Owl meets boy ...

and other reunion pictures.

Finally, the owl quilt met it's new owner.

I didn't hear any complaints.

A sign pen and the zodiac list went along so other relatives can sign the back too.

As you can see, this "baby" quilt leaves a lot of room to grow.

Minnesota provided a week of beautiful weather and visits with more relatives than I can remember.

I had a good visit with my younger brother and sisters. Both my sisters are quilters and while one worked on a baby quilt for her newest grandchild, the other helped add quilting to the owl's border.

Four out of six kids made it to Minnesota.

It was fun having this gang together. We missed Ken's gang as he was on fire duty and Norie's remaining in Tokyo.

Maybe in three more years we can make it all together.

In Oregon we hiked and enjoyed nature,



Ben and Ken with Ryden

Naomi in the oak forest.

Irene, Kimie and Ryden....

And all the rest.



Two weeks just flew by.

I got my "book fix" at Powell"s Books.
I finished my book club book and am thinking of a quilt block to make for that one. Meanwhile I finished a second book, "Tallgrass" by Sandra Dallas, recommended by another blogging friend.

The worst of the heat was over when I returned to Tokyo. Construction has begun on the lot across the street. Yesterday was bulldozer work all day and today there is loud vibrations as a machine compacts the dirt and added gravel.

My little flowers seem happy to be getting full sun ... even if they will soon be shaded by a house. They don't appear to be bothered by all the noise.

Tomorrow I will attend a craft show with friends.
Then our choir will leave for Tohoku, where we will sing in a service to dedicate one of our sister churches that we have helped restore. Never a dull moment!

The Owl is ready and waiting

This afternoon, my eldest daughter and I visited a tennis court to hang the owl quilt for a picture.

While in Minnesota, I searched out some interesting leaves to trace and quilt into the empty spaces in the background.  One of my sisters came around to visit several times and put some quilting into the border while we talked.
I think the finished size is about 68"x 84". I hope the little guy will be able to use it a long time, as it isn't too babyish.

While at the family reunion, I had our relatives sign the back side on their zodiac animal. I didn't get signatures from all hundred or so but most of the closest relatives did sign.

I wonder how many Ryden will meet some day.

Maybe next post, there will be a picture of the little guy on this quilt. You never know.....

Check out my daughter's blog for a few close-up pictures here.

Coming up with a plan

The owl quilt is making slow progress.

First, I decided to add the binding so that when I get as much done ... even while travelling ... as I can, it will be suitable to pass to my grandson.

I thought long and hard about quilting in the 6-inch border. I doubt a cable would not show up in the bamboo and would be difficult to mark. Instead, I decided that I will quilt the fabric design along some of the bamboo and leaves.

Along some of the edges, I quilted bamboo leaves into the sky area.

I will probably add more to some of the areas that need filling.

some of the open areas got quilted leaves

It is a bit hard to see but there are leaves over the tree branch too. I used colored thread for quilted leaves and white for the bamboo leaves.

Here is a view of the tenugui on the back.


I have decided while I am at the family reunion, I will have all the relatives sign their names on their animal.

Leia was the first to add her name yesterday.

She had her choice of lots of mice.

Her Papa added a note to his signature.

I think this will be a lot of fun and I hope I will have enough time to put in enough quilting.

As I quilted today, the house was shaking as the wreckers worked on the neighbor's house. I remember when the path between us was un-paved and one could feel the drunk husbands staggering past in the late evening, by the shaking of the ground. With a strip of asphalt o top it has been some time since the house shook other than real earthquakes.

8:am to 5:pm ... loud crashing and shaking. I rather imagine it is going to take several more days before the job is done.

The view around noon from our gate.

The truck getting loaded up.

Measuring takes place every day.

I wonder what they are planning .......
Time will tell.

The neighbor to the north came out and cleaned out his little hole. See it right below our potted Bay leaf tree?

With all the dirt being tossed around, it was filled again by evening.
I am hoping that this neighbor will be the key to keeping construction within the zoning laws ... however, you can see the apartment building to his north-west side. Fifty years ago, that was a field with a huge weeping willow in the middle. My now gone neighbor used to go in every winter and cut off all the hanging branches. I was surprised because those long willow branches were so graceful and swayed with the slightest breeze, making you feel cool on the hottest of days. When I asked her why she cut them all off, she claimed they looked like ghosts. Maybe she was glad to see the apartment take its place. At least the apartment owner allows me to park my bike there behind the light pole. One step forward and I hope there won't be too many steps back.

In the hoop!

My rule #1, If it works, it is the right way.

Since my schedule is tight, I really need to keep this going if I am going to take it to Oregon finished.

In the old days, there was a problem with batting shifting and the need for rather close stitching.

