The quilting has begun

 

Last week I finished the banner for this year's Stewardship campaign. 

I only purchased the thread and the binding. All the rest came from stash that was "gifted" from friends.

The batting was a piece that also came as a "gift" and just happened to be the right size. I have no idea what kind it is, and it seems to be a bit puffier than what I usually use. I decided not to quit around the lettering, as that might make the hanging even puffier.

The committee seemed to be happy with the results, so I was happy to turn it over, and get back to work on the next quilt.

While I was in Boston, visiting my #2 daughter, I picked up some twin bed size batting. It was all packaged in plastic so I had no idea how it would work other than size. 

When I laid it out on the quilt, I was surprised to see it seemed more like felt than what I am used to using. Now that I have pin-basted it a number of times, I finally began to quilt it today.

Well, this is not going to be easy. I can hardly get five stitches to the inch, and have to do some stab-stitching at the corner points. 

I don't think I will be able to do much fancy quilting in the blocks or border.

The batting is Warm & Natural and somewhat heavy on my lap ... though it should make a warm enough quilt.

I'm glad to be back at work on this, but I have a feeling it will take lots of effort. Wish me luck!

 

 

Back to the usual

 Well, I arrived home to a dead AC and lots of dead plants. Luckily the first week back was filled with Vacation Bible School. The church was plenty cool and I actually had to take something warm to keep from freezing in the AC. Then ... return home in the packed sardine can they call a subway, and find the coolest spot to recover from excessive jet-lag.

I had a broken tooth to deal with and also trying to recover as many of the plants as possible. That effort is still going on daily. The jet lag took several weeks to recover and a new AC has been installed, The potted maple tree with brown leaves, has just begun to put out new green leaves at the tips of most branches. I poured water at it's base every morning since returning.

Friday, school began. It's nice to be back with the kids, though the long walk to and from the stations is rather miserable in this heat.

I have finished a pile of blocks that are waiting for a cool space large enough to arrange them around the center block. I'm thinking of adding four flowers to the corner area once that the layout is decided. The blocks are all floral prints and I want to coordinate those flowers with the block arrangement. I may be able to use the church fellowship hall floor if I can some good timing. My cub pack has our first meeting this Friday. I might be able to use some space there, as I will not have time to go home between school and the meeting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a bit of progress. I bought batting while in Boston.

Flapping my wings

 At the end of June, I took off on an adventure to visit my kiddos in the states.

First stop was in Oregon, though I took a short trip up to Washington, to visit Vashon Island, where I had worked one summer as a college student.

The rest of the time was divided between Portland and Grant's Pass with Oregon kids and grandkids. All the Oregon crew posed for a photo before leaving. 

Next stop was in Colorado, where we took in lots of mountain scenery and a quilt show that included a talk by the featured artist.

There was also an exhibit of log cabin quilts, arranged in a wide variety of styles.

The frosting on the cake was a family dinner at a Japanese restaurant with yummy eels in a bento box.

The next morning, was out early to catch a plane to Boston. 

Now I am enjoying being pampered on the last leg of the trip.

This trip has been full of adventure ... with a few still to go ... and friends along the way.

In the end, my granddaughter will get her "big girl" quilt created on a trip around the world. The take-along work could be done on the plane and in trips by car.

More than 40 of the 52 blocks are together, and I am trying to save a few for the plane ride home. 

Meanwhile, there adventures still lined up for the week ahead.

(How can anything be more fun than I have already had!) I'll have to wait and see what in to follow.....

Zoom finish

Monday morning, after onigiri delivery, and during the morning zoom meeting,  I finished turning the binding on this quilt. I had thought on Saturday to walk into town and buy some bias binding, but then, this being a scrappy project, why not use leftover bits of binding saved for smaller projects. I was not too sure how it would come out, but in the end, with the variety of squares, it is hardly noticeable.

The day was clear and sunny so I took it to the park fence for a photo. It was my first chance to see how the diagonal quilting turned out. I think it looks OK and a bit less boring than if I had gone all in one direction. With the 80 loft, this will be more of a winter quilt.

Because of the "Golden week" holiday, I have had a few days off school, and not as much time for planning my next project, as I had been expecting a visitor ... well, not a person staying over, but a bit of dog sitting for my daughter's friend.  I was a bit worried, as I had not met the dog before, but as it turned out, Ricola, an elderly Jack Russell Terrier, has been a fine guest. She loves walks so we have put in some nice long strolls and the rest of the day she is content to zone out in her kennel or on the sofa. 

