I don’t know why this is, but I enjoy cross stitching for Christmas more than any other time of year. Maybe it is because there is a certain thrill to pulling out the stockings I spent years (!!) making, knowing that they will be displayed just for the month of December. Unlike other pieces that get lost to my eyes as they are displayed year-round, the handmade things I spend quite a bit of time on for Christmas truly warm my heart.

As does this little Santa, complete with silver star.

(Looking for a little of both).

Overdyed floss from Gentle Art Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works.  R&R Reproductions 30 count linen in “Sheep’s Straw”.

Chart is “Peace on Earth” from Blackbird Designs.

A Scandinavian design in one strand of Vikki Clayton “Garnet” silk on 40 count Antique White from Lakeside Linens.  Compared to the teeny-tiny 40 count, the 30 count linen looks huge!

Komono, or small things/accessories, are pretty popular in the sewing world here.  Here, I made a child-sized tissue pack holder to match my older daughter’s new blouse.

My dictionary definition of komono would read something like “sweet satisfaction”. Are you working on little things right now? My long-craft projects always seem to be by my side, but instant gratification is fun, isn’t it?

Pattern is M107 from MPL.  It is my favorite dress pattern for versatility in terms of layering, and multi-season wearing.  This version has the optional stand collar. Corduroy fabric from Sevenberry.

Everything is this pattern comes together so beautifully.  Light gathers in front and back.  Unlike some pullover styles that I see, this one does not have the same-in-front-and-back-yoke + all-over-gathers-for-the-skirt look to it.  So it hangs nicely, and is full without being too puffy.  I like that.

This is the first dress I made with M107 last year, in a Sevenberry flannel, without the collar.  Still going strong!  They love their dresses.  And when my little girl says, “Watashi no wan-piisu dai suki!” or “Mama tsukutta!” (My Mommy made it)  to a friend, well, that is all the motivation I need to make one or two… or twenty more.

Hello! And welcome, Autumn.

This is a “shirring neck blouse”, pattern M109 from MPL, my favorite pattern company. The attention to the tiniest details, in some of the very simple-looking designs, blows me away every time. I also appreciate how seam allowances are already added to the pattern pieces.

Detail of gathers at the yoke.  This fabric is vintage. I bought over 3 yards of it for $2 at a sale during the summer. Score.

There are many possible variations, including shorter sleeves, longer length (into a dress), a frill at the cuffs, and a frill or lace below the yoke in the front.  So many options tucked inside one brilliant pattern.  I decided to challenge myself to see how many different looks I can get from sweet M109.  (Another reason I love MPL patterns is that they are often suited to a wide range of fabrics.  Oh, possibilities!)

It was probably just as well that no photographs were allowed at the quilt show at the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro. My camera broke, and while I wait for its replacement, I soaked in the beauty of the quilts. It is a 6th annual show, a kind of invitational of top quilters.

Of course my favorite section was the display of antique quilts. There were many great examples of early-to-mid-19th-century quilts that sometimes I cannot believe I get to see up close.

But one quilt spoke to me, almost literally. It was an applique quilt in solid green, red, and orange on a white background. The border had the most interesting motifs that looked like forks (for real). There were vases and flowers, and then, in one of the sashing sections, there was a name, carefully embroidered in flowing cursive chain stitch.

It was large. Sarah A. Gregory, May 1862. Right in the middle of her quilt. Sarah was not shy.

Then, just above one of her folk-art-y applique vases, was a little oval-shaped applique of what looked to be an inked stencil of her name, again, surrounded by a tiny blue border. Sarah A. Gregory. She did not need to sign her name once. She needed to sign it twice. This could be love.

This one quilt, which many people looked at briefly and then walked on by, made me pause and think again about what makes a quilt extraordinary to me. It does not have to necessarily elevate the art of quilting, it does not have to break new ground, although it is always nice to be surprised. And certainly there are more surprises in antique quilts than I will ever be able to see and appreciate in my lifetime.

But my biggest wish, and that one thing that pushes a quilt from good to great? It is the answer to the question, “Would I want to meet this quilter?” Truly, meet the person, talk to her (or him), go for a walk, or find out what she was going to make for dinner in 1862?

To Sarah A. Gregory (who signed her name twice): Yes, and yes.

Last week I looked at the school calendar, and saw that my daughter needed an apron and scarf for her head.  Today is cookie baking at school, in anticipation of the summer festival there on Friday.

In this heat and humidity, all I could think about was double gauze.  As luck would have it, the first fabric she picked out was “the frog one”, from Far Far Away by Heather Ross. The pattern is from a free tutorial at Sew Liberated, and the pattern for the scarf is from this handy book of patterns for making all sorts of school-related goods that the Japanese children need in abundance.

The sun was out this morning, which would have made for a pleasant walk to school, had it not somehow started to rain when we were halfway there.  Now the sun is back, fighting its way through the clouds.  Time to go outside and cheer it on.

Tanabata at Meiji Shrine.  Wishes are written on the papers.

In order to survive the rainy season in Japan, I am convinced that one must embrace it.  The rainy season could have a lot of rather unpleasant associations (like mold, which I did not want to mention, but there, I just said it), but I prefer to think about the hydrangeas and then Tanabata.  The festival involves an ancient story, paper cutting, and decorations.  Oh, and it also means that the rainy season might be over soon.

Will definitely need to wish upon a star for that.

I finally made my first bonnet from Amy’s lovely pattern. Summer’s here, so this bonnet is made with lightweight, all-cotton fabrics, and lace trim, no brim. My daughter had requested weeks ago that I make her a “Holly Hobbie bonnet”. We have a rather cute Holly Hobbie DVD, in which Holly finds a trunk full of her great-grandmother’s clothes and sings about wishing she could have met her. Here is the song, which I admit got me teary more than once while listening, thinking about what it would be like for a little girl to meet a grandmother, at the same age as she. Or maybe it is just me, remembering my Holly Hobbie dolls from childhood?

…I’m sure I’m just like you.