Neighborhood messageboard

There are things in Japan that don't understand but maybe are important. I'm sure a lot of Japanese would say I'm off the wall with my statement, but I don't like the homeowners association's Kairanban in my neighborhood and don't see the necessity.

A Kairanban is a plastic (until a few years ago it was cardboard) neighborhood message board that circulates to each homeowner.

As a homeowner and a member of the homeowners association we pay dues every month... Or in our case about $50 every three months. As members, we are required to participate in the neighborhood politics. There is a chairman, a vice chairman, a treasurer, an environment chairman, a health and sports chairman, a child-raising group chairman and a lot more duties that I forget. (I was the safety chairman for 4 years.) Maybe 20 in all. On top of that, the whole neighborhood of about 250 homes, is broken up into blocks or groups and we have group leader duty every 7 years.

Oh gosh... I guess I've written a lot of my complaints here and here... I won't go into all of that...

Being a member of the homeowner's association entitles us to information distributed by the city. About once a week we get a newsletter that comes to our house via the neighborhood group leader, via the homeowner's association, via the city. Traditionally, the Kairanban was a way for neighbors to stay in touch with the neighborhood. It was passed from hand to hand and a few words of greeting were exchanged with your next door neighbors. Nowadays everyone is too busy and it was decided that Kairanban were best left by the mailbox.

So, what sort of messages are circulated? Deaths are posted... Invitations to the association for the elderly's flower arranging exhibit... New homeowners are introduced... The local elementary school and jr. high distribute their news... The city lets us know when baby vaccinations will be available... Advertisements are posted for up-coming concerts...

I often say to Tetsu,

"Why do they need to send around all this stuff? Can't people just look in the newspapers and find out which dentist is on emergency call? Don't a majority of homes have computers where if we really wanted to donate money we could get the information? Or use the telephone? American homeowners get along without all this stuff. This is such a waste of money and time." (Somebody has to deliver papers, somebody has to divvy them up into group packets, somebody has to deliver the notice boards to the homes.)

Sometimes all we have to do is glance at the clipboard, add our family chop (signature) to prove that we have responsibly reviewed the information, and then deposit it in front of our neighbor's house. Sometimes there are numerous papers that each homeowner gets from the city and a ream of those get directly thrown into the wastebasket in my house. In all the 20 years that I have lived here I have NEVER needed a single paper that came to my house.

A lot of all this information is repeated in the newspapers anyway (which I also don't read but Tetsu does) so I really think the Kairanban system is generating a lot of waste... But I guess I'm in a minority. This is part of belonging to a Japanese community.

Tessellating borders

I'm late posting today because I wanted to get my borders on and show you. It took longer than I thought it would.

So. Now my Tessellating Cats quilt is an official flimsy. I have embroidery to do but this is as large as it is going to get.

I am very happy with my colorful borders and I'm sort of proud of myself for figuring out a way to make them. I am not too inventive so this is actually an idea from someplace way back when that just stayed snuggled in the back of my mind. The actual Tessellating Cats pattern called for using a striped fabric (which I did not have and did not want to go looking for). I figured I had enough fabric to piece together my own striped fabric in a piano key fashion.

I HAVE another quilt with a piano key border so I wanted to try something new... In accord with the tessellating I decided black and colored triangles pulled the quilt together better and then began designing. What size triangles? How wide a border?

Do you know what this is? I decided on a three inch border. I drew out a template on paper. Then I layered 8 or 10 pieces of paper together (I forget exactly) and machine SEWED over the lines I'd drawn with an unthreaded needle. This gave me 8 or 10 punched-out patterns of my triangles and I did this two or three times... I ended up needing 24 strips of paper for my border and then I was ready to paper piece!

Paper piecing was done as one normally does but instead of following a printed line I followed the needle punches. I used 2 1/2 inch strips in alternate black and colors and trimmed as I went along. When I'd get to the end of one paper I'd pin a new one to the end and continue using my strips. That was all done by yesterday (but it was still a two week long process...) And today I put in corners (that took some figuring too...) and sewed the borders to the cats. The edges are reinforced one more time and then the paper removed from the back.

Next step is to embroider some faces onto those cats. More in front of the TV work.
Colorful is right!