 

This evening she chose my comfy chair seat, placed on the sofa.

Attention is also shifted to a dozen young silkworms. There might have been thousands, but I was late finding the bag of eggs, many not having survived without being fed.

It is just as well, because almost all the mulberry trees in the area have been cut down, and leaves will be hard to find.

Tomorrow I will have a buddy for onigiri delivery, and her owner will pick her up in the late morning, Heavy rain is predicted so I'm thinking of giving her breakfast in the parking area under the train line and thus roofed over and big enough for a long walk.

That's about it for now. Thanks for all the nice comments. I really have to get my blogging mojo back and see what the rest of my friends are up to. 

A small finish

My zoom quilt is still on the inner border with about halfway left to go. What is needed to finish is more time on my sofa. It is not something to be carried around, and my past week had little sitting time.

Son Jon, and his son, Kai, came for a short visit. We had some mornings together before I had to run  off to work, and some evening wrap ups before hitting the sack. Some mornings were extra short to fit in visits to the clinic, some zoom gatherings got lost in the shuffle, and church activities snatched up extra time as well. Though the back treatment is painful, the results are getting better and I am not tossing and turning all night anymore trying to find a pain-free position to sleep in.

Jon had three day events with his high school class reunion, but our time together was all quality time, even being rather short. They left the 6th while I was at school. It was just as well, because I had choir practice both Thursday and Friday followed by worship services. There was no time to go home after school, but a bit of spare time for a small quilt to piece and finish off. I made this one for some very kind neighbors who had invited me to their house for coffee and cake and a nice visit. Their home stands on what used to be the "weed lot" and now is decorated with many climbing roses and other flowers. The couple both speak English fluently and are a fine addition to the neighborhood. 

With my pending schedule, it will most likely be 5 days more before I can get back to working  on the Zoom quilt border. I was reminded when working on this small piece, how much easier it is to baste and quilt without a hoop. The stitches are much more even and smaller and turning curved lines, not a wrestling match.

The Easter bunny will be enjoying his year of the rabbit tomorrow, and I hope my quilting friends will have a hoppy day too.

 

Time flies when you're having fun...

Well, that is the way the saying goes...

In my case, fun or work, time seems to take off on its own. I keep thinking, that one of these days, I'll be going out the door, and meet myself coming in, and not be able to tell which is the real me!

 My "ZOOM" quilt is still getting a bit of attention.

At this point, I am working on quilting the blue inner border.

I used thinsulate #80, which is rather puffy and a bit difficult to get small stitches. though I usually would quilt this in the ditch, I decided to try quilting it on the diagonal, thinking I might go in both directions, but after doing a few rows, decided I would rather have it puffy, and probably that much quilting is enough to hold it together. It is quite cozy to sit under while working, and I ended up changing the direction of the lines in a few places, so all the quilting wouldn't be pointing in just one direction.

The border quilting is taking some time, and I probably should have done something simpler, as it really doesn't show up on the floral print.

Looking through all the "gifted" fabric for making a backing,  I was amazed to see so many large amounts ... I'm talking meters of fabrics ... with maybe one ten-inch corner cut out, and the rest just jumbled up in a pile. At the speed I work, it will take several lifetimes to use half of it! Yet, throwing it out does not seem an option ... which is probably why I was "gifted" it in the first place.

I thought as I got older, I would have more time for sitting around and quilting, but somehow that is not the case.  Four days a week, I am at the preschool, helping the art teacher (preparing for and cleaning up after) her after-school classes ... as well as working with the kids and her classroom activities. I usually don't get home until after 5pm, and turn in early. (can't sit on the train in rush hour

Monday mornings I still deliver onigiri to the homeless in Shibuya, but for a few weeks without my car, I began bringing the bags home by train, and then delivering them, taking the first train out in the morning. That was a lot of walking, and the bags are heavy. Since I am back singing in the church choir, I also had an extra bag with my music to carry, and wished to shop on the way home from the station, rather than walk there and back another time. 

Even when my car returned home, I thought it might save time and gas to bring those onigiri home on Sundays. For the last few weeks, my back has begun to protest, and a pinched nerve in my right hip is getting more attention than I would wish for. The only place to find any relief is on the heated toilet seat, not the place to do quilting...

