The unveiling

After lying flat across two tables as mothers gathered to put in the stitches, members of the group were still looking at areas, wondering if they needed to add some stitches here or there. The time to finish had neared, and there was still a bit of "cleaning up" of threads on the back, but basically, it was near enough done that I suggested the time had come to hang it up and step back for the all-over view.

Indeed, the different angle showed off a lot of the quilting textures that had not been quite as apparent when it was laying flat. It also made it clear that a lot more tiny details would hardly be noticed.

The school was having a "book parade" last Friday, and we carried the quilt on it's stand down to the area where the parents were filing in to watch their children parade in costumes representing books they had enjoyed.

Here I am with some of the quilters when bringing our work out on display for the first time.

Nishimachi International School has a long history of yearly quilts.

They are not only auctioned off for fund-raisers (like the American School used to do),
but they have also documented much of the work through post cards or greeting cards ... something I always wished ASIJ had done.

If anything, they would be popular with the many mothers who gave parts of their year to work on them.

I was only a participant in the final weeks, as I have no connection with the school other than scouting families who have attended there.
It happened that the daughter of the mother I am standing with, used to be in the after-school art class where I worked. One of the things I helped with was to document the work done by the children, and each time I asked Marika about her story, I was taken on an adventure. All her work was a story.

When she graduated to kindergarten at Nishimachi, she wanted to continue the after-school art class but, as it turned out, Monday, when I was there, Nishimachi had another program of Hawaiian dance that Marika wanted to do and was conflicted because she wanted to be with me. Through my boss, I sent her mother a message to tell Marika that Hula is a dance that tells a story and I would feel sad should she miss that opportunity just because of me. Happily, she went for the Hula and we have managed to keep connected ... adding her wonderful mom to the equation. that was my link to this delightful group.

The cherry trees in the area near the school were so pretty against the blue sky.
The peach tree on my walk to the parking spot is also in full bloom.













How is this for a splash of color?  we planted one of these trees in our garden when my second daughter was born. Unfortunately, it did not survive transplanting when the house was re-built.

It would have been almost this size by now. This one is a few short blocks down the street.

Tonight is my Cub Scout pack meeting, so I had better stop procrastinating and get things organized for that event. "A Scout is Prepared" ... at least I try to be...