Yokohama quilt show, part 1

With my battery charged and a brand new chip in my camera, I was ready to head out to the train station. My husband said I should take a picture of him, just to make sure I had the chip set right.

Smile and say "cheese".

Actually, Nikko will do just about anything for cheese and you don't have to hold her head.

Yep, camera is working, I've got my train schedule and even remembered my cell phone just in case. Off to the mobile sardine-can! 860-some yen and I had to hang from a strap for the first hour of the trip! So much for senior seats!

As I came down the escalator at the site, the line was building up in front of the entry.

This is the third day crowd and among them a good number of foreigners. There was a large tour group coming from Australia, and my Friday group had a contingent too.


I met up with Carin and headed in with map in hand and a plan in mind.

Some of the first places we viewed requested no pictures. Those were special exhibits by well-known quilters. Probably many of those quilts have been featured in books or magazines. We did notice an improvement in that many of the names of the quilters represented were written in English.
Also, the exhibit areas were covered by volunteer staff in pink smocks, and many of those spoke to me in English. Though conversations quickly switched to Japanese, I was pleased to see that an event that calls itself "International" is working in that direction.

Some of the featured exhibits were "Colorful World of Kaffe Fassett, (we saw him giving a presentation to a standing-room-only crowd), Kathy Nakajima, (who usually has an exhibition spot featuring her Hawaiian quilts), Fumiko Nakayama's wonderful Mola quilts, (saw her giving a talk too), Faculty showcase ... whatever that means, and quilts by previous judges.

Yoko Saito had a spot and there were "Japanese Quilts" by Yoshiko Katagiri. There were quilts from Korea and Taiwan, "Tail of Genji" quilts, and a few other exhibits where photographs were not allowed. I felt I was watched because I had a camera hanging around my neck but I saw many Japanese and foreigners taking pictures with their cell phones and I-pads. I see many wonderful pictures on different blogs of quilts taken at shows in the States. I have only been to one show there (except for museum shows) and pictures were allowed everywhere. I wonder why pictures are not allowed. Certainly those taken are more "snap-shots" than anything that might be put in a book.

Well, the contest areas DID allow photos and some of those were astounding.

The first area we viewed was a Miniature Quilts "Star challenge" ... in fact there were several challenge areas and all of those were quite charming. The "star challenge" gave each participant three small pieces of three different fabrics.

You can see them on the poster below,  a yellow print with small pictures printed on it, a purple and blue check on a white background, and a brown floral print with yellow, white and dark red flowers.

The rules were to make a star design.
Use each of the three fabric bits somewhere in the piece,
and finished size, 20 x 20 centimeters.

There were plenty of star patterns but there were some that were not readily easy to spot. Some of those feature fabrics were easy to see but just as many were very cleverly hidden.

There were a few with little ribbons attached which I assume were given special prized.

This is how they were displayed.

There must have been several hundred of them.

They reminded me of the "Partnership Quilts" at the Tokyo Dome show. In that case, the blocks have a theme but no fabric requirement other than size, and they are placed in quilts that are then raffled off.

Here the stars are in the background .

One flower from the brown print is on  the cat's tail and the other two fabrics are appliqued in the stars.

Here is a cute one.

I am fond of owls so took note.

Considering the total size is only 20 cm., this is very lovely piecing on this little feathered star.


Challenge pieces are in the center star and star points.

Here are a few with pink ribbons attached.



Can you find the star and the featured fabrics?

Here is another.

I will be waiting to see what Queenie might post.

We were both running around this place with our cameras.


It was fun to examine the many entries and hunt the stars and fabrics... Kind of like an adult game of "I Spy"!


Names of the quilters and title of the bock are listed on the slip below along with the location of the quilter.

I think I recall a similar challenge last year so it must have become a regular feature of this show and has picked upin popularity.

Well, I am having some issues with blogger and will make another post if this one goes through.
... maybe tomorrow if time allows.

An adventure awaits

In less than an hour, I will be out the door and on my way to the train station.
The sky is bright blue and the sun is just getting up.
The wind is playing among the leaves in the maple outside my window.

I am smiling ... because ... at ten I will meet my friend, Carin, and we will "do" the Yokohama quilt show together. Being pretty much a loner, group viewing has often been rather frustrating to me ... keeping up with the group, adjusting to group schedules, and the like but there is one thing about viewing a show with Queenie, both of us see so much more! Our pace is much the same (and she is easy to find in a crowd).

