February's goings-on

Gadzooks!  We're nearly at the end of February!

My excuse for not posting is that there wasn't much to post about but I suppose that is the way it gets for those of us who are retired (almost retired).  We stay close to home...  We have routines...  We don't see so many people and rarely go anywhere except for the pool.  My days are spent sewing or sketching and as I've been working on a fairly large quilt it took awhile to finish but I put in the last stitches yesterday and so I am ready to show it.

Leading up to the finish was the process which started from January 1st.  I joined a Scrap Sew-Along with Stitched in Color with the purpose of using up my scraps.  I had overflowing bins of strings and the Scrap Cabin pattern seemed perfect for just sewing those strips and not worrying about getting widths and things to match.  

I think I showed a photo of a few of my blocks on my design wall, but I also sketched the scene for my bullet journal.  That was in the middle of January.

Since then I've plugged away at sewing blocks and debated about making this a rectangle quilt instead of a square quilt but once on the wall I could see that it was big enough as is and besides I was getting tired of making wonky log cabin blocks.  Then it was on to border blocks which was similar to Delectable Mountain blocks that I've done before.  I really used up a lot of strings in my bin!

Once we hit February, M-san and I went to the fabric store together where I purchased some backing and then one day last week I board basted the whole thing together.

Board basting is my go-to method of basting these days.  My knees don't like the floor nor do I really have any floor in this house that is wide enough to lay out a quilt.  On larger quilts like this one I thread baste the quilt though with smaller quilts I often spray baste them...

I really need to learn to pace myself because somedays I'm quilting on that domestic machine for hours before I realize my shoulders are cramping.  

I played around with a few designs and finally decided on one similar to one I'd practiced last year from the On Williams Street website.  The white areas got heavy quilting...

But the colored blocks just got concentric squares...  I didn't want to make it TOO busy.

The borders got loops in the white areas and more lines in the colored parts.  

And here is the final quilt.  You can see how wonky the squares get because the yellow centers don't line up as with true Log Cabin quilts... but the purpose was to use up miscellaneous widths of strips so I'm happy with the wonkiness.

So that's my most recent project.  M-san has been practicing her machine quilting too!  She just decided to try her hand at something complicated by following You-tube videos.  I think she's a real pro now!

Valentines Day went by with me making Tetsu a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies.  That meant that I used up all the chocolate chips that I'd had in the freezer so despite the fact that I knew they were going to be expensive, I asked my friends to buy me a bag when they went to Costco.

Oh wow!  But an all-American girl needs chocolate chips and peanut butter!  Still... I will use the chips sparingly...

Yesterday was Cats' Day in Japan because the date was February 22... 2/22.  2 in Japanese is pronounced "ni" and cats in Japan say "niao" or "nyan" (instead of "meow" or "mew").  So, 2-2-2 is "nyan-nyan-nyan" in Japanese...  Cats' Day.  I sketched Cleo (this year he'll be 21) and Toi (he'll be 17).

John and Tetsu are getting along just great!  John now likes to sit on Tetsu's lap or be picked up and carried around and he isn't inclined to go for a walk unless Tetsu joins us.

I thought this was funny, the way Tetsu and John were reading the morning paper.

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As for family at home...  Julieta and her mother and her brother are planning to visit us in April (no Takumi) and so Tetsu and I have been on a quest to find a nice hot springs to take them to.  There is a problem however...  I'm sure I've mentioned that tattoos are related to the Japanese mafia in Japan and so people with tattoos are not allowed in the onsen or baths.  I think this is a ridiculous rule and am quite vocal about how I think the hotels should change their rules with the many foreigners coming to Japan.  The policy is not tourist friendly!  Julieta's brother has tattoos so we have been calling places and explaining our problem...  I THINK, (hope!) we've found someplace that is more accepting (many foreign visitors) and quite nice.  Julieta's visit isn't until the end of April but at some point I'll let you know how the onsen trip for all of us goes.

And at Leiya's house there has been lots going on!  Sometime in March or April the Smith family will be moving to Denver and so they have visited Colorado to look for apartments and now they are busy making repairs on their house to ready it for sale.  Leiya is also busy getting rid of things and getting the house looking nice for potential buyers. 

She had a nice story to relate to me.  When the realtor came to look at their house they were advised to take down family photos and valuables.  Leiya asked if she should take down the quilts she has up on her walls and on the sofa and in a rack etc.  

"Oh no, leave them!  The make the house look so nice and cozy."

"My MOTHER made those!"

And the biggest news of all is that Taiga had a birthday!  He is now one year old!

Happy Birthday Taiga!  Luka was quite jealous and suggested that they both have the same birthday so that the celebrations aren't just about Taiga.  

"We're brothers.  We should have the same birthday."

I'm "shocked" that Taiga's getting so big!

And that's it for the Watanabe family.  I guess I had more to write about than I thought...  Or at least a lot of sketches and photos...

And one more to celebrate my quilt completion.  Do you see John hiding out there?