Welcome

In Japan it is not unusual wherever you go to be met by a welcome or beckoning cat. This first cat raises his left paw beckoning in good fortune and long life. He is actually a large piggy bank and fortune comes to him in small change from pockets or from the bottom of the washing machine.

The printed panel is hoping to be made into a table runner.
The upper cat raises his right paw to beckon good fortune and the lower cat, holding a coin is beckoning in wealth. It is not unusual to see the cat with the coin in stores greeting customers.

Cats are not unlike fabric, tending to multiply in corners.

At the top of my step tansu sits a small part of a collection of cats. Oh yes, there are more. For you see, someone coming by and seeing them thinks, "Oh she collects cats". Then, before you know it, suddenly every visitor brings a cat. Well, I do collect owls but that is another story. I think the cats collect themselves.

The one cat I DID collect is not beckoning money or good fortune. He sat many years in my entryway greeting friends and returning family.
I loved his sweet gentle expression and was glad to see him on every return. The last three years he has sat on the shelf beside my sleeping mat wishing me a good rest or a good morning. I'm sure he did not welcome the earthquake when it came and tossed him down the stairs and I do not welcome the thought of tossing these broken pieces into the trash. How sad to get so attached to objects when the world is filled with people who have nothing. Still.....

And here is another welcoming object. The nanohana or rape flowers are one of the harbingers of spring. Their sunny smiles called out to me as I passed them on the way to Church this morning. They, too, will fade but we can enjoy them and look forward to the spring which they so boldly beckon.

earthquake update

For my blogging friends, I thank you for your expressions of concern. Certainly that is the biggest quake I have ever experienced in my 48 years here. Standing in the open doorway with the crashing sounds of flying objects and rattle of walls and windows, it seemed like a never-ending amusement park ride. (and I don't like that kind of ride)

Trains stopped and many people were stuck. Fifty people sought refuge overnight at the church.
Most of the injuries this distance from the epi-center were caused by falling objects. With many activities cancelled today, there will be plenty of time to clean up. For a city the size of Tokyo we got off fairly easy this time and the TV footage makes us aware of how blessed we are.

History and pictures of ASIJ auction quilts

For anyone interested in seeing pictures and reading a full history of the ASIJ Gala Auction quilts, one of my friends and co-conspirators has written an informative post with much better pictures and descriptions than I could ever accomplish. http://tokyojinja.com/2011/03/06/coming-full-circle-a-history-of-the-asij-gala-quilt/#comment-480
Check it out if you want to know more.

Doll festival

March 3rd is Hina Matsuri or, the doll festival. A double three, five, or seven is an auspicious number. When my children were young we set up a very elaborate display of court dolls. On a five tiered step covered in red fabric were the Prince and Princess dolls at the top, sitting in front of a gold screen with lanterns on either side. Below them sat three Ladies -in-Waiting and below them five Court Musicians. The fourth step down had the Minister of the right and the Minister of the left to each side with tables of "food" set between. The bottom step had two little trees on each side, a citrus and a cherry and all kinds of miniature furniture, palanquins, and the like. Fancier sets may have as many as seven or even nine steps with lots to display.

These were set up a few weeks before the date and taken down soon after the festival. On that day special food is served. When my door bell rang unexpectedly I found my neighbor with a dish of the special sushi she has made and brought to us to enjoy for many years, the first being 1965 when my first daughter was a toddler.

These days I do not have room to set out an entire set of Hina dolls. A few Prince and Princess dolls live in a glass case and a quilted runner on my coffee table will have to do. (You might notice that many dolls are paired to represent these two. On the table are even a prince and princess snake and two old bobble headed people.)

Tonight we will have a special treat with my third daughter and my Granddaughter Leia.

Auction quilt - finished and on display

Wednesday we celebrated the finish and hanging of the 2011 quilt. It will be on display in the stairway of the Early Learning Center until next weeks "Gala".

So, what is the quilt worth? Certainly, in the past, the auction quilts have brought in quite a bit of yen to the American School. When that check is written, however, it is written as a donation to the school and that parent would probably be making a big donation anyway with or without the incentive of a quilt.