My Friday sewing group will be there too and we will be meeting with Ueno-san who we met last year. It is going to be a fun day and I hope I will have a few pictures to flash on a post.

This is what will be waiting when I return.

I finished the little genkan runner.

Even my husband noticed the change.
This is our small entryway. To the right is the front door, a floor space for taking off shoes, an umbrella stand below the post box, and a small coat cupboard.

The space under the runner is a "geta bako" or cupboard for storing shoes (so there is space to get in the door).

For a very tiny space, I am happy we could plan this area for the best use. The space to my back has stairs going up and the area underneath is also storage space.

The window has levers and can be left open even in the rain. My #4 daughter made the hanging owl planter
and a few other owls keep watch ...helped by a few other critters. The horse will move to make way for a sheep next January.

This is the scrappy runner.

I started to quilt it on the diagonal through the centers of the blocks. Half way I decided I didn't like it and it stalled to a UFO pile. Finally, when the rainbow quilt was assembled, I needed another take-along project. I decided to take out all the quilting and start over.

Now the pieced blocks are in-the-ditch ... much better. I began to quilt tulips into the three-inch blocks but some were a waste of time because they didn't even show. Then I noticed the fall runner on my coffee table has three inch blocks and only every-other one is quilted with a leaf design, So,,, I decided to leave some of those blocks in-quilted, bind the edges, and say "Done"!

So ... now I'm off! Three guesses what will be in the next post... and the first two don't count!

A busy weekend

Norie and Leia came Friday evening with the promise we would put the Halloween cookie cutters to use.

We spent some fun quality time together, and even though we got a bit behind the day, there were plenty of fancy painted cookies to go around.

At Christmas last year, less than a year ago, Leia was hardly able to part with any of the cookies we made. BUT, this time she was not only ready to share, she picked out some of the favorites for me to share with the choir on Sunday and her "Jiji" to take to his Homeless Ministry meeting. When I set them out on the counter Sunday morning, there were many phone-cameras recording the results ... and I think some even made it to facebook.

As I have been going through "saved stuff" I pulled out the costume box and things that had not seen the light of day for decades, got a good workout. Clowns, Indians, witches, magicians, pioneers, ... I can't even remember what all these were used for.

Leia found one dress at the very bottom of the trunk that matched one I had made for the doll she loves to play with.

This could have been made for her mom or aunt back when there was a big celebration in New Jersey for the Bi-centennial.

There is still a bit of that fabric hanging around the stash box and Leia was able to find some scraps in the quilt I have been working on.

Friday evening, I managed to sew the last few blocks together and now I can sing a rainbow.

I wanted to take a picture to show my Grandson, Ben, but it was raining all day Saturday so no chance.

Sunday I took it to church and put it out on the floor of the fellowship hall for a picture.

It still needs a border and it is already too big for my tiny futon.
I have been thinking that it will make a good "Big Boy" quilt for my Grandson, Ben. He had requested purple and lime-green but though I have been collecting fabric for over a year, I still am far from having enough ... and much is on the pink and flowered side of purple, not too boyish.  I thought if I could add a purple batik border, it might be something he would enjoy. Of course, I can use it and really love how it is turning out and I didn't want to make Ben change his idea of what he wanted. After seeing the picture, He said yes, he liked it!

I stopped at Yuzawaya fabric department on my way home Sunday but they had no batiks at all and very little purple.

Friday I will be going to the Yokohama quilt show and perhaps there I will be able to find something good at one of the shops there.

If you could see Ben's sunny smiling face, you would know a rainbow is perfect for him.
You can't have a rainbow without sun and that smile lights up my world.

I was glad I added the sashing when I began putting these blocks together. It made the whole process a lot easier.It should be easy to quilt in the ditch ... maybe over the winter, keeping my lap warm.

A five or six inch border should hold it all together. I wonder if it needs a narrow white inner border as well... hmmm.

Meanwhile I am quilting a small runner for the "geta bako" (shoe cabinet) in our entryway. I had been quilting the pieced blocks on the diagonal and the more I did, the less I liked the results. Yesterday I un-did all those quilting stitches and began quilting in the ditch. Much better!

I hope you all had a happy Halloween too. Wish I could share some cookies with my blogging friends.

Progress ... I think

Friday evening we set out for our choir retreat.

Each fall we take a weekend to tackle the music selected for the Holiday season.

