Golden Week

We are in the midst of Golden Week this week but so far Tetsu and I haven't done too much. Golden Week consists of April 29th, Showa Day, commemorating the Showa Era (it is the former Emperor's birthday) May 3rd, Constitution Day, which commemorates the date when Japan became a democracy rather than an empire; May 4th, Greenery Day, a day to rest and commune with nature; and May 5th, which is Boy's Day, also a national holiday. And because May 3rd fell on Sunday we also get May 6th off in exchange. It is the GOLDEN WEEK of the year and one of the few times when salary men get a succession of days vacation.

Tetsu doesn't have all those days off (he's working today for instance) but he has a couple days of vacation. One day he went off to play pachinko. I spent the day sewing. And yesterday after church he spent the day cleaning out our storage area. It is a catch all for junk. And Choco got a bath. I finished up my applique homework. Not a very exciting way to spend our holidays...

Here is Choco helping Tetsu clean the storage bin. There is NOTHING in there that needs to be kept! Since we haven't been able to get inside for two years I'd say that everything in there can be taken to the dump without even looking through it. But Tetsu wants a look so he spent a few hours going through boxes and bags and most of it all got put back in afterwards...

My applique has been on hold for awhile but I'm relieved to have it finished. I've had the homework for the last two weeks. Mrs. Ochiai said she finished hers in two days! This is going to look so nice when we get all the parts together later this month! Stay tuned!

And the Hidden Spools for A Thousand Colors is at the flimsy stage! I really like how it turned out! I wanted a colorful border and found this beautiful Laurel Burch fabric in my stash (I think Nancy sent it!) that I just love. Not quite enough but with a little color on both sides... Ooh, do I want to give up my beautiful Laurel Burch cat fabric? But it is so perfect for this colorful quilt! I'm sure there is going to be some child in Abruzzo that loves cats! (There were even a few scraps left over for me to use in another someday project for myself.)

As soon as I close my computer I'm going upstairs to do something to this quilt. I almost hate to put this under the machine needle since I am never satisfied with my machine quilting. But I'll never get better if I don't do it, right? Maybe use the walking foot again and just do straight lines? I've got a full day to play in my sewing room so I'd better get at it!