To Texas and North Carolina... with quilts

My month in the U.S. is drawing to a close.  It's been pretty wonderful, in between some stressful travel days here and there.  

First up, Texas - we got vaccinated immediately, the Johnson and Johnson "one and done".  Such a relief to finally be vaccinated. 

The thrill was David finally meeting Charlotte for the first time!   Very happy Grandad!

I brought Charlotte her butterfly quilt: 

Little lovey napping with her log cabin baby quilt and an afghan made by her paternal Grandmother.  Cozy, so sweet. 

She really likes the little kawandi quilt too and brought it over to Kaela last night - so cute.  It's a bit of an "eye spy" or "identify the colors" type of quilt and it's pint sized and soft with the double-gauze backing. 

Minnie hanging out with me in my room: 

I sometimes joke that in this house, every quilt is also a dog quilt (I don't mind).  

I also brought them their Christmas quilt.  I tacked back the binding over several evenings.    Kaela is real pleased with it so that makes me happy: 

Did I mention that every quilt is a dog quilt?  Minnie wanted to get in on the action. 

After a week we flew to North Carolina for four days.   Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was so in the moment I hardly took any photos. 

Walking a possible lot (the dream is to have my brother David build us a house in or near Chapel Hill, once our time in Japan is finished) 

 

My brother in his new shop: 

And the cozy apartment he and Janette created above it, to live in while they build their next home.  

In North Carolina we stayed with Noelle and Keenan in Raleigh and sure enjoyed the beautiful trees outside our room: 

Two of their cats - cozy cozy. 

Noelle's college quilt still in use;).  

I gave Noelle and Keenan their Christmas quilt too (no photos!) - I think they will enjoy it! 

Next we went to Massachusetts and Maine and I will blog about that next. 

Right now I'm finishing up my extra week in Texas, nursing a bad head cold (ugh), expecting a negative result from this afternoon's COVID test....  and David is already back in Japan quarantining in the apartment.   The bad news for me is that Japan just added Texas to "the list" and I will be put into a government designated facility for the first 72 hours of my quarantine.  Fun times ahead (not).  

I'm packing some provisions to supplement what is bound to be a difficult-for-me food situation during those three days.   I expect a lot of fish and mystery items, but I also expect I will have a water kettle to use (standard in Japanese hotel rooms).   And wifi!  Please let there be good wifi! 

So, I will blog again in a few days, during my "hotel jail" time.  ;).  

xo 

Cynthia 

Christmas trees, and furoshiki

 I've been really busy lately but just about every day, I make a few trees for Kaela's Christmas quilt.  I have 24 out of the 38 trees made, and most of the cutting done, which is half the battle.  

It's really straightforward piecing for a very straightforward quilt.   I love making these while listening to music, a podcast, or a book. 

The other day I saw this wonderful episode on NHK (Japanese public television) about furoshiki.  

Furoshiki are wrapping cloths, used to carry goods or wrap presents. If used as gift wrapping, the furoshiki stays with the giver to be used over and over again. 

Click here for a link to the program.  

I collect furoshiki with Christmas wrapping in mind.  They are beautiful and eco-friendly.  Theoretically if I have enough furoshiki, at some point I won't be buying wrapping paper anymore (except for any gifts I might mail).   I also love the idea of the wrapping becoming familiar year after year.  

Of course we quilters can also hem pieces of nice Christmas fabric and use that!   Do you ever use fabric as wrapping paper??  

Anyway, David helped me find the shop featured in the program -  Musubi, which was quite tucked away in Harajuku.   I really wanted to support a local business while adding to my collection.  

Very hard to choose. 

Some were beyond beautiful and prohibitively expensive. 

Others were in my range and I did purchase a few, to add to my budding collection.   

They wrapped my parcel up in a complimentary furoshiki (photo taken with permission) - 

"Shippo" (seven treasures): 

David really liked this little "confetti" furoshiki: 

There is so much to appreciate in Japan in terms of design!

I loved this one featuring trees and animals, and an injunction to "MOTTAINAI" (waste not):

I leave you with this just for fun - the storefront of a small boutique clothing store in the same neighborhood - gotta love Tokyo!   

Back to my forest of pieced trees... 

xo gratefully 

Cynthia 

Noelle's Snowball Quilt finished

I've got a goal to make Christmas quilts for my kids and maybe one for us too.  I've finished the first one!  

