Applique cushions

Thank you for your advice on long arm quilting the Orange and Cherry Jubilee. I have been combing the Internet for places near my mother's home that might teach long arm classes or have long arm services. I think I will take the quilt with me this summer, check around in person, make the decision about how much I want to spend and do something about it this summer... and if I can't make the splurge or find the time I can always carry it back to Japan and think let it rest in the closet for another year. It's lived there for quite awhile anyway... Who knows. When and if I finish the Feathered Star I might WANT another quilt on my quilt hoop.











In the meantime I FINALLY finished both applique cushions from Mrs. Furui's book Hop To It. I think what I like best about the book is the colors that are used so I'm not buying the book. I'm sure Mrs. Furui will loan it to me again if I have an inkling towards applique in the future. I should be able to figure out colors myself.

These are machine appliqued (both using freezer paper but one with edges turned under) and when they are finished I can't really tell the difference. I guess I'll go with the non-edge turn process. That was easier.

Off for a busy day today.

Wildflowers

I received flowers!

From a little 5th grader boy. In fact he has given me wild flowers for three days in a row. And he chooses his flowers artistically. Tall light pink flowers and small purple flowers and cheery yellow flowers. He hands them to me shyly as he goes across the crosswalk and is so pleased when I put them in my breast pocket.

The rice fields and forest paths abound with flowers and but the little boy's flowers seem especially beautiful.

Mindless procrastination

I have been having a quilting block. Not a slump mind you, just "I don't know what I want to do" block. I've got the Feathered Star to work on. I've made a couple wall quilts and tapestries for friends lately. But I haven't been doing any sewing machine sewing on a large quilt recently.

For one thing, I have a very large Orange and Cherry Jubilee that has sat on the shelf for over a year. Remember that one? That was the one where I messed up on the block placement and I became disgusted with myself. And there is the problem of quilting such a large quilt. (I couldn't even lay it out flat to take a picture. The room is too small.) There are NO long arm quilters in Japan. This means I have to do it myself. Elaine has been machine quilting large quilts on her domestic machine but she says her machine has a 9 inch throat. I measured mine... Mine has a 7 inch throat. Even with little quilts I will almost always get a pucker in there and so I shudder to think what would happen with a large quilt. But with the Feather still on the quilting hoop, I'm not too anxious to hand quilt the Orange and Cherry Jubilee. (Another two years of quilting?)

So why would I want to start ANOTHER large quilt that wouldn't be able to get quilted? And even if I did start, what do I want to make?

On Saturday I went up to the sewing room for fabric therapy. What IS all this stuff coming out of the drawers and baskets? The crumb basket is overflowing and most of that stuff is unusable! But can I really just toss it? No. So I spent HOURS cutting the crumbs into 3 1/2 inch strips and squares, 2 1/2 inch strips and squares and 2 inch strips and squares. This is called mindless procrastination. I made a DENT.

Why do I keep cutting up strips and squares? I fell in love with Bonnie's Scrap User system but I seem to be SAVING, not USING! So yesterday I started chain stitching and making 16 patches. I think I've started a Patch and Pinwheel quilt and it will eventually have to take its place in the quilting line. Any quilting advice?

Kitchen cleaning

"Ho-Hum. Saturday morning. A lazy day. Tetsu, what are we going to do today?"

This was after a long walk, a leisurely breakfast and some blogging time.

"Tetsu. Tetsu? Oh my!"

And this is what greeted me as I wandered into the kitchen.

Tetsu was doing a major cleaning overall to my kitchen. He'd pulled out all the pots and pans and my faithful oven of 25 years that makes 9 cookies at a time (12 in a pinch). He was changing shelf paper, scrubbing the insides and outsides of everything and rearranging the layout.

I took my picture and disappeared. More power to him if he wants to spend his Saturday morning cleaning my kitchen.

And this is what the cupboard looked like after he was done. Do you think I'll be inspired to cook now?

