My very first quilt, 1992

Patching up my great-grandma Two's nine-patch (below) made me realize that my very first quilt must have been inspired by that very same quilt.  I do remember thinking I wanted to do it all by hand like Two.   

This little nine patch took ages, and was such a learning experience.  I didn't have gear.  I cut patches out, sitting on the floor, pieced by hand, quilted by hand.  I was pregnant with my first baby, Noelle.  And now she's going to have a baby in December with the same due date I had with her.  Massively full circle!

I pieced a top for new baby girl:  

... and then a second, darker top, from the scraps.   Quilting will happen after our family vacation.  

This week I also made some basic little "quiet" photo books for my three little grand daughters - nothing fancy and so fun to make. 

My sour dough journey continues...  I ordered some local NC rye flour, and it is wonderful. 

And, I snapped up this itty-bitty sweet machine from Facebook marketplace.  Bernina Activa 220, circa 2010.  Super basic and perfect for travel, and/or for granddaughters who might want to learn to sew someday.  Bonus was that I met a lovely quilter in the process!  She was upgrading to the same machine I have already.  Fellow Bernina folks... well we do love talking "Bernina" ! 

In the evenings I'm really enjoying my EPP hexie flower project - no deadline.  Lots of "warm" colors, all Liberty.  Eventually to be made into a small throw quilt as a twin to my first hexie quilt. 

That's all for now... summer flying by. 

x 

Cynthia   

Flower Garden Appliqué quilt finish - finally!

 

Late last night I finished tacking back the binding on the Flower Garden appliqué quilt.  

This quilt was 3 1/2 years in the making.  I'm so happy to have it finished. 

I started this back around November 2020 in Tokyo, as a block of the month from Sentimental Stitches, called Poppy's Polka Dot Garden.  I have ended up calling mine simply Flower Garden. 

 

I made a lot of the blocks, but not all, and I just chose a very simple layout.  The blue is a shot cotton I got in Tokyo when we lived there.   I added little polka dot circles on the alternate blocks and the border, and machine quilted it very simply.  

The backing is a yellow beehive print, supplemented with a very old blue print.  

I sized it to fit on a twin bed: 

I have not washed it yet, and after seeing the photos here, I can really see where I might add more machine quilting.  Not sure.  I want it to remain really drapey. 

I am so happy to have this finished!  Now I don't have anything unfinished from the Covid/Tokyo years.  I just have a good sense of closure now. 

This quilt will live here at home for awhile at least. 

And, against my better judgment I've just started a second scrappy Liberty hexie EPP quilt.   It will be throw sized.

For some reason I'm just giddy about my new sewing basket  - from Liberty in London.  The benefits of David traveling and being willing to go to Liberty for me;). 

The print reminds me of my 70's childhood.  I love something that is practical, AND fun, AND pretty. 

I've been reading (mostly listening) a lot of books lately, and can recommend these: 

The Women by Kristin Hannah  - historical fiction about nurses during and after the Vietnam war.  I couldn't put it down. 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - really remarkable novel about two friends and video game creators, whose lives intersect over many years.   Somewhat strange, compelling.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - Korean American memoir, her mother's cancer; food culture; grieving.  

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad - a remarkable memoir about living with cancer.  I also recommend the documentary American Symphony.  But read the book first. 

Finding Me - Viola Davis' memoir.  One of the best, most powerful memoirs I've ever listened to.  Unflinching, moving. 

Let me know if you've read anything fantastic lately! 

xo

Cynthia 

Liberty Hexies Quilt finished!

 

Happy Monday!  

At long last, my Liberty Hexies quilt is finished.  Woo hoo!  And, sigh of relief!  I think I started it in June or July of last year.  My first and probably last EPP project.  My goal was to finish by the first day of spring!  

The colors are somewhat truer in the diffused light of our building "atrium." 

The hexies were my traveling companion, and Netflix companion, during the Covid year.   My "rule" was to use a lot of teals and greens. 

I thought about my beautiful children while I pieced it and included bits that reminded me of each of them.  

I was new to EPP and used an excellent tutorial from The Strawberry Thief to get going.  She has papers, templates, and precut hexies in a wide variety of Liberty fabrics on her website, and terrific Instagram content.  

There's also a small shop in Nippori that sells Liberty and they will cut widths as small as 10 cm,  so I've been indulging now and then.  Thus I was able to get a great variety going for this scrappy quilt.   

See this swimmer fabric?  It was part of a small line of Olympics themed Liberty fabrics I saw last year (kinda sad - and yet, Olympians must be some of the most resilient people on the planet, right?). 

Sewing the hexie flowers into "rows" and then all together, was sort of a slog, but what did I have in 2020 besides TIME? 