Each of the quilts we have made is a one-of-a-kind quilt. Each quilt has had a large cast of characters (I say that with a smile) involved in the planning and making. Sometimes we spend money on fabrics and sometimes we dig into our various stashes. It is usually a combination of both.

It would be difficult to count the hours spent as many blocks went home with someone between sessions and not all the work was done in the group. I would be willing to wager that should all the hours be added up, the planning, the shopping, the marking and cutting, the piecing, and the quilting and finishing, and the price figured at the minimum wage x the total of each person's time, no one could afford this quilt.

Then we get into another aspect of values added. Those most certainly include the dedication of the women themselves, organizing, coming to help, offering a place to meet, giving advice or encouragement, and the warm friendships made here.

I once looked at some quilts on consignment at a quilt shop in the states. I was shocked by how low the asking prices were. I could not even buy the fabric in Japan for what was being asked.

Even if they had been pieced by machine, many were quilted by hand and must have taken months to complete. I think of those quilts often when my husband suggests I sell some of my quilts to pay bills. I think of my grandmother's quilt and my mother's quilt. I would rather give them away to someone who would love and cherish them and skip the meals they might buy.

So ... what is the value of this quilt? I'm certain at the end of the auction it will go home with a new owner. Even with a struggling economy it will be enough to cover the fabric and supplies. It will remain a good reminder of someones time lived in Japan and spent at the American School. What else? We never know.

Nature inspires

Well, the kimono quilt has been delayed by a day so today we will have a bit of a nature lesson. This little bird is a Mejiro, or known in English as a Japanese white-eye. A common garden bird throughout Japan, they are easily attracted in winter with a piece of fruit, apples or tangerine skewered on some nails poking up through a board on my garden wall. The applique was my first attempt, not too accurate, but after a number of appearances in quilts has gotten better. The carved Mejiro came out of a scrap of wood at the summer jamboree with no photo reference. I have made several low relief carvings of Mejiro as gifts but have no pictures.

The Brown-eared bulbul or Hiodori is another resident that loves a taste of fruit on the feeder.

At my former house I put out a glass of juice and these birds drank it to the very bottom every day, perching on the rim and reaching for the last drop.

This group of pictures are carved in low relief and painted with acrylics. Other birds are three Sparrows and an Oriental greenfinch. Only the Bulbul has yet to make it into a quilt.

The quilting is done .or. many hands make light work!

Today the last stitches were put into the Auction quilt. Next week we will finish the binding and sleeve and hang it at the Early Learning Center so it can be enjoyed by all for a week before the "Gala" on March 12th.

Although many put their hands to the task of piecing and quilting, these smiling faces were on hand for the final stitches. They are also the reason I enjoy, so much, putting time and energy to this project each year. Each of the group has children in the school and is involved in many aspects of life in not only the school but the foreign community as a whole. This is the generation that will be running the world when I am too old and decrepit to make any difference at all. Rest assured, the world will be in good hands and I am very blessed to have known each and every one.

Soooo, stay tuned 'till next week for the last shot and guess what the final finish will be.

A trip back in time

When I began my quilt diary, the pages of a plain paper book were filled one by one with photographs of completed quilts. That was before the days of digital cameras and for most of my quilts those are the only pictures I have. Some of them left home without a picture and I have no record at all.

When the theme for this week's Quilting Gallery contest was given as two-color quilts I thought it a good opportunity to drag this relic to the park and get a picture. Other than the challenge of submitting a picture I have few expectations. Having looked at previous "winners" I suspect the contest has more to do with the number of friends one can rally to vote than either skill or creativity of the quilter.

If you are wondering about this quilt, it is made of Japanese yukata fabrics. (Except for center and sashings) I drafted the 12" blocks for a quilt-as-you-g0 class. The blocks are made and quilted one-by-one and joined at the sashing. Then the sashing is quilted. This is a good take-along project and ideal for someone without much space as it never has to be laid out for basting in this size. (227cm. square). For the backing it works best to use a non-directional busy print that will hide the seams. This quilt has had a lot of wear and held up quite well.

