Getting ready for Christmas

Monday was my usual 4:am onigiri delivery ... going out to the parking lot in some light rain.

By the time I returned to the parking lot after the delivery, rain was falling heavily and I returned home with one very wet dog.

With a bit of time to mop up and change clothing, I was off to school.

It was nice to be back after a long break...  My boss having taken time off after having her baby.

The rain stopped during the afternoon but by the time I got home it was dark and I was tired. It was all I could do to take care of the dog and heat up a bit of dinner before hitting the sack.

Tuesday I finished assembling the 4th border for the feedsack quilt and hand stitched it in place. I am quite happy with the results so far. It is sitting on the sofa while I consider the next step and get to work on something more urgent.

My #1 daughter had the original Advent calendar, made when my kids were small. A year or two earlier, I made a new hanging to replace the old one that had been made of felt and not outlived the moths. Then, the hanging items that had been made of home-made clay succumbed to the test of time  ... so this year I had decided to carve wooden ornaments like I had made for the other kids.

I cut the pieces from wood during the summer while I had my electric saw out at summer camp and began roughing out the figures. Half were stashed in a baggy ready to be fine tuned and half in another baggy waiting to be roughed out. Well, My daughter lives in Oregon and an Advent calendar needs to begin on December first ... so ... this is going to have to make it into the mail soon. The time for dithering is over!

Today I finished roughing out the second half and then worked on sanding and putting in the detail. Tomorrow I will begin the painting. It will take several coats of paint because it soaks into the wood. Then I will have to put in the hanging loops and coat them with about five coats of varnish. Hopefully I can have them all boxed up and ready to fly by the end of the week.

When I laid them on the tray for a picture, I noticed one was missing. Where could it have gone? Maybe it fell off the table into the wastebasket with the wood chips. I had dumped that basket into the waste bin with the garbage ... so, first thing to do was go through all that stuff and check. Yuck! Well, I didn't find it there, so I began to look under furniture and other stuff where I was working. Finally I did find it down in the sofa ... just as I was wondering if it would take less time to cut a second one.

Now all are ready to begin the painting. My fingers have a few nicks. When I teach the scouts woodcarving, I tell them what they will probably be doing if they get a cut. cutting toward themselves, being distracted, trying to cut off too much at once, working when tired, and rushing to finish. Yep. Rushing when tired is dangerous. I have made bench hooks for the scouts to use to hold their work so they don't need to cut toward themselves but I didn't bother to go and get one for myself. One bandaid later ....

If the sun comes out tomorrow, I hope to get a picture of the quilt so far,   Hopefully I can get the painting done before I have to run off to choir practice, and I am really happy to get this far with the end in sight.

A bit of sun and a bit of progress

Taking advantage of some rainy days, three borders have now been added to the feed sack quilt.

Once it is ready for quilting, I plan to add a bit of embroidery to the border.

I am considering a one-inch outer border made from strips of leftover feedsack fabrics. Not quite sure if it is needed or the fabrics would be strong enough for the wear edges get.

I have also been thinking of centers for the flowers in the borders. I had thought of vintage buttons but they might get caught on things once it is on a bed.
Then I thought of making small yoyos. They were rather popular back in the days of feed sacks.



The flowers and butterflies and vines are now pinned in place on the last border.  This can be rather addictive but I will have to take a break to finish a whittling project that needs to be in the mail within a few weeks.

Cool fall days have replaced the sauna of summer ... a sudden swing from t-shirts to a down jacket.
A few more layers above the quilt on my bed ...

The last Sunday in October, I met with my scouts at the entry tori gate to the Meiji shrine.

The plan was to cover the requirements for rank advancement in the area of "Duty to God".

Luckily my assistant had printed out the requirements for different ranks so we were able to run through them all.

The requirements are written for BSA members assuming everyone has access to materials in their own language and belong to a church. My group, being from  all different countries is not likely to find a book  in their school library to read about the pilgrims.

We had to learn a song and a prayer ... fine for those with church traditions.
My goal in choosing the Meiji shrine was the long meditative walk through beautiful nature.
There were lots of tourists and worshipers too. We could talk about respect for religions other than our own and how both Shinto traditions and Buddhist traditions and holidays are part of the local culture.

We observed at least three wedding processions.


We saw children dressed in Kimono to celebrate an early "Shichi-go-san"... the 7, 5, 3, age celebration for children...

Another procession coming through the gate...

                               
                                      A display of chrysanthemums.

                                 Another display of bonsai and mini garden layouts....

                                            Cases of Japanese sake, donated to the shrine ...

And, across from the sake,  a display of casks of wine donated by winemakers.  I guess there will be plenty to serve all those wedding guests.

It was a very long walk to the inner area and back and the kids still had plenty of energy at the end. I was glad to sign off their books after covering their remarks. (and glad to get a seat part of the way home). With so many days of rain, we were lucky to have a dry day for the outing.

Then rain set in again until Saturday when we had a weed-a-thon. Three bags of weeds now waiting for tomorrow's trash collection and multiple service hours for our unit...

Somewhere in between I fit in a birthday with a big multiple skype with my kids. I think I needed a bigger screen to get everyone in view. What a joy!