The first Sunday of Advent we have a "Choir Sunday" where the sermon in both services is replaced with a choral presentation .

This year, Bob Chilcott, "A Little Jazz Mass" is the selection.  It was good to work on that complicated rhythm and clashing notes until it became a little easier to handle.

Saturday morning we awoke to a stunning view of Mt. Fuji with it's first cap of snow. I really need to study how to get views on my camera. The point and click picture I got on my cell phone was much better but I don't yet know how to transfer those pictures to my computer.

No danger of me ever becoming a computer geek!

Of course I took my four-inch (well, now six inch) blocks to work on joining. Evenings and breaks and car rides I sewed them together in groups of four. I was really happy to complete that goal but also a little sad because now joining four twelve-inch blocks is a bit more difficult to count as take-along-work.  I haven't tried it yet but I am thinking that all those pins to hold the pieces as I sew might be a challenge to keep under control.

The sun set on a wonderful weekend.



The weather was warm and sunny.

Whatever rain that was predicted must have blown off with the wind.


The bits of music are playing over and over in my head.
(which is probably a good thing because it means I remember a lot of it)

and the quilt sits patiently beside me, waiting for some more togetherness.

Meanwhile, a huge task of sorting storage items and figuring out what to do with them is taking time and energy and more space than I have to spare.

The nights have become cold and another cover has been added to my bed.
It reminds me a little of my Grandmother's house ... always a quilt ... or two ... or three on every bed.
Who will keep warm under this one, I wonder ... and when will I have time to finish it?

Ready for a botany lesson?

Earlier today, I was visiting my blogging friends and came across some lovely photographs of leaves in the rain.

JoAnn of Scene Through My Eyes is a master with a camera and I always enjoy her nature pictures.

The pictures she provided are leaves in the rain and in fall colors ... lovely!

They looked to me like Katsura, Cercidiphyllum japonica, a tree that is native to Japan. In fact, Katsura is the largest deciduous tree native to Japan. It is the only member of its genus and, like the Ginkgo, the male and female flowers are on different trees.

In spring the leaves come out looking like pink hearts.

Only a few leaves were on the ground and these among the azalea bushes along the curb-side.

There were a few golden leaves, the most common fall color hiding among the branches.

A number of years ago, the local train tracks were raised above the main road and the place underneath was made into a parking area (where we park our car as well). The south side of the former tracks were planted with a line of Katsura trees. It is not a tree often found along streets but since it has no power lines to deal with, it looks it's very best here.

In another few weeks, we will be treated with a row of golden trees.

Being a woodcarver, this is one of my favorite woods. It is a reddish color, fine grained and easy to work. It is widely used here for cabinet making, veneer, and implements.

In 1990, the Scouts offered a course in Commissioner Science. The first year.a Scouter takes the course for a bachelors degree. The next year, teaches the course for a Masters. The final degree was a PHD (in commissioner science) and I decided to give it a try.

I gave three proposals of year-long projects and the one that was selected was a book to use for identification of woody plants (mostly trees). Scouts in the States have plenty  of resources to use in identifying poisonous plants and trees but in Japan there was nothing written in English. My plan was a guide to assist scouts in meeting many of the nature requirements.

These days you might be able to go on line and search for information but in those days there was nothing. Even today, a field guide in English is a far-off dream. I took one year to research common trees in the Kanto area (around Tokyo) and make drawings. The book was assembled on a word processor with the help of my husband. The pages were in the A4 size, printed and folded in half with the blank side inside. I stapled the open edges and added a cover. In February '91 I put together a book for each troop and pack in the area to use and one for each library in the international schools at that time. Since then, it has been scanned and added to the Troop 15 Far East Council downloads.

Recently I have passed the drawings and original prints to a Scouter who is planning to make an up-dated download in the future. At the back of the book, I put maps of areas with numbers where trees in the book were located. That way, a leader who had no knowledge of plants and trees, could go to the spot and read the description and let the scouts use their observation skills to locate the tree being described. Now many of those trees are gone and there are a few new ones to add. I am not very handy with a computer but the Leader says the newer version will be easier to add to or up-date.

I am just happy that my efforts so long ago were and are being put to use. I love to take scouts and leaders on nature walks and help them to get to know both plants and animals. We protect the things we love ... but the first step is getting to know nature ...  so that day will come.

