Japanese Pattern 32
Mill Hill Frosty progress - getting close to finish…
Summertime Fuji progress
The Virgin Queen’s Stitching Pocket
I finished the stitching quite a while ago. The time has come to do the finish finishing. This is a Betsy Morgan design, with the directions in this book, Willing Hands 2. After I finish it, I’ll use it and imagine Queen Elizabeth I using hers.
New start - Hawaiian table mat
I’ve wanted to try this technique, but I don’t want to take on a large quilt project. This piece is about 30 inches square, so it will finish slightly smaller. I’m not very good at needle turn appliqué, because I need much more practice! The scissors are pointing to the small bit I have done so far.
I was surprised to read that the Japanese government agency Gender Equality Bureau announced that not paying any dating expenses at all is considered domestic violence. One of the issues this bureau is concerned with is domestic violence and this doesn’t only mean physical violence. I hadn’t considered whether not paying any of the expenses on a date is domestic violence. (I know, it’s been a long time since I was in the dating world!)
On the Bureau’s website are four types of domestic violence listed: psychological violence, physical violence, sexual violence, and economic violence. Economic violence is defined as such things as using a partner’s money without permission or borrowing money from a partner and refusing to pay it back. One item that has people talking right now is “not paying any dating expenses at all.”
When I was in high school and started dating, the boy/man did the asking and the paying. Things were more casual when I was in university, so there wasn’t so much emphasis on who asked or paid. After I and the men I dated were working, the expenses were shared. That was a very long time ago and I haven’t given any thought about it since then.
I don’t know how big of a problem this is in Japan. It’s described on the Bureau’s website, so there must be a reason. Is this equal between genders, or are some people being taken advantage of more so than others? The website doesn’t seem clear on where this is directed. I think that forcing someone to pay all the time isn’t good, but there could be voluntary reasons such as one party earning much more money than the other that would cause that person to pay all the dating expenses. If this is a big issue in Japan, I’m glad it is spelled out. What do you think?
Lately, in an attempt to bypass the political chaos news from the US, I’ve been watching programs from stitching and quilting channels on YouTube. I’ve seen a number of programs about finishing old “started but unfinished” projects from years ago. Aha! I’m not the only one! It is satisfying to see fabrics and partial projects coming out of plastic tubs and to hear about whether or how these things can/will be finished. I want to focus on either finishing or repurposing my old unfinished projects this year. I’m inspired.
Year 3 of the temperature quilts is only about four years old, so not that old, but still, it needs to be finished. This week I spent a good deal of my stitching time doing the hand quilting. I quilted all of the horizontal lines of the blocks and started quilting the center and around the hexagon weeks.
Yesterday, I attended the most beautiful, most fun, wedding ever. The bride and her brother were my English students when I lived in Hokkaido. The last time I saw her was a year ago, when she visited me and we went out to lunch. I was honored when she invited me to her wedding and asked me to make a speech during the reception.
The event began with a church service wedding ceremony. It seemed very much like Christian services I attended in the US, with a minister, and an organ playing What a Friend We Have in Jesus, and 1 Corinthians 13.
After that we moved from the chapel to the reception.
After everyone was seated, the bride and groom made their entrance. The bride looks like a princess!
There was a toast and a couple of speeches. I gave mine in English, and one of the bride’s friends (who is a real translator), translated it into Japanese.
The happy couple cut a piece of cake.
The groom fed the bride a dainty bite of cake, followed by the bride using a large spoon to feed her husband a large piece of cake!
The meal was wonderful! The staff made some meatless substitutions for me and were so kind and polite.
The bride’s grandmother was interviewed and she was so cute!
I was seated at the table in the middle front, with the interpreter and her husband, two of the bride’s friends, and the meteorologist. I’m not sure, but he may have been one of her professors. This is the bride’s guests side of the room.
This is the groom’s side.
This is the bride’s brother, who is finished with university and in the working world. I was very happy to see him again.
The bride and groom and some of the groom’s friends.
Midway through the Japanese wedding reception, the bride changes dresses.
More interviews of the happy couple.
One of the bride’s friends is an opera singer.The bride played the piano and the friend sang.
The bride and groom with their parents.
My table mates.
All too soon it was time to say goodbye.
Beginning March 24th, Japan will begin issuing a new passport design featuring a plastic photo page with an imbedded chip to prevent forgery. The plastic page features a cherry blossom pattern that is visible when the page is tilted, in addition to a crane watermark, according to the Foreign Ministry. The new passports are expected to take about two weeks to be issued, which is longer than the current passport time frame, which is one week and are printed at municipal government offices (city hall). The new design will be produced by the National Printing Bureau, where the country’s banknotes are made.
I read online that the cost of a 10 year Japanese adult passport is ¥16,000. I don’t know if that cost will go up with the new passports. A 10 year American adult passport costs US$130.
I made some little felt things with pin backings to send with letters.
Sometimes I think back on things I've done or made in the past. Today I will write about the things I posted in years past on February 6th. (You can read the post by clicking on the year link).
2024 Last year I wrote about the 26 year old Ukranian born Japanese woman who was crowned Miss Japan. There was some controversy about whether she was really "Japanese". (A few days later she gave up her crown, but that was another post.)
2023 This was a Monday, and I wrote about a new hexagon project. These later became a chair cushion.
2022 This post was about some things I saw on my visit to Tottori Prefecture.
2021 This was a People's Choice link up post, with the topic "Birds I have stitched".
2020 I posted about the framed quilts I saw at the 2020 Tokyo International Quilt Festival. (This was the last Tokyo International Quilt Festival event, just before the pandemic hit).
2019 This was a "Finish It in 2019" post. Seems a familiar theme. I am always working to finish what I start.
2018 I attended the piano recital of my friend's daughter.
2017 Nadine sent me a wonderful gift from Belgium. (She last posted to her blog in 2020, but you can still check out previous posts).
2016 This post was a link up post to the Alphabet Club and was the letter G that month. My word was Gakubuchi, meaning picture frame. I posted some of my stitched pieces that are framed.
2015 This was a post about Setsubun.
2014 I posted about a Japanese Art Exhibit at North Carolina State University.
2013 On this date, I posted about a Work In Progress, that was almost finished.
2012 Finally, this was an after vacation post about the top five favorite places of the trip.
My time living in Japan has been so wonderful. I'm glad I document what I do - big and small, on this blog. It's good to look back and remember from time to time.
