Not too much to post about.

 Thanks to a great kindness, the "Big-Girl" quilt has met up with my granddaughter in Colorado. Our Pastor's wife was travelling to California, and offered to take the quilt with her and mail it from there, thus saving all the problems faced with mailing anything larger than a  letter from here to the states. I got a facetime call at the time and could enjoy Maile hugging her quilt.

This quilt was finished on the 9th of this month. It is not heavily quilted, as I wanted it to be a bit puffy and thus warm. With thinsulate batting, I don't have to worry about shifting. It has been passed to my friend on Sunday, the 13th when we could meet up in person at church.

Next on my list is the banner for our church's 150th anniversary. I started a while ago sewing the signature blocks together. Those were collected at the 140th anniversary and joined using my vast collection of floral prints. 

I separated the large and small signatures into two halves, and have added a blue sky between. Now I am busy adding a garden in the blue area.

This was probably not the smartest move, because it is somewhat difficult to be appliqueing stuff in the middle of a large space without catching in surrounding fabric.

Also, it is a bit of pick and choose when it comes to selecting flowers to add.

I thought moving along by season might work.

Well, I got in a few camellia and plum blossoms.....

Now it is cherry blossom season, so I added a branch and some petals.

I'm finding this is really going too slow, and I have upped the challenge.

Our church is having a "Kick-Off Celebration" on the 9th of next month. It will be a 24 hour, partly in person, and livestreamed  for those not going in person and former members living around the world.

By then, I would like to have the rest of the garden planted and blooming, and a border added with more strips to be signed. Then, I want to get it basted for quilting and take it to work on that day, while gathering a few more signatures

from those attending.  If I add a piano key border, I think it will become too wide, but maybe a white one-inch strip all around could accommodate more signatures. 

Here is a picture of it, spread out on my sofa. (too big for the floor space). I sketched more flowers on the tracing paper, hoping to fill a bit more of the space in the middle.

I hesitate to add too much detail, as this will be the hardest part to fill.
 

Kerria, 

          Hydrangea, 

                            Lilies,

                                      Roses.....

Maybe I could add a bird or another butterfly...

So, this will be next on my list.

I hate deadlines, but this is a bit self-imposed. 

I hope I can pull it  off in a timely fashion. I certainly an still open to suggestions.

Guess I'd better stop dithering, and get to work!

Where has time gone?

Maile's Big-girl quilt was finished on Valentines day. It is a bit difficult to find a fence area large enough for a picture, as any sunny area has lots of crossing shadows or the fence is too small. These days there is a lot of wind to add to the challenge as well.

 I am fairly happy with the results and the light blue bias binding worked well. I still need to add a label, but it will be some time before I can get this sent to Colorado.

The backing is all tenugui and yukata fabrics. Since the finished quilt is square, there is no top end, so I turned the prints in every direction. Two "Girls Day" (Hinamatsuri) prints remind me of that first granddaughter.

Having taken out lots of yukata fabrics from my stash, I began to realize I have way more than I can ever use. I started sorting it into categories and have one box of large strips. Another container of medium pieces and samples I was given many years ago. 

Then... Having used these fabrics in a number of quilts over the years, I found LOTS of cut pieces and scraps. Some of those, I decided to put together in a small throw for a friend.

This is now in the quilting stage. I am just quilting in the ditch to begin with and thinking what to do next.

It is basted, so I don't need to use a hoop, which goes somewhat faster. The center squares are three and a half inches and the batting is thinsulate so won't shift with use. I am debating quilting within those squares or leaving them puffy and warm.

I plan to use a karakusa design around the cranes. This friend teaches tea ceremony and is an expert on Japanese traditions. She has also been very generous in her friendship over the past years. I am hoping this will be something she will like and use.

