Vacation Stitching and Omiyage

Ted and I took a four day Golden Week trip in Hokkaido.  We drove to Kushiro on the east coast and spent two nights, then spent the next night in Kitana, stopping at Sounkyo Gorge and Asahikawa on the way home.  I took a lot of pictures and as soon as I sort them, I’ll post about our trip.

I didn’t have much time for stitching, but I did bring two projects.  I started an ornament, but put in an extra stitch, so I’ll have to do some unstitching before I can continue. 

I also started working on this beautiful Zweigart tablecloth.  Originally it was to be a Christmas tablecloth, but Ted pointed out that a Christmas tablecloth could only be used a short time each year.  He thought it would be better to stitch an all purpose motif that could be used year round, and I agreed.  Blue is my favorite color, so here is what I’ve accomplished so far. (Thank you Rose and Mike!)

 

In Japan, when you go on a trip, you bring back presents (usually edible) for the people you know.  Omiyage is a part of Japanese culture.  Sweets and other little foods from the area you visit are individually wrapped in a larger package that is also wrapped, so the larger package can be shared. We had to think about how many people were in the groups, so we could decide what to buy and make sure we had enough for everyone. Omiyage is no simple matter! This is what we brought back.

 

I hope to get my pictures and stories organized in the next few days so I can tell you all about the trip!