I was very sad to read in the latest issue of Quiltmania magazine that not only is the Tokyo International Quilt Festival cancelled for 2021, but that they don't intend to hold it again in future. That was going to be my next trip to Japan and I had already started general planning for a January visit once it was possible to go again. I hope it isn't true, and looking online there are still tour companies saying they will be attending the festival in 2022. But Quiltmania has had close links with the Japanese quilting scene for a long time so they are more likely to have inside knowledge. I've been wanting to go to the festival for years, and was really looking forward to all the shopping opportunities and the marvelous exhibitions. I wonder if the organisers are yet another economic victim of the pandemic?
Not that we are going anywhere at the minute, with another lockdown in place. Although you wouldn't know it looking outside, still plenty of shoppers and cars, not like the first lockdown. We've just been to the DIY shop ourselves for some PTFE tape, to fix a leaking outside tap (thank you University of Youtube). And surprisingly our replacement basement floor is still being fitted this coming week. The floor we ordered wasn't available any longer, and when the shop phoned they said that supply and delivery issues have been really difficult for them. Both they and us were anxious not to miss the fitting date as they are fully booked until the new year, so they texted several pictures of possible substitutes and we managed to find one that can be supplied for next week and will look okay. They said they've looked into the government regulations and feel they can still carry out fitting while complying. So tomorrow we need to empty the basement including disconnecting the washer and dryer, and give it all a good clean.
I finished the Disappearing 4-patch lap quilt top I blogged last week, and have hung it with the growing collection of tops awaiting quilting. I probably have enough tops now that I would have planned to set up my quilting frame in the new year - but with DS using the dining room as his workplace, that isn't an option for now.
I still had plenty of Aldi fat quarters so I turned to a pattern for a hexagon tabletopper from a book I own called Best of Fons & Porter: Tabletop Quilts. This uses the technique of cutting one large hexagon (5 1/2 inches) and one smaller hexagon (3 1/2 inches), and sandwiching them RST with a small hexagon of wadding. Then you fold in the edges of the larger hexagon to make a binding to finish the edge. There are Youtube videos for the technique. It's both easy and fiddly, as you have to be quite precise to avoid the hexagon going wonky. I found the best thing to do was to cut a 3 1/2 card hexagon and use it as a pressing template, only inserting the wadding and top fabric at the end before sewing. It's a great time to try out all the decorative stitches on your machine when you stitch down the binding. When all the hexagon units are finished, you butt them together and join with a narrow zizzag stitch: first into rows, then puzzle fitting the rows together. If you have any wonky hexagons, this is when you are going to have trouble. I had a couple but I found I could tuck the excess as an underlap and just keep zigzagging along the seam to maintain a flat construction.
2 comments:
My office instigated a "step" challenge during November, I'm to submit my steps Mon-Fri. Weekends don't count, alas, which is a pity - we did a 2 hour ramble on Saturday. I've also got an exercise bike though it's not much fun! I'm still getting a quick walk in before work but that will probably stop in the next week or so as it's supposed to be for vitamin D purposes too! :)
I’m sorry you won’t get your Tokyo trip. It’s a struggle everywhere with so many things canceling. I hope you find something else that’s equally exciting.
Your little table mat turned out lovely.
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