A week of work

One goal was met and the banner is done and ready to hang.  The deadline that was pressed on me was only to make a photography deadline so it can be used in the ministries booklet which was due at the printer.

Thanks to suggestions from my blogging friends, I quilted the background with the words, Time, Talent, Faithfulness, Vision, Discipleship, Prayer, Love, Peace, Service, and Support. I used light blue thread and I don't know if those words will be noticed when it is hung, but having them there made me feel a bit more satisfied than when the project was begun.

In the midst of making this, I had a week of Vacation Bible School, running the "Palace Playground Games".
And to add to the challenge, I added a broken toe to the equation

In the midst of nagging me to work faster on the banner, husband Paul (who is in charge of getting the booklets printed) returned from walking the dog saying that my neighbor, Miki-san, was outside and I should come out and say hello. Not wanting to stop what I was doing, I tried to ignore the request. After all, Miki-san's front door faces ours only separated by a few meters and we see each other often. Still, the requests got louder and not wanting to be rude, I finally put on my flip-flops and went out to give greeting. My neighbor was weeding so I did a bit to help and then swept the "road" between our houses.

Working in the bright sun, it took my eyes time to adjust when returning to our dark genkan. (the little space inside the front door where those entering leave their shoes). As I stepped inside, I kicked the wooden geta (clogs) my husband had kicked off earlier as he entered. This sounds like a re-run of the two broken toes last summer and when I went to the neighborhood clinic, the doctor had a good laugh.(It seems he laughs every time I go there). Oh what a klutz this foreigner is!

Since I had a busy week riding a crowded rush-hour train, I ended up with a partial cast and a big bandage. It was probably a good move because by day four, I had been stepped on enough to crack the cast. It never did win me a seat in the preferred seating though.

I ended up pulling three very late-nighters to get the banner done. I really need to get to bed by 10pm  when I have to get up by 6am to get to church and without my beauty rest I can get ugly fast. A week of rowdy lively games added to the equation, and I went to bed the last two nights without waiting for dinner.

 Between some long train rides home and a few meetings, I managed to finish sewing together the rest of the rows on the + and X quilt.

Today, after VBS was over, I laid the rows out on the fellowship hall floor and picked out the cornerstones. It is not really up to my son's standard but it'll have to do.

Now I will have a bit more take-along work, sewing and adding the sashing to each row. I will probably have to add the rows at home because it is getting a bit big to carry along.

I have no plan for the backing and still don't know where I can go to baste the sandwich... maybe back at church. I am also thinking of adding a border of some kind just to tie it all together and make it easier to bind.

Meanwhile, I have plans churning in my brain for the next project. My recently married son has requested something in green and brown with owls. At a quilt show this year, I saw a mola of an owl and thought making a large one (or two) in Mola style feathers might be fun. That will be a project with no deadline. I know my kids will be happy with whatever I make whenever they get it.

So ... now I am ready for a bit of a rest and a bit of neglected house-work.

The banner is hung and the continuing saga of the bias tape

With several weeks to go until "rally Day", this year's banner has been hung in the church entry-way. Last year's banner has been moved to the right side of the double doors. You can see by my smile that I am glad.

Today, on my way home from church, I
stopped at the store with the rotten bias tape and this is my report.

Finding a clerk, I showed and explained the problem with the tape. The clerk asked me if I had the sales slip. well, no, how long does one need to keep those slips? I told her that though I had purchased the tape a number of years ago, the store sticker was still on each package along with the bar-code.
She asked me to wait and went off to the office. A while later, she came back carrying the damaged tape and told me I had made the purchase five years ago. I responded, yes, I said I had purchased the tape a while ago and was that tape only expected to last a few years? I told her I had a quilt made over a hundred years ago by my Great Grandmother and the bias binding was still in good condition. I wondered what was the life expectancy of the products they sold.

Well, the clerk told me to wait again and disappeared back to the office. When she finally returned she was carrying four new packages of binding. I had seriously thought of asking for navy blue instead of black but in the end I was feeling a bit sorry for the poor woman having to deal with this unsatisfied customer, and a foreigner, at that. Now I am wondering if I should keep this binding for five years before I use it to make sure that it, too, will not deteriorate. I am hoping the tape will be returned to the manufacturer so they can fix the problem. One good side was that, although the price of the binding has gone up since I bought those packages, the store did not make me pay the difference.

