Justin and his Quilt

Darryl forwarded these pics to me the other day -- of his grandson, Justin, on his quilt that I made. Isn't he the CUTEST baby??? and that quilt!! WOW!!

More Super-Typhoon Man-Yi videos

Here's a couple of additional little videos I shot today...

From the front door of our apartment at the height of the storm

And another one from the balcony -- but at the height of the storm...

Super-Typhoon Man-Yi

We're in the middle of a pretty big storm right now.... hard as it might be to believe (for anyone who hasn't experienced something like this!), I'm going to MISS typhoons when I leave Okinawa!!

This is the first big storm we've had in three years, so we were ready!! :)

We're snug and safe in our apartment... still have power.... still have internet... but the satellite TV signal is gone (no surprise there, huh?)

Here's a video of the view from the balcony

Cute Bags!!

OK... I know I should be sorting and organizing and generally getting ready to move.... but I was just drawn to quilting this weekend!!! You see I had a couple of new patterns and some fabric that was just begging to move into the "finished quilts" section!!

So... I exhibited just enough self-control to fill the back seat of the car with stuff to take to the thrift shop -- and then I started sewing!! :)

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

I Am Sensai!! :)

I taught a workshop at our Okinawa International Patchwork Guild yesterday. Check out the pics at our blog!!

Confetti Log Cabin

My oldest niece is having her first baby in the fall, so that calls for a quilt!! I've been watching for just the right pattern for inspiration and finally found it! You just can't beat a log cabin pattern, IMHO!! But you can make it more fun!! This easy pattern uses four-patch squares as part of the log cabin design. I love the way it turned out. If you want to find this pattern, it's in the Quiltmaker Magazine, March/April '07.

A Quilt for Baby Chloe

I think my favorite quilts are the scrappy ones!! Chloe's parents have spent much of their lives growing up in Okinawa, so I tried to use fabrics that would remind them of this wonderful place -- and that would give them stories to tell to Chloe as she grows up! She'll also find, when she visits her cousin Justin, that her quilt has some of the same fabrics that were used in his quilt! Won't that be fun??

This pattern is called Bento Box. It's fun and easy!!

Two Very Different Results!!

When I cut the latest Stack n Whack, I had plenty of triangles left over, so I decided to make another quilt!! The original quilt has the blocks set on point over a green background... Although the borders help to calm it down a bit and to pull it together, it's still a little "busy" for my taste... and the colors are really not my favorites...

For the bonus quilt, I set the blocks square against an off-white tone-on-tone background. I'm much happier with the results of this one!!

A Snails Trail for Justin

I'm on a roll!! I just finished this baby quilt for Baby Justin... I love the cute little turtles and the fishies...

I Finished the Mystery Quilt!!

This was our mystery quilt from the OIPG retreat at Okuma... lots of little pieces... it's amazing how such a small quilt can take SOOOOO long to piece!! I got it all done at the retreat and then it sat in my UFO pile just waiting for me to put on the binding and finish it...

Another Stack & Whack!

At our class on Saturday, I worked on a new Stack & whack Pattern... I've had the focus fabric waiting for this pattern for quite awhile.... I find the quilt bold and busy -- hopefully the border will calm it down a bit!! :)

Fuji Kaleidescope Update

Making progress on this one! I've added borders... now I just need to get it layered and quilt it!!

Display Pieces for the Shop

I'm going to open a quilt shop in early 2008 and have started to hunt for unique and wonderful display pieces for the shop. I found this set at a bazaar last weekend. I think they'll be perfect and versatile!

These pieces are made of elm wood and are about 110 years old. They originate from the Shandong Province.

Quilting Sensai

I'll be teaching this quilt at our next Okinawa International Patchwork Guild workshop on 9 June. It's an easy quilt to put together and turns out great, I think!

A Quilt for a Princess

This quilt is for my oldest grand-niece, Avery... she's 5 years old, and quite the "girly-girl"... She has a "princess room" at her grandparents' house, so I thought this would be PERFECT for her!

An Interesting Blog!

I just got an email from Mary-Frances who runs the Bloggers Who Embellish webring. Mary-Frances has a great blog named "Frequently Wrong But Never In Doubt."
Just the name of the blog was a draw for me!! :)

Bargello Kimono

This lovely pattern from Castilleja Cotton was my first bargello quilt! It's been waiting patiently in my UFO stack for the binding... and now it's finished!

Cranes and Kanji

I finished this quilt top months ago, but it just sat in that UFO pile waiting for some attention.... a couple of months ago, I made the "quilt sandwich," quilted it, and sewed on the binding... and then it went back into that UFO pile, waiting for me to be drawn to finishing it...




I decided to take it with me when I went to visit my Mom, because I knew I would find some time to finish it there -- and I did!!