Meanwhile, the zoom quilt gets attention while zooming three times a week for morning meetups,  noon  and evening sessions plus women's conference workshops, gatherings with kids, scout stuff beyond our monthly pack meeting, to the point I have to post stickers on my laptop for reminders ... hoping I can remember what day it is, and keep my grandfather clock wound up so the bonging will remind me of the time. (It just now reminded me that it is time to get going)

Maybe tonight, after my zooming, I can get a bit caught up on what my blogging friends are up to!

Starting a new year

This year started with a lot of zooming. On the first, I hurried home from church for a zoom gathering with my kids ... spread from the east coast to the west coast of the states, and across the pond to Japan.

On Monday the zooming was with church friends, spread from Malaysia to the eastern US, and Tuesday it was with cousins and nieces and nephews living in the states. While viewing the screens of squares and faces, I was reminded  of a nine-patch. I had been marking and cutting squares of a number of scraps, and sitting right at my right side were two tins of two-inch squares, so full of pieces that the lids wouldn't go on. I think Mr. Zoom was calling out for me to fix the problem,  so I began arranging and sewing blocks while zooming. Wednesday and Friday added more finishes.

I think usually, nine-patches have the darker squares in the center and corners. I began with the alternate setting, and when I laid them  out, I liked the results. making contrasting blocks would give a checkerboard effect, but I like the way this looks,

I have hardly made a dent in the number of blocks, still in those tins. I do have a few that probably would not work in a 9-patch, but might be nice set with solids in a border. I think that I will wait before sewing these all together in order to balance the colors.

Years ago, I gave up on new year's resolutions, and began picking a focus year for the year. Last year was "purpose", and I was wondering what to choose for this year, when the word chose me instead. Jan1st, as I headed off to church, a neighbor shouted out "Happy new year" in english, and as I was rushing home for the zoom date, another neighbor stopped while passing by on his bike, to give me a high-five and wishes in english. The overflowing of love from family and friends calls out for gratitude, which will be a fine focus for this year.

Cleaning out the dust bunnies from under the eves at the head of my futon, I made room for the bunnies and a few owls to enjoy the new year and the reminder they bring of friends past and present and happy events.

I hope my blogging friends will also enjoy a year full of happiness and gratitude.

Time for an update

My Ohio Star Log Cabin was finished November 13th and went directly to my futon. Though this time of year, I am usually sleeping in a military "extreme cold" sleeping bag, this quilt over a fleece blanket that came from my Portland family, and a light down throw on top to protect the quilt from excess sun, makes a nice toasty sleeping nest.

This month, I have added two small Christmas pieces.

These both went to church friends,

This one to a member who has given me money to pay for gas as I drive to town for onigiri delivery.

.

The second one to a fellow onigiri deliverer who came in the early morning to rescue me when my car battery died and I had to travel to town by train. She caught up with me and showed me how to find the right exit in the maze of Shibuya station.

 These two are my angels, thus the center block.

I figured this might make a small table center or even a warm lap rug.

Just a small thank you for their kindness.

Tuesday was the last day of school for me, so hopefully a bit of time to tidy up my messy livingroom and get my sewing things organized before beginning a new project.There will be two Christmas eve services to sing with the choir. I don't enjoy riding the crowded trains at that time of night, but singing together after such a long break is such a joy. 

Warmest holiday wishes to you all.

 

 

 

October was a busy month!!

October began with the celebration of our church's 150th anniversary. Ten years ago, I had collected signatures from those attending that anniversary, and decided to combine them into a banner. Some were on 1x4inch strips, and some on 2x4inch pieces. I used my vast collection of floral scraps to make setting blocks, and added the blue strip between them, and blank strips around the border.  During some of the anniversary events, I collected signatures of newer members to add in the border and to vine leaves and petals. Today I finally got a picture of the banner hanging in the entry lounge.

 

The week following those events began our three week stewardship emphasis time. The stewardship banner was hung at the corner of the stairway, choir activities picked up, I was asked to give a talk ... not my favorite kind of activity... Toss in scout meeting and school activities, and October zoomed by in no time.

As the end of the month neared, I began to worry about my Monday morning onigiri delivery. Last year, because of all the Halloween gatherings, the police had blocked off the parking along the main streets and when I arrived, I was unable to pull over and park. I kept going along the one-way streets crammed with crowds of costumed drunken young people, moving slowly a foot or so at a time until I came back to the parking space. Then, one of the homeless brothers ran out and moved the cones so I could pull over to park.  Remembering that, the week before, the same homeless man who meets me at my car, asked if I would be coming. When I told him I was worried it might be like last year, he told me not to worry, that he would be there for me.