The cookie fairy showed up and put in a day of hard work ... and a few got left for me to share with friends.

And, if I needed to feel even more loved,


... look at all the flowers that joined the party...

Not much room left for meals on that table...

Well, time to wind my clock and get back to the tasks at hand.

Rainy day flowers

A week of rain means progress on the feed sack quilt border.

I wanted to use some of the smaller feed sack scraps in the quilt and I thought an applique border would be a good way to do it.

This is the first long border, now all stitched and ready to add to the quilt.

I have begun selecting flower petals for the second long border and once they are in place, I will add the vines and leaves.

The top and bottom borders will also have flowers and I am thinking of adding a butterfly to each corner. Somewhere I saw a picture of a vintage quilt with butterflies made from feed sack fabrics. I think I made a sketch of the design but have yet to find which book I sketched it in.
Well, there is still time to find it as that will come at the end of the last borders.



Tuesday, while basting flower petals, I watched the enthronement ceremony of the new emperor on TV.

It was very serious and formal, and just as the deep purple curtains of the canopied throne were being pulled apart to reveal him in all his glory, the rain that had been falling for days came to a halt.

Then, a bit later, as he unfolded and began to read the written proclamation of his ascension, the sky turned a bright blue with the sun shining through my curtains.
I heard from a friend that he had seen a rainbow along with the sun.

The rain has now returned in force, but it was nice to have an opportunity to air my bedding in the sun and hang my wash.

I am wondering how the weather went so suddenly from a sauna to sitting indoors in a light down jacket. The dogwood trees in the park are dropping bright red leaves but others have yet to turn color.

The Hototogisu, named after the spotted Little Cuckoo, has begun to bloom in the front hedge and along the garden path.

In english it is called Hairy Toad Lily. The best part of this flower, beyond its beauty, is it is fine with excess shade and thrives on neglect.

This one has come up amid the azalea bushes along the west side of the house, making up for the lack of blooms (only one flower along the whole length of hedge) this year.

Tomorrow we will fill our rainy day time with a visit from the "Cookie Fairy". The expected produce to be Halloween cookies. Whoever would have thought Japan would have embraced that holiday!!!
Certainly, it was unheard of years ago, and even when my own kids were young, we could actually enjoy a meal without having to jump up and run to the door for trick-or-treaters.

rainy day work

Between train rides into town and down time at home, the feedsack stars got joined together.

I was a bit worried I would not be able to get all those points to meet, and was even thinking of adding sashing, but this time I am satisfied with the results. Each star has two setting fabrics matching at least two of the colors in the print. Two weeks ago I laid the blocks out on the floor of the church fellowship hall before choir practice and tried to get a good balance of colors.

This is a rather dull picture taken on the park fence on a very cloudy morning. In fact, it began sprinkling as I took the quilt down and started home. Actually, the blocks look a lot brighter.

Some facebook group friends said I should finish this without a border but I am considering an applique using the leftover feedsack scraps. Maybe on a muslin solid. To my thinking, a border would hold all these randomly colorful blocks together. Somewhere I saw some simple flowers that used a variety of prints... and maybe a vine and leaves. There is no rush so I may experiment a bit before I decide. Maybe I can find some inspiration in my collection of books...

The weather predictions include more rain in the forecast. It has actually turned rather cold and I added a light down comforter to the quilt on my bed. I was rather looking forward to something between the sauna days of summer and pulling out winter sweaters.

Indoor work

When typhoons bring wind and rain, sometimes it works for the best.

In preparation for the typhoon, I checked up on my outdoor plants.

This night-blooming cereus has been producing a big bud, and since I missed the bloom on the last one, I didn't want this one ruined by wind and rain so I brought it inside and put it on the bookcase above my futon.

Lots of things were cancelled because of the looming storm, but I decided to go on with my Cub pack meeting on Friday evening. We cancelled our raingutter regatta because it needs to take place outside on the roof of the American Club and not so good in wind and rain.
The regular meeting went well with new members joining, and we ended in time for families to go home without worry of storms.

Saturday, I was to sing with a small choral group at a wedding. It was probably a good call, but sad that the wedding was postponed. I feel sorry for the family who had put so much into the planning, but I enjoyed being able to attend my English class and be nearby for any possible wind events.

As it turned out, my area was not hit hard. Lots of rain fell, and as I was taking Nikko out regularly for her business trips, I was able to clear the sewer drains to keep the walkways from becoming lakes.

The wind gusts were not so hard, but I could hear much stronger wind screaming high above. None of the plants blew off the wall. One wet dog spent her time inside.

 The night-blooming cereus rewarded me for it's rescue...

and, to tell the truth, I might have missed the bloom had it been outside.

I have to admit it was a bit hard to turn off the light and shut my eyes.

It blows my mind that a flower this lovely only opens in the dark of night and blooms for only a few hours. By morning it was a hanging finished bulb.

It causes me to wonder what beauty we miss each day because our attention is elsewhere ...
so many things that are here and gone before getting our attention...
even people who are here and gone before we really get to know them...






Morning brought bright blue skies and sun. Though many trains were not yet running, I was able to attend church, and there were enough parts in the choir to sing Monteverdi's beautiful "Beatus vir" with flute and violin joining the accompaniment.

