if it is growing all around them. They have no protection from predators ... birds or even ants ... or rain ... 
We love all those modern conveniences ... water from a tap, light from a switch ... food from the market ... even a GPS on our cell phone ... but many kids don't even know what their food looks like growing or what to do when the battery dies. Scouting is a good way to learn skills that may come in handy somewhere down the road.


Add caption

The Easter cactus has finally bloomed but it was so late it has been out-done by all my other cacti,

This little tea-cup baby has flowers I have posted nearly every year but I think this is a record show.

There are flowers and buds all over my cactus world and I am enjoying them among the hanging laundry.


Have a great weekend!
Mine will be way too busy.

18 comments:

  1. Your quilt came out beautifully, love the fabrics you used and you do such beautiful hand work.
    The teacup flowers are beautiful, love how it looks in the cup.

    Debbie

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  2. Congrats on the finish Julie! I had a silkworm once but it was quite a bit bigger when it was gifted to me. I still had to run around for the mulberry leaves. It eventually spun a cocoon and later chewed it's way out and layed eggs. That's where the cycle ended. The eggs never hatched. probably just as well. I was a busy college student and wouldn't have coped well with a lot o dependants!

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  3. Beautiful quilting, borders, blocks on point, and the backing, all so lovely. Cactus, delicate and pretty, and the worms, hope they survive and go to camp too.

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  4. Love the finished book club quilt Julie. I'm looking forward to hearing what the scouts think of the silkworm project. Have a great weekend.

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  5. Your book quilt is just lovely Julie! And I loved seeing the silkworms - I've never seen them before! blessings, marlene

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  6. It's a wonderful finish! The blue sashing and dark floral border really feature the blocks well. I like your idea of including the block stories on the back. Very interesting to hear about the silk worms. What a great lesson for the scouts!

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  7. Love the quilt - you did great - again. I had no idea about the silk worms - interesting information. Have a grand weekend. Did you feel the earthquakes?

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  8. Now looking at the whole quilt, I think the choice of the green background fabric was very wise. It sets off the centre pieces in the way medallion quilts work. And carrying on the blue for the border also works very well.

    I knew about silk worms, but have never thought of keeping them at home.
    Sandy in the UK

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  9. LOVE the quilt .. well done x However not so sure about the silk worms though xx

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  10. Wow you finished the quilt already. It's beautiful! You are keeping silk worm?Love to see how they grow :)

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  11. It's a beautiful quilt. I wish you would post each block close up and tell the name of the books it represents. An interesting quilt and very well done...congratulations on your finish. I had to write a check yesterday at a local family owned business that only accepts cash or check. It was so long since I had written a check, I had to stop and think how to do it. Wonder if kids coming up these days have ever written a check. seems like that was something they taught us in high school.

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  12. Oh Julie, your quilt is beautiful! Cheryl just e-mailed me that you had finished it. My computer is still giving me fits and so it's very frustrating to be on it. Hopefully, I will get a new computer this summer and will be able to more easily keep up with you and all your beautiful projects.

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  13. Lovely to see your quilt completely finished. It looks wonderful. It has been a delight to follow the journey of making it. Good luck with your plans for the next projects. What a shame about the templates!

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  14. I left a comment a few days ago, but, it doesn't show up. The quilt turned out great! I like that you put info about each book/block, behind the blocks. Lots of memories.

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  15. This quilt is a masterpiece!

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  16. Oh your quilt is so beautiful! The color choices and the hand quilting are amazing! Wasn't that a good choice for the background triangles... which by the way makes me want to ask how you figure the triangle sizes for the background. I'm helping someone this week put her quilt on point but for the life of me can't figure out what size to make the triangles. I didn't understand a word Mrs. Furui was telling me! Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment!

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