Small finishes

 July 15th, 16th, and 18th saw finishes. The small one I intend to give to a neighbor next time I see her, The bento box on the left will wait to be snatched up, and the long runner is now waiting to take its place on my daughter's entryway shoe cupboard. 

I realized I never posted a picture of the finished kotatsu cover. 

I had to take a picture of it laid out on the floor because it is way too big and heavy to hang on the park fence. I turned the flannel backing to the front for binding. I'm not sure if my daughter will want more quilting, but I really like it the way it is, so soft and cuddly.  The batting is thinsulate #80 and even with light quilting, it is not going to shift. This is about 88" square.

I have a number of other things on my list. My next in line granddaughter is ready for her "big girl" quilt. I have been short on gifted items to the kids. Thinking of a pieced shoulder bag for Marie, and Ken would like a king size quilt with a blue and white Japanese style design. I have lots of ideas for these ... so why am I playing around with little scrappy things. I guess it is just because I like to have something finished that doesn't take forever. The heat and humidity have been a great deterrent too. The rain did bring two cool days on Monday and Tuesday, but morning wind blew all the clouds away and the hot sun took over.

The anniversary banner is laid out with paper for sketching. Now waiting for the days to cool off a bit so I won't drip sweat all over the layout. Taking it all one day at a time...

Waiting for borders

Now 80 inches square, I am wondering how many borders I will need to add to get the right size. I am thinking of a narrow border of bright pink and then just adding enough of the same blue floral used in the center sashing. Several of the darker blue blocks around the edge might not have enough contrast with the sashing I used in the middle. I also have enough of the red floral that I used as sashing on the Coronaville pieces. There is none of that fabric in this quilt so it might work as a plan B.

 

This is pretty well filling up most of the room. When it comes to doing the backing and basting I may have to find somewhere else to work.

 

in 1965, we planted this plum tree to celebrate the birth of our first daughter. 

Almost every year, it has bloomed on her birthday, the 15th.

This year I kept watching for signs of color but it didn't look likely it would have flowers opening any time soon.

 Yesterday, it was dark and rainy, so I went to the second floor and opened the shoji to see if there might be a few blooms on the upper branches that get a bit more sun.

I think this year has set a record for buds, and, sure enough, some of the upper branches had begun to bloom. 

I took up my pruning shears and cut a few of the branches that were against the house, and arranged them in a vase next to Paul's ashes.

I have found a gardener who understands why I did not want to cut the branches during the fall pruning season. Last year the tree produced many plums (actually like small apricots) for the first time. Maybe this year there will be enough to make some plum wine.

The recent earthquake was only an interruption of sleep in this part of Tokyo. The grandfather clock stopped but nothing fell from the many shelves.

This coming weekend I look forward to the Women's Conference. Though rather tired of meetings on zoom, I am hopeful to find a few friends there, whom I have not seen for quite a while. One of the good things about zoom is that I can do piecing with my hands while meetings are going on....

First Round of blocks

 This project is to be a kotatsu cover for my daughter Norie.... about three years late.  The center area will be covered by the table top. I really don't have any space large enough to lay it out for planning, and looking at the center area, I wish I had not put the light blue floral next to fabrics containing blues. I wonder if it would be worth the trouble to un-sew and replace that block, if it will not be seen anyway.

I have pieced enough blocks for two more rows. Then I will think about adding a couple of rounds of borders. I am still not sure as to how big this should be. I have a few rather light florals and am hoping to place them closer to the corners where they will be less likely to get food spills.

Just imagine having enough space to get it all laid out and then sewed together without mistakes. On a day like today. I could have taken it to church before choir practice and laid it out on the floor in the fellowship hall. No choir for nearly a year now, and the church is closed. 

Hanging on the fence in the afternoon shade, the colors look a bit dull. I can't help comparing this with my blogging friend, Kim, of "Sarah Lizzies". Her posts are always so full of bright colorful florals. Oh well, I will just keep on keeping on and look forward to snuggling under this as I quilt it.