I think the "Thinsulate" batting I have used is really intended for use in clothing and I have never seen evidence of it shifting or pilling no matter how often it is washed.

The owl is a combination of two inch squares and half squares so I used a variety of in-the-ditch quilting. No matter how carefully I ironed and placed the batting, there were still some seams that flipped over. As much as possible, I use a sweep of the needle to right the direction but there are a few that just had to be quilted as they were.

After quilting the owl, I quilted the kanji for Ryden's name, and starting there, have quilted all the appliqued leaves up the right side and am moving down the left.

There will remain several large areas at least six inches across that will need some quilting. My plan is to quilt in leaves. Most likely I will use large compound leaves over the tree branch and behind some of the other leaves.

So far I have used white thread and am toying with the idea of quilting those leaves in fall colors. I still have time to decide and I know white will show up just as well.

Mr owl is relaxing on the sofa, waiting for me to get back to work.

It is a very hot humid day ... not ideal quilting weather ... and more of the same is in the offing. Seven more leaves to quilt and then I will move on to the next problem.

I still am thinking about how I am going to quilt the borders.

In my flower bed, the last of the lilies has begun to bloom.

The garden shop has a "point card" that gets stamped when you purchase something. That is common at many stores in Japan.
(the fabric store gives a discount to card holders, the pet store gives extra points on two days a month ... "1 1 or Wan wan day" (that is what dogs say when they bark) and "2 2 day Nya nya day" (cat language) and those points can be used to purchase something when they reach a certain amount.

The garden shop points have to be used within a certain time limit or they are lost. One October I was buying potting soil or some such thing and my card was filled up. Having lost the credit on an earlier card, I looked around as I was leaving and happened to see a rack with packs of lily bulbs.
I decided then and there to buy five bulbs while I had the chance as a birthday present to myself.

Those bulbs have been giving me pleasure ever since. They have an order of appearance and this purple one is always the last to bloom. It only has a few blooms but it makes up for that in sheer beauty. They don't mind the heat. They thrive on neglect. Who could ask for a better present ... even if I had to buy them for myself1

Biting the bullet

Yesterday I began piecing the tenugui for the back of the owl quilt.

When it was all together, I found the backing was rather larger, meaning some of the animal towels might have to be cut too much.
Since I really wanted all the animals to be displayed, I went up to my stash and found some rust fabric left from a quilt I made many years ago for my #2 daughter.

I cut some two and a half inch strips and added a frame to the top.

Tomorrow, after church, I have a Cub Scout outing to the subway museum so probably I wouldn't have enough time to do basting even if I could locate some space. I decided to bite the bullet and move furniture to clear a space in my livingroom.

The space was rather tight and it meant I had to crawl on top of the work. It made me appreciate the women doing the ASIJ quilt, taping the flimsy to the island of tables, spreading the batting, and putting the last layer in place ... then everyone grabs needle and thread and that quilt is basted in no time.

I used Thinsulate 60 loft  and pieced two sections from the bolt.

I rolled it and spread it gradually, making sure the seams were lying flat. That is the hardest part and I am never really satisfied. I have thought the only way to get it all the way I want is to baste every seam in the right direction.

I began pining from the top border, then I flipped it over and made more adjustments, and flipped it back. I really don't think it would have helped to baste with thread because crawling back and forth across it was counter productive.

I will need to use a hoop for quilting unless I baste it with the hoop on, which I might want to do for the borders,.

Now it is bed time but I have managed to quilt the owl's tummy from bill to toes.

The squares are two inches and with this kind of batting, the combination of diagonal and in-the-ditch will be enough.

I'm glad to have the quilting underway but it sure is HOT sitting with this on my lap.

Meanwhile, the next lilies are beginning to bloom.

Are these what they call "Tiger Lilies"?
Instead of seed pods, they have lots of mini-bulbs developing in the leaf axis.

These lilies are large and white.

And the pineapple lily has begun to flower.

I love to watch this plant change day-by-day.

Too bad computers don't come with smell. The last of the gardenias are finishing up their spring blooms.

I'm sure you could find our gate, even if you were blind, just by the smell. The only care they really need is watching out for caterpillars about the time the buds come out.

This year, only one bud was chewed and I never did find the culprit.

My monstera-leaf philodendron couldn't take the heat in the greenhouse where we sleep. Yesterday I brought them down to the first floor and, though some of the leaves are dying, the plants have perked up  and may survive.

The cacti are all quite happy. Tomorrow is supposed to be very hot too and it's almost here. Wish there was a way to save the heat until mid-winter.

backing for Mr. Owl

After finishing the applique, I spread the owl quilt on the double bed in the loft. There really is no place in this house I can spread it out and I wanted to chose some tenugui for the backing.