With extra indoor time, I was able to work on this year's Stewardship banner.

The quilted words at the bottom, "Anywhere, Lord, any time, don't show up with this lighting but will be at eye level when it is hung.

This is taken from the spiritual. I added a few extra four-letter words to fill the cross.

I thought the background would be more interesting than a solid color, and in a way, represents the theme as it takes a variety of many colors to make a rainbow and a variety of talents to keep a church active.

I still need to add the hanging sleeves and buy some dowels.


I took Nikko to the park water tap and gave her a shampoo so she could dry out in the sun and washed down the genkan and entryway tiles.

Seven rows of feedsack stars are sewed together ... thanks to being able to actually sit on the train with connecting lines being down and people staying home.
And ... what should really be getting my attention? The giant spoon syndrome that had turned my livingroom into an indoor disaster. 

Another finish

Well, the border linked hearts don't really show up very well, but it is now done and bound and labeled and ready to pass to the next step on its way to Austria.

Next in line should be a stewardship banner, and I have a plan in mind, but the committee is yet to discuss let alone approve the plan. Hopefully I won't be backed into the corner at the last minute.

I am thinking of beginning to sew the feedsack blocks together. I need to make one more block and then lay them out for arrangement.

The spider lilies outside my front gate have finally bloomed. I think with so many tall buildings cutting off all but about 30 minutes of sun to the garden has made a big difference on the timing and amount of blooms my small garden produces.

Even the toad lilies are much later producing buds this year.

The weather is a wee bit cooler.
I have been leaving Nikko outside between the front door and the gate during the daytime. The space is a bit bigger than the genkan. Of course she knocks over flowerpots and tracks dirt all over, but it is easier to sweep up than the scrubbing down of the genkan tiles.

Tonight I will leave her out a bit longer until I return from church ... and see how it goes.

Next ...

The big stitch is all done and next on the list is quilting the border.

I pulled out the stencil I made for the last baby quilt, but it was too large to fit this border. I really liked that design so decided to make a new stencil.

I am not sure the stitching will show at all but it showed up on the last busy print so I will keep working.

Hardest part is marking the fabric. My favorite marker is the sewline mechanical pencil but white really doesn't show up well.  The blue on blue is not so good either, though it will stay on the fabric until I put water on the lines with a paintbrush. The purple shows up the best, but because the markings disappear with time ... and the humidity speeds the time ... I have to mark as I go.

I really won't know the total results before I get to the end.

It looks like I will have a bit more time than expected this weekend because, though I had been planning to attend the choir retreat, the facility will not allow dogs ... even if they will be in a car or kennel and not go into buildings. I was planning to take Nikko and sleep with her in the van.
With her declining health, I don't want to hire a sitter and have been taking it day by day. This will be the first time for me to miss the practice and fellowship over many years, so it is a bit sad. I can practice at home and since I don't miss regular weekly practices, I should be able to learn my parts OK.

Though it is still humid, the weather is beginning to cool a bit.

  Today Nikko is enjoying a bit of outdoor time between the front door and the gate. I am trying to manage her meals and walks to reduce the number of times I have to spend scrubbing down the genkan area.

I hope by this time next week I will be looking for binding.

Big stitching has begun

Yesterday I stopped at the local shop and bought white and navy sashiko thread.

Today I finished all the small area quilting and decided to start the big stitch to see how it shows up.

Though this is rather simple, I think it will be a lot easier than trying to mark a design on these busy prints.

The white sewline pencil shows up on all of the dark prints and maybe half of the light ones.

I may have to go shopping for a new ChakoAce in blue or purple ink.
The purple is easier to see but the ink disappears with time ... which is extremely short when there is a lot of humidity. The blue, I can remove with a paintbrush dipped in water.

I still have time to think about how I am going to manage marking the border.

Today is a holiday ... Respect for the aged day. As last year, I began the day delivering onigiri to the homeless. After a break during the hot summer, the homeless guys greeted me most warmly. Many asking me about Nikko, who was waiting in the car as I don't think she would be able to handle two flights of stairs.

The day is gray and rainy and I am rather glad to spend it quilting. My boss is now having her baby and it will be November before I am back to school. Last year I worked on this holiday and even though it was a day for the elderly, there was no chance of sitting on the train either into town or back. These days it would be even harder to get a seat. The trains are beginning to open up the space near the doors and they are doing it by removing "Silver Seats" which are intended for seniors and handicapped or expectant mothers.

Up until now, there have been 8 seats (four on each side) at the ends of each car. Recently the newer cars have just six at one end and three at the other ... making room for baby carts or wheelchairs. In addition, they have moved the hand grips up near the ceiling, out of reach of the majority of elderly people. Even my gorilla arms are not long enough to get a tight hold. Even with 8 seats, the chances of sitting were quite slim as the seats went to the youngest and most aggressive. Then, they pull out their cell phones so as not to see the elderly standing in front. I have often wondered if they have any idea that some day they might be elderly themselves.

From tomorrow, things get hectic so it is good to zone-out on the sofa with a quilt in my lap. Only competition for sitting is piles of sorted fabric and a box of sewing equipment.