I used Dream Cotton batting, Request loft (very low loft), and a Liberty botanical print on the back: 

I machine quilted it very simply, in hanging diamonds, with monofilament in the needle and cotton thread in the bobbin. 

It's interesting - in the bright sunlight it has a pinkish glow - which I like - 

Really it's my second "soft quilt for hard times"  -  

gratefully xo

Cynthia 

Tokyo Olympics Museum, sukiyaki, February projects

February half way over, how can that even be possible?   Yesterday in the absolutely beautiful crisp sunshine I walked with a group of ladies to the Tokyo Olympics Museum.   You sign up ahead of time and there are strict social distancing measures.   The cost was 500 yen (about $5) and I must say, the museum was excellent - interactive, beautifully done, even quite moving.   It's so sad, COVID forcing the cancellation of this huge event for the city and for the world. 

So many thoughtfully presented details, like this infographic showing the participating countries by years (notice the gaps for 1916, 1980) 

Some of the wood used within the exhibits was from timber from trees planted by seed in Northern Japan around the 1964 Olympics.  Seeds from 44 countries.  How cool is that.  

The would-be Japanese team uniforms for 2020: 

Will the games go on, this summer?  That's the plan.... I hope so, for Tokyo's sake. 

Tokyo is gorgeous this time of year, with the fragrant plum blossoms on full display: 

And, honestly, the lack of crowds is pretty wonderful. 

Refreshing bamboo: 

I think I walked 3 1/2 hours total, and I was thoroughly wiped out and icing a sore knee last night, and it's worse today.  My walks are usually about 30 minutes long.  I'd like to build more stamina for walking.  I have this and that "complaint" I guess you could say and sometimes they add up to me having to be more sedentary or home bound than I would like.   

Lucky for me, David had planned dinner.  On Saturday night we'd had a fairly significant earthquake which really got our attention and prompted David to supplement our modest emergency gear with this tabletop gas burner which uses canned gas.  It is meant for indoor use and perfect for making sukiyaki at the table, which he did, and it was delicious!   Cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, tofu, carrot, leak, harusame (cellophane noodles), and thinly sliced beef bought that way at the grocery store.  The cooking liquid sauce is a mix of soy sauce, mirin, and dashi (broth).  We both eat steamed rice with it, and David adds a raw egg to his dish.

If you look up the old song "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto - a huge hit in the U.S. in 1963 - it's about a lonely man walking along, looking up and whistling, so that his tears won't fall.   The song has zero to do with actual sukiyaki.  It would be like naming a sweet sad love song, "beef stew."  lol.   They just named it that for a foreign audience.   It's such a catchy sweet song, very soulful.  You will love it and actually you may find that you recognize it.  

Oh ya, quilting.  I've just been slow and steady, working on various blocks.  

Project #1:.  I just love the slow and steady pace of Poppy's Polka Dot Garden from Sentimental Stitches.  Around the first of each month, I download the free patterns, stroll on over to my local 7-11 where I print them out.  Here are the latest - with one of the blocks vastly simplified and sashiko added to another. 

Project #2:  Barbara Brackman's Hands All Around BOM on Civil War Quilts.  Second Wednesdays of each month.  

I'm using indigo and Japanese tenugui - and popping some red into many of the blocks.  I'm making two of each, 12" blocks.  I'm not being perfectionistic.  Here are my blocks so far, two of each:  

I will alternate the blocks with a whole variety of blue and white tenugui which I have been collecting for some time. 

Project #3:  This darn Liberty Hexies quilt.  One more row of eight random hexie flowers to piece and attach.  I wish I could wave a magic wand and rearrange some individual hexies,  add more darks, add more punch, but, at this point I just want to get it done.   I'm trusting that I will end up loving it once it's quilted, for practical use and folded up over a chair.  

Project #4:  one of the Christmas quilts, stay tuned. 

If you are experiencing extreme weather my heart goes out to you!  Our daughter Kaela's family in Texas have been dealing with this for days - days of no hot water (frozen pipes surely), grocery stores closed, leaking roof, etc.   But we are SO THANKFUL they haven't lost electricity.  Tommy and his girlfriend are visiting them and their flight back to Utah has been canceled twice.  All we can do is advise and encourage over FaceTime.  

Charlotte is none the wiser and so cute waking up!  Kaela: "look Mom, Charlotte is finally old enough to sleep with her quilt in the crib!"  Melt my heart! 

xo gratefully - 

Cynthia 

p.s.  Tommy sent this shot of Charlotte (this quilt is one of my Stars in a Time Warp quilts, now being used/stored in "our" bedroom at Kaela's house).  Oh my goodness I just long to see her again.