A new leash

I bought Choco a new leash. Choco is hard on leashes. And she is hard on my joints and back!

When Choco joined our family 5 years ago, she was uncontrollable. She loved Tetsu and me, she seemed eager to please, but she didn't like people and children in general. She thought cats might be good food. She regularly slipped her collar and went off into the wilds of the forest. She thought it was a great game to be chased here and there around the neighborhood dodging her pursuers. She barked continually at birds and passersby. She yanked and pulled when being taken for a walk. During the first week of bringing her home (yes, she was a stray I picked up) I seriously thought of taking her to the pound because she was more than we'd bargained for... The craziness with children was especially unforgivable and I asked a seeing-eye dog trainer friend to give me advice.

The trainer's opinion was that Choco was a smart dog but had been abused (which we found out was true) and was scared of everything. He came out a couple of times to help me with the barking problem, which didn't get solved.

Later I hired a young woman who trained police dogs and she came out three or four times and helped me with some of our more dire problems. Lunging at children and cats. Incessant barking, Pulling on walks. The trainer's theory is that there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners. If I could be consistent with training and praise, then Choco would learn to obey.

I haven't asked the trainer back in the last couple of years because I have obviously failed my dog owner training. As I write this I wonder what we have accomplished... And how much of it is because of training and how much is just the passing of time.

Choco still barks continually. Her area is now as far from the neighbors as possible and Tetsu built a fence so that she can't bark at people going by.

Choco still hates people and children. She goes crazy if she hears them in the house. I am very careful to keep her tied up and outside when visitors come. She has learned to accept a few regulars but HATES strangers and children. I don't THINK she'd really do them injury but I'm not testing her.

Choco hasn't had a chance to escape for awhile so I don't know if she would come back if we called or not. She usually wears two collars so that she can't slip both of them and she has a chain collar when we go for a walk.

Choco HAS learned to live with cats!!! This is a biggie!!! I used to fear for my cats' lives but they can all wander around each other and touch noses and live in relative peace. Choco doesn't look relaxed but she backs up when a cat insists on its way. Chip is especially strict with Choco.

"Hiss! Spit! You vile canine! I despise you! Stand guard! I challenge you to a dual and beware, my claws are sharp and I am quick." Choco hides in a corner when Chip is near.

And going for a walk has never improved. A longer, leather leash was purchased from the trainer but last month it snapped and I needed a new one.

So this is what I bought. A reel leash. Good and bad.

• Bad. This leash means Choco gets no training. She can go where she pleases.
• Bad. This doesn't look very sturdy though I bought the correct one for her weight.
• Bad. When I need Choco by my side (when someone passes us, when a car is coming down the road) I can't drag her back quickly... She has to come on her own accord when called.
  

• Good. There is a lock on the leash that keeps Choco by my side when necessary.
• Good. Choco loves the fact that she can explore the forest a bit more (it can get quite long).
• Good. I no longer get yanked into the stream or forest (unless she sees a quail and the 5 meters still isn't long enough)
• Good. Both Choco and I enjoy our walks more. So I guess for awhile all is good.

We'll see if this leash is studier than it looks... As I say, Choco is hard on leashes.

Wonky Carpenter

This weekend my wonky carpenter was at work again.

Sigh. I love Tetsu and I love how he shows his love for me, but honestly, sometimes his masterpieces don't work out. …And I sort of know when they aren't going to work out and I'm sort of hesitant to get his help… Don't tell him.

This story starts out gross. My cats (maybe just one cat, but which one?) have an embarrassing habit of peeing in the kitchen. They have chosen a certain spot and I am forever wiping the floor under the cupboard. The cupboard itself is a hand me down from a recycle shop and it doesn't have any doors to it. For many years I just hung a lace curtain to hide the vases and candles and things that were stored there but once the cats started using it for their purposes I replaced the curtain with a laminated board that could be wiped down as well. Tetsu did not like my board. He claimed that it alone smelled so he removed my board and wiped down the things in the cupboard and the cupboard itself and then put down cat sheets. I did not think this was a good idea. What is the point of cat sheets? It just tells the cats that they can pee there after all. I wanted my board back but Tetsu had put it out in the rain and it was no longer usable.