Even though this quilt is intended for a single bed, I couldn't lay it our all flat.

The room is up under the roof so it is not a place to stand up and take pictures.

I dug through the collection of zodiac animals and pulled out one with all 12 animals and then one of each.

Now I am still sewing them together and I hope the size will be at least as big as the top so I don't have to add borders.  It was a bit difficult to judge with everything draped on the bed.

I have no idea where I can do the basting. I may have to go begging at the rice store again or possibly drag it ti church on Sunday and see if I can find an empty room in the afternoon.
Oh, how I wish there was floor space here without moving all the furniture out of the room (to say nothing of the dog hair)

The days here are very hot and humid.  While sitting and sewing, it felt like a waterfall was running down my back. I can't even guess how many gallons of water I have swallowed each day and it feels more like I have been swimming in it. The thought of sitting and quilting with a nice snugly quilt on my lap does not have much appeal. However, it is my own fault for not having begun sooner.

And here is the little guy, waiting patiently for his quilt.

Well, if it is this hot there, he will probably be glad to wait!

Adding color

Well, there is some small progress. Ryden's kanji has been added. It was not an easy task and I felt it might have been better to quilt it in or paint it on with a brush and quilt around it.


I have sewed four leaves in place and pinned on a few more. I am planning to quilt some leaves into the background as well. I'm not sure of the spacing as they look a bit too spread out. I think I will have to just go to bed and look at it again in the morning.


Any suggestions would be welcome.

I can't say I am a big fan of pink ... but this seems to be the time of year to celebrate pink blooms.

The last flower in a hanging pot. It waited until all the others were finished so it could get all the attention.

Another hanging pot has petunias.

My mother loved petunias, and in those days you had to pick off the sticky finished flowers to keep them blooming.
(And, that was my job).

These days there are wonderful varieties that bloom all summer with total neglect. I'm certain my mother would have had them in all the borders around the garden.

Here are a few that came up from some free seeds. This hanging pot is on the back wall.

The pink lilies are putting on a final show.


I think yellow will be the next to bloom.

And, though closer to red than pink, one small geranium flower.

This plant is five years in the same spot and blooms all year around. It did have a rather tough winter and  is just now getting it's act together. It shares the planter with a pink and white variety which is also taking a break.

The "rainy season" continues with a little shower here and there and tons of moisture hanging in the air. The downstairs is rather dark, even with the lights on and not the best for applique.

Yesterday I took my work up to my greenhouse on the roof. There was a nice breeze from time to time and the light was much better. If only that room didn't get so hot in mid-summer.  By evening it has cooled off some and not too bad for sleeping with one light cover.

I leave the owl to contemplate the flora. By now he may be totally confused finding leaf varieties that are not bamboo and come from all different places in Japan and the U.S.

Quilters" Book club update

For once, I was able to finish reading our monthly selection during the month. Of course, since I owned the book and had read it once before, that was easy to do. Now I am waiting for the next book to arrive by post so I thought it time to come up with a block.

The Lover's Knot, by Clare O'Donohue was our book for June. With a block name for the title, I went searching for something to represent the book and came up with many blocks and block variations by that name. Most of them were in just two colors and I have only a small amount of my "feature fabric", a dark paisley print. I want to include a bit in each block and I also want to add a bit of color since what I can pull from that fabric is rather dark red, green, blue. brown and black.

I found this version of lover's knot in The Quilter's Album of Blocks & Borders, by Jinny Beyer. and liked the fact it used more than two fabrics.

Interestingly, her illustration also included paisley print. The pattern was for a 9 inch block but it was not too hard to take a 12 x 12 piece of paper, divide it into thirds and, using a compass, come up with a template.

I can't say I am fond of piecing curved seams. but they didn't come out too badly. Those points were a challenge to iron though and I might not want to quilt through them.

I was going to use the floral tan I had used in the tulip block. Then I picked out a yellowish tan for the center. so went with a yellowish paisley print instead.

As I was putting the blocks together, though, my husband, who never pays any attention to what I am working on unless it is in his way, commented that the red-on-red fabric looked better.

I went with the red but thought the floral tan might have been better. To the right is what I first chose.
In some ways I kind of like that better, but I do like the touch of warmth the red adds and I am not going to un-sew and re-sew those curved pieces!

Next on the agenda is adding Kanji to the owl quilt.

Here is the Kanji selected for Ryden.

The upper ideograph is "trustworthiness" or dependability or reliability.

It is the first character used for male members of the Genji clan.

the second character "den" was taken from an uncle who was a famous movie actor, so it carries on the re-cycling tradition in our family.
The character means "passing on" as in communicate or even passing on a legacy.

