My talented friends

I've got some pretty pictures today. My patchwork friends are doing amazing things!

First of all take a look at Mrs. Ochiai's Australian quilt. This is from the pattern that Lorraine sent us a year or so ago. Mrs. Ochiai and I started making this together but I got ahead of her and my quilt has been up on the wall for nearly a year... Mrs. Ochiai got hung up on the quilting. She claimed that she wasn't going to be able to machine quilt this and kept putting off and putting off finishing this quilt. Last month she came over and practiced a bit on my machine and I gave her a few "lessons". HA HA! I mean I said things like,

"Here is a practice sandwich. Sew me some spirals. Next sew me some flowers. Now try some meandering."

Mrs. Ochiai never did get around to putting her quilt under the needle that day but she promised to do so before the next patchwork gathering.



CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A NOVICE MACHINE QUILTER'S WORK?!!! Mrs. Ochiai did such a fantastic job and she had FUN!!! Her confidence has gone up a thousand percent and I think she is ready to tackle anything! I just love the butterfly that she quilted on the koala's head! And all the feathering in the birds and the playful flowers in the background. I think she can call herself an bona fide machine quilter!!!

Okay. Why do I have so many wonderful things to show in one post and other days I have nothing interesting at all? Anyway. Here is the second beauty.



Mrs. Okutomi came bearing the bazaar quilt that she took home for us a month or so ago. Our group roped Mrs. Okutomi into quilting this for us on her domestic machine because 1) she was the only person who could machine quilt (now we can include Mrs. Ochiai... Don't look at me) and 2) because she introduced us to Lorraine who sent all the materials for the quilt.

Even though Mrs. Okutomi lives fairly far away she wanted to participate in Lorraine's gift but it was too difficult to arrange to send her pieces and blocks and put her on a deadline. Instead we cheerfully suggested that she could do the quilting. We all felt a bit sorry for her. That is a big quilt and Mrs. Okutomi keeps so busy making other things. We didn't expect this quilt back until early in October but TA-DAH!!! A finished quilt!!!

Ooh! The kindergarten bazaar is going to be so exciting this year with this sitting out as the raffle grand prize!!! Mrs. Okutomi said it took her about a week to quilt this and even though this was the largest quilt she's ever quilted on her machine, it didn't give her the headaches that I'm sure it would have given someone else. THANK YOU NORIKO-SAN!!! You did a wonderful, wonderful job!!!

And just to show you what else Mrs. Okutomi can do when she isn't claiming other people's work, here is a stained glass quilt she made for a recent exhibition. Oh, the colors are just stunning on this!!! They don't show up so well in the photo but even here it is a beauty! Mrs. Okutomi designs all her stained glass quilts herself and she has made it a sort of lifework to specialize in stained glass quilts with Christian themes. She has made many stained glass quilts depicting churches around Japan (she inspired me to try my own for MY church last year) and has been featured in numerous magazines.

So there you have some of my talented friends' handworks.

A couple finishes

I think Blogger is doing crazy things... No one else seems to be having problems... Yesterday all day there were three comments on the blog, yet in my g-mail box there were 7 comments, meaning 4 that weren't registering in the comment box but were coming through to g-mail. And now I notice that where there had been 15 comments on one of the posts, (and they were there!!! I read them all!!!) there are now only 5 so it looks like I've deleted 10. I didn't! A few other old posts have lost their comments too but I can't figure out why...

So I don't know what is happening with Blogger but I haven't touched anything. Rats. And when I go to the dashboard I don't understand a word of the computer jargon. It amazes me that I can spend so much time on this computer yet really understand so little.

I have finished with English for the summer. Yeah! Playing games with the kids. Going out to yummy lunches with the ladies. I'm still doing patchwork though. Rumor is that today Mrs. Okutomi is coming from far away and bringing the bazaar quilt that we asked her to machine quilt.

I finished another Alabama Beauty block in dark colors (the one with the yellow sparkles.) I'll forget about those for a few weeks.




I'm not really finished with this July BOM. It needs a 4th of July flag and the words
"celebrate" but I'm debating about leaving this as it. For one, no one in Japan is going to understand what the "4th" flag is supposed to be. For another, this wasn't really a great week for celebrating... Still, I might be in a more festive mood when I get back to Japan at the end of summer. Anyway, this is going in the done pile.

And last night I spent quite awhile making directions for the Star Within A Star block that I will ask my patchwork friends to make for a block swap. This will be our newest game and our homework was: prepare a box for collecting blocks, make a block of our own as a sample, and provide templates and directions to be passed around. I didn't check this after I drew it all out so I sure hope it is understandable to my friends...

Off to patchwork! (and then spend the next two days frantically cleaning and packing!)

Monopoly

Thank you for your blessings. Today I will get the binding on Maxine/Marcy's prayer quilt... Should I just go ahead and do some simple quilting on it? (I've got 4 days right?) or tie it myself, or suggest family and friends tie it at the funeral and then give it to Marcy (I won't know most of the people... It is a little awkward, but it was supposed to be a prayer quilt.) I just want Marcy to know that we love her and that we know her mother was a wonderful person... She had to have been to have raised a daughter like Marcy.

