It looks better in person than in these photos. Really.
It measures 43 inches by 46 inches and I hand quilted it with #8 perle cotton. Here are a few close ups of the quilt lines. I used my scrapbooking rulers and the disappearing pen.
This is what the back looks like. The horizontal pink at the top is the sleeve.
I'm pretty happy with it. I like that it's so colorful and fun.
Have you heard of Shizo Kanakuri? Before this summer's Olympic Games I hadn't either. I read he is known as the father of Japanese marathon running.
He was a native of Kumamoto Prefecture, and in November 1911 was selected as one of the only two athletes that Japan could afford to send to the 1912 Stockholm Olympics the next summer. Kanakuri had a difficult 18 day trip, by ship and train, to Stockholm. The race was held in Sollentuna Municipality in Sweden. Unexpectedly it was 25C (77F) that day and many of the runners suffered from hyperthermia. Kanakuri who was still weak from his long trip from Japan and having problems with the local food and the heat the day of the race, lost consciousness in the middle of the race. A local farming family took care of him. Because he was embarrassed at not finishing, he returned to Japan without telling anyone!
The Swedish authorities considered him missing for 50 years, when finally they found out he was living in Japan and had even competed in other Olympic marathons. In 1967, Swedish Television contacted him and asked him to return to Sweden to complete his race, which he did. He completed the marathon race in 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.3 seconds. After his finish, he said, "It was a long trip. Along the way, I got married, had six children and ten grandchildren."
Kanakuri was chosen to run in the 1916 Olympics, which were later cancelled due to World War I. He did compete in the marathon in the 1920 Olympics in Belgium where he finished 16th with a time of two hours, 48 minutes, and 45.4 seconds. He also participated in the 1924 Olympics but was not able to finish the race.
In Japan he is known for his role in starting the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon in 1920. Starting in 2004, the top prize in this race was named after him. He died on November 13, 1983, at the age of 92 in his hometown of Tamana in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.
Again this week, I've been working on my hexagon tree quilt, and I posted progress on Monday. (Take a look, if you haven't seen it.)
Biscornu progress
Cross Stitch Ornament - New Project
Another thing I'm working on is cutting 2.5" x 5" strips for another section to be added to the house quilt. I haven't worked on it in a longtime, but I did look at it this week and started thinking about the next section.
I read that Mr. Pringles is getting a new look. Although his looks have already changed in the rest of the world, as of August 9th, the new design has come to Japan.
Here are the previous changes he has had. I didn't realize there were Pringles in the 1960's!
This is what the new Pringles look like in Japan:
I'll have to keep my eye out for the new look the next time I am at the store. Have you seen the new design yet?
Hexagon Tree Progress - More hand quilting
Year five of the temperature quilt
Week 14
August 1 - 7
93, 93, 91, 95, 95, 95, 88
I am reporting the high temperature each day. My Year Five temperature/color scheme remains the same as previous years:
100+ Brown
90-99 Red
80-89 Orange
70-79 Yellow
60-69 Green
50-59 Blue
40-49 Purple
30-39 Pink
20-29 White
You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.
My friend gave me a ticket to see this exhibit. This is the first time I have been out anywhere in a very very long time. I took the train, wore a mask the entire time, and didn't go out to eat or shop or so anything else while I was in the City.
This is the exhibit poster on the train.
This was the sign in the underground walkway.
The museum seemed very safe, with timed tickets to limit the number of people, warnings to remind people to stay distanced, mask wearing requirements, temperature taking, and hand sanitizing. I knew nothing about Mr. Yoshida before going and I was very pleased that I went out to see the exhibit in spite of the delta variant.
A little background: Hiroshi Yoshida was born in September 1876 in Kurume, Fukuoka. When he was 19 years old he was sent to Kyoto to study under Tamura Shoryu, then later with Koyama Shotaro in Tokyo. He had his first American exhibition at the Detroit Museum of Art in 1899. He traveled around the United States and Europe from 1899 to 1901, selling his watercolors. From 1903 to 1907, he traveled again in the US, Europe and also in North Africa. In 1920 he began designing his first woodcut prints. All of his prints and existing stock were destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake in September 1923. He returned to the US to raise funds for himself and others. As he toured the western US, he discovered good prints were wanted in North America. From 1925, he devoted his work to woodblock prints. He continued traveling, including to the US and Canada, Europe, Egypt, and India in 1930-31; Korea and China in 1936; and in 1938 as an official war artist. His wife Fujio (1887-1987) and two sons Toshi (1911-1995) and Hodaka (1926-1995) were all print artists. Hiroshi Yoshida died in Tokyo in April 1950, at age 73.
The museum exhibit was divided into about ten sections, with an explanation in Japanese and English at the start of each section. All other information was in Japanese. The introduction explanations were very interesting and well written. There was one large photograph of Princess Diana with two of his paintings in her office.
I was very pleased to see a few of the paintings from the US and more of the ones in Japan were places I have visited and I recognized them. Two of them were views from my town. No picture taking allowed inside the exhibit. Here are a few pictures from the internet.
In the museum shop I did buy a couple of post cards from the exhibit pictures.
My little trip out didn't seem at all normal and maybe it won't ever be normal again. I did enjoy my trip though.
Walking on different streets each time, I come across many shrines and temples. This shrine is about 45 minutes from where I live and kind of built into the hillside.
That's the big old tree on the left, and there always seem to be steps at every shrine and temple.
No ball or small dog here, but one does have the open mouth and one the closed mouth.
Looking to the street. It's amazing to me how secluded these places seem when you are in them, but they are in the middle of houses with convenience stores across the streets.
This is the idea I had to make cross stitch boxes and add buttons. I used blue and white yukata fabric to go with the blue cross stitch fabric and the white buttons. The backing, lining, and top and bottom borders are all one piece of fabric so it was very easy to construct. I'm happy with how it turned out.
Two shots plus two weeks. I'm fully vaccinated, much earlier than I anticipated. I can go back into the world, can't I? I don't know. I think we are going to be wearing masks and keeping our distances for a long time. Good thing I made two new masks.
I've been spending a good bit of my stitching time on the Hexagon Tree quilt and posted about it on Monday. This is what else I've worked on this week.
Biscornu - new project
Mountain Day is traditionally held on August 11th. This year it was moved to August 8th for the end of the Tokyo Olympics and celebrated Monday the 9th.
It was first celebrated in 2016 and is the only public holiday in August. The date was chosen because August is the eighth month and eight "八" in Japanese looks like a mountain. Eleven was chosen because the two "1"s look like a pair trees. That's what I've read anyway. The holiday encourages people to appreciate the mountains. Does your country have a holiday to celebrate mountains?
Mt. Fuji - symbol of Japan
Hexagon Tree Quilt - the quilting has begun. I also opened the presents.
Year five of the temperature quilt
Week 13
July 25 - 31
91, 90, 86, 88, 88, 82, 90
I am reporting the high temperature each day. My Year Five temperature/color scheme remains the same as previous years:
100+ Brown
90-99 Red
80-89 Orange
70-79 Yellow
60-69 Green
50-59 Blue
40-49 Purple
30-39 Pink
20-29 White
You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.