On that walk to look at the Katsura, I was surprised to see a number of Japanese dogwood (Yama hoshi, or mountain star) in bloom.

These flowers usually open in the spring ... a bit later than American dogwood, and after the leaves come out.
I had never seen them bloom again in the fall.

We have had second blooms of Magnolia the last few years and my Gardenia usually blooms a second time when night temperatures fall.

These flowers come out light pink, then turn white and do make the trees look as if they are full of stars.

 The four-inch blocks are gradually getting done.

Today I finished the sashing on the blue ones and have 9 purple and six blocks left to do. Then I will be able to put this rainbow together.

Good project for a rainy day, huh?

I finally dug out the flannel sheet to arrange them on. This weekend we will have a choir retreat at the foot of Mt Fuji. I do not have to drive so I am hoping I will have blocks to assemble as take-along work. I am beginning to wonder the best way to keep them from getting turned or mixed up once I have them arranged. I am hoping to separate those with the same fabrics. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome.

Design bed progress

 I just happened to recall,I have a very large flannel sheet that was sent me by my son. Maybe it is time to dig it out and lay it over the bed to make arranging easier.

Clearly this is not going to end up as a small quilt for my semi-single futon.

The blocks made so far are laid out overlapping more than half an inch and this is a double bed. I am definitely planning to add some kind of a border to tie it all together ...
once I get it arranged and assembled.

Typhoon winds and rain provided plenty of indoor time to hunt through stash and cut the sashing pieces. Actually, by the time it arrived in Tokyo, it was just a tropical storm. The next day we were greeted by bright blue skies and still a lot  of wind. There was no damage due to the wind, even on the roof outside my greenhouse with many plants.

Actually the only damage was caused by feral cats, knocking flower boxes off the wall. I heard a crash in the middle of the night before the typhoon. It sounded like it came from the front garden and involved the birdbath. Sure enough, in the morning light the flower box was upside down with some of the hostas hanging from the birdbath and the box and soil on the ground at the foot of the wall.

(Our "birdbath" is a large ceramic dish, resting on top of a ceramic umbrella stand). Luckily the dish was not damaged. Someone in the area has been dumping cat food outside in our street late at night. The feral cats use that as a battleground. I posted a sign asking that they not feed cats there, but do it outside their own home but there is the food, less than a foot from the sign. The culprit seems to be someone living on the block, but I have yet to discover who. My daily sweeping and weeding has put me in touch with many of the immediate neighbors and I am beginning to hear the local gossip including who it is that does not pick up after their dog....as I suspected. What I don't understand he how many people can watch it happening and not speak up. I think if the owner knew they had been seen, they would change tactics (or sites) . There is such a thing as SHAME. Come on, if you can bend over and pick up three or four rocks to cover the poop,why not just pick it up?!?

My friend, Pat, of Bird Nest on the Ground, seems to think sleeping in a greenhouse on the roof is romantic. Therefore, I took a picture of what I see in my nest in the air.

If you look carefully, you might even see the plants. There is a step-tansu on the left. (That is a chest/cupboard that can be used as stairs) It contains orchids and cacti and a palm.

The table on the right has cuttings  and other stuff rests on the floor or small stands around the edges.

There is a balcony about a foot deep outside and I  use the railing to air my futon or dry large laundry such as tablecloths. You can see what this room is basically used for ... hanging laundry.

That is a gull kite flying in from the top right. The stairs are directly behind the camera with my futon on the right under the eaves. This romantic spot gets a lot of very hot sun during the summer. One also has to watch the weather to keep out rain. There is a large hole in the floor at the front right corner where rain has rotted out the floor. It was suspected that there was a leak in the roof area but since I have been at home this summer, even through typhoons, and no rain has come in, I suspect that those keeping house in my absence are less likely to think of shutting the windows ... or even notice that it is raining.

Last night it was actually rather cold ... going down to 9c and turning on the automatic heater a few times. I will have to make a few changes in bedding tonight. Time for a quilt or two?
It reminds me of a poem my dad used to quote ...

When it comes to weather, mans a fool.
When it's hot, he wants it cool.
When it's cool. he wants it hot.
What it is, he wants it not!

Waiting out another storm

I have a feeling that, like the last typhoon, this one is going to just amount to rain and hype. The weekly schedule goes on, rain or shine and the homeless will get their onigiri tomorrow morning, rain or shine ... well, not much shine at four am.