Not too much getting done. Finishing up the last days of English by playing Monopoly in my English classes. Actually someone once gave me a Star Wars Monopoly game that is very popular with the boys, and also a Dog-opoly which the girls seem to like... Gives them all practice in counting and saying numbers. I don't know what else... Helps them be more decisive? (what to buy?) I find that Japanese children don't "enjoy" board games like American kids do. Too worried about messing up other people's plays... Too afraid to make a dumb move. Very conservative in their strategy (if they even have any...)

One of these days I should start packing!

Morning call

Marcy called this morning to tell me her mother passed away. Fast. Marcy is grateful for the 5 days that Maxine was at home. And Marcy is still thinking about and worrying about my mother amidst all her pain...

I have a prayer quilt for Maxine. Now what do I do? Take it for Marcy. Life changes so fast.

Sunny and green

Choco and I took a walk around the fields yesterday on an unusually sunny day. I took pictures of some of the green.

A rice field and bamboo forest.

A tiny frog taking a sun bath.

A rice field stone post. It says Tochigi, which is the name of our prefecture.

The stone wall along the highway covered with moss. This is pretty typical around here. Everything is so damp that even the walls and stones are covered with this vibrant green moss!

Hydrangeas abound! I could drown you with hydrangea pictures!

My neighbor, Kyoko-san tending her vegetable garden. She has a Little House on the Prairie type bonnet on (very popular in Japan) and a net that is made to fit over the brim and around the face to protect her from bugs. That round thing at her waist is mosquito repellent incense that is burning and keeps her engulfed in smoke while she is working. With arm bands, knee guards, rubber boots and rubber gloves she looks well protected. (And HOT!)

And here is Choco at the end of our walk taking a dip in the stream that supplies water to the rice fields. Though Choco doesn't much like water, on hot days she happily dives into this stream and wades up and down a few minutes. One of these days she is likely to pull me into it with her!

Prayer quilt #?

Wow! Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Usually my birthday goes by with very little celebration. I've never had so many best wishes before!! Really made my day! (and made my week and my blogging life in general!)

Yesterday I was up in the sewing room putting together a prayer quilt. I had told Leiya that I was making one and she asked how long it would take.

"About half the day. I have made so many of these that I can do it with my eyes closed. I don't even need to check the pattern anymore."

Hah! I should have checked the pattern. That will teach me not to brag. I went along sewing (and praying) and got to having four quarters of the quilt ready to be joined.

Um. They don't fit... Duh. Two were supposed to have been made as mirror images, Tanya.

Rip, rip, rip. What a waste of time. I know that it is the prayers that count not the quilt but still I want something that looks nice. An hour later I was back at the original joining point and finally got the quilt together as one piece.

I'm not so sure about the colors and patterns. The squares sort of blend into each other. And I didn't have any solid fabric left over for a solid border. Prayers, Tanya. The prayers are important.

This has to be sandwiched and bound and I'll take it to the States with me to be tied by my family.

How do you like it against the new blue-gray carpet?

Birthday presents

Yesterday was my birthday but you already know what Tetsu got me. A new carpet for my sewing room! The day was pretty ordinary... Sewing, errands, swimming, teaching. Tetsu didn't get home til about 9:30 and he came bearing more birthday presents. Some striped pajamas, an electric toothbrush, sandwiches and a birthday cake.

Tetsu is so funny. He had a long story to tell about how he ended up with a toothbrush and pajamas.

"I went to the bakery and they had one, Tanya. But when I went up to the counter, some other lady pointed to the same cake and said 'I want that' and there went your cake.

So I decided to check out the bread shop and see if they sold birthday cakes. They only sell bread. But I thought it would be rude to leave without buying something so that's why I bought sandwiches.

Then I went to the supermarket (like Target) but they didn't have cakes either so I bought the pajamas there. Next I went to the department store and that's where I bought the cake.

What I really wanted to do was to buy you some flowers but I was too embarrassed to buy flowers. I thought about buying you 10 roses, and then I thought about buying you ONE rose. That would be more romantic. But what's a guy my age buying flowers for? People would think I'm up to no good. I walked back and forth in front of the flower shop but there was only a sales girl there. I can't buy flowers from a sales girl! They should have a man working at the flower shop. If it was a man he could say 'Buying flowers for your wife?' and tell me what to buy, but I can't have a conversation like that with a sales girl. That's why I couldn't buy you flowers.

And then I went to the electronic shop and bought the toothbrush because you have nice teeth."

Oh, how I laughed. Talk about romantic! Nice teeth?

Tetsu's always been like this. When I met him I could flutter my eyelashes at him and he would go red in the face and drop things. If I took hold of his hand he would practically fall over. I loved teasing him! We once tried to go dancing with his best friend and wife but Tetsu wouldn't dance. "I can't dance with my best friend's wife!!" And the first Christmas that I took him to meet my family in America, someone pointed out that I was standing under some mistletoe and ready to be kissed. Tetsu was absolutely flabbergasted and held me off at arm's length! My family wondered if this relationship was going to go anywhere!

Romantic, Tetsu is not, but his wandering around the city on a workday looking for presents for me and his wonderful carpentry job, speak volumes of love. I flashed him a smile and fluttered my eyelashes!