Nihongo ga jouzu desu ne / Your Japanese is good!

"Nihongo ga jouzu desu ne" (meaning 'your Japanese is good') is a long running joke /cross to bear for Japanese learners and even foreigners living in Japan (a quick Google reveals many webpages and videos on this topic).  So when my Japan-based Skype partner came out with that phrase in our conversation yesterday, I was torn between laughing out loud and banging my head on my desk.  Because it's a compliment that is trotted out relentlessly by Japanese people to anyone who can mangle at least a couple of words in Japanese, and apparently continues to be said even to 'gaikokujins' (foreigners) who have been living in Japan for years and are fully fluent.  It's generally well-meaning, and I'm sure my tutor said it to both be encouraging and to recognise that I had thrown a few new words into the conversation.  But it's a bit like being told 'You're not fat! Don't be ridiculous! You're not!' when you disclose to a work colleague that you are trying to lose weight - this happened to me on Friday at work.  Sigh...  On the bright side I did lose a pound or so during my first week of cutting out snacks and trying to eat more healthily.  Perhaps every time I feel like snacking, I should go and study Japanese instead and then I would kill two birds with one stone (ha ha, a pun..).

On my day off I joined together the two ends of my Bucks Point bobble wrap and got it onto the bobbin.  It is held in place by drawing up the passive threads in the headside and footside (top and bottom) to gather them snugly.  This is easier said than done, the friction on the thread resists being gathered and it's difficult to do smoothly to avoid bulges and lumps.  I think the pattern was just a smidgen too wide in diameter for my bauble so my wrap isn't laying entirely flat but it's not too bad.  The struggle with the gathering did cause a few picots to disappear as well which I'm sure will be spotted by the lace experts, but all in all it gives a pretty effect on the bauble and will look nice on next year's tree.  I managed to do a much better (although still not indetectable) join on this bauble, compared to the bird's nest first effort last year - the join is just right of centre in this picture.

I've finished quilting in the ditch and quilting a central square in all the border blocks of the Let's Bake Quilt now so I'm ready to move on to quilting the centre. As a palate cleanser, I took a break to replace the cover for my mini Filofax.  Yes, I am a dinosaur who still uses a paper diary. I've had this one since 2008 but it's stayed in good condition because I've kept it inside a homemade slipcover in my bag. I replace the cover every few years, and it was time as the old one had become quite grubby.  I used the old one as a pattern and cut the new one out of two-sided Pellon pelmet fusible interfacing then debated whether to go with the usual solid fabric cover or try something more adventurous.  I decided on the latter, and went with a mini version of the appliqued house tea cosy I made a few years ago from a purchased pattern.

I roughed out a design in pencil on scrap paper, having to make everything smaller to fit a version onto the smaller confines of the diary cover.  I chose a darker background fabric because the cover will be rattling around in my bag and a light colour would get grubby faster. I built the houses up using fabric from some of the 2.5" squares I've cut recently, Steam-a-Seam2 fusible web, and a teflon applique pressing mat, before fusing the constructions to the diary cover.  The embellishment is done with freemotion stitching on my machine (and again, the new machine performed quite well).  It was more difficult to get the detail embroidered due to the tiny size, so it's a bit messier than the teacosy. 

It's something different, I'm pleased with the effect which is a bit Dr. Seuss in spirit.  I'm not sure how long the raw edge applique will stand up to the daily use/abrasion of being in my bag, even though I've stitched over all the raw edges. We'll see.

My zippers finally arrived that I ordered a few weeks ago from a company called Zipperstation.  They are what I wanted and the price was good, but annoying that I had to chase them to get the order delivered. So I think I will make a few more of the teacup zip pouches that I blogged last week, just because they are fun to make.  I seem to be developing an ever-increasing weakness for cutesy items in my old age - or perhaps I've always had it but just didn't have the time to indulge it when I was younger  :)  Maybe that's why all the dollshouses.

I gave in to the garden's insistence that it is spring, and went out and pruned the roses yesterday.  Well, not so much pruned as applied a light haircut.  I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to rose pruning. This year I tried to follow advice from the David Austin Roses site, but that requires working out what type all your different roses actually are and trying to remember if they are repeat flowering or not etc. plus my climbers never seem to look like the pictures in the pruning diagrams.  I like roses and I've currently got a rambler, four climbers, five that I think are shrubs, a carpet rose and a patio rose. I would plant more except that our garden doesn't get much sun so between my inept care and the lack of sun, they never do particularly well.  So pretty though.

Is it spring in your garden yet?