As predicted, the cats liked the cat sheets in the cupboard and they actually went IN the cupboard to do their business. I didn't know who I was more upset with… Tetsu, for taking away my board or the cats (but which cat?) Finally this weekend Tetsu decided to tackle the problem.

"Tanya, what we need is a new cupboard because the old one smells and that is what is bringing the cats back to it."

That sounded like a good theory. Do I dare get my hopes up that we are going to make a trip to a furniture store to buy a real cupboard that even has doors on it? If truth be told, what I'd REALLY like is to spend a lot of money and have the whole dang kitchen renovated. The linoleum is curling. The dumb stainless steel counter and sink are an odd shape and that was why we've lived with the recycled-no-door cupboard for these 18 years. How I wish we would just splurge and make a new kitchen with drawers and cupboards and counters and shelves that all matched and not have the refrigerator sticking out blocking half of the cupboard and have the stove in an accessible place, not behind the garbage can. (I have a lot of frustrations with my kitchen.)

"Tanya, I am going to build you a new cupboard."

There went my hopes for renovation. And how do you tell your eager husband that you don't have much faith in his carpentry because everything turns out wonky and crooked. I mean, I love the cat house he built and the cats don't mind a little lean to. I love the shelves in my sewing room even though they have a definite slant. I love the ironing board that weighs a ton and can't be moved from its position. But those are not really convenience pieces of furniture. And not a lot of people see the cat house or the sewing shelves or the ironing board.

"Um… I really think I need something fairly level and with a lot of space in the kitchen, Tetsu…"

"I KNOW that! I'll get all the measurements right and cut it at the hardware store when I buy the two by fours."

Two by fours. There went my dreams of a snazzy, modern sliding drawers, pull down shelves, convenient racking system cupboard.

Tetsu was so happy. For awhile.

Saturday he spent a lot of money buying a lot of two by fours and having them cut to his measurements. Sunday morning before church we moved the refrigerator and took off the top half of the old cupboard (ah, he's only planning to make a bottom half…) Everything came out on the counters, on the tables, into the dining room and living room. The whole downstairs turned into a shambles! And gross it was behind all this furniture that hasn't been moved for 18 years. No dead mice but yuck.

Off we went to church. The actual carpentry was going to be done in the afternoon.

Sunday afternoon Tetsu spent out in the yard hammering and whistling. I spent the time upstairs doing machine quilting. At 3:30 Tetsu called me to come help him bring in his HUGE, VERY HEAVY, VERY CLUNKY contraption of two by fours now hammered to look something like… a farm shed? This is going in my kitchen? Good wife that I am, I did not say a thing and helped drag it into the kitchen.

"Wha…! Wait! …Why doesn't it fit?"

Somewhere along the line Tetsu had miscalculated. He had made a very sturdy (if not too attractive) cupboard/shelves that would NOT get into the previous space and there wasn't anything he could do to remedy the situation.

"Tanya, how about if you used this in your sewing room?" (as if my sewing room doesn't have enough stuff in it already!)

"Well… maybe… There's my design wall… if it doesn't interfere with the blocks I put up there…"

Tetsu wanted a bit more enthusiasm for his handiwork. His mood started to go downhill from there. We LUGGED the shelves upstairs and deposited them along the wall and Tetsu went back outside to see what he could do with the old cupboard that he had thoughtfully washed with the hose earlier that morning. However… due to maybe too much water the wood had sagged (he wouldn't admit to that. Tetsu said it was already broken when it got out of the kitchen) and he spent a lot of time reinforcing it with left over two by fours. I went back up to the sewing room and tried to fit a couple of baskets into my new shelves… They don't fit too well but that is beside the point.

Another hour went by and Tetsu was ready to bring the newly repaired, old cupboard that no longer smelled (because he'd washed it) into the kitchen. I came downstairs to help.

"Wha…! Wait! …Why doesn't it fit?"

Déjà vu.

The extra two by fours had changed the measurements of the old cupboard.

"Just go back upstairs and do your sewing." growled Tetsu and so I did.

Around 7:30 he had gotten the old cupboard (newly reinforced, newly repaired) into position with the upper half back on. Everything looked the same as before. In fact, it doesn't look like ANYTHING has been done to the cupboard. Two days of Tetsu's hard work and there is no difference. I put up an old laundry basket and a piece of plastic tablecloth in front of the cupboard to keep the cats out of it …because it STILL doesn't have any doors.