 I had fun machine quilting this one... 

 ... and then made the unfortunate decision to wash it... without color catchers (not available here as far as I know).  Despite the fact that I'd pre-washed the red solid, it did run - turning this crisp red green and white quilt into a bit of a candy cane.  Ergh. 

Maybe there's an eventual solution.  I'm not too worried - it's not a precious masterpiece. 

One down, two to go, and as life is getting more busy and "normal" again, I'm going to revise my goal of making *all* the Christmas quilts this year, and just go with the flow and get them done as I have time. 

Gratefully xo

Cynthia  

Cherry Blossoms, Snowball quilt

Ahhh spring in Tokyo - so beautiful.  Sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full bloom. 

A group of artists in our park - with some dog walking onlookers, young families, etc.  It seems like everyone is breaking free, out and about (still fully masked at all times of course). 

Meanwhile, inside, I have finished Noelle's Christmas quilt top.  It's just really spare isn't it, but I'm moving forward.  I have a goal to make three Christmas quilts this year. 

 

The alternate blocks really need something deliberate in terms of quilting.  I'm going to dust off my free-motion machine quilting skills (and not be perfectionistic about it).  

 

Next step is to piece the backing.  I adore this print (Scandi 2 snowflake by Makower UK): 

On a bittersweet note, this morning the Olympic relay has started, from Fukushima.  The torch is in the shape of a cherry blossom and is made from materials used in the temporary housing built in Fukushima after the 3-11 earthquake.  

gratefully xo

Cynthia 

Out and about again, and start of Noelle's Snowball quilt

Another week goes by.  The weather is heavenly.  Sunny and brisk.  I know that many of you are still in deep freeze winter, and trust me I will be envying you during our brutal Tokyo summers - but for now, every day is just a gift, weather wise. 

I took myself to Nippori on Monday, for one specific purpose - to find simple replacement buttons for a jacket - 

Ummmmmmm make a decision! 

The shop had some nice precuts and I picked up three or four: 

Here is what I decided on - something more subtle to replace the gold: 

I decided to stroll down this street and just browse.  Another button shop: 

And a little hole-in-the-wall shop: 

All of those shops are on up and down the street directly opposite the main 5 floor Tomato fabric store.  

Then I took a different train from Nippori Station and met David for an early (4:30!) dinner.  This machine automatically takes your temperature.

Seated inside, we read the notice on the plexiglass dividers between tables: 

A screenshot of the translation (notice the mascots - there are mascots for *everything* here): 

We kept our voices down, lol.   We also didn't linger at all.  Yummy soup dumplings. 

Out and about yesterday for a good walk - 

People of all ages jogging (not me):

Glimpse of the Imperial Palace.  It was the Emperor's Birthday.  

More plum blossoms: 

 

In quilting, I'm working on blocks for my first (of three?) Christmas quilts.  

Here's how a plan can evolve.  I wanted to make THE simplest nine patch: 

And I made a few blocks.  Ho hum, not exciting to make at this large scale (the blocks will be 9 inches finished).  Also, too much green for Noelle.  

So, first I pared down the green to be just 1/3 green, 2/3 white.  

That was a start but what about snowballing the white corner squares with the red snowflake fabric I love so much.  

That was cool and when I turned the piece the other way, I *really loved* the effect, how the snowballed corners connected the green bars.  

So, how about then also snowballing the opposite corners, with solid red?   

Now we're cookin' with gas!   The centers will be a whole variety of scraps. 

After figuring all that out I made a sketch and looked to find the block in Barbara Brackman's new encyclopedia (which is gorgeous!) and couldn't find exactly this, but it is most similar to #1729 (Blockhouse, Nancy Cabot) which is "like Rolling Stone", or even #1647 (Crow's Nest or Attic Window), which is "like Shoo Fly".   

I will call this quilt Noelle's Snowball quilt so if the block itself needs a name, I'm calling it 2021 Snowball.  

I feel so good about this.  I love a good nine patch and this one, when paired with plain white alternate blocks, will have the "mostly red and white" and spare look I think Noelle will like.  

Next on my list for tomorrow is to finish up a little mini for February.  Short month, flying by.  

xo

Cynthia