The days seem to drag by with little change. No decorations went up at Christmas or New Years. Valentines day was just another day here, except for a giant basket of flowers coming from my kids,

and no  Hina dolls went out to celebrate Girls day. The plum tree we planted to celebrate my first daughter's birth, has been very slow to bloom this year, and the Sweet Daphne we planted for daughter #3 has taken the clue and late to bloom too. Junk piles up on my coffee table and each day seems like the last. 

Now it is the season of Lent.

I will celebrate with a haiku for the day.

As with a compass

May the needle in my hand

Keep me right on course.

Next to last step

 The thing I worried about most, was quilting the floral print border. Should I outline the pattern with navy stitching? That might have been a plan, but using navy thread on the navy background could be a problem. I had tried it on the Hawaiian blocks, and in some places the thread left a small loop and it was hard to see until it was too late to fix.  It really didn't show up in the echo quilting either.I left the parts I had done in navy, but switched to a regular blue.

I decided to use white thread on the print instead, as I had just bought a new spool, so am sure I will have enough. Then next, what should I do in the larger areas? This design is not really suitable for echo quilting. I used thinsulate for batting which will not shift and does not really need heavy quilting. 

I decided to try randomly sketched hearts, and use the lighter blue thread. Once I put those in, I decided this will be the way I quilt the rest of the border. I basted the border every 6 to 8 inches, and I can work on this part without using a hoop. I think this quilt has decided what it wants, and we are both happy.

Sitting here in my livingroom quilting, I am enjoying the birds visiting my window cafe. Last week I re-stocked my supply of sunflower seeds. Then, I began to notice they were disappearing at a faster rate.

NO WONDER!

I had seen this visitor last year, and moved the window cafe up higher, so it was not in reach of the fence below. That had seemed to be working, but this "Kuma nezumi" is a bit smarter than I thought. He has found a route along the top of the window ledge, that he can drop down into the feeder.

When I opened the curtains to get a better look, he did not jump down to the fence and run along the top, but leaped up in the air to the top of the window.

With him gone, the birds returned, but at night he must have come back, because the feeder had nothing left but seed shells.

I wonder if I need to remove the feeder from the window at night, or just buy more seeds. I wonder if this is the guy that chewed the electric wires to my heated floor.

My english student says he has seen the rat at the entrance to the house across the street. We have a number of old houses that were built in the day the area under the house was open with a few grates around the base. In the past, when we had rat problems, we closed off those open grates at our house to keep the rats out. I knew it did not get rid of the problem because I often see droppings or evidence of plant seeds being chewed.

We have many feral cats in the area, but they don't seem interested in that kind of problem solving. This guy probably knows I'm a rat-year person, and is taking advantage.

border progress

I decided that, as long as I have to move the hoop around, I may as well do the next two borders together.

Since the 5-inch squares are made from a variety of yukata fabrics, I didn't want to use a quilting design that would either distract from the print, or not be seen at all. 

I decided on just a square inside the square, one inch from the border. I think that is enough to keep the batting from shifting, and the puffiness will be warmer. 

I had planned to use the same vine pattern for the second blue strip, and decided to use a blue thread instead of the white. Since I was doing this along with the squares, I drafted a different pattern that could be done square-by-square. It is quite convenient because I can keep two needles ready for the squares, white on light, and blue on dark, and I like the way the blue thread shows up in the third border.

I am finished now with three sides, so will have to think about what I am going to do with that floral outer border. I have a basic idea but am thinking between navy and blue threads, and how much I want that quilting to show.

Slow progress

On December 22 I finished piecing the backing, basted the quilt on the apartment floor, and began quilting the star in the ditch, from the center out.  Once the star was done, I began working on the Hawaiian blocks. At first I stitched around the applique using navy thread. It was hard to see against the navy background. I didn't take out my work, but decided to switch to a regular blue thread,  The applique quilting was done in white but it is not easy to see the quilted details 

Today, I finished quilting the first narrow blue border. 

The next task will be to select a quilt design for the border of five-inch blocks.

 

I really don't want heavy quilting, as it would distract from the yukata prints.