Well, Sunday afternoon, as I was leaving church, there was loud noise and music and a huge group of young people on the street.

The crowd of costumed celebrants were walking up the left side of the hill in front of the church. When they got to the light, they turned back down, and soon the street was filled with people dancing along.

 

Here they come back past the church on our side of the street.

Watching them pass with no end in sight, I began to worry about what the morning delivery might be like.

The evening had more things to consider, A huge bouquet came from all my children. Then my Tokyo family arrived in bits and pieces as we had a date planned for dinner together.

here is a partial picture with Norie and all those flowers.

Well, we went out to a neighborhood restaurant for the planned dinner, and what a shocking surprise that was!

When we came in the door, there were two of my church friends that I worked with at Vacation Bible school,  a girl who has become my "daughter on loan" and a good Scouting friend. We hadn't settled in long, when my "Son on loan" and his darling wife showed up. It ended up a birthday party ... with even a little cake and candle.

That night, Norie stayed over and went with me to Shibuya for the onigiri delivery. There were cones around the station area and the scramble crossing was full of young people, but my homeless friend was waiting and the parking space was clear. It may have been the disaster in Korea turned the Tokyo gang into a better controlled outing.  Other than my family and friends, that was the best birthday gift of all.

Now we are into November. I can't believe how suddenly we went from the sauna weather into warm and wooly clothing. Sitting at my computer in a winter jacket while all the fall clothing hangs untouched in the closet. Friday I was lucky to have the day off work and could meet friends for a quilt show. That will be my next post later this week.  

Another Banner

Today I added the hanging sleeve and took this banner to the park for a photo opp. Not too easy getting a good picture in the wind blowing through the fence.

 This is the 13th banner over the years, and I am finding it harder each year to work with a committee, especially a committee that wants some "feel good" sentiment. We have added lots of new people to our congregation, and feeling welcome is important, but getting involved is much more what I would like to see. Most of the suggestions were themes we have done over and  over. Why bother making a new banner?

"Where will you fit? was rejected because it might hurt someone's feelings. Really?

After spending a good part of what might have been my dinner time, and with the help of my daughter, I got the EMS postal form filled out and printed up to send the labyrinth to Boston.Today I walked all the way to the big PO and waited in line, only to have my form rejected. It was in a B4 brown envelope, but not paper, as the computer choice expected. A complete waste of an hour and a half, not to mention getting the form filled out and printed. There is no choice for "quilted fabric or wall hanging"

The anniversary banner went to church last Friday, and was hung on Sunday, gathering a few more signatures. I added vines with leaves that could be signed in the empty spaces, but have no idea how many more signatures it might collect. October 1st and 2nd are the "big" days, so I will know soon.

Finally finished

 Finished after a long day yesterday, and posed for a picture this morning...

My friend from church brought me printouts of the kanji. I decided to just embroider them, doubling a single strand of floss. The photo doesn't show the autumn one well. Red on purple isn't much of a contrast, but it is actually clearly legible in person. I just put small  quilted images in the corners... cherry blossom, sunflower, colorful leaf, and snowflake. 

Next challenge will be getting it mailed to Boston.

Meanwhile, a stewardship banner needs to move from graph paper to fabric, and a hanging sleeve needs to be added to the church anniversary banner. Both of those have about half a month to get finished. No more time for dithering....

A small project

My daughter, Marie in Boston, is involved in distributing food to those of her community in need. Unlike my Tokyo daily onigiri delivery, there are rather large bags for people to pick up, and some need to be delivered, requiring a day of physical exercise. 

Thankful for the dedication of a Chinese Christian fellow's help to lighten the load, she asked if I could make him a small gift. 

Similar to a labyrinth I made for myself, I put this together. I used the same quilting templates I had created for mine, but in the corners, I am planning to put the kanji characters for spring, summer, fall, and winter.

I have used those characters before with applique on a big quilt, but am thinking of outlining the strokes with embroidery, using pink, green or yellow(for summer) red, and white.

I used Olympus pearl cotton for the labyrinth ... a light violet but ran out and had to finish it with a different brand (DMC 4) which was close enough that it doesn't show.

