March ends

March got completely away from me and hopefully April will have better things in store...

High points...  low points...  Luka update... arty things, quilty things.

Of course going cherry blossom viewing with the Yamada's (previous post) was the highpoint.  And I did get together with a couple other friends during the month.

The low point was that John bit Tetsu again, this time drawing blood and the discussion that ensued of whether we can even keep John, sent me to bed for four days.  I think it was the stress and rheumatism symptoms combined, because though I wasn't in that much pain, I just could not stay awake nor do anything.  We had already made arrangements for John to be kept at the vets for the month that Luka and Leiya are visiting.  There is no way John would stand for a child grabbing things and moving suddenly.  But Tetsu was ready to give up on John completely as he just can't be trusted not to bite without warning though the two of us are careful especially when we have guests.  We consulted with our vet who is willing to take John back or even just give us a break from him occasionally...  But John has lived with for four years and so though we don't have any great hope of a personality change in him, he has his cute points too...  

This devilish dog that I've committed myself to.

John and Tetsu made up though I continue to worry about the next time...

For the art...  well, since joining Skillshare, I have access to innumerable classes in painting and drawing and whatever else I'm interested in and so I've followed different teachers with different styles and techniques..

I was inspired to paint a Japanese tea bottle!  The packaging is so pretty during the cherry blossom season!

I also got involved in a week long challenge of painting teacups, (Barbara Luel's Skillshare class) and I pulled teacups from my cupboard.

In one class, the challenge was to draw on location but as I hadn't been planning to go out, I could only take my sketchbook and paints and see what I could do with the back side of our house.

To make things more complicated I decided to sketch with a stick!

And the finished sketch.

While I draw and paint, Tetsu gets things done, like painting our garden table.

He's so pleased with himself!

On the quilty side of my life, I had this nice McKenna pattern of fish... that I honestly never thought I'd make (it was given to me) but actually I realized I know a newly married couple who LOVE fish and even sent their wedding invitations with fish on them and asked for donations to the Reef Environmental Education Foundation in lieu of wedding presents.  I hope they will be happy to have a fish quilt from me.  

And M-san and I have been working on blocks from the On Williams Street website and we are practicing our machine quilting with a new quilting pattern each month on the same pieced block.  We've finished three now.

Family updates...

Luka-kun out for a walk.

And enjoying a ride.

And celebrating Daddy's birthday.

I steal photos from Julieta's Instagram...

Leiya and Luka will be flying to Japan on April 18th.  She wants to make a quilt while she's here so she's been out buying fabric and pattern.  She THINKS that a month is going to be enough time to make a baby quilt for her friend...  but with Luka uprooted, do you think he's going to let her sit down and sew for any length of time?  I have a feeling she is donating the fabric, the pattern and the advice and I will do the major part but I love having a project to think about with her!!