If you click on the Quilting Gallery logo, you can visit the site and see a lot of very nice two-color quilts. Some are really worth checking out.

A run on runners

Too many years ago to remember when, I was teaching a quilt-as you-go class at my church Women's Society and also at the Tokyo American Club. It was a series of nine or ten weekly classes and included selecting and purchasing fabrics and supplies, marking and cutting, piecing and applique, preparing for quilting, quilting blocks, joining blocks, borders, and binding.

The students were, for the most part, wives of ex-pats living in Japan for a few years and looking to make a quilt using Japanese fabrics and patterns. I had drafted patterns for making 12in. blocks that could be made into any size from lap quilts to bed covers. I encouraged those women to pick a realistic size so they could go through the steps and complete their project. I have many photos of finished quilts and their proud makers.

During this time I usually made a demonstration quilt. Most were single bed size. A few were double bed size and still being used on the "guestroom bed". Some were donated to the church for raffle and some are still hanging out in the closet.
The Ohio star runner was a small demonstration piece. My coffee table at that time was an irregular slice of redwood stump and did not lend itself to runners of any kind. Moving back to our smaller home, the stump was replaced with a real coffee table originally purchased for my Mother-in-law. Out of the box came the runner, a bit small for this table but happy to see the light of day.

Last year's Jan/Feb issue of McCalls Quilting Magazine had a pattern for the heart banner. Thinking that would make a nice table runner I dragged out my stash and changed the pattern around to be made by hand and use a pieced background. (didn't have enough of the fabric I liked) When I saw the Quilting Gallery's Weekly Theme was asking for Valentine quilts I decided to give this runner a bit of exposure. I have only won one contest in my entire life (not a quilt contest either) and don't expect this effort to get more than one vote but it is fun to see what others are making and check out the links to their blogs.

Looking around at all the neat runners you guys out there in blogland are making, I was forced (or shamed) to make a runner for Fall and also the Holidays. Now I have a bit of change on my coffee table and we have come full circle. I have discovered in this tiny house, the coffee table is a good place to put quilt projects. I like small take-along work and have lots of ideas running around kicking in my brain.

This final runner is one I made for Tanya who so kindly made one for me with the Chinese characters for Fukuda and the verse from Psalm 128.2 "..Your fields will produce, and you will be happy..." (I wanted to add a link but it is not working so check my blog list) Anyway, when I was putting my box of batiks away, I came across a long-lost tin of food prints and it seemed to me that, if not my fields, at least my closet had produced and Tanya should get a cut. Thus, a bit of food for her table and some cats to guard it. Not that she doesn't have plenty of real life cats. As an interesting aside, when my son set up my diary into a blog, he went somewhere on the Internet and put some links on the side to do with quilting. Tanya's was one of those so she has been on my blog as long as I have ... perhaps longer since I didn't get involved at all until I returned to Tokyo at the end of the summer.

I wonder if you quilters and bloggers out there have any idea of the part you play in not only my quilt life but my daily life too. Thanks for your in-put, your inspiration, and your encouragement.

Playing favorites

I frequently see bloggers claiming favorites. Favorite fabric lines, favorite colors, favorite patterns, favorite techniques ...so many favorite things out there but not too much mention of needles.

My all time favorite needle is made by S.Thomas & Sons of Studley England. I used to buy them at a place called Quilt House Yama that has closed years ago. Before it closed I went out there and bought up the rest of their supply of my favorite "betweens" is whatever size they had left. Last year at the Tokyo Dome I found a booth carrying that brand and bought one pack. This year I looked and looked but it was just too crowded to see what brand of anything was in those stalls no matter how many times I roamed the aisles.

Yesterday our group met to work on the auction quilt. No pictures to share but being our first quilting day, everyone was dealing with fluffy batting and backing that shows every stitch. (or space where stitch does not go through) This is going to be a big challenge.

We had two packs of needles to select from. One of them broke too easily and the other bent.

Somewhere in that batting is the tip of a needle. My magnetic needle case contains those less favorite needles. The little fish is meant for soy sauce but I carry it in my sewing box to hold all those pieces of broken needles. I have been to a shrine in the Tokyo area where broken needles are brought to thank the Gods for their hard work and sacrifice. Now why would I thank that needle that didn't give me more than two hours work!