I am thinking of doing the second blue border with the same design as the first, only using the blue thread instead of white. 

It's nice to have a cozy quilt to work under, but my fingers are very sore working through the many seams in the backing.
 

Quilt top done

Last week I added the last small border to Maile's "big girl" quilt

I cut the floral down to just eight inches, as the whole width was a bit too overpowering. Then I added a one inch combination of assorted yukata fabrics to the outer edge. Now I am piecing yukata/ tenugui fabrics together for the backing. 

Working by hand is very slow progress. The days have become colder and I am looking forward to when I can sit with a warm quilt in the hoop in my lap. Maybe the light blue can go for the binding... but that is a long way off.  Laid out on the floor, this quilt takes up the whole space almost to the wall. Basting is going to be a challenge if I decide to do it here.

 

 

First border added

With the five inch yukata squares added, the size is now 65 inches square. I have several rolls of yukata fabric that would add a wide border or could be cut unto narrower borders. I also have enough of the light blue to add another strip in the border.

If I make the quilt square, it can be rotated on the bed. I could add a row of cranes to the top and bottom to lengthen the quilt. The geometric print is similar to the applique hibiscus fabric, and would probably be easy to quilt following the pattern. I'm not sure how I would quilt the floral.  

If I get this pieced in a timely fashion, it will be a nice cozy item for snuggling under while quilting in the increasingly cold of winter.

Next step

Two of the setting triangles have been appliqued and one is now set in place. My granddaughter decided on an anthurium. I guess this fills the space evenly. It is a lot easier to sew around than the hibiscus.

 

Once I finish putting the star together, I will have to decide on some kind of border to expand the size for a double bed. I am hoping the quilt will tell me what it wants next.

I apologize that responding to comments has become so difficult without any coming to my email address. It requires regular checking, which I am not so good at, then taking notes and looking up addresses, and then remembering to whom I have responded. There has to be a better way! 

Big girl quilt. Three corners done

Last week on Tuesday, I began the challenge of the hibiscus applique for the corner blocks of Maile's Morning Star quilt. 

The yukata fabric she likes, is not a solid, but a directional print. I wanted the print to go in the direction toward the star center, which meant it could not be made in one piece, folded and cut.

The center leaves and one flower went on first, then the other flowers were cut singularly in the direction of the print and sewed separately in position. Using navy thread on a navy background, trying to see both thread and fine white lines marking the turn edges is a real challenge.  The first corner was finished on Wednesday night and sewed to the star points on Thursday.

The second block was finished on Friday, and I took this picture to send to Maile and son Jon.  I will be needing a plan for the triangles once the corners are done. The challenge is getting the stripes to radiate in the right direction. Jon has sent a few sketches of possible solutions.

Today the third corner block was finished and assembled. One more to go, and I can get serious about the triangles. I will have to add borders to make this a double bed size. I have a variety of yukata fabrics. I might have enough of a stripe for an inner or outer border and am thinking of making blocks in a variety of blue and white fabrics. This is definitely a plan-as-you-go project.

I may have to do the quilting within the flowers with pearl cotton for the lines to show and I have no idea what color thread the echo quilting should be. It will also be a challenge to find space large enough to lay this out. Buying batting is also becoming a problem.  Maybe I should just celebrate today's progress and let the rest see what happens down the road.

Nothing to do with my quilts

When we first got our last dog, Nikko, we were living in Suginami-ku, not too far from Wadabori Park. Each morning I would take Nikko to the park for a playdate with friends. There was a wide open space which the city planted with nice grass and then put a rope around so no one would walk on it. The first time an area was cleared and planted, I watched weeds come up through the new grass until they were knee high, then the rope was removed and the weeds were mowed down. It would not be too long before that process was done again, as old homes were removed after flooding from the river.

