A good month!

May has come to an end and the world around me is green, my sewing room is a mess and I have two ongoing projects in sight and at least two put away in the cupboard to think about later. As of yesterday, I reached my May goals so I'd say May was a good month!

After a Bible study and some good conversation this morning I spent a couple of hours quilting the Wonky Word quilt. Hmm. Since it is all freehand quilting there is a big variation in the pattern from one day to the next. I noticed yesterdays' fans were big and wide while some days' fans have been compact and narrow. I wonder if it has something to do with the mood the quilter is in on a certain day. I'll try to be a bit more uniform in the future, but this is a very forgiving quilt and it seems that no matter what I do to it, it comes out Wonky and therefore anything is ok.

My friend Kaoru-san commented the other day on my Baptist fan quilting and how in Japan the same pattern is called Seikaiha. I didn't know the name of the pattern but I have seen it as a type of sashiko so I asked Kaoru-san if she'd explain about it to you.

"Hi, Tanya-san,
The wave pattern that we were talking about is called "Seikaiha" and sometimes "Seigaiha". It literally means "blue ocean waves". It was introduced to Japan from China more than 1000 years ago. The pattern depicts the waves on a calm sea and it expresses the peacefulness of the waves on the inland sea. The waves there ripple gently and endlessly and so people express their hope for eternal peace when they use this pattern."

Don't you think it interesting that a pattern has developed in two different cultures with different names and different meanings but is essentially the same?

For the rest of the afternoon I was machine quilting on the applique border and I only have to attach it to the piano cover I'm trying to make. This is a "make-as-you-go" project and I started with a large applique block that certainly wouldn't fit the piano, added two basket blocks, still too small. Added two star blocks, STILL too small and left with an odd space, added two applique bird blocks which got it the right length. Decided it was too blah so added two dark borders and now if I add borders on the sides it is going to be too long for the piano. I need to take a class in planning... The machine quilting looks nice though!

Oh! And another bit of excitment for me was that Nancy picked my name for her Laurel Burch fabrics that she was finished using! You can't believe how that put a smile on my face! I'm going to have to make something wonderful with them! Thank you again Nancy!