On the left are the characters as they might be written in daily life. The middle writing is in "Samurai style" and the third on the right is more "Kabuki style". For applique, the third might be a bit easier to do but with a family history of the samurai, I will go with the center plan.

And in my little garden, with the orange and yellow lilies finished, the pink are having their time poking on front of the new maple and gardenias.

Every time I looked at my cell phone for the past two weeks, it reported the weather to be "showers"  ... the picture of a cloud with water drops spattering on the screen
and a wiper swishing across. Well, Mr.Google makes an interesting application but the only rain is just hanging in the air and would more appropriately be termed "humidity".

I also notice with the arrival of July, my blog list is still up and running ... or am I speaking too soon?
Time will tell on many things. Mr. Google, you are entertaining, if nothing more. (and I prefer that to screwing up my computer life).

Owl is in the forest

Yesterday the border was added.

When I went shopping with Cynthia, we looked at lots of leaf prints and both of us agreed the shades of green on this print worked the best with sky and owl.

So ... it is a bamboo forest, maybe not what my grandson will see in Oregon but certainly familiar with the rest of the Fukuda clan.

I appliqued some leaves left over from the scraps along the top edge and thought I might add more.

I am considering using some of the wood print to put in a few branches in the large blue areas. My other idea was to applique and quilt in many kinds of leaves on the sky area. They might look strange to have random leaves but maybe I could do them in autumn colors as if the wind is bringing them across the sky.
Probably adding random varieties of leaves would be the easiest. In a home full of naturalists, a bit of nature might not be strange.

Ryden Wren Fukuda!

I wish I knew how to grab a picture from facebook. The one posted there has his big round eyes open, looking much more like an owl than a wren.

At any rate, he is an early-bird and will have a bit to wait for that quilt.
Dream on, little chick!

The land of the revolving door

You don't have to be a foreigner living in Japan very long to see that this is "the land of the revolving door".  I had very few friends when I first arrived, but I had a wonderful family waiting to embrace me. I had English students, some of which did become friends, and then, as children entered the picture, added to that were the parents of my children's friends.

But then, those friends usually stayed only for two or three years on company business, and then moved on . There were times I almost dreaded making new friends because I knew in a year or two, they would be moving on, taking a piece of my heart with them.

Sure, there were a few long-term friends, and especially among the missionary community there were quite a few. Sadly, over the last ten or fifteen years, most have retired and left. My dear neighbor, too, has become to frail to live on her own and has moved in with her daughter. Hopefully the house and garden will remain but even our neighbor to the south sold their lot to be divided into two three-story-sun-blocker and I can't help thinking it might happen again.

So, where do you go for friends? Church is  a big one ... also with a revolving door. Scouting has been another source ... though most of those friends are guys ... and then, there is quilting.
You are sitting with needle in hand, and in walks someone new. It only takes a few minutes to find you have met a kindred spirit. This week I am saying "good-bye" again BUT I know, even though she is leaving Japan, we will meet again. This week Cynthia and I made a final run to "fabric town", the wholesale district for cloth. She was picking up a few goodies to take back to the States and I was needing her help to complete my owl.

Now, as I work, I will be remembering the friendship we have shared.

How very much easier it is to make a selection with the help of a friend ... especially a friend who is on the same page, knows where you are coming from and where you are going.

You can see my owl is also happy, for now he has a branch to sit on and the beginning of sky where his tail leaves off. (and just wait until you see the border print)!

Thank you Cynthia, for two short years of friendship. We will be linked by our blogging, our quilting, our fabrics, and we can begin scheming about what we can do when I come to Boston.

 Also, this week, a rainbow came through my mail slot.

This is the beautiful hand dyed fabric that came from Vicki Welsh as a prize from Quilting Gallery. I just know the women of Tohoku will have their spirits lifted by these vibrant colors ... and.. as if that wasn't enough, Vicki generously added some extra pieces. Thank you Vicki, nothing will go to waste!

Then, on Friday, I went to an ikebena exhibit by Sogetsu school. Many years ago, I studied with Sogetsu and even earned my teacher's license. I used to belong to Ikebana International and took part in their shows but lately there is little space or occasion for a flower arrangement in my home.

The ticket was given me by a quilting friend/sensei  and, surprise!, more quilt friends met there. The show was outstanding and so very nicely done.
Afterwards, we went for a cool drink and I was fortunate to meet another of sensei's friends I had only seen in passing a few times, but this time we had time to talk (She is French, so we managed in Japanese) but she has been in Japan as long as I and we shared a lot in common.

So ... the revolving door keeps spinning, Along with sad "good-byes" come warm "hellos". And, thanks to the computer age, many of those may last longer than before.