I guess I have a lot of miscellaneous news from around here.
I started out at the kindergarten yesterday morning and had a last lesson with the oldest class of children. They too were finishing up odds and ends before graduation and a couple of the kids were working on baskets. This project has been encouraged since my kids were in kindergarten and the children bring in long lengths of fabric and they are taught to braid the strips into ropes. (Next year I'll try to get a picture of some child doing that. They sit on the ground and hold the strips or the already braided part of the rope between their toes and then braid!) At this late date, everyone has their ropes braided but some kids were still sewing the braided rope around and around to make a basket. Trying to teach 5 and 6 year olds sewing skills. Also how to handle stabbing yourself with a needle and not making a big deal of it! All the kids are so proud of their finished baskets!
After kindergarten I went out with friends for lunch. My friend (and student), Mrs. Shibahata, is moving to Germany so three of us took her out to a fancy Japanese restaurant. Such a lovely assortment of dishes! I must say, that Japan excels in making a meal look enticing and just the way it is served makes the partaker sort of excited to see what is in the box and under the covered dishes. In yesterday's meal that white tray of food is actually inside a lacquered box and the waitress carried in the box with the other layer of small dishes on top of it.
Let's see, some
sashimi, some deep fried dish, many vegetables, a sweet egg omelet, pickles, grilled fish, soup, rice, seaweed, salad, and for dessert interesting tasteless jelly strips that are dipped in a sweet molasses-like sauce. Everything was delicious!
Oh, and I was given a gift from my
long time friends from kindergarten years. When we were trying to think of a farewell present for Mrs. Shibahata, I mentioned a wonderful compact pen that someone had given me years ago with a tiny Mikimoto pearl on the end. It was so beautiful and very small and handy but I lost it somewhere along the line. I thought Mrs. Shibahata might like it so that is what we decided to buy for her. Mrs. Kamiyama did the honors of going to the department store to buy it and she and some other close friends went in together to buy me a replacement pen for the one I lost. Wasn't that sweet of them! It has my name engraved on it so hopefully I will be able to keep track of this, or at least hopefully I've learned my lesson and will take better care of my things!
Another cute gift I was given this week was this cute little cell-phone strap ornament which I thought was so appropriate for a quilter like me! This is tiny (you can't really tell from the picture) and is made of different colored pieces of wood that have been pieced together like mosaic. Oh, go take a look at the beautiful wooden patchwork pieces that
Mary's uncle made for her. They are really gorgeous but this nice little bobble is just right for me!
And here is another picture that I was tempted not to show just because you're going to say "She's started something new again!" Shelina told me I couldn't open any mail or look at any sites until I'd finished Bootiful and I am finished so one of the first things that grabbed my interest was this little stitchery from
Lynette's blog. It is a Block of the Month project, so am I committing myself to 12 months? I'm not sure, but it is very small, (the embroidery is only a 2 1/2 inch block) and is a Noah's Ark theme and since I am an animal lover (as well as a Bible lover) I had to make a try. These are supposed to be rabbits though someone thought they were donkeys... We'll see how long I last on this newest endeavor.
I started out at the kindergarten yesterday morning and had a last lesson with the oldest class of children. They too were finishing up odds and ends before graduation and a couple of the kids were working on baskets. This project has been encouraged since my kids were in kindergarten and the children bring in long lengths of fabric and they are taught to braid the strips into ropes. (Next year I'll try to get a picture of some child doing that. They sit on the ground and hold the strips or the already braided part of the rope between their toes and then braid!) At this late date, everyone has their ropes braided but some kids were still sewing the braided rope around and around to make a basket. Trying to teach 5 and 6 year olds sewing skills. Also how to handle stabbing yourself with a needle and not making a big deal of it! All the kids are so proud of their finished baskets!
After kindergarten I went out with friends for lunch. My friend (and student), Mrs. Shibahata, is moving to Germany so three of us took her out to a fancy Japanese restaurant. Such a lovely assortment of dishes! I must say, that Japan excels in making a meal look enticing and just the way it is served makes the partaker sort of excited to see what is in the box and under the covered dishes. In yesterday's meal that white tray of food is actually inside a lacquered box and the waitress carried in the box with the other layer of small dishes on top of it. 
Let's see, some sashimi, some deep fried dish, many vegetables, a sweet egg omelet, pickles, grilled fish, soup, rice, seaweed, salad, and for dessert interesting tasteless jelly strips that are dipped in a sweet molasses-like sauce. Everything was delicious!
Oh, and I was given a gift from my long time friends from kindergarten years. When we were trying to think of a farewell present for Mrs. Shibahata, I mentioned a wonderful compact pen that someone had given me years ago with a tiny Mikimoto pearl on the end. It was so beautiful and very small and handy but I lost it somewhere along the line. I thought Mrs. Shibahata might like it so that is what we decided to buy for her. Mrs. Kamiyama did the honors of going to the department store to buy it and she and some other close friends went in together to buy me a replacement pen for the one I lost. Wasn't that sweet of them! It has my name engraved on it so hopefully I will be able to keep track of this, or at least hopefully I've learned my lesson and will take better care of my things!
Another cute gift I was given this week was this cute little cell-phone strap ornament which I thought was so appropriate for a quilter like me! This is tiny (you can't really tell from the picture) and is made of different colored pieces of wood that have been pieced together like mosaic. Oh, go take a look at the beautiful wooden patchwork pieces that Mary's uncle made for her. They are really gorgeous but this nice little bobble is just right for me!
And here is another picture that I was tempted not to show just because you're going to say "She's started something new again!" Shelina told me I couldn't open any mail or look at any sites until I'd finished Bootiful and I am finished so one of the first things that grabbed my interest was this little stitchery from Lynette's blog. It is a Block of the Month project, so am I committing myself to 12 months? I'm not sure, but it is very small, (the embroidery is only a 2 1/2 inch block) and is a Noah's Ark theme and since I am an animal lover (as well as a Bible lover) I had to make a try. These are supposed to be rabbits though someone thought they were donkeys... We'll see how long I last on this newest endeavor. 
5 comments:
Looks like you had a wonderful day! I too have been contemplating that stitchery block! Very cute!
Hmmm... that stichery looks interesting. I may have to join you in the BOM. When you print out that pattern, do you have to shrink it or anyting like that?
Graduation? School is over all ready? I like that they are still teaching sewing skills there.
The meal looks good, although I'm not brave enough to try it. I wouldn't mind owning those dishes though, and try to create my own edible assortment. That part sounds like a lot of fun.
Those are great gifts - glad you have a cute pen you can call your own.
I'm also glad you finished the Bootiful already so I don't have to yell at you for starting another project. LOL This is cute.
Now we have two projects in common. We are both making the 365Challenge quilt ( I just finished row 14 ) and we are both working on the BOM of Lynette Anderson. It is indeed a very small stitchery, but I like it very much.
I love your block.
The little girl that is holding the fabric basket is adorable! She is so proud of her creation, and rightly so! Your stitchery looks like it was fun to do, and it looks wonderful.
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