From then on, while Nikko was running and playing with other dogs, I climbed over the rope and began filling a bag with weeds as they came up. It was simple to spot the weeds and, as they were young, they were easy to pull. Even after moving away, when I pass that area of the park, the grass is strong and the weeds are few.

Returning to the Nerima area, there was no place for dogs to play, but each day Nikko got long walks through the area. 

Several blocks from where I live, there is a "high end" area on the other side of the street. The houses there are big with gardens and streets wider than where I live. This park borders the high end from my area, and has a path through to the area behind. 

As you can see in this picture I took with Flat Stanley, who was visiting earlier in the year, there is an area that used to be a pond.

Water ran from the top of the hill, seen through the opening in the building, down to the pond near the street. The stepping stones and sculpture were in the water. I don't know when the park was made, probably the early 1970s, but by 1973, the water had been turned off. It now sits under the pond with several open grates, and breeds mosquitoes to the point this might be re-named Mosquito Park

 As for how the park is used, construction workers and truck drivers using the toilet in the building are the most often guests. From time to time, people take a shortcut to the back street, and sometimes workmen sit on the stone seats to have a smoke... and toss their cigarette butts and trash on the ground. A few times kids walking past with their mothers run to play on the stones in the dry pond.

As for me, I use the back fence from time to time to hang a quilt for a photo opp.

Two guys come around once or twice a week to rake the leaves, and twice a year or so, to weed-whack. That is about the time when the weeds are knee high and the seeds on them are ripe. I couldn't figure out why a park in such a high end area could be allowed to go to such decay, so I began walking Nikko through the park. I would carry a bag to pick up her poop, and then fill the bag up with weeds I pulled.

The front entrance had knee-high weeds and an area where the neighborhood left their trash for pickup 4 times a week. the area without weeds was mostly bare dirt and rocks. A few years ago, a new apartment was built next to the park, and the trash pickup area was moved leaving the bare ground to weed takeover.

Even after Nikko went to doggy-heaven, I have been going to the park one morning a week to pull the weeds. I started with the front along the street, and have worked my way to the back.

Finally, the area is looking a lot better. Now, this section is all covered with the good grass. 

I brought my cub scouts here in the winter when the grass is brown and the weeds are young and green and easy to pull. For their community service project they did a remarkable job and this area has thick grass now with very few weeds.

I might add that about three years earlier, you couldn't even see that manhole cover behind the bag because of the weeds.

This part facing the road is now without knee high weeds. The people living across the street from this entrance have come into the park many times to comment on the improvement and thank me.

Now, I am moving on to the area where the round seats have been sitting among weeds.

The wonderful thing about this good grass is, once it is given a chance, it is quite good to send out runners.

There are a number of runners now passing over the paving blocks or even over the curb into the pond or street.

Yesterday I grabbed this chunk of grass that is along the curb for relocation.

I have to choose my timing well because the guys with the stiff bamboo brooms can sweep out newly planted runners, but the weather reports for today were all RAIN, and I was pretty sure that would give those new runners a good start.

The clump is a bit hard to see under the dirt, but I am looking forward to my next trip through the area. 

This spot has had only weeds as long as I have been coming here. 

Between here and the street, the new runners are making their way.

My only task now is to collect those nasty little weeds so they won't compete with the runners.

These weeds spread by root and wind-borne seeds, but they are easy to pull while young.  You can see the runners shooting out in all directions, and soon this bare spot will be looking nice. 

The bag that delivered onigiri to the homeless on Monday morning is now sitting next to my gate waiting to go to the corner for pickup tomorrow, Too bad I have no space for a compost pile.

One of my childhood jobs was pulling weeds. (My dad had two huge compost piles) I have been teased a lot by friends, as I can hardly walk past a weed without wanting to reach down and pull it out. 

Last winter on a nature hike, one of my cub scouts was pointing out weeds he noticed along the way. 

Could it be another weed-a-holic in the making? Too bad those paid "gardeners" were not in my scout group as youth.

One down... still some to go

 I really hate deadlines!

