Blooming time

This plum tree, planted to celebrate the birth of my first daughter in the mid-sixties, has usually begun to bloom around the time of her birthday.

The last few years it has been a bit late.
Well, maybe I, too , am slowing down as I get older.

Only about a week late, the first blossoms began to open last Friday. There are many more today, and I expect the next sunny day the tree will be showing off its full potential.

After adding a few bluebirds to Phoebe's tree to celebrate the day of her birth, it was time to add a few plum blossoms to celebrate her aunt.

I picked a flower to bring in and match the fabric.
Note one real flower on an upper branch, posing.


I do not plan to remove the borders, but it sure would have been easier to do all this fussy applique without getting that extra material caught in my needle.

As long as I am starting with the spring side of the tree, I decided to add a few cherry blossoms.



I still have a number of birds to add, but for today I think I will lay out and piece the backing.

In the past, I have sometimes added applique to quilts after basting the sandwich and found it less likely to get the the needle caught in strange places.

Tomorrow I will be meeting with my small quilt group so may make a bit more progress during the week.

If I can add the rest of the birds, I may add some of the leaves as I quilt. I often plan as I go, but this is the very least planned of any quilt I have ever worked on.


Last Friday I joined a small quilt group making a quilt for their school much like the Gala quilts we used to make for the American School. The quilts they make are more what I might call "art quilts" for hanging. All the work is in silk. It was fun working with a group and making new friends. I do not have every Friday free, but am planning to go back and help again.
Like many of the international schools in Tokyo, people come and go frequently, so the groups and amount of experience continuously change. At least that school has made cards of each of the quilts over the years and the history lives on. Often new administrations at these schools tend to get rid of the past and put in their own choice of teachers and agenda. As with overseas scouting, any history is in the heads of the longest active member... One never knows if things will evolve or one will be put out to pasture.