A church friend has offered to print out those characters in the needed size, and pass them to me tomorrow. 

Today I hope to sew a hanging sleeve on the signature banner for the 150th anniversary celebration at our church the first of October. There are still signatures to be collected, but I am thinking if it is hung, it could still be signed and might attract others to add their names.

This year's stewardship banner is still waiting, so that will be next on my list ... needing to get finished by October. Progress is a wee bit slower since I have returned to work three or four afternoons a week. And the giant spoon is again stirring up my room.

Complete and gifted

 With a rather heavy schedule and school beginning soon, I was anxious to get this I-Spy quilt finished and into the hands of the new youth ministry person before the end of the month, when classes resume. I was lucky to have enough thinsulate for batting, making it fine for simple pin basting.

I laid the flimsy out face down on the floor, put the batting on top, then the backing, and smoothed it all out making sure the edges were even. Then I just pinned it around the edges and flipped it over to check. I made sure the top was smooth, then put safety pins, spaced out in the top. The quilting was mostly in-the-ditch, with some inner quilting in the 4 inch squares. I used my hoop and it went very quickly. A simple linked-hearts pattern fit nicely in the border.

Saturday, I had to pick up my car from the inspection place, so while going through town, I picked up some bias tape to match the blue border sashing and all the little blue dots in that orange print. My last task was to back-stitch the doubled binding on and then turn it to the back and add a label. I may have been a bit later than usual going to bed, but could rest well having finished.

In the morning I went to the park to get document the finish with a photo. It was quite cloudy, so not looking so colorful, but at least I did not have to deal with wind or shadows messing up the results.

I had to get to church early because of an early discussion with a group reading Shusaku Endo's "Silence".  Then it was time for the service and I could pass the quilt to the new owner at the following coffee hour. Next thing I need to do us get a print made for my paper diary.

The log cabin awaits basting and a small labyrinth quilt is the next on the list, as well as a stewardship banner for later next month. I sewed signature leaves on to the anniversary banner and will have to check out my stash for a strip to add a hanging sleeve. There are still areas where people can sign, but maybe those signatures can be added when it is hanging.

The weather is still hot and humid, though the morning was a bit cooler than yesterday. Since I missed last week's weeding in the park because of rain, I got a huge bag of weeds on today's outing.  I left a few piles of weeds for the "gardeners" to collect rather than start another bag. Saturday it will go to the corner to be collected.

Another flimsy flapping on the fence

 I was finally able, with my daughter's help, to buy enough thinsulate for my log cabin quilt. It is now laid out on the apartment floor waiting for basting. What is holding it off is the summer heat and humidity. The electricity is off in that unused space and each day is so very hot.

Meanwhile, I had Vacation Bible School for the first week of August, and since the program activities were about nature, and written for children living in the states, they had to be tweaked to fit Tokyo. Leaves, bugs, birds, and animals and stuff for nature crafts had to be rounded up.

The days began with an early rush hour ride in the crammed sardine can subway, Only the youngest, fastest, and most aggressive got the senior sitting. I felt like a minnow swimming upstream in a typhoon! Ayway, I survived and hopefully the kids enjoyed the week. Then, the next week I was playing catch-up and getting ready for my Friday Cub Scout meeting

As it turned out, I heard from one parent that the cub had a fever and would not be coming, but I went early, set up the room with chairs and table for activity, and waited. Half an hour into the meeting time no one had come, so I slowly began folding the chairs and taking them back to the storage area. I got the room back to empty shortly before our usual closing time, and hauled my roller bag of materials back to the train station. The good thing is, I have something all ready to go for another meeting later on. It was gusting and rainy with the edge of a typhoon passing through, so I am not surprised that parents hesitated to drag their kids out in the storm.

  After the VBS week, I decided to make an I-Spy quilt for the new children's ministry director to use while the kids are gathering or waiting for parents to pick them up. 

I had a tin of 4inch blocks already cut and plenty of small solids to use in sashing, so this did not take much time.

Next will be to face the heat and get both this and the log cabin flimsy basted so the quilting can begin. I have a labyrinth wall hanging on my to-do list at the request of my Boston Daughter. I might be more motivated if it wasn't so difficult (bordering on impossible) to mail things larger than a small letter to the states! 