Two wins in one day. AND ... although my poor computer has died at last ... taking my photos along with it, I am working on a substitute that has all different programs, a different keyboard arrangement, and does not speak my language, my husband was able to figure out how to download the picture and store it where I could find it.

Now, I was almost tempted to take a break from blogging and learn the language until I saw him struggling by trial and error to make this computer do his bidding. I think this computer does not speak English or Japanese as much as it speaks computerese.

The queen of procrastination bites the bullet

Each year, in early September, our church holds a "Rally Day". After the service, during the fellowship hour, displays of all the assorted ministries of the church are set out so members new and old can see what is going on and perhaps sign up to be part of the action. Thus, several weeks ago, the rally day committee sat down to discuss and pick out a theme. As I did last year, I will make a banner to hang in the front portico for the year.

The first discussion was the scripture. What was selected was Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". Next, the committee wanted to include in the logo, a heart, a cross, a view of Tokyo Union Church, and the stained glass window.

The next week I brought my camera and took some pictures of the window. This window was created by Keiko Miura. She is a Christian artist from Osaka. The full window rises 21 meters and symbolizes "The descent of the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3: 21-22)." (there used to be a baptismal font made from native stone at the foot of the window but that has since been moved)

Assembling assorted photos and sketches of the church, I worked on a logo to present to the committee and a banner design for the entryway.

To be sure, the committee has lots of opinions but they are not artists so what one brings home from meetings are just piles of words.

I made a few sketches but did not make it to the next committee meeting. The only comments came back through my husband who was there and says someone on he committee thought that more of the church building should be shown.


In my opinion, that building has a very distinct tower and anyone would know it seeing only that much. I further think the cross should be the focus rather than the building itself. This bit of a conflict causes me to procrastinate even more.

However ... deadlines weigh heavily and in another week I will be camping on Mt. Fuji with the Boy Scouts. Then comes Vacation Bible School upon return. If I don't get started this week, I will have a big rush at the last minute and THAT is something with which I do not deal well. I guess one of the best parts about getting old is that you find out how to avoid the things you absolutely hate.

Well, the window is truly beautiful and an inspiration with all the assorted blues and purples and greens. I dug out my box of batiks and started pulling out bits of fabric that were big enough to use.

I also drafted sections as seen in the window. I have it partly sewed and the rest kind of laid out. There are a few tricky places around the tower but I was more interested in getting the fabric to work. I think if I baste this stuff in place, it can travel to camp and I will have time to get it far enough along.

Shall I add black around the stained glass blocks and the heart? I will still need to add the Bible verse above and below the heart. I know that will take some time toward the end. I only hope I will not have to do a rush job and that forces me to bite the bullet now. After all, God is watching!

I am wondering what the person who wants more of the building to show will say in the end. I do know what my father would reply, "Here! Do you want the hat?" There was hardly a stampede of people rushing to volunteer for the task.

2010 - 2011 Stewardship Banner

August 26th Paul asked if I could make something to hang in the church entry where a large paper heart had been the year before. He wanted it done by that Saturday, the 29th or by the latest the 30th.
I told him no way could I get anything decent done in that length of time so he said I might take until the 5th as long as it was hanging by Rally Day. Thus I agreed to give it a shot and began on the 27th.

I was stuck with the logo that had been decided by the committee and their choice of colors but hanging a white banner in the entry for a whole year didn't seem practical so I reversed the colors putting white and yellow on blue rather than yellow and blue on white. Since time was short for applique letters, I went out to the local button store and bought yellow and white felt. Ignoring the demands to match the "font" I used stencils to mark the letters. I was pretty well stuck with what I had on hand.

To give the banner better proportions, I added an upper and lower border pieced of assorted yellow fabrics and the background blue. "Yes" and yellow beginning with "Y"...to me they represent the variety of ways one answers "yes".

I lined the hanging with fabric left over from Jon's tablecloth. I had planned to turn it to the front along the edge but instead added a narrow purchased binding.
Sleeve added to the top and bottom and hanging was finished on September 1. Delivered to the church September 2. Size is about 28inches by 38 inches.