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!

Photo finish

The banner started last Thursday is almost complete. Still needed us a trip to the "DOIT" or do-it-yourself store to buy some dowels for hanging.

Here it is, on the park fence with laundry clips, enjoying the morning sun.

Someone other than my husband was selected to make a poster that will take the place of this banner and include the total phrases. I am relieved I will not have to observe that exercise.

It is interesting that all these fabrics from all over the world, not particularly the best each country has to offer, new ... used ... even "vintage" (meaning older than I) ...lacking in coordination of color or design ... do little to help the neighboring pieces.

The adding of the logo and binding seems to pull it together. In that regard, a rather true representation of our church. (I put the name rather than the initials). After all, TUC might mean anything such as Take Up Complaining... and the full name is a part of the new logo. (Plus I hate acronyms) . Looking at the result I notice the Liberty fabric from Great Britain is mostly covered by the logo (made by a "Brit") and the map of Africa with a zebra is covered with lettering. Oops, pastor is from Africa! Some of the lettering is a bit wonky. Well, that is as it will remain.

As I was leaving church on Sunday, the pastor asked me to go on and finish the banner and give it to him as he had a plan to use it in a sermon. I guess it will end up being used even in its abbreviated form. I hope my name is left out of it. And I sure don't want people to think I can just whip up something like this in less than a week.

As I returned from my photo shoot, look what had arrived in the post!

Coming all the way from Jean in New Zealand was a beautiful package. I had been expecting a ruler and she found and sent the perfect one. (can you see it? both inches and centimeters and a perfect 6 inches).

But, to keep it company, were some beautiful cut pieces that will happily join friends in my tins or be sewed into the blocks in progress. And also within that kiwi wrap, some fern fabric. And, as if that wasn't enough, that cute mini quilt is really a design wall for my mini pieces. Note the wonderful flannel backing. Oh Jean, thank you so much!

I am not using that fern fabric for the banner but as I sat finishing the hanging sleeve, I thought how appropriate ... measuring with a ruler from New Zealand, sewing with American thread made in Mexico and with a needle from England sent me from a friend in Massachusetts... and how far removed from that kid growing up on the edge of a forest park in Ohio. We are Quilters Without Borders!