The end of the week, my car will go for it's three-year inspection. I get to sit on the room and wait some hours, but it is air conditioned and would be a good time to work on quilting. That alone will be my motivation to stagger up to the apartment floor and get to some basting. Hopefully the day will remain cloudy.

on hold

Considering the heatwave we have been having here in Tokyo, I have left the log cabin waiting on the floor in the upstairs apartment for basting... hoping that the predicted rain later on in the week may cool things off a bit.

Looking around for a "zoom activity", I found a small cut of the fabric in the lower half, "Island Style" by "Kathy Mom", that is a Hawaiian print produced by Kathy Nakajima, a well-known Hawaiian quilter.

The piece was only 25.5 inches long, but there were 4 repeats of the design, so I decided to try making four repeat blocks in the "stack 'n' whack" style ... only I mark and cut rather than play around with rollerblades and machines.

It didn't take long before I had 20 five-inch blocks assembled. Now, what to do with them?

There aren't really enough to make something very big. I can use sashing or an alternate block setting ... maybe include the leftover piece in the center ... that might be big enough for a table runner.

I thought I would solve the problem of unused fabric. I hope I did not just create another UFO... 

It's on the fence

I was thinking of something light blue for the inner border, but going through my assorted scraps, I couldn't find anything that would work without a lot of piecing. Then, I found a wood print that wanted to visit the cabin, and had enough to work with. I did have to piece the long sides, but that would have happened anyway.

The dark blue had two long strips that may have been cut for some other of my friend's quilts, but was not cut straight and had to be resized at 4 1/2 inches to allow for seams. The side pieces needed to be sewn but don't seem to show that much.

It is quite a windy day, but I was lucky to find a section of fence that was high enough for a photo with the quilt turned sideways. I was rather pleased when clipping it up, to find how uniform the blocks and measurements are. I didn't have to pull it in any direction to make it square up.

 

So ... next on the list will be finding something for the backing. I could piece tenugui or there might be something in the acquired stash that is large enough. I am determined NOT to buy anything other than thread. 

Moving along

 

Today I added the last block of another row to my log cabin.

I played around with some of the blocks yesterday, to get a better balance of dark and light in the Ohio star area.

The size is now 50" x 79". There will be space left for planning a border ... and time to think about the possibilities.

Meanwhile, I have to get this off the floor in case guests come, so I had better begin getting this sewed.

The hardest part will be keeping the blocks in order while in the process and I am hoping this plan will work.

At the last quilt show, I picked up this collection of Clover clips. I think they were made to use to hold seams when sewing by machine, but since I don't use a machine, I think these will help keep the blocks in order until they are together, and not fall off as readily as pins. 

I put on little numbered stickers which will keep them in order.

Then, I clipped each one to the bottom edge along the first row.

Hopefully, that will help to avoid possible mistakes of getting a block turned the wrong way, since I can't see the whole setting as I go.

I can use more clips and numbered dots to put at the end of each row so they don't get twisted before joining.

Sound like a plan? 

Now, to try it out ....

See you later, I gotta go sew!

Plan as you go

 I have done a lot of "Quilt as you go" quilts, and even taught that class for a few years. I often chuckle at the comments on the Celebrate Hand Quilting facebook page, as so often the first questions are, "What is the name of that pattern?" and "Where can I buy it?" My quilts usually start another way, for example, a lot of "North wind" blocks needed something to do, causing me to add some sail boats and a mariner's compass, then a wave print and a cloud print in the border ... with seagulls to cover the joints where the short border print met.

Now I am working on my log cabin challenge. Though one of my earliest quilts was "Log Jam", made for daughter Kimie's futon, I had not tried that pattern since, and am not overly fond of traditional arrangements. Thinking of my grandfather, who was my biggest childhood supporter and born in a one room log cabin in Ohio, I decided to try arranging the blocks in an Ohio Star.

I had been thinking of making this into a cape to wear, but that is not going to work, as the star would be split. This was also tricky because the blocks had to be made half with the blue strips dominant and half with the brown, to get them to meet properly. This is also somewhat difficult to lay out. I have decided to add more rows to the top and bottom and turn it into a bed cover instead.

Once I get a few more rows made, I will have to work some more on the layout, fixing the dark on light and colors to work a bit better together, as one block cannot be easily swapped for another.

This is definitely a "Plan as you go" quilt. I am hoping, once the quilt is longer, it will tell me what it wants for the border. Somewhere, down the road, I will be sleeping under my log cabin, without having to return to Ohio, and dreaming of days with my grandfather.

