The patience of Job or the tenacity of a bulldog?

Monday, September 7, 2020

Even with the most severe cuts (i.e. the entire top chopped off), trees seem to regenerate. These went from 20' tall to 5' stumps - and now they're back. Amazing.

The leaves have blown off other trees so it looks like autumn. Same temperature though: we're just in dry season. The leaves will be back soon enough when the trees get more moisture. Despite clouds, it rarely rains.

Tuesday and Wednesday

It's a quick trip to the store for fabrics - someone requests a combination of batik for her own projects. There are racks and racks of traditional and modern patterns and color combinations.

It takes under a half-hour to find these beauties in the many stacks. Sadly, their potential transport has already left the country so they will have to travel via another friend. But isn't it a lovely mix? Most batik (traditionally dyed cotton fabric) has several patterns on each 2-meter length. You can combine the fabrics into endless groups.

The helper manages to find some flowers in the garden and plops them in a vase. This arrangement is 4' tall and over 2' wide.

Thursday

Not sure which applies to me: the patience of Job ... or the tenacity of a bulldog. I finally finish the quilt that has dogged me (pun intended) for years. This embroidery hoop spent a lot of time moving around the king-sized fabric.

I bought a set of typically floral English curtains while we lived in Cambridge in 2004. Ebay UK had all kinds of goodies that I coveted but I bought only what I could schlep home. I love household shopping - Oh there were sooo many antiques, decorations, and strange organizers. However, W said that whatever I purchased had to fit into my own suitcases. He had plenty of his own stuff.

While my husband slaved in the library for 6 months, I took art classes with some of the top instructors in Britain. I learned to draw, paint, and weave willow stems. Actually, W would fight the slave labor label: he gladly paid for his PhD and considered it a joy to spend hours on research. (Hard to imagine, isn't it?) We loved both our own work - and played in our own fields of interest. It was my first break from raising children in 24 years.

I was a rank novice at everything I tried but didn't care. No one knew me or cared how bad my output was. Plus, if your teacher is amazing, you make pretty good stuff. The paintings from Cambridge are better than anything I've produced since.

I taught someone piano for a few weeks to support my learning habit. I was truly "over" teaching music after 33 years of it; however, I was nagged by someone who wanted piano lessons. I proposed an exorbitant fee to get out of it ... and was accepted. Argh. My own art classes were total fun though.

Just for fun, I started a quilt with the Ebay curtains and other cottons found in a shop. I cut out a lot of strips and pieced them into small squares. Then I played around with the arrangement, sewed the squares and borders together, and basted the whole thing to the curtain backing. 

Then I did the edging. I hate the last bits of a project, especially if I know it will be a long one. Anything I can do to hurry along the last part is fine with me. And so the edging went on before I started hand-quilting.

 I find out that quilting is like playing harp - my fingertips suffer. (I keep forgetting the thimble so it's my fault.)

I've always been impatient. I do big and difficult projects on my first attempt at something I want to learn, whether it's a speech or writing - or art, sewing, composing music, or ? Why?

What if I don't like doing it? By finishing one hard thing, I have something of note when I'm done. And then I never have to do it again. Unless I want to.

For this quilt, there was a general direction (log cabin pattern) and a whole lot of fabrics. The basting of layers was brutal and detailed. Remember that I did the last step before the end? Those 128 squares seemed to go on forever! And then I had to quilt the the border without anything slipping.

Finally, today, I take a picture of my last stitch, just before I clip the thread. I have a thankful heart. Done done done! Hurrah.

The reason I make tiny stitches - and a lot of them - is because I like change. Maybe in the future I'll want the back side up. So it better be worth the flip[.

 

I drape it on the porch so I can pluck out the blue and green basting threads that hold the layers together.

Here's the entire quilt from one side.

This is the fourth quilt I've finished but the first one I've made just for me. I made one each for our first 3 kids. I've hand-pieced my own pattern of interlocking circles for the fourth kid. That one's so complicated that I keep pausing. Maybe I'll have to dig it out of Seattle storage to finish it here as well.

Friday

There's the most amazing moth (2" life-size) on the porch cabinet this morning. "Shoo it away please," I ask my husband. It's so white it almost glows. I'm glad it isn't in the house.

We missed our Wednesday date because of visa runs - so W and I walk to Nara Park and our beloved Pino Terrace for breakfast tea today. Jasmine tree for me, please.

I order Baso Udang (shrimp dumplings - tasty), while W orders waffles instead of his usual ramen. 

We finished off the 43rd anniversary crepe-layer cake earlier this week. It's also from Pino Bakehouse, with the same great flavors by Paulina.

Let me close out with a warm goodbye from my beautiful mama who always leaves a call with a smile. 

Read more:

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears. Psalm 39:12 NASB

The Canaanite woman came and knelt before Jesus, saying, “Lord, help me.” Matthew 15:25

Moravian Prayer; Lord, each of us is in need of your divine help. May we always trust in your provision and in your power, never hesitating to turn to you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.