Okinawa International Patchwork Guild: This Was Our Guild Project in September...

Okinawa International Patchwork Guild: This Was Our Guild Project in September...

Quilting on Saturday

Second Saturday of the month = Okinawa International Patchwork Guild workshop!!

Today we worked on a holiday Bell Table Runner -- a ThimbleBerries pattern. It was fun and easy!!

I got the quilt top all pieced today during class! So... it's another UFO to add to the pile!

Viv's quilts

There's a groups of us here in Okinawa who quilt together -- usually two Saturdays per month in class and sometimes on Wednesday nights at Barbie's house. Many of us also work together!! Working for the military, we're used to people moving away pretty frequently, but we still miss them when they go!!

Viv used to work for me and was part of the quilting group. She moved away a couple of months ago to Washington state. I was delighted when she sent me some pictures of her latest creations!! Thanks, Viv!! We MISS YOU!!

A Maple Leaf in Memory of Dad...

I finished this one this evening...

This quilt is a maple leaf design, and I decided to shadow quilt it.

This quilt is pretty special to me because I was working on it when my Dad died, 16 August 2006... and it seemed so fitting that it would be dedicated to him. One of my fondest memories of childhood was our yearly trips to Burton, Ohio to get maple syrup. My Mom and Dad continued to make that trip every year to get a supply of syrup for the family. When we lived in Germany and Korea, my Mom would mail me a half-gallon of syrup each spring... the postage was probably way more than the syrup was worth... but oooooohhh, it was good!!

A Quilting-Free Weekend...

I didn't do ANY quilting this weekend!! I was just too busy with other stuff...

On Saturday I spent the day with Anne. Anne arrived from the states on Thursday night to join our team at work. I like to try to spend some time with new staff members the first weekend they're here. It's a good way to get to know them a bit and to begin the process of helping them get acclimated to Okinawa.

Anne and I went out to look at an apartment -- one that belongs to a staff member who is leaving in less than a month... We stopped at The Housing Center (my favorite rental agent!) to see what Balinda had available for rent -- and picked up keys to look at a house out in Yomitan. Then we went to B.C. Motors where she found a car to buy. We had lunch at a little soba shop near my house -- Okinawan soba is the only thing on the menu... the noodles are made at the shop and everything is organic. It was yummy!!

After lunch, we drove around in Yomitan, out to Torii Station and down to the beach... waiting to meet Balinda at the house. We saw the house -- it's really way too big for Anne's needs -- and Balinda promised to do some more searching for a house or apartment for her.

Today, I promised Rebecca that we'd decorate the house for Christmas... so we spent a few hours moving furniture, putting up the tree, hanging lights and poinsettia garland.. the apartment looks great!!

I decided to make turkey soup so that I could free up some space in the freezer... Since I was cooking, I asked Barbie if she'd like to join us for dinner... that was fun!

Next weekend is the OIPG guild workshop, so I'll do a LOT of quilting!