Last of the crests

The last three crests are done. My stubborn determination has paid off. These three are fuji or wisteria, fuji cho or a wisteria butterfly, and tomoe or a triple swirl. The swirl was quite easy to quilt. It is part of the Fukuda crest and I appliqued it twice on quilts in 1992 but found it a whole lot more friendly to quilt.

The wisteria was easier than I thought it would be. I had some issue with the butterfly. As a person who tends to straighten pictures on the wall or bulletin board, I was about to make the butterfly straighten up and fly right. When I went back to the source material, I found the tip was intended. It took more than a little strength to leave it that way. Now I am wondering how many people will complain that it is crooked.

Tomorrow I can take the work to school so the hands can get an early start on Tuesday. My next task will be all those triangles around the outer edge. I think we put bamboo leaves the last time we had triangles to fill. I am sure I did not save any pattern so that may end up as my Monday evening work drafting some patterns to choose from.

Certainly I have discovered that setting goals for myself works better than alowing others to set them for me. I have noticed that when I fall short, the most likely reason is that I didn't want it badly enough. Outside pressure and expectations are more likely to turn me off. My stubborn and contrary side is peaking through.

six more done - three to go!

Some of these were easy to do but some were just plain fussy. Here are spatter dock with leaves and tendrils, Pines with snow ring,

wave - coin, waves,

Chinese bellflower, and cherry
Of the three left to do, one is quite easy, three whirls. The other two will have to be completely re-drawn. I think one is a wisteria and the other a wisteria butterfly.

I am beginning to hit my stride. Though I usually quilt about 8 to 9 stitches to the inch, that is not only impossible with this batting but would make the rest of the work to be done by our team look out of sinc. About 5 stitches to the inch is probably a better size and that is what I have been trying to attain although it is a bit harder in the fussy areas. Luckily the group will not use a hoop and will be stitching in-the-ditch for the most part. By the time we reach the border, everyone should be in stride.

I am hoping to finish the remaining blocks by Sunday night so I can take the quilt to school on Monday when I go to teach. That way, I can rest my fingers for Tuesday's meeting and can take a later (meaning less crowded) train.

There is a bit of a joke in finishing because everyone knows what a stubborn hard-headed type I am. When someone says I can't do something I work to prove them wrong. I had not thought about that until the end came in sight but one of the group said,"I'll bet you can never get those blocks quilted in a week", and laughed saying I just might get it done to prove her wrong.

Four more done

Plum, cherry, crane, and palonia are quilted in.
nine more blocks left to go!

This seems to be taking forever...

My fingers want to stop but I keep thinking how good it will feel to have this part completed.

Quilting begun

So, here is what is going into the rest of those blue squares. Each will have a different crest design. Some are fairly easy and a few are quite detailed making the quilting a bit difficult to do

These crests are intersecting cloves, maple leaf, rabbit in the moon, chrysanthemum , cloves of Japanese ginger, and ginkgo leaves. I am still fumbling a bit with stitch length because it is difficult to quilt through the rather thick batting and catch enough of the backing.

Some of the remaining crests are pretty fussy and a few will have to be redrawn.

My hope is to meet the expectations of the group and move the project to a point where we will not face panic at the eleventh hour.

Tuesday progress

Today we basted the quilt. We had to lay it out on the floor because the school multipurpose room was not available. I did not take pictures of six or seven mothers on their knees in an apartment kitchen getting that sandwich together.
I'm sure anyone who has done that task can figure out what it looked like.

Now the quilt has followed me home and I will work on the crests in the plain blue blocks and maybe finish the quilting on the middle blocks that will be more difficult to reach when we meet next week around a table.

The batting is thinsulate which is easy to quilt but a bit thicker than I might like. I wish I had not started in the middle as I am finding it hard to adjust the stitch size so that the design will show well. I do not think my usual sized stitches will go through with enough regularity. If we have enough time at the end, I may do some of this over.