This is probably one of my least favorite banners.

I was out of thin batting and used some that had been "gifted" to me long ago. It was something like cotton felt and made the quilting a lot harder than the light thinsulate I am used to. 

I had planned to quilt open hands in the lower section, but gave up because the stitching was too much of a challenge.

The "committee"picked the theme and offered words for the pie shapes and I skipped the ones like eat, sleep, surf, and zoom. In all, I see this more as a "feel good" rather than a commitment. I think next year I will do the banner first and give it to the committee to deal with rather than the other way around.

I delivered it to the church Wednesday when I went to help with onigiri making.

Here is more from the "Pin Cushion" show.

Ueno-san is seen standing beside one of her quilts that was first shown at the Tokyo Dome.

It sure was nice to be able to take pictures without working around crowds.

Here you can get an idea of the space and the excellent lighting.

I think the displayed quilts may have been friends and fellow teachers and students of Izumi Takamori, who put the show together.

There were several displays of bags. The large bag in the middle was made by Ueno-san. 

She is really a specialist in bags, and teaches the craft.

You can see on the wall behind the Christmas tree, the white tiger, made by Takamori-san. 

I spent a lot of time trying to find the site, and that tiger on a poster rescued me from more walking. The real thing is quite amazing.

How's this for an image of Mt Fuji?

maybe getting ready for Christmas?

More bags

A quilting display and some large quilts on the wall.

This quilt was made by a group.

I THINK THIS ALSO WAS A GROUP PIECE.

And another shot of the hall. Look at those clean floors! Wish my own house looked so neat and tidy,

I had hoped to take pictures with my cell phone, but that morning it was completely dead with a black screen. I had plugged it into charge all night,  but was having trouble with charging. Just as I was heading out the door, it made a little tune and began to charge, so I left it home on the table and took my old camera. 

I decided with some afternoon still open, i would go to the apple store and buy a new charging cord. Oh my, lots of waiting in line, but finally got a little box with the cord... then got home to find there was nothing to connect it to the outlet. Grrr. Well, yesterday, being in town near tha same store, I waited in another long line to buy the plug. Finally, I showed the apple people my cell phone so they could see what type it was, and they sold me a little white box with the plug-in. BUT... when I got home and wrestled the box open, it was the wrong opening to fit the cord. Looks like I am going to have to make one more trip before I can get my phone to charge without problems. 

Escape!

Three works in progress wanting my attention. The anniversary banner can be moved until next year if needed, The big girl quilt is waiting for me to find matching fabric, enough to make the side triangles for the star. I really don't want to buy any more and am still sorting through dark blue scraps, wondering how close is close enough. The third project is the stewardship banner. Since the rest of the members of committee don't sew, they seem to think it can be thrown together in a matter of days. Still waiting on the committee for input, I decided to escape.

Last Saturday I met up with Cynthia Nanto of wabi-sabi quilts, to check out the spinoff from the Tokyo Dome show. What a lot of walking just to get inside! There were a few exhibits from assorted well known craft people. Knit and crochet, embroidery, boro, Kathy Nakajima's quilts, and the partnership quilts to which Cynthia and I and friends had contributed blocks. It took a lot of hunting before we found Cynthia's block. Then, looked through the rest on display, finding nothing familiar, and then coming back along the display wall to find my cardinal in the same quilt as Cynthia's.  I had left my dead cell phone at home, but Cynthia got some nice pictures. We split up for half an hour to check out the many crowded shops, and came back together for a little snack before parting.

I thought I had had enough walking for the day, but getting home and seeing there was a bit more to the day, I took my cell phone and walked into Nerima to visit the AU store, hoping maybe they could find the problem and get it to work. Oh No... You have to take it to the Apple store! Just because they sold me the phone does not mean they carry batteries and cords and things like that. 

