Another Banner

Today I added the hanging sleeve and took this banner to the park for a photo opp. Not too easy getting a good picture in the wind blowing through the fence.

 This is the 13th banner over the years, and I am finding it harder each year to work with a committee, especially a committee that wants some "feel good" sentiment. We have added lots of new people to our congregation, and feeling welcome is important, but getting involved is much more what I would like to see. Most of the suggestions were themes we have done over and  over. Why bother making a new banner?

"Where will you fit? was rejected because it might hurt someone's feelings. Really?

After spending a good part of what might have been my dinner time, and with the help of my daughter, I got the EMS postal form filled out and printed up to send the labyrinth to Boston.Today I walked all the way to the big PO and waited in line, only to have my form rejected. It was in a B4 brown envelope, but not paper, as the computer choice expected. A complete waste of an hour and a half, not to mention getting the form filled out and printed. There is no choice for "quilted fabric or wall hanging"

The anniversary banner went to church last Friday, and was hung on Sunday, gathering a few more signatures. I added vines with leaves that could be signed in the empty spaces, but have no idea how many more signatures it might collect. October 1st and 2nd are the "big" days, so I will know soon.

Finally finished

 Finished after a long day yesterday, and posed for a picture this morning...

My friend from church brought me printouts of the kanji. I decided to just embroider them, doubling a single strand of floss. The photo doesn't show the autumn one well. Red on purple isn't much of a contrast, but it is actually clearly legible in person. I just put small  quilted images in the corners... cherry blossom, sunflower, colorful leaf, and snowflake. 

Next challenge will be getting it mailed to Boston.

Meanwhile, a stewardship banner needs to move from graph paper to fabric, and a hanging sleeve needs to be added to the church anniversary banner. Both of those have about half a month to get finished. No more time for dithering....

A small project

My daughter, Marie in Boston, is involved in distributing food to those of her community in need. Unlike my Tokyo daily onigiri delivery, there are rather large bags for people to pick up, and some need to be delivered, requiring a day of physical exercise. 

Thankful for the dedication of a Chinese Christian fellow's help to lighten the load, she asked if I could make him a small gift. 

Similar to a labyrinth I made for myself, I put this together. I used the same quilting templates I had created for mine, but in the corners, I am planning to put the kanji characters for spring, summer, fall, and winter.

I have used those characters before with applique on a big quilt, but am thinking of outlining the strokes with embroidery, using pink, green or yellow(for summer) red, and white.

I used Olympus pearl cotton for the labyrinth ... a light violet but ran out and had to finish it with a different brand (DMC 4) which was close enough that it doesn't show.

A church friend has offered to print out those characters in the needed size, and pass them to me tomorrow. 

Today I hope to sew a hanging sleeve on the signature banner for the 150th anniversary celebration at our church the first of October. There are still signatures to be collected, but I am thinking if it is hung, it could still be signed and might attract others to add their names.

This year's stewardship banner is still waiting, so that will be next on my list ... needing to get finished by October. Progress is a wee bit slower since I have returned to work three or four afternoons a week. And the giant spoon is again stirring up my room.