My sewing group met Friday and I had prepared these four blocks to pass to a member with a project in mind.

I still have not passed them on because Friday was my Cub Pack meeting and timing is everything when one does not live in the area.

Maybe next week I can pass them on. I could have made all four blocks the same but I liked the challenge of trying different lay-outs for the focus fabric and the three others I selected to go with it.

Saturday was the school's "Taisokai". Many schools hold sports days or athletic meets this time of year and Jiyu Gakkuen has a gymnastics day. I especially like the Danish gymnastics done by the boy's or girl's departments, all synchronized to music. As I watched the pre-school go through their simple race ... run to the hats, find their hat and put it on, run to the next station and pick up their notebook, then to the next station where they found their school bag, put the notebook inside and buttoned the bag, putting it over their shoulder, and raced to the finish line, I couldn't help thinking back forty some years to when my little daughter did the very same thing ... only in a very "big sister" way, as she helped all the kids who needed help and was last across the finish line.

The last part of the event is to release pigeons from their cages. The pigeons return to their school ground and an announcement is made upon the complete return.

This year the pigeons were released from the front of the field rather than the end, but otherwise very little has changed in all these years.

I have showed pictures of the athletics in the past but thought this time I might show a part of the campus that I love ...
the nature.


The Akebono-sugi, Dawn Redwood, or Metasequoia Glyptostroboides, was thought to be extinct and found only in fossils until it was discovered growing in China in 1941.

This tall pointed tree in the background must have been one of the first samples to be brought to Japan.
It is particularly nice that it was planted with enough space to grow naturally. Often these trees have to be pruned to keep them under control so this is a particularly fine sample.

In the late fall, the needles turn reddish brown and fall.

The Ginkgo, another "fossil tree" is also found growing on campus.

The Japanese Red Pine, Pinus densiflora is dying out in many places because of a pine blight carried by a beetle.

It is nice to see many large trees surviving on the campus.

Another huge tree is the Himalayan Cedar,  Cedrus deodar, The only "true cedar" in Japan, though many evergreens are referred to by  the name "cedar"

This specimen has probably undergone trimming at various times but it still is a very large tree.

Pyracantha, sometimes called "Fire Thorn", was planted long ago outside the office where the money was kept, the idea being it would protect the building from someone trying to enter through the windows.

I don't know if it ever did that job but it certainly likes the chosen spot and those bushes are very tall and thick and covered with berries (which will certainly please the local birds over the winter).

Most of the bushes looked so full of berries that one could hardly make out the leaves and thorns.




And the last piece of fall I always admire are the "Hototogisu".
The name comes from the spotted little cuckoo, a bird with a pattern similar to that of the flower's spotted corolla.

Interesting that by now the bird has left to its winter quarters. I have these in my garden at home ... rescued from a bulldozer that was turning a garden into a parking lot.

The family is Tricytis and it is often known as "Toad Lily". ... or hairy toad lily.

I hope you had or are having a pleasant weekend. I have been working on more four inch blocks, having decided to make the quilt into a standard size that might be more useful in the future to one of my kids. Maybe if it rains tomorrow......?

Signs of Autumn

Apples are ripe!

These are "Fuji" apples coming to Tokyo from Aomori.

Note each one has a bar code pasted on it. Yep,those apples are being sold one-by-one at 158 yen (with tax).

They are beautiful un-bruised tasty apples but....

When I was growing up, my uncle down the road had an apple orchard. There were many varieties of apples ... green ... yellow ... red ... for pies and canning and applesauce or for making into cider. Us kids picked up the wind-falls and bit around the bug holes, but those apples were yummy. (and free)

Japanese apples are good and pretty to look at. The skins are tough though and not every brand is suitable for pies or apple cake. I guess that is not unusual in a country where many homes have only a small grill and no oven other than a microwave.

Another sign of fall, when the spider lilies begin to fade, is the delightful scent of Kin-mokusei. (Osmanthus or Sweet Olive).

These tiny flowers are tight on the branches and hidden among the leaves so one is more likely to smell them before seeing them.

When I say "tiny", I really mean it!


Here are a few lying on top of the wall.
Amazing how something so small can give off such a powerful perfume.

One activity for last week was to gear up the cookie factory.

Someone had seen Leia's last batch (maybe made last Christmas) and hired us to make cookies for a wedding.

Norie did the rolling and cutting and Leia and I did the painting and decorating.