Lost in the garden

The in-the-ditch quilting has been finished and now the focus is on quilting within the blocks.

This quilt will be a gift to the mother of a friend for whom I made a baby quilt.
When the mother saw that quilt, she said she had always wanted to have a quilt, and since I had lots of floral prints recently "gifted", and I had wanted to try out the same pattern that I used with the black and white quilts, I thought this would be a good way to thank her for all her wonderful son has contributed to our church family.

Once I began quilting in the smaller sections of each block, I am seeing that with these busy prints, the quilting hardly shows at all.
It will not show on the back either as that is a busy floral print.


I plan to continue what I have started, but am now thinking that using the "big-stitch" quilting that I did on those black and white quilts would show up better.

Maybe I can use white pearl cotton or sashiko thread as before with white on the darker areas and possibly navy blue on the light prints.

With "big-stitch" quilting, it is rather difficult to do fancy work so probably I would just use the outline stitches half an inch inside the seams.

I am thinking of doing the border with the linked hearts that I just used  on the last baby quilt. They showed up fairly well on that busy print, and that would add a bit more "real" quilting.
Do you think it is OK to combine the two styles? Or, should I just do it all in regular quilting whether it shows or not?

Well, I have a bit of time to think it over.....

Progress

This morning the mouse watched the last stitch go into the border of the mandela.

Next I will have to decide on the binding.

I really don't want to spend money so I will have to dig out something from my collection of leftovers.

Red, yellow, grey,...
I may have some rainbow bias left over.



I also took the flower quilt up to the sauna in the upstairs apartment and pin-basted it after piecing the batting.

I was thinking of thread basting it but that would take several more hours and I need to go to get dog food before the rest of my Tuesday schedule hits the fan.
As it is, there is construction going on in my neighborhood and if I take the car as usual, I will need to drag the heavy bag back from the parking area because there is no room for cars to pass to get to my house ... so, I will take the train and a roller-bag as the walking distance is about the same.

I am enjoying these volunteers blooming along the base of my garden wall.

These come up from bulbs and do not produce seeds. The flowers last a few days.

The yellow ones are a bit smaller and also come from bulbs.

You can see the seed pods with three pockets of ripening seeds.

These both begin blooming toward the end of summer and thrive on neglect ... my favorite kind of garden flower.
Maybe some member of the lily family?

Guess I should take some time to go through all my plant books. After all, I have enough of them!

Hoping now for a few cooler days  so I can get that quilt in the hoop and begin to quilt that fabric garden.

Look what flew in

The last critter has now joined the medicine wheel and I am currently adding Celtic knots. I think these will work well with my mandela. No connection with Native American themes, but being a Scouter, I have always been working with knots, teaching knots and braiding the right knot for the right purpose.

Of course the purpose of these knots is to fill  border space, but I like the meaning they represent, eternity, loyalty, faith, friendship, love, and the interconnection of life and our place within the universe. I think that is also fitting with a meditative mandela, so I have been drafting a few knots to fit the spaces on the inner border.
There may be a trinity shaped knot to fill the corner spaces.

I'm not sure where this will end up, but I am enjoying the journey....

Not there yet, but on the way...

I finally went to the local store and could not find any thread I thought would work, so I went back through my pearl cotton collection and pulled out something else. As it turned out, it seems to show up across the colored sections, but I did not have enough to finish the four outer rounds of the labyrinth.  On Tuesday, I made a trip into town to see if I could buy more. The shop didn't have the brand or color of what I was using but I did find something close, and to tell the truth, I can't tell where one left off and the other began.

So... now the labyrinth is overlaid on the medicine wheel. I wanted to  buy shell buttons, and that shop had some beautiful ones, but they were VERY expensive ... over a dollar per button, so I held off on that purchase.

Now I have begun embroidering the animals of the four directions in each corner.

The bear for the North,





                                                     

                                                       The mouse for the South,

and the Eagle for the East.

I still have the owl to work on. I am just embroidering them by quilting with regular black thread.

I'm planning to quilt in the plain areas of the corners but have yet to come up with a design.

I am wondering how adding something Japanese, as many of those have meanings ... like the karakusa that symbolizes longevity and prosperity due to its continual growth. I will have to do a bit of research before I get to that part.
The owl is waiting in line to be stitched.

Meanwhile, dog care has been cutting into my usual schedule. We are both lucky that we are still on a summer schedule and "business trips" and sleep are somewhat negotiable. The weather is weird and the only thing I can say about it is, if you don't like it, wait a few minutes and it will change. The problem is carrying an umbrella which chases the rain away, but leaving it at home and getting dumped on. Dressing for a walk in a sauna and going into a store where you have to grab stuff quickly and get out before your brain freezes over. Ah, well, better to focus on a bit of hand work.

Trying to get my act together

The color for the underworld is green. I dug through a number of greens to use on the backing. I ended up using the one on top of the leaf-print. It has an interesting texture looking like grass.

I drew the four animals in their corners and will see what I can do with thread.

