David's Log Cabin finished!

Monday I finished David's indigo log cabin, at long last!  I had tied and bound it already.  Over time, I replaced the ties with big sashiko stitch in white and indigo on most but not all the logs, and I re-tied the centers with variegated sashiko thread.

Thirty years together, sunshine and shadow.

Utilitarian, warm, lots of indigo.

Definitely not perfect (the back is just super loosey goosey).  Utilitarian... humble and will be wabi-sabi over time.

"Marriage is what you go through together" - James Thurber.  

xo
Cynthia

Winter sewing projects

The weeks are flying by.  I have several projects going.... monthly mini... a sashiko project I'm slowly working on....  contemplating starting Barbara Brackman's BOM Yankee Notions..... and most urgently trying to finally once and for all finish quilting David's log cabin!  My goal was Valentine's Day which won't happen, but I'm getting close.

Big (very big) stitch with doubled sashiko thread - knots exposed -

This is my TV watching spot.  I load up 4 needles at a time, and try to complete one section each night!

AND I've got these yummy modern stars from Barb's swap to ponder over!

Trying to keep organized in my "studio" space in the living room.  I bought a few more bins at MUJI, making these towers even taller.  David is joking that by the time we leave Japan they will be sky high! 

And last but definitely not least..... I am going to be a GRANDMA in June!!  Woo hoo!  First grand child.... and she's a GIRL! 

For the baby, Kaela (who has loved pink since she was a little girl) wants a very light mostly white and pink quilt and she has a "flowers" theme going in the nursery.

Can't wait!

And, Valentine's Day tomorrow xoxo.  David and I first "met" (over the phone) thirty years ago this Valentine's Day.  We got to know each other and I dare say fell in love, over several months of phone conversations, before we'd even met in person.  We wrote actual letters, sent tapes, and worried about running up our long distance phone bills.  What a different time!

How about these little individually packaged perfect strawberries - around $3.60 each?  I'd rather have dark chocolate;).

xo
Cynthia

Progress on log cabin, and indigo dyeing

The past couple weeks I've been making progress on David's log cabin quilt.  I chose this layout and pieced it in chunks: 

Chunks 1 and 2 pieced together: 

So fun to have the top finished! 

Then on to layering... 

And tying with indigo sashiko thread. 

All the while nursing a cold... lots of Netflix, meds, herbal tea and cough drops...  

Anyway always gratifying to get to the binding stage!  Single fold this time as the fabric was really thick.  I really like the walking foot when attaching binding.   

And now I plan to add optional big stitch sashiko style stitching here and there throughout the quilt - 

Meanwhile, this morning I really enjoyed a low-key small group indigo dyeing class.  Always so fun. 

Til next time - 

xo

Cynthia

Enthronement... and log cabins

Yesterday it was a rainy Tuesday, and David had the day off work, for a special national holiday for Emperor Naruhito's Enthronement Ceremony.  We put it on TV.  It was so colorful, and so, so still.  Completely and utterly quiet.  The only sound came from footsteps, or an occasional crow cawing outside.  The Emperor and Empress had to stand stock still, for so long, in what must be quite heavy multi layered robes - it was amazing.

I was trimming blocks during the ceremony and I kept jumping up to take photos of the TV -

The tone was ceremonial, private, solemn.  There was no hint of "performance" or "entertainment."  Visiting dignitaries watched on monitors in a nearby but separate space. 

The TV commentary was very minimal, and scripted.

The Heisei era started in January 1989 and ended at the end of April 2019.  The Reiwa era began in May of this year.  There was going to be a parade today, but it has been postponed so that efforts can be directed towards typhoon relief.

And on the opposite end of the regal spectrum.... during the ceremony I finished the last few log cabin blocks for David's quilt, and I trimmed them all up.

Out of 80 blocks, about 5 of them really are a hair too small, by 1/8" or so, but I think it's going to be ok.

I think I will always remember finishing these up on the day of the new Emperor's Enthronement ceremony.  My friend Christina suggested naming it Reiwa - a good idea I think.

David helped me decide on a layout - I moved all our furniture out of the way!  I knew all along I wanted to use the Sunshine and Shadow setting.  

If option A, I will bind it with a light binding: 

And if Option B, a dark binding (see how nice this looks against the dark floor): 

I made a quick decision.  Any guesses? ;) 

xo

Cynthia 

Back in Tokyo, and log cabin start

I love starting a new quilt - this one will be a simple scrappy log cabin for David.  Nine inch blocks, from  1 1/2 inch logs.  

I like making a few "rules" for myself with a scrappy quilt (and then breaking those rules pretty freely):

1.  Predominantly indigo for the dark side
2.  Low volume mix for the light side 
3.  Generally soft red centers
4.  Longest dark logs always blue
5.  Add in some green, gold, red, orange here and there

Starching and cutting down these leftover strips from my abandoned strip quilt project:

I added some sashiko to this indigo - easy handwork while I was traveling.  I love my Japanese no-steam iron.  It stays on, and it's so simple.

I have to admit I loved getting back to sewing after several weeks away! 

Jet lag is horrible, flying back and forth from Japan to the US is horrible... but it's worth it to see all kinds of family and especially our daughters:

And now Tommy is here with us in Tokyo and it's just so fun having him here.  Makes our apartment feel like "home."  Today, we revisited our old neighborhood:

Tommy loves indigo (ok, that makes me happy!)  - so we popped into Blue and White: 

I bought an indigo fish tenugui there, as I'm aiming to add a lot of "fishing" references in David's quilt.

xo
Cynthia