Kitty quilt and cookies

Yesterday two of my friends came over to do some patchwork together. Mrs. Nakazawa has finished quilting her kitty quilt and we spent the day putting on the binding. Of course every time we laid the quilt down to admire or work on, cats would appear to claim it as their own. It's a good thing Mrs. Nakazawa likes cats (I guess so... she sewed enough cats into this quilt!)

For homework Mrs. Nakazawa will finish the binding and then do some embroidery on the cat faces. This is not completely complete yet but I still wanted to show it here and have you see Mrs. Nakazawa's happy face. She has her next and her next and her next quilt project lined up in her head.

And on a different note, one of my swimming friends gave me some cookies that she found at a neighborhood bakery. Aren't these the cutest things?!! Actually I have bought these before (for Mrs. Nakazawa!) but they are too cute to eat!

Lost thimble

Ding-Dang-Dung-it. I have lost my thimble. And that means I'm sitting here with "the Monster in the Living room" and am not able to sew a stitch. And I even have quilting time!! Nothing is more frustrating.

My thimbles get lost regularly. Mi is the culprit. I keep my scissors and thread and thimbles in a cup on a table (cat tree) by my sewing chair. I am smart enough to know that if I leave the thimbles and spools ON the cat tree then the cats will consider them play toys. So I have always kept them in a cup. Easier to reach, easier to put away, I don't have to bother with opening a sewing box etc.

Mi is still a kitten at heart. She can turn ANYTHING into a toy and Tetsu and I have great fun watching her antics. Jump, turn, somersault, bat, spin, twist, lunge etc. etc. But she discovered that she can pull things out of the cup and onto the floor go the spools, the needles (dangerous!) the scissors (deadly!) and the thimbles... And if I don't go thundering into the room at the sound of falling thimbles then Mi and other cats will start a game of "bat the thimble under the furniture." And THAT means I go crawling around on my hands and knees with a flashlight reclaiming my thimbles.

Well, Mi was at play again and I have located ONE thimble but the other is no where to be found. I use one on the left hand and one on the right hand when I quilt with a hoop so I need BOTH. You'd think I would have more than two thimbles being a longtime, fairly prolific quilter but I have searched my drawers and my sewing box (I do own one) and nary an extra thimble to be found.

I guess I'll have to go to the next town this weekend and buy three or four thimbles. And I guess I'll get out my sewing box and start using it regularly again... Mi has enough toys. I'm not giving her any more thimbles.

Walking to school

I have been on the job as a crosswalk guard for a month now. My uniform seams have been taken in and buttons relocated. From May I've been wearing a SKIRT! (and stockings... boo).

The children coming to the elementary school pull from a wide area, some of it farming. School policy asks that all children walk to and from school and there are no school buses provided. Some of the children walk more than an hour though the closest neighborhood is about 10 minutes away. On rainy days parents occasionally drive their children to school but that is frowned upon and considered spoiling. The main road is fairly busy but most of the children walk along the farmers' roads that wind between the rice fields and through forests.

At the beginning of the year the school assigns students into groups of 5 to 10 and the fifth or sixth grader in the group is given the role of leader. He makes sure everyone arrives safely and at times is responsible for carrying a first grader's heavy load or holding hands with a reluctant younger student. Some of the leaders take their roles very seriously and have all the kids line up behind them military style! Can you see the line of students in the distance making their way to the school from the residential area?

On Monday mornings the children carry lots of bags filled with toothbrushes, indoor shoes, lunch duty uniforms, library books etc. not to mention the required leather randosel (backpack). The kids in sports lug equipment, the kids in band carry instruments. Everyone looks very tired when they finally arrive at school on Monday mornings. (But they all look very fit. Not an overweight child in the bunch.)

Here is a picture of the school though you can't see the gymnasium behind the main building. In the foreground you can see the final group of students arriving at school with their randosel slung on their backs (one girl was carrying it on her front) and the yellow randosel covers that let drivers know that these are first graders. The yellow hats are a requirement too. Yellow berets for girls and yellow caps for boys.

This is the school where both Takumi and Leiya attended and I have fond memories of their school days. I hope the kids do too.