After basting the layers, I looked through my thread collection and found some thread that might work, but not sure there is enough on the card for all I need to do. Well, I decided to walk to the next station where there is a small fabric and stitchery shop. I had held off because they are usually closed on Thursday for part of the day and I thought Friday would be safe. Wrong! They are closed for the week. Maybe Obon holiday ... there was a note pasted to the shutter.
I walked around the neighborhood but there are no other shops ... even the department store ... that have thread or other supplies ... except for the 100 yen store, and not much of a choice there either.

So ... I guess this will be on hold for a few days until I find the kind of thread I envision. I could work on the animals, but was hoping to get the center done first. I also want to find 16 pearl buttons to place at each of the points.

The size is 24 inches square. I kind of wish I had  square table that it could fit. It is a bit too large for a pillow. I could make a hanging, but there is an extreme shortage of wall space in this house

Birding tomorrow with the scouts ... Choir begins on Sunday after a short summer break. One of these days I will get my act together....

Baby steps

Staying at home for a day ... except dog walking and street sweeping ... provides time for other things. My mandela now had a background, though it is not really of the fabric I liked best.

I really do NOT want to buy any more fabric, and the blue I liked best was not big enough to make a background, even if I cut the size. So ... this is the blue I selected. Blue sky in the day, and stars at night.

Next I am planning to put the animals in each corner. Mouse for South (the yellow), Bear in the North, Eagle in the East, and Owl in the west.  Between native tribes, a variety of animals are used with different meanings, but these are the ones that have meaning to me.

The mouse looks closely at things and sees the detail (and I was born in that year)
The eagle soars on high and sees the whole picture, giving a wide perspective.
The bear could be a polar bear or a brown bear. They are prepared to sleep through the winter.
The owl is my spirit helper, guarding me throughout the night.

I have found animal prints I can use in my stash, but all my owl prints are rather comical, so I am now pondering if I should use them or piece something. Maybe if I spent some time cleaning up the mess I have made with all the measuring and re-measuring and pulling out fabrics, the ideas in my head would become clearer.

Not a lot of progress

Last week was Vacation Bible School and I survived as leader of the games. Though the booklet gives a choice of three games each day to fit the theme, most of those involved either water or a large outdoor space. For example, one game involved tossing a beach ball into the air and doing a challenge like "do a pushup and stand back up", Because a ceiling limited how high the ball could be tossed, I bought a variety of balls and some feathers. Then I let the kids come up with a challenge and indicate which item to toss in the air. I think it was more fun than what was in the plan.

Sometimes I think the kids could do a better job of writing that booklet than whoever came up with the original plans

The hardest part of the day was riding the sardine can into town and back each day. I had to be out of the house by 7:am, which meant it was rush-hour and no chance of sitting at all. With Nikko in a declining condition, that also meant getting up at 5:am to walk and feed her and wash down the mess in the genkan. At least tiles are easier to wash than the wooden floor, but a most days I was mopping up pee and couple of times poop... mashed down and tracked all over. One day I came down to scrub up the pee and take her for a walk, only to find a second washing needed as I was on my way out to the train. At the end of the week, Norie and Leia came and stayed over. They took Nikko to the water tap in the park for a washing. Much easier than going with her into the shower.

I have finished sewing the backing for the floral quilt and now just need a space to lay it out for basting. I could use the upstairs apartment floor, but it is way too hot with the power shut off so that project is on hold.

This week I went for the first step of a dental implant. When it was over, I went to the American Club where there was a scheduled Board of Review for an Eagle Scout rank. It was lucky I could make it because had I not gone, there wouldn't have been enough people on the board. It was 10:pm by the time I got home and I was glad to skip dinner and get a good night's sleep.

With weather just too hot and humid to do more than walk the dog, I began my challenge for next time friends meet for the quilt show. Our challenge this time is "Circle".

I am thinking of a native american mandela, or medicine wheel.
I have begun with the four colors representing directions, North, South, East, and West. In the past I have used a form of this for meditating.

I have also spent a few hours daily for sorting and ironing the "gifted" fabrics. I am about finished up with the huge pile of yellows. They had been pulled out originally to work on the sunflowers of the last two table runners.

(actually, those two runners were misplaced on the Pastor's last day and are yet to be found. I wonder if they ran off to South Africa in one of the suitcases.)

So, this is my recovery week and the schedule is more calm than usual. I kind of wish that floral quilt was basted so I could work on it. Typhoon season has arrived but not giving the Tokyo area much other than occasional showers. The garden is happy after a month of heat but it is rather annoying to have to carry an umbrella whenever I go out. ( It seems to hold off the rain but even so, I return wet and dripping from perspiration anyway.)

My Saturday english class is cancelled this week so I may go to the homeless dinner that afternoon. If Nikko is having a good day, I might take the floral quilt to baste on the floor after the meal. It has been a while between posts so it might be nice to have some progress to report.

The volunteer lilies look more like Jack's beanstalk this year.
Maybe trying to get closed to the sun.

The Maple tree leafed out red this year. What I thought was one tree with two trunks, seems to be actually two trees. I am also noticing a difference in the bark as they get older.

This past week the red leaves have been dropping. My neighbor's maple is also dropping leaves. I think many plants are confused by the mixed up weather.

One more finish

The answer is blowin' in the wind ... And a very hot and humid wind at that.
The "Rainy Season" has been officially declared over but the choice of stepping out the door into water falling from the sky or dripping from your brow makes staying inside to work on projects much more attractive.