No pictures today. This is still a touchy subject in our house...

Patches and Pinwheels finished!

I have a finish! Of my own! The Patches and Pinwheel quilt is officially on my futon (bed). It seemed like it was a long process but I guess as quilts go, it really wasn't. I checked older posts and found that I started it May 17th. That's not bad! I was trying to use up Leaders/Enders and whether I succeeded, I'm not sure. I always seem to have Leaders/Enders. But I have DO have a bed size quilt now!

Even when I started this I was wondering how I was going to quilt it. Putting together the quilts go fine (basically), it is trying to quilt a large quilt on a domestic machine with no long arm quilters in sight which gives me frustrations. But the patches got done without much thought. (Leader/Enders amount significantly decreased). The pinwheels got done with the help of an Easy Angle tool. Putting them all together was fun. The border triangles got added with a little inspiration from Elaine.

But quilting? Many of my blog friends suggested quilting in pieces so for a long time this quilt has been in quarters which actually made quilting on a domestic machine manageable. Overall pattern? I get so lost when I try that... But I figured I could keep my head if I thought about a petal pattern within a certain set of blocks (still got a little lost. Some backtracking there), and I really like how the quilting and the piecing match up. Finally the fourths were connected and the final quilting down the centers were completed without too many headaches.

I sat and stared at this border for the longest time but decided I'd never come up with a perfect solution and I just had to get this crossed off my to-do list so I went ahead and quilted "flower petals" in the empty spaces and more triangles in the final border. I hope it ties it all together.

Four months for a quilt... Okay. If I'd been doing it by hand it would have been four years (I've got one of those about too.)

(The quilt on Tetsu's side of the futon is another of Bonnie's patterns the Pineapple Blossom. That one was quilted by hand though.)

Happy Village quilting

On Friday when Mrs. Nakazawa and Rumi-san brought their coffee cup quilts over to show, we spent the rest of the day working on happy village quilts. Mrs. Nakazawa has had her heart set on making one of those and the two of them cut fabric and arranged while I brought down more choices from the sewing room. (We can't all fit in the sewing room.)

Then yesterday I spent about two hours quilting Rumi-san's Happy Village. Maybe with the rest of today I can get to Mrs. Nakazawa's. I can't show those here yet, (I do think the creators shouldn't get their first viewing of their quilts on my blog) but this is a peek.

Rumi-san is more of a dog lover than a cat lover but I haven't gotten dog quilting down pat yet. This cat quilting design is directly from Diane Guardinski's, Savy Quilting book and Mrs. Nakazawa definitely wants a cat on her quilt!

These aren't going to get done until the end of the month when Rumi-san and Mrs. Nakazawa come again to put on borders... But I'm itching to get them quilted. Kind of fun!

My friends' finishes

My friends, Rumi-san and Mrs. Nakazawa came over for some show-and-tell time with their coffee cup quilts. Last week each had come over separately to put on binding and they had homework to hand sew the binding down. Yeah!!! Two finishes for my friends!

Rumi-san is already working on a new coffee cup quilt for her daughter... Or maybe her daughter is going to get this one and she is making a new one for herself. She had a lot of fun choosing red fabrics and recently has started haunting fabric stores to pick out choice fat quarters. I am happy to report that she says she finds quilting "relaxing."

Mrs. Nakazawa had a specific place in her house that she wanted to display her quilt. She has a wall over her kitchen counter and so she put her coffee cups on a long "shelf" . She also included a cat sitting there among the cups as she is a confirmed cat lover. (I go to Mrs. Nakazawa with my cat woes.) Mrs. Nakazawa has declared that she will put a cat in every quilt that she makes from now on! Look forward to seeing more cats!

And in the evening I had some chatting time with an English student from WAY back. She used to come to me for English when she was in jr. high and now she is in her late 20s. I hadn't seen her for at least 14 years! She said she fondly remember baking cookies and doing some small handwork (not so many memories about English) and we sewed "cute but useless" cats while we chatted. She may be back for more handwork... not so sure about English...

(By the way, that is not a cat behind the first one. That one is trying to be a Totoro! One of the famous Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazawa's characters.)