Natsukashii, and new things too

One of my favorite Japanese words is natsukashii (懐かしい)  - you know the feeling of nostalgia when you hear an old song you love, or taste something from your childhood, or return to a beloved place.  That's how I felt, walking into a sashiko class at Blue and White and seeing that Yoshiura-sensei is indeed still teaching there.

I started a little sampler for old time's sake, and in September when classes resume I will start a new project.  

This little fella came in with his Mom.  Look at this marvelous sashiko on his little kimono - 

And for something totally new, on Saturday my buddy Corrie and I enjoyed a small group class in "cartonnage" - originally a French craft, adapted by the Japanese - at "Ayahime" atelier.   We made these beautiful fabric covered purses, really from scratch.  

After constructing our bags, we covered them first with indigo, and then this beautiful blue and white yukata fabric:

A very nice group of ladies, in a peaceful artistic atmosphere - 

Secure, letting the glue set:

Our sensei Atsuko Hasegawa prepared a beautiful lunch.  Cheesy toast, soup, salad, and fruit.  Delicious and so beautifully presented.  The only difficulty for me was kneeling on the tatami for lunch.  I just can't do that.  I folded myself awkwardly and did my best, ha ha. 

Meanwhile, settling in to our apartment continues.  Here is our washer/dryer combination.  Google translate was only marginally helpful.

In the end, David worked so hard to make this key for me:

Another natuskashii thing this week was helping out with the onigiri (rice balls) for the homeless at the Franciscan Chapel Center.   Each morning, volunteers prepare these rice balls, and others deliver them in the wee hours of the following morning.  Folks from our LDS congregation have been making the rice balls each Monday for as long as anyone can remember.  Sadly, apparently the government is pushing the homeless out of the central areas, in advance of the Olympics.  That's what I hear anyway - might not be accurate.  They may still be there, just going hungrier.  But years ago when I helped every Monday, we prepared three or four (or five?) huge pots of rice, and now they are down to one pot.  

David had the day off yesterday.  We got some things done, enjoyed some good food, and stumbled upon this marvelous electronic rock garden/art installation not far from our apartment, at "Midtown".  It was mesmerizing.  I just loved it!  It was like a zen light show, with mood music and mist.  Something totally new.  

In quilting news, I'm working on my next Stepping Stones quilt (for a graduate of a Japanese orphanage) in shades of "emerald green" by request.  Oh, it feels great to be behind the machine again.  I've made so many of these same quilts that piecing these blocks feels meditative at this point... and ya a little natsukashii... remembering how the project started back when I lived here and my kids were with me;).   This is a pic I love from 2013.  Piecing a Stepping Stones quilt next to my ninth grader doing his homework.  Sweet memories. 

 

xo

Cynthia