Monday I went shopping for some bias tape but there was nothing close to the blue-green inner border. Somehow the light purple seemed to want to do the job and the farther I went in the sewing, the more I liked that choice. The linked hearts went rather quickly and, even with the busy print , seem to show up more than expected.

The size is 54" x 57". When I make quilts to gift to babies, I never know how or if they will be used. I think the I-Spy aspect will make it fun and it is big enough to toss over a sleeping child. I still have to add a label but I have plenty of time before it needs to be presented.

Next in line will be piecing the backing for the floral quilt, then getting it basted so I can begin quilting. In the meantime ... Vacation Bible School games need to be finalized for next week and a dental implant in the line-up  following that. August is just arriving but my calendar is filling up with each day.

Done with dithering

The center hexagons and triangles are all quilted in the ditch and I have moved to the final border.

Yesterday I sorted through my collection of border stencils both purchased and home made. I had been thinking of a feathered pattern but all the ones I have were either too large or too busy.  I had a diamond cable that fit but I really had wanted more curving lines. There is also a bit of a challenge marking that wild fabric.

Finally I decided to draft some linked hearts. I cut a plastic stencil and I am now on the second side.
The disappearing ink is hard to use when it is so humid, but I can follow one line to the end of the thread and then stitch the second line, marking just a few hearts as I go along.

This takes me way back to when I was a kid, made to take a nap on my parent's bed (my twin got the bunk bed). I still remember following the quilting lines with my finger. This one would have been a winner, maybe seeing how many times I could circle the border before I was allowed to get up.

We have a bit of sun today with a lot of heat but more rain is predicted from tomorrow throughout most of next week. I have to keep moving so I don't rust and this is a great way to do it.

Back on track

For at least a week, this I-Spy quilt had been sitting on my ironing board while I dithered over how to press these seams.

Finally, with a little encouragement from quilting friends I bit the bullet and starting at the left side, just pressed all the seams, one row at a time, up and to the right.

After digging through all my donated fabric, I found some that would work for the backing but all the ones that might make a nice outer border were too small.

Thursday, I decided to go to Nippori "Fabric Town" and see if there was anything in one of those shops that might make a good border.

I didn't find anything like I had in mind but I kept going back to a colorful piece that looked as if someone had tossed the color at it and splattered it around.  This quilt is for my boss's expected baby and my boss is an art teacher at the pre-school. Though I taught art for a number of years, my style was big on representational drawing, so I am always amused at this teacher's approach that is what I would call "paint-flinging". Much of what the kids do is just that ... dumping or pouring or spraying colors at the canvass or paper. And, since she uses acrylic paint, most of my non-prep time is spent cleaning up after the class. Well, the fabric was made in Japan and not as expensive as the imports, and since I didn't find anything else that would work, I bought a couple meters of the wild print.

Saturday, after english class,I went up to the empty apartment and laid out the quilt with six-inch borders added. On top of that I laid out and pieced some thinsulate batting. Then I laid out and cut the backing for piecing. It was so hot and humid that I was mopping up the dripping sweat from the floor, so brought the backing back down to my living room to do the sewing.

Sunday afternoon I went back up and laid out the backing, then started basting from the center out. By the time it was almost too dark to see to thread the needle I decided to call it quits. The power is off in that apartment and I thought I had enough basting done. I brought the quilt back to my sofa and put it in the hoop, deciding to work from the center outward.

Now I have a couple more rounds to go and then I will be able to mark the outer border. Maybe I will use a feathered design or one I have drafted and made into stencils. The baby is due in the fall but I am glad to be far enough along that the pressure is off and I can enjoy the process.
I still have the floral quilt waiting in line. Next on that will be piecing the backing. Now I am contemplating what I can use for take-along work. In two weeks I will have lots of train-time into town and back for a week of Vacation Bible School. The feed-sack blocks are still waiting to be arranged but since they have already waited so long for their time to shine, a bit longer shouldn't bother them. At least they are now a "Work In Progress".

When the dust settles...

It has been a real busy few weeks. My Son-on-loan, who arrived before I took off for Scout camp, took off for the states a week ago.

Son, Jon and his family flew in on the 26th of June, right after my return from camp and, from then on until they left last Friday, there was a full schedule.

We started off with lots of family time ... mostly over meals.
Our first and last were at a local soba-ya, but in between there was a lunch with my SIL and her family on the top of the tall ku-office building. a huge gathering of extended family celebrating Jon's birthday and the graduation of twin cousins.


The kids were taken to lots of basic sight-seeing places, made a trip to Lake Nojiri (a place we had spent bits of many summers) where they biked around the lake in the rain, and the Great Buddha in Kamakura where they hiked a long pilgrim's trail in the mud. (Well, that is what you get in a week of rain) .

Because Nikko is in a decline and needs to be walked at regular intervals, I did not accompany many of these trips.

Staying close to home, I was able to finish off these two table runners or banners to be presented to the two retiring staff of our church.

This one will go to our receptionist.

The 27 yellow petals, made of 27 different fabrics represent her years on the job.

The heart shaped leaves show our love.