Our master piecer joined the borders so perfectly. I am in awe! ( and ironed all the seams.) Kendra, you are a wizard! So ... off we go ... five weeks ... is that right?

ASIJ quilt progress

Today we finished sewing the top together and decided the borders.

This is the time of year I start looking at what we have done and counting backwards from the finish date. I have not yet hit the panic button. Next week we plan to baste and will begin to quilt. Each of the dark blue squares will have a crest quilted in white. (my homework) The little kimono blocks will be quilted in group sessions (in the ditch)and the border will have a simple quilt design as yet to be decided but most likely with white in the diagonal white squares.

We have had very good turnouts of willing hands. Some are new and a few are "old timers" having helped with one or more quilts in the past. Gambaremasho!

one thing one week challenge

I hardly need a challenge to get things done but when Amy amyscreativeside.com posted her one week challenge, I figured it would be reasonable to finish the last blocks for this batik "round and round" quilt and lay them all out in a space bigger than I have at home. I was handed this kit by a quilting friend over the summer so I would have something to travel with and thought by adding my own stash I could make it large enough for my daughter's bed. This is not the final layout. I will allow my daughter to decide that in March. So...what was the hurry? We climb the mountain because it's there.

Refreshed and moving on to the next project

This weekend was theWomen's Conference in the lovely hills of Izu Southwest of Tokyo. This yearly conference was started many years ago by missionary wives from all denominations all over Japan for a bit of relaxation, renewal and inspiration. Though not a missionary, I have been a hanger-on to these conferences over the years and as the years rolled by, many have retired and left Japan and many more non-missionaries have joined. This year the planning committee had movers and shakers from our sub-group which has almost become the majority.

The theme this year was Health and Healing Mind Body and Spirit. There were too many workshops to choose from and friends to do them with. The new banner as well as it's companion banner and the banner made a few years ago were all hung.

Although I did not go into a lot of detail about this year's banner, it had it's beginning years ago in a friendship forged at this conference. Carol Sack, a missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1982 is involved in the field of Pastoral Harp through a project called Lyra Precaria. She and her colleagues offer prayerful presence through harp and voice, mainly to persons who might be ill or dying. For many years she has been asking (suggesting/nagging) me to make a banner of David. When I began to think of making a banner for this conference, I came across the printed Psalm fabric and thinking nothing could be better for healing than the Psalms, (and perhaps God was doing a bit of nagging as well) came up with the banner I have been working on the past few months.

Needless to say, the women, but more so, Carol were very pleased. Now Carol is doing classes and lectures all over Japan and was very happy to take over custody of that banner and it's companion. It seemed that was a better solution for everyone than having one more banner rolled up on a shelf most of the year. It will get used and enjoyed by many and if I ever have need of it, I know where it is. She has a class on the Psalms this week so the banner will not have to be stored at all. If it comes back to the conference, I do not have to bring it.

Of course there was take-along-work. I took a challenge to complete the blocks for the batik quilt and finished the last one this morning so I could lay them all out on the floor where there was a big space and no dog hair. There seems to be one orphan block left over. I have decided to finish this quilt for my Yonbanme. (fourth daughter) Just before leaving for the conference I learned she will be visiting in March so I did not spend a lot of time arranging the blocks. She will do a much better job of it than I ever would.

Now refreshed in mind, body and spirit, I have returned to finish the on-going projects and find more take-along work.

It's in the mail

From my earliest years I loved dolls. I got a teddy bear for my first Christmas and from then on, almost every photo of me includes one doll or another. I learned to sew at a very early age because my dolls needed changes of clothes, coats, hats, sweaters, bedding, you name it - I made it. My dolls were my world.

Now I have dear granddaughters that love dolls even from an early age. When I was told Naomi could use a doll quilt for her birthday, what more could I do? I think this quilt even has fabric from her own baby quilt. I see also bits from Uncle and Aunt's quilts. There was a bit of pink left from the Hawaiian Wedding quilt to even make a pillow. It will be happier in a doll bed than on the ironing board. So...Happy Birthday Sweetheart. I wish I could have put myself into that envelope!