A small finish

Another I-Spy quilt for a new church baby.  This did not take long to piece because I had a tin of four-inch blocks already cut. Sashing strips needed to be made, but by this past Sunday, the border had been added. I went shopping for batting on my way home from church. I am very sorry that thinsulate is no longer  in local shops, because I like it best. Yuzawaya had an assortment of samples I could choose from, but only two were large enough for this quilt. My first choice was not available but they might be able to order it. Well, how long might that take? I decided to buy the higher loft, just right at 150cm x 125cm. polyester 92% rayon 8%, and unlike the rest  of what they had, was not "iron on". (KSP-120-NP) and the bag says "Owl's Mama". 

Anyway, I found it a bit thick and hard to quilt through. I think my stitches were around five to the inch, and the resulting finish is a lot puffier than I usually get. Of course the baby getting this will not be comparing it with other of my quilts.

 

Now, all I need to do is add a label and find a bag to put it in. Sunday I will pass it to  its new owner or leave it in the office for the family to pick up.

The rest of the week I will plan the leaves for the 150th anniversary signature quilt.  I figure that if I make them oval and pointed at both ends, I will be able to arrange them either left or right on the vine.

The day started out quite sunny and nice. It was warm and had been predicted to get warmer, but by the time I went to the park for a photo shoot, it became cloudy and windy with a slight chill. I sure am glad my job is not predicting the weather!

OOPS!

 A month  has flown, and what do I have to show for it?   Not a whole lot!

I have been working slowly on the banner for the church's 150th anniversary. I joined all the signatures I collected at the 140th celebration, and April 9th, we had a whole day kick off for this year's anniversary. It was at church, beginning with a half hour of meditative organ music, then a history presentation by our current pastor, then a whole day discussions by former pastors, members, Taize and prayers for Ukraine, etc., ending with a program by the youth, ending around 5:pm, then replayed on line. 

I had added segments around the border for members to sign, and after the first hour, took the work to the basement fellowship hall where I could quilt and take signatures.

By now I have quilted all the floral areas and the signature areas, I don't think I have enough spaces to add more signatures (about 30) and am wondering what to do next. I had been planning to quilt in vines in the open spaces, but now thinking if I added vines with leaves, people could sign those leaves ... or perhaps just mark and cut leaves, let people sign them, then applique them on later, I did that for a friend's wedding quilt, adding the leaves to a vine. Any ideas out there?

An additional project is this table runner as a thank you th our associate pastor for youth, who will be leaving back to the states at the end of the month. At this point, all I have left to do is quilt in the bible verse around the border. These are just more floral scraps, and the verse is; To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

The pattern is "bento box" and I like the floral prints that represent our very diverse congregation. No calories in the bento box, but a bit of food for thought. My daughter suggested a tenugui with children for the backing, but this is just too wide to use one of those or even yukata fabric. I did have enough of a Japanese print with beckoning cats, daruma, paper cranes, and the like all over. Maybe I could have pieced blue and white fabric for the backing, making it reversible, but that would have made the quilting rather difficult.

There have been LOTS of online meetings each week. Scouting has had Eagle boards of review, district board meetings, and Council executive board meetings, plus training, My Cub Scout pack has met in person. We had a shrine hike on Sunday afternoon.

Church meetings for outreach committee, Communication committee, Stewardship committee, Women's Conference three Saturday mornings in a row, plus regular morning meetups Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,  and several other meetings during the week. The thing I really miss is choir, and that will probably be the last thing to return.

There have been community things too. I met friends the last Sunday in March to go to a quilt show in Tokyo. This was to replace the now past history Tokyo Dome Show. Mostly the work of well known quilters, with many things seen in the past, and no pictures allowed. It was a three day show with vendor's included, but the best part was meeting with friends in person. Hopefully the Yokohama quilt show will take place this fall. 

Other than quilting, time moves on. Plenty of church events. Last week was a wonderful ballet of the messiah. I try to take time out to visit my friend living in a senior care home without many opportunities for speaking in english. Sometimes my daughter goes with me. And, of course, Monday mornings are still out early for onigiri delivery to the homeless. 

I spend time tidying up, and about the time things are looking better, I sit down to do something and can't find what was right here before I did the tidying... then I mess up everything looking for that item.  It seems every day is about the same, and without reminders, I might forget which day it is.

So, that's about it. If I didn't have friends to worry about my silence, I might have let another month slip by. Thanks Kitty!