The 27 flower print blocks in the  border represent those members who have come and gone over those years.

I ended up quilting the background with a "Karakusa" vine design. This is a popular symbol of longevity and prosperity owing to its strength and perpetual growth.

I look at it as if that vine binds us all together.

The second one will go to the secretary after 25 years of service.

Basically they are alike ... though the border florals are different.

The batting I selected was something that came from a friend and I have no idea what it is. It resembles a light felt and could be cotton.
I chose it because the piece was just the size of the two runners but once I began the quilting, I quickly regretted my choice. It was quite difficult to quilt through and get small stitches. It is certainly something I would not recommend for hand-quilting. Maybe I am spoiled from my continual use of thinsulate.

When I see batting sold in stores, it is always packed in plastic and there is no way of knowing how it will work.
I see on facebook there are always people asking for advice and some of the recommendations from some people are criticised by others so it would be rather impossible to find the right one without spending money on something that might work like this one.

I really become rather anxious when given projects that contain deadlines and feel quite relieved when, like these two, I can turn them over as finished.

The next deadline on my list was my block for the partnership quilt,

due by the end of this month.

The theme is my favorite animal.

Well, Nikko might be a bit disappointed in this one, but considering my relationship with owls, I had to use this.

The Ohio cardinal who has been a part of each block over the years wanted to be in the block and he brought along a friend to celebrate.

Actually, in real life, two male cardinals would be attacking each other so the owl is a good distraction.
Next walk with Nikko will be to the post office to get this in the mail and I am glad to cross that off my list.

Saturday I was able to move my english lesson to the morning so I could attend a concert.

Actually it was a recital that included my granddaughter, Leia, playing the harp.
She played a number of selections with skill and grace.
I am amazed how harpists can keep up the rhythm while continually reaching up to flip levers to change the pitch.
It sure makes a piano look a lot simpler.

Here she is, perched on the edge of a high chair where her feet don't even reach the floor.
Her lovely outfit was made specially for the occasion by her talented grandmother. (the one who knows how to use a machine)

Just look at the lace on that top!  I am completely in awe of both the musician and her dressmaker.

It was a lovely afternoon and Nikko was kind enough to wait until I returned home to take her potty break.

And ....

I have to add one picture of the first blooms from the bulbs that came to me from Norie on Mother's day.

These are on the east side of the house that gets more sun and the first of multiple bulbs to bloom. Usually I miss out getting pictures of blooms. There is still one to open and another plant to the left.

Those to the west will probably be a bit later. I rather like that they do not compete for attention but seem to bloom one-at-a-time.


So now I am back on schedule, working on the baby quilt with plenty of time to spare. The house is quiet again and most of the dog hair is in the entryway, as Nikko is now limited in access to the house. As she keeps walking in small circles, the tile floor is large enough, cool, and easier to wash than wood flooring.

So ... now for a quick walk to the PO before the rain sets in again ...

When life gets in the way ...

With the last days of school came the rush to load up the van with items needed for a week of scout camp. I was luckily able to bring the van closer to home so I didn't have to carry all my gear so far to the parking space.
I had been thinking of going early on Saturday, but Friday evening I had my Cub scout pack meeting and it was after 11:pm when I returned home. After checking the camp schedule, I figured I would have plenty of time to set up the craft area before my classes began so I took the morning to finish loading the car and went to my afternoon english class before loading up the bird and the dog and setting out.

Nikko is gradually becoming more and more overtaken by doggy dementia. After a week of blocking her from going upstairs where she was ruining the floor by constant wetting, I tried the entryway for a few days but that wasn't going to work either and I was wasting a big part of each day washing and waxing the floor and picking poop from between the floorboards with a toothpick.

I hauled the big crate into the entrance ... leaving about ten inches to pass through into the house. The crate helped a bit at night but I was getting up very early to take her out for her morning walk and she was still wetting her bed ... which I finally threw out.
When the day is without rain, I put her outside between the front door and the gate. In a way it was good to have her outside but she keeps walking in tight circles and steps in the water dish and knocks over the planters and all the tiles were wet and filthy. This afternoon I put her in the entry and scrubbed down the outside tiles.

I had to disassemble the crate and load that in the car to use at camp. In the past I have tied her up at the door of the craft area on a long lead but since she keeps walking in circles whenever she is awake, the leash would kink up and if it didn't choke her, it might get all wrapped up around her legs.
When the kids were coming and going from the room, I put her in the crate but during class time, I let her just circle the room until she lay down for a nap.

One day, some boys came in looking for the store (which was not open) at the corner of the craft room. They left the door open and I was busy working with the merit badge finishes and recording progress. During that time, Nikko wandered out and no one said a thing to let me know. It was later when the class ended when I discovered her gone. There were scouts all over but no one had seen her. Some leaders made the rounds of all the roads by car but she was not spotted anywhere. One would think a large white dog might be spotted but with many people looking, she was not seen. I was really afraid I had lost her without a chance to say good-bye.

Then, one of the leaders in a quiet golf cart , far outside of camp, heard the sound of her chain hitting the cement and got off to look through the thick bamboo. He found her at the bottom of a two-meter deep ditch, built long ago during the war to take water run-off from the hills down to the stream running into the Tama river.