Tuesday afternoon and most of last Wednesday we worked on several hundred cookies. Norie managed the oven and kept the supply going.

She also managed the camera so escaped the documentation.

Here is a batch cooling. A little bit of this and that from several collections of cutters.

The typhoon that blew past on Monday gave me a bit of inside time to work on sashing the four-inch blocks.

This is what is done so far, laid out on the double bed in the loft.

Well, it is a bit hard to see on top of the tree quilt but you get the idea. I have 9 blocks width laid out here.

I was planning ten blocks wide, That would make the quilt 60 inches wide but I think it will need to have borders  to make it look finished.

The quilt I am using now on my futon is 68 x 96 inches and rather too wide (the futon is only three feet across) . Now, before I make more blocks beyond what I have waiting for sashing, I am wondering what is a practical size for a single bed cover.

The "I Spy" quilt I made for my daughter's kids was 69 x 77 inches and I have slept under it many times on a bunk bed when I visit. Is there a standard size for a single bed cover? What would you advise? I think whatever border I might add would only be three or four inches but I won't buy anything until I have the top together.

Another typhoon is coming our way so I may get some more indoor sewing time. I am hoping I won't have leftover blocks to deal with so I am trying to plan ahead and I found the last bits of advice very helpful. Thanks in advance for sharing any advice you may have.

BIZZY

Have you ever heard the expression, "Busier than a one-armed paperhanger"? Well, I think I know what that feels like.

Over the weekend we took a family "break".

We were offered a nights stay at a hotel in Atami along the shore of the Izu peninsula.

Of course, I am the only driver in the group so I got to drive my van while trying to figure out where I was going. Paul sat up in front and held the map on his cell phone ... and dozed.

Nikko sat in the back and watched the road. We picked up Norie and Leia along the way and after countless wrong turns, made it to our destination. Along the way, the cell phone with the GPS ran out of batteries. I think we took the extra "scenic route" but by the time we arrived it was too dark to see much of the scenery other than the city lights of Atami.

We met up with our friends at the hotel and went out for a bite to eat at a family restaurant, then returned to enjoy a nice onsen bath. Dogs were not welcomed at the hotel so Nikko and I slept in the van ... as we often do for Scouting events. It was a pleasant night, not too hot, nice breeze, quiet lapping waves, and we woke refreshed to a view of the castle in the morning mist.

After a bit of breakfast and more onsen bath enjoyed by some of the group. we went off on more "scenic" routes to find the castle.  Though Paul had taken his phone charger, he was unable to find it so we set out with a printed map of the town.

It was not a very accurate map but highlighted the tourist spots, and since it was in the hands of someone who does not drive, the interpretation was sketchy to say the least.

We made it to the castle and Leia played with some of the warrior statues lining the  cliff edge.

The day couldn't have been nicer with a brisk breeze and sunny blue skies.

Nikko went happily up all those stairs and, though the autumn colors had not yet made an appearance, we enjoyed the view of the city and bay and surrounding hills.

Our next stop was at a garden. No dogs allowed so we left Nikko with Papa and walked around the outer garden. In the end, we decided the outer garden was enough and we didn't need to pay to see the inside area.

We had planned to see one more garden but were not able to locate it so left the car and found a dog-friendly cafe to enjoy some lunch.

The cafe had two young Golden Retrievers who made Nikko look like a perfectly trained dog in comparison.



Our final scenic stop before heading back to Tokyo was a shrine to good health and old age containing the oldest tree in Honshu.

The Camphor tree is said to be between 2100 and 2200 years old.

I guess by that long, a few years either way doesn't matter much.

The belly band with folded paper indicating the sacred status is 23 meters around.  (Only exceeded by a height of 26 meters).

Walking the path around the tree is supposed to increase one's life by a year for each round.


(I think the stress of driving all those scenic routes evened the playing field for me.)


With the van loaded up with six people and a dog, we set off to find our way back home.

The Navigator on my phone speaks English but not "driver English" Sometimes the "continue straight" is on a very curvy road and sometimes "turn left" is a given because the road is bending to the left and there is no side road.

Just about the time I was ready to toss the thing out the window, the battery died.  Our host was able to get the map on his cell phone and we made it to the drop-off point for four passengers.

Nikko could have her seat back but she was so tired she slept on the floor between the two front seats.