Nearest apple store was in Shibuya near the church. Well, it isn't closed yet and I really need the phone in case of an emergency, so I headed off. two trains away to the apple store. Of course one had to wait in a line outside the store. Then the guy came over to see what I wanted ... tried to check ... needed a password, oops, I left my computer notebook at home. Tried two passwords, and then had to change that password again. Then he wanted a credit card. oops .. no one I could use there, so finally I was lead to the basement where there was a lovely English-speaking young lady who helped sort everything out. In the end, I didn't need a battery but I bought a new cord. Of course when I got home and opened the box, there was no little cube to plug into the electric socket. AND... by then, the trains were too crammed to get a seat!

After taking a week to recover, I was invited to another show. The first part of the exhibit were these picture quilts made by quilters from France, New Zealand, and Japan. This exhibit travels around the world and had just come to Japan. 

Usually it is shown at the Yokohama quilt show, and when that was cancelled, at the Tokyo Dome. Now that those two no longer exist, It was in the "Pin Cushion" show, and I had been invited by Ueno-san who is part of that group. We were lucky to get to meet up there, as she had to travel from out of town and the location was new to me.

It was so nice to see the display with the descriptions both in English and Japanese. Other quilt shows might learn a lesson from that.

 

Here is a picture of my friend with her picture representing Rio.

There were a number of different countries represented in the hangings. Here are some more...It seems Hokkaido was one of the topics.

I was particularly impressed with the way this quilter made the reflection in the water look so real.

Does this look like Hokkaido? The quilter managed to get hold of quite a few Japanese fabrics.

You can see there is a lot more of this show to display, but I had better stop here for now and get back to my stitching. 

There was a lot of walking and the three trains I had to take to home were packed ... even on a Saturday.

No chance of getting to sit, even in the seats reserved for the elderly. At least my recovery day can be spent stitching.Tomorrow starts a new week, out at 4:am for onigiri delivery. Boredom is not a problem!

On the way

 

The star points are ready for the next step.

Since the needed end result is for a double bed, I am planning to divide the work into segments before assembling.

The plan is to make Hawaiian blocks in a hibiscus design for the four corner blocks, and an altered Hawaiian design for the four triangles.

A while ago, I laid out this star with different fabrics in the corners and sent it off for my granddaughter to look over and think about which of the assorted blues she liked for the main background. 

She liked the medium dark blue to set off the stars.

And... she liked the yukata fabric that I had used in one of the triangles.

That could be a good choice because I have plenty of that fabric, but it might be tricky to use, because, as you may notice, the batik design is made up of stripes. 

Hawaiian applique is usually solid colors, and I am not sure about making a design divided in quarters would balance.

On the other hand, it might be possible to rotate the direction of the print on each block so the direction echos the points of the stars. I do rather like the subtle contrast of the two choices,

Of course the quilt is going to need some borders where there will be an opportunity to repeat some of the center fabrics ... and possibly add a few more. I have no shortage of blue and white yukata fabrics.

My second challenge is another stool I was able to locate on the top of a dusty closet shelf.

You may notice the legs have pegs inserted into the frame. That should make them a bit more difficult to take apart and fix.

I plan to engage my son-in-law who is very good at solving fix-it problems ... at least with my rotting door frame and leaking roof.

This was the second stool made and the colors seem to be less faded. Probably from lying safely on the dark dusty shelf.

Looking back, I wonder where I found all that time to come up with the two designs and spend stitching with a variety of thread. 

I think I just drew the outlines on the canvass with a pen.

With Blogger no longer sending comments to my email inbox, I am sorry if I miss responding to some friends.

I can return to my dashboard, but how far back do I need to check and how do I know which ones I have responded to?  Back in the old days, we looked forward to changes, as most often, those changes were improvements and made life simpler. These days I have become more and more frustrated with changes ... the new washing machine with a lint trap that never gets any lint and the cycle that ties everything in one big knot. And Mr. Google who waits until you get everything figured out and them changes everything. What ever happened to that rule ... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it ! " ???