Flattered by Feature

Today the ASIJ quilt is featured on Quilt Inspiration - .If you have never visited this site and are looking for ideas or inspiration, you should take a peek. I could spend lots of quilting time brousing on the past features.

All kinds of HAPPY

Little did I know when my son set up a "blog" what I was in for other than simply letting my kids see what I had made. At that time, he pulled up a couple of quilt blogs already in existence and posted them along the side of my page. Where did he get those names? Was it only an accident or does God really work that way in our lives.

Some were like shops promoting themselves or long arm quilters looking for work but the first ones I read were Taniwa and Stitchin By The Lake. It was some time later I figured out what it meant to become a "follower". That may sound dumb to you but most of my friends my age don't even have a computer.

Now I am part of a virtual quilting group and that makes me happy but if you have not read either of these blogs, I will attempt at the end to add a link because you must see that they are about much more than quilting and have connected up those loose ends that seem to fill our lives. The first picture brings the happiness off those friendships. The Lovely pile of goodies sitting by my plant and coffee cup were sent by Marlene. The cozy hot pad she made with her own hands and is almost too dear to use. The other mini quilt on the table was made by Tanya. It has the kanji (characters) for my name. Fuku brings fortune and happiness and Ta or Da is a paddy field. She then selected a Psalm to print around the words. And such a perfect one it is! I am still blown away by the friendship of these two women who went to such lengths to make me happy.

Next you will see that the Psalm banner is DONE. I finished yesterday but it was much too windy to take a picture. Don't zoom in to closely because you will see a lot of threads and dog hair but when I returned from school today the weather was just fine for getting that picture and I grabbed the ladder, the banner, and the dog and raced to the park. As I was hanging it I saw the generous amount of dog hair covering every area.

Lest you think the dog must be bald by now ... here is my assistant, Nikko, guarding the work from the little kids with the frisbee. (Or maybe thinking she'd like to play with the frisbee too.)

And here is one more reason to rejoice. Today the little kimono blocks were complete and we began to arrange them on the floor. The dark blue blocks in between will be quilted with family crests. Today we copied them to the blue and then arranged everything into rows for assembling.

These last pictures are arranging and pinning.

Since there were only a few left to mark, we decided to get that part of the process done so we can get it all together and start on the quilting.
To mark the crests on the dark fabric, we centered the paper copies where they were to go. Then we went over the lines in the paper with a ballpoint pen. After picking up the paper, there was a line depression where the pen had drawn and we went over it a second time with a white chalk pencil. The Japanese sewers often mark fabric with a "hera"which is similar in that it leaves a light line in the fabric. This is quite useful but requires good lighting and may be difficult to see on figured fabric.

We had a good turnout for the work and you can see the happiness on the faces of the remaining three that we were able to get this much done.

So, now you see the blessings the day has brought. Thank you for being my virtual quilt group. Thank you to Marlene http://stitchinbythelake.blogspot.com/

and Tanya http://tttl1998.blogspot.com/ (check them out now, if you haven't already) And smile for the joy that quilting brings and the friendships that blogging brings too.

New year's wishes in picture form

I am beginning to realize, since I began this blog, that my little picture notebook I had been using as a diary all these years is missing a large number of small quilted items. Probably I did not consider these things to be "quilts" as they didn't go onto beds.

Here is a little hanging I made years ago. I can't remember when it was made but I do remember the little blocks were in a set to be embroidered. The center block contains rather stylized characters for New year's greetings with parts of the characters made of pine, plum, and bamboo, an auspicious combination representing evergreen, constancy, straight nature Other blocks in order contain a dog (a common gift for children wishing a healthy growth of children, loyalty and intelligence), A top (a traditional New Years toy representing non-stopping motion),A mallet of good fortune, a fan with pine (evergreen opening up), a traditional new years decoration that stands outside the gate, a gourd sake bottle (celebration) A kite and a battledore both traditional new years games.

In this small hanging about 18 inches square with its many hidden meanings, one could truly say, "a picture is worth a thousand words". If you find this strange, the food that is eaten in the traditional New Years meal is even more full of double and tripple meanings.