The guy came back to camp to get me and took me down to where he had seen her. Yes, she was still there walking in tight circles at the bottom of the ditch. After fighting my way through the thick bamboo, I found a tree at the top of the concrete wall, grabbed on to the lower trunk, and hung on, dropping until I was straight down and then letting go to drop to the bottom. Luckily, the days before had been sunny even though rain had been predicted for the whole week and the ditch was relatively dry.
I put the lead on Nikko and tossed the end up to the guy who had brought me there. He pulled her up while I shoved her back end up until she could get all four feet at the top. Well, then I had to get myself out. The walls were too steep with no place to grab with hands or feet. I walked up along the bottom back toward the camp and after passing through a number of tunnels, found a tree that had fallen across the top of the trench. I was able to jump and grab the tree, then swung one leg over the tree ... perched rather riskily and thinking what to do next when another scouter came over and grabbed a tree with one hand and my right hand with the other. I could swing my left leg up so that I was sitting on the tree. Then a third scouter came and grabbed my other hand and I was rescued to solid ground. The whole event was so far from camp that no one would ever have heard that dog had she barked. How she got that far when she usually walks in circles, I will never know.
The last day of camp she escaped again and was found heading down the road in the same direction. Luckily I had seen she was gone and run after her, calling for two scouts to grab her collar.

Other than issues with Nikko, the camp went well and the only real rain fell as I was packing up my car at the end. I decided to leave without waiting for dinner and the campfire (which didn't happen in the rain) and was able to get some items un-loaded before taking my car to the parking lot. Of course the bird and the silkworms as well as the dog crate (which had to be cleaned and reassembled.) Saturday night Nikko slept there but I had to get up early to get her walked and fed before taking off to choir practice and the summer service, now an hour earlier than usual.

Camp had no access to computer or cell phone signals so I feel way behind when it comes to blogging ... even getting caught up on what others are up to. I did take a project to work on in the evenings when I had some free time.

Our church has two staff retiring and I was asked to make a parting gift. One is the office secretary who has been in that job 25 years.  The other is the receptionist who has been there for 27 years. I decided to make table runners for each. One has a sunflower with 25 petals of all different fabric, the other 27 petals.I also used the same number of three-inch floral blocks in the border. Today I basted both with batting and backing and tomorrow I will check to see if there is a recommended bible verse about tending our garden ... or other suggestion. I am thinking of a sashiko design quilted in the background, and maybe the church logo in the corner blue blocks.

Wednesday, my son. Jon and family rolled into town for a ten-day visit. Thursday lunch was with all of us with my SIL and her son and wife ... then dinner with more of my husband's relatives... a half-sister and her family. Meanwhile, my Son-on-loan, Peter, is here on business for a couple of weeks.

I was expected to go with the family to Lake Nojiri, which was a special place for summertime fun when they were growing up. With Nikko in decline I didn't want to force her off on a sitter. Jon thought I should just take her to the vet and have her put down, but she does not seem to be suffering and I could never have enjoyed a holiday at that expense, so I let the gang go off on their adventure without me... scrubbed down the tiles in the entry ... and basted the runners ready to put in the first quilt stitches.

On hold is the borders of the baby quilt for my boss and piecing the backing for the floral quilt.. which will probably wait until the end of summer for the quilting to begin. I am also thinking about assembling a block for the partnership quilt ... deadline is the end of next month but a 15 cm. block shouldn't take too much time once I have my plan on paper (now roughly in my head)

I hope to slowly catch up with what others have been up to. Sunday the gang will return for more fun activities. Peter will leave on Tuesday and by the end of the week it will be quiet again ... maybe!

(if life doesn't get in the way again). 

Next on the list

That was quick!

Phoebe's quilt made it to Oregon in less than a week.

I  had made a baby I-Spy quilt around a year ago for the children's ministry director at out church, and his mother, living in Austria saw it and told her son that the one thing she had always most wanted was a quilt.

I really don't need any more projects, but ever since making the black and white quilt for Kai, I had wanted to try that pattern in florals.

Well, while sorting that "rescued" fabric, I decided to mark and cut some blocks. This makes good take-along work so putting the blocks together did not take much time.

Last Tuesday I laid them out on the floor of the church fellowship hall and tried arranging them into a layout with a balance of color and tone.

This week I added the inner border and last night's train ride finished off adding the outer border.

I think I may have a large floral that can be pieced for the backing. Then It is going to have to wait for cooler weather to quilt.

Meanwhile I have started an I-spy baby quilt for my boss's baby expected in the fall....

And ... I have been asked to make two small table runners for two staff members of our church who are retiring. Hopefully I can get some fbrics marked and cut so I can take them to camp in another week in case I have spare time while there.

The feed sack blocks are sitting in a tin waiting for other things to move along. I just need to arrange the blocks so they can be joined, then work on a border.

I am thinking of using some of the scraps in an applique vine with flowers. I have yet to draft that but those feed sacks have been waiting since the 30s for attention so I guess they can wait a bit longer.

Looking at the weather forecast it looks as if spring has finished springing and the rainy season is about to drop by. Well, I think I will have enough to do inside.