Flower Power 6, and outings

Another little collage: 

I started with this little piece of vintage indigo.  It's impossible to see on the photo, but it has stitching on it.  I have no idea - maybe this was part of a mend to a futon cover.  In any case, it is beautiful old indigo and kasuri and it just looked like a good little flower vase to me.  I ended up turning it on end and then back again. 

Just playing around with shapes and layout: 

A little flannel board is nice.  The blue check is from one of Tommy's old shirts:  

Please visit Wendy's blog The Constant Quilter to see more minis!  Thank you Wendy! 

In other news, I've finished one week out of quarantine and I made it count!  I had something to do each day, whether it was a trip to the post office, or an outing.  

I went solo to an amazing exhibit of Hokusai sketches just ten minutes from our apartment, at Midtown: 

Even the carpeting was covered in his drawings: 

And I was invited to an English Flower Garden in Yokohama.  It was really small and just lovely.  We could stroll the whole thing in 30 minutes.  Got eaten by mosquitos and it felt like 100 degrees out, so, any longer would have been too long anyway!   There were five people, total, in the garden, from what I could tell.  

These glass "furin" (Japanese wind chimes) were just magical.  They sounded so pretty in the breeze, off and on: 

The gentle swaying of a Weeping Willow: 

I loved the various benches (I'm sure pre-Covid, they would have been occupied):  

Even vaccinated, I'm still being careful (no large group events and I'm not keen on a lot of indoor time outside the apartment) but it was very nice to have an outing with (vaccinated) friends and see something quiet and beautiful.  The world just seems to be blowing up on so many fronts.  It's hard to not be consumed with anxiety about it all.  

On a lighter note, earlier in the week I enjoyed some  kakigori  with another friend.  Kakigori is an old-timey dessert of shaved ice.  Lots of delicious options on a "feels like 100 degrees" day.  Mango and milk for me. 

 

Notice the Dixie-sized cup of water, next to the giant mountain of shaved ice, lol.  

The ice collapses down as you eat it, into a slushy sweet mess.  Yum.  

xo

Cynthia 

April Mini - Flower Power 4

Another little collage this month....  6"x18".  

I love using bits of indigo and tenugui - and adding sashiko - to my collages. 

Once I have everything the way I like, I simply machine quilt it with monofilament thread in the needle.  

The weather has just been wonderful  - perfect for walks.  A friend showed me this garden behind the Hotel New Otani - it is about a 30 minute walk from our apartment.  This hotel was built ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. 

I love trees, I miss living with trees, so I really treasure finding a treed garden or park here.  

We went to church in person (distanced seating, everyone with masks on of course) on Sunday.  I loved being in the room for the organ music and hymns.  

One of the hymns was "All Creatures of Our God and King" and I love the line: 

Dear Mother Earth, who day by day

Unfoldest blessings on our way

Aleluia!  Aleluia!

 

xo gratefully 

Cynthia 

March Mini - Flower Power 3

 

Another little flower collage study - on a deep purple background - using just scraps I have in my little baskets.   

  

They are so fun to make... 

Layers of indigo, Japanese floral, solid, Liberty, and tenugui:  

Some Liberty, orange Tilda, a bit of kimono silk:

Thank you Wendy, The Constant Quilter, for gathering us month by month to show our mini quilts.   Everyone - Wendy has an exhibit going at the New England Quilt Museum.  See a glimpse of it  HERE.   I'm in awe of her quilts and they reflect the wonderful person Wendy IS. 

I am absolutely thoroughly enjoying cherry blossom season.  

Lunchtime selfie: 

I love the "volunteers" springing up out of the old trunks: 

gratefully xo

Cynthia 

  

February Mini - Flower Power 2

Time flies when I am working on a little improvisational collage.... feels like pure play.  Lots of Japanese fabrics and some sashiko.  

A little 12"x12" mini for February - 

I enjoy the challenge of using *only* little scraps from my scrap basket, some of which are too small to be useful for anything else.  The blue polka dots were from my grandma's stash. 

I pre-made hanging triangles and little labels for the year.  

A list of fellow mini-makers can be found on The Constant Quilter.  I really enjoy seeing what everyone has made.  Thanks Wendy for gathering us and inspiring us each month!  

xo gratefully, 

Cynthia

January mini - Flower Power

Making this mini was just pure fun, using scraps left over from piecing Paulina's log cabin quilt (currently in the quilting stage).  

 I really enjoy making these improvisational collages.  This one is about 14"x21".  

I can't call this one "inspired by boro" but I did use my usual method -  I just freely cut, arranged, rearranged, edited, added, moved around, and used a bit of fabric glue to keep everything in place once I was happy with the composition.   

I added sashiko stitching to the pot/basket.  Usually with sashiko you are very careful to smooth out your fabric as you go, but in this case I welcomed the ripples because I wanted that texture.  

I sandwiched, quilted, and bound it today.   A nice way to spend a cozy day at home.  It's almost dinner time and we will be getting takeout.  So, a great quilting day, and no dishes.;).  

The variegated background is a  Junko Matsuda fabric.  

And the backing is a Kaffe Fassett fabric. 

It will live here in my sewing nook for awhile. 

I love the saturated colors and they remind me of these fabulous confident inauguration day women in their vibrant attire:  

Check out all the various minis linked by Wendy on her blog The Constant Quilter.  Thank you Wendy!  You are such an encouragement.  It's always fun to see the variety of mini quilts.   (I'm going to have fun with the mini challenge this year, with no pressure on myself to make one every month).  

x gratefully, 

Cynthia