Sunday was super busy with a special choir piece for a choir member who was leaving us after earning his PHD, to return to Africa. The piece was fun to sing and has been going through my brain day and night for weeks ... well, first to learn the words and then because there was no "off switch".

Monday was early morning rice delivery and then my English class.

I took advantage of the large open floor space to lay out some of my expanded blocks and get an idea of how they are going to look together.

I think the longer strips on the sides will be OK.


I didn't get a whole lot done on the trip but I am finding the mini design wall that Jean sent me works quite nicely for laying out the blocks with their side strips.

My English students were impressed with the ruler you sent, Jean, but also with the cute design mat ...



... and the fact I could bring my friend with me each day.
I hope you enjoyed the trip to Atami, even if not the bath.

Feedback

Thanks to my virtual quilting club, I am getting more ideas for putting my four-inch blocks together.

I still have a plentiful stash of one-inch cut scraps so I can continue making a few more blocks, but I already have a quilt made of one-inch scraps and I am getting low on some colors.

I really don't want to cut more pieces. Those have come all from scraps that were left on other projects. I have more of them because I chop up the left-overs that are too small to bother returning to the stash boxes, beginning with four inch, then three inch, then two inch and then  one inch. I managed to use plenty of scraps in my + and x block quilt, but still have the largest amount of one inch scraps. Some of them are a bit hard to use on this project because they have no dominant color.

I am now thinking it might be interesting to add four and five inch strips to two sides of each block. That would speed the project by making the blocks two inches larger and also a bit easier to join together at the end of the line. (Of course cutting strips will surly add to my one-inch collection).

What do you think of this plan?  I laid out a few blocks and it doesn't really destroy the general design. Probably it will make it interesting to keep using the odd light blocks at two corners but I can't see bothering with odd colored blocks in the other two corners.

It is just laid out any old way but I would be a bit more consistent over which side gets a longer strip.

I am lousy at math so I don't know how much bigger the whole thing will be. That is partly because I don't know the proportions I want to make it or if I can figure out a border to get the size right.

I'm sure I will need to make more of those four-inch blocks anyway, Maybe I can add the strips to them during my train-rides or make a second pile of take-along work making the blocks larger.

At any rate, I will keep with the four-inch blocks and wait for feedback from my gang of helpers ... That means YOU!

Enjoying the steps to autumn

The banner has been hung in the stairwell at church and is basking in a spotlight, no less!

Considering all that mix of fabrics, it actually doesn't look too bad.

I think the message is enough without all the extra words.






I have been working slowly on the four-inch blocks and have completed 100.

Today I took them to my quilt group and laid them out on the table.

I am still looking for a plan to put them together.

I have more sofa quilts than I use so I prefer to make a single bed size.  I would need several hundred to do that if I just sew them together.

One friend suggested making them into eight inch blocks by sewing four together and putting a star block alternating.

I thought of making an eight-inch star of each block but that may lose the pattern of light pieces.
If anyone has an idea, I am open to suggestions.

Fall is definitely in the air. The higan-bana  or spider lilies have begun to bloom here and there.

"Higan" is the autumnal equinox and these are the harbingers of fall. One neighbor has a planter full of white ones but these are the most common sight. I love seeing them along the borders where forest meets the fields.

And, what do you think this is?

Last night as I was walking to the station after choir practice, I noticed young people hanging out along the edge of the sidewalk.

Some had blankets spread on the ground.
Some had folding chairs.

There was even a pup-tent!

The line went on and on. It is a 30 minute walk to the station ... actually two stations away where my train crosses with the very expensive ride ... and about two thirds of the trip were all these young people. At the end, there was a policeman making sure the line was out of the way of pedestrians as those kids placed their stuff.

Well, curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. I had to ask.

Next morning the sale of I-phones will begin near the church.
All these kids were in line waiting for the store to open so they could be first (a relative term in this case) to buy one.

Sometimes when some much-wanted thing goes on sale, one can see a line forming the night before. It is something I have seen while making early morning rice deliveries, but those lines are at most a block long and often someone pays the homeless guys to hold the spot until just before the store opens in the morning. This was a VERY LONG line and all made up of young people. Not a weekend either. School? Jobs? By now, if they are not sleeping after having stayed up all night, they are texting on their new gadgets.

Ah, life in Tokyo ... streets lined with spider lilies or shoppers ... Never a dull moment.

And now ... it is off to Scout Camp ... where it is scheduled to rain tomorrow. Rain gear packed. A Scout is prepared!