Shiisa Quilts has a HOME!!

This has been a very exciting week! I arrived in Bloomington last Saturday and Mom and I have been running non-stop since then.

On Sunday, we drove out to "snoop" at the site that I'd found online (thanks to the Herald Times!). My brother, Jeff, had made the first contact with the owner and we had already had some discussions about the site.



I met with John, the owner on Monday morning and we made some decisions about space requirements. Today (Wednesday) I met with an architect who will help me to design the space. We're on our way!!



I've taken care of a couple of "trivial necessities" -- getting a federal tax ID and a state tax ID...

And today I visited the quilting guild at St. Mark's Methodist Church. That was fun and I met some great ladies who really NEED a local quilt shop!!

Hopefully, they'll help spread the word that Shiisa Quilts is coming to Bloomington!!

What a Stupid Name for a Quilt Shop!! What does it mean anyways???

This post might help to explain why I chose Shiisa Quilts for my shop name.

I love the culture and people of Okinawa, and, for me, the shiisa is a constant reminder of the fun I've had living there. Before I learned to quilt, I was really involved in pottery. My favorite "subject" was shiisa!

Here's a few of my creations...

This is a female shiisa. You can tell that because her mouth is closed - or at least MORE closed than the male shiisa.

This is a male shiisa. Notice the big mouth!!

These are in-process pictures of my first large shiisa set. Total classwork time was about 32 hours.

Here's the finished product!!

Shiisa aren't always "scary"... sometimes they're whimsical or even just a little "naughty"... I didn't make these, but I thought they were cute.

And here's a couple of rooftop shiisa