A Short Return to The Land I Love

What better way to revisit my old stomping grounds in Japan than to attend the wedding of my Japanese friend in the town where I used to live? In May, I was lucky to be able to return to Hitachi to be a bridesmaid in a beautiful wedding at an amazing venue right next to the Hitachi coast in Ibaraki prefecture. Highlights of the trip include the wedding (of course!) and seeing another friend of mine and her new twin baby girls in Tokyo.

When I lived in Japan for two years, it always felt like I was running around, going to and from four different schools, or taking a weekend trip to a neighboring prefecture.  I was determined to see as much of Japan as I could in those two years, and I did.

But this time, slowly relaxing and just spending time with my friends gave me a greater appreication for Japan and especially for the many connections I know I will always have there.

Jen and I, about to devour our taco rice dinner at her apartment!

A lovely performance at the wedding.

Is that cake real?!

Two of the four bridesmaids.

Posing for some pictures before dessert!

The cakes and fruits at the dessert table were so light and fresh.

One of many courses.

The closest I got to seeing the solar eclipse...

Fabric Fun

I've been finding PLENTY of uses for all the Japanese fabric I bought in Tokyo before returning to the U.S. last year. I had originally bought the fabric because my aunt said that she would make me a Japanese quilt when I got home.

Apparently I had bought enough fabric for many quilts. So together we've been finding other creative uses for the fabric. From mini quilts, to bags, to knitting needle and crochet hook rolls, we've been unstoppable!

Here's our latest project. These bobby pin holders are so cute and handy! I found this idea on pinterest.com.

My favorite one is on the far right in the first picture, the fabric with Japanese hair accessories on a pale pink and white background.

I bought the paper clip holders at Staples, and the fabric came from my Japanese collection, of course.:)

Who knows what'll come next!

My Japanese Stamp Collection

Actually, the collection belongs to my grandmother, but she gave it to me when I returned home from Japan this year. I was so excited to sort through and organize these little pieces of history.

Last Thursday, I visited Treasure Island Stamps & Coins in Palo Alto to find out a little more about these old stamps and how to best preserve them. After talking to the owner of the shop about the value of the stamps (the most expensive ones are worth from $25-$30) and how to keep them looking nice, I bought a small blue album with inserts for the stamps.

I loved looking at the different stamps and guessing what time period they were from. I especially liked seeing old images of Miyajima and other places I have visited in Japan printed on the stamps. Luckily, my grandma had preserved them well, so it was really easy to remove the stamps from the sheets and place them in the album. My grandmother said that she had only given me two pages out of many albums of stamps (it was a hobby she enjoyed with her mother), and that I should look at her other stamps, too. I have a feeling I'll be visiting that stamp shop again soon!

My grandma gave me the stamps on sheets like this. Many of the stamps had fallen off, so I first removed all of them from the sheets.

Then I tried to organize them by year, style, and/or shape.

After a few hours, all the stamps made it into the book!

This is one of the most valuable sheets in the collection. According to the man at the shop,  it's worth $25-$30.

This is the other most valuable sheet, also worth $25-$30.

This is the most recent addition to the collection - I received these "Japan Sports 100th Anniversary" stamps from a teacher friend of mine as a gift before leaving Japan!

Sushi Time!

A few months ago, I picked up the Lily Sugar'n Cream pattern book, Asian Inspiration, at Michael's Craft store and just HAD to try the project I saw on the front cover...sushi placemats! I thought the placemats would make the perfect Christmas present for my Japanese teacher in Japan. I love the cute little chopstick pockets on the right sides of the placemats. And the best part is, they can be used for forks, knives, and spoons just as easily.

Crochet away!

The finished products!

My chopstick collection (the Asahi beer glass is from a restaurant in Hitachi)

Looking Back

I miss getting such nice letters from students in Japan!

Valentine's from the English Club - 2010

heart image: http://heartofwisconsin.blogspot.com/2011/01/resolve-to-make-heart-health-priority.html

Eat, Drink, and be Scary!

Today I went to a Halloween pumpkin carving party at a friends house. While most of the guests at the party used images from a carving book to design their pumpkins, I went a different route. As I carved, people kept asking me 'Is that Mickey Mouse?!' and I'd simply say 'No, it's a bear.' Little did they know, this bear is a huge hit in Japan, and my favorite bear EVER.

Rilakkuma (リラックマ) or 'Relax Bear'

A Quilter's Paradise

Last Friday, I went to the 2011 Pacific International Quilt Festival at the Santa Clara Convention Center with my aunt.

While waiting for the doors to open at 10a.m., I saw a woman wearing a quilted jacket and other women holding quilted bags or ‘Quilt Festival’ bags they purchased with their admission tickets. They were all ready for the vendors. This was clearly the place to be.

My aunt and I started at one end of the Convention Center and had to be sure not to skip any rows on our way through the show. Six hours and hundreds of quilts later, we ended up on the other side of the building, looking at the last quilts before we’d call it a day.

We even picked up a new project, called ‘needle felting,’ from a vendor. Basically, you take a piece of wool and use a very sharp, thin needle to work the wool into fabric to make your project look more real, or at least a little fluffy. We’re working on Christmas pillows, but the lady who demonstrated the technique to us was working on a beautiful quilt filled with needle felted llamas, foxes, bears, and other animals.

I liked seeing the Japanese quilts in the international section of the show. We also saw quilts from New Zealand, the U.K., and Israel among others.

While I’m not a quilter (yet), I was very impressed by the creativity, time, and patience I know must have gone into creating a lot of the quilts at the show. I don't think you have to be a quilter to appreciate a show like this.

My aunt and I sat down for much needed drinks before leaving the Convention Center around 4:45p.m. 

On the way out, we commented on how we hadn’t even seen the light of day because we got there so early and left so late.

And we were fine with that.

Quilt of 1,000 cranes, created after the March 11th disaster in Japan

How one woman decided to preserve her grandmother's wedding dress - SO creative and beautiful

Our favorite quilt - all hand made

'Hey, I know this place!'

Another quilt made after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Helping hands

'Mighty Departure' - all hand done

A cute kimono quilt

Yes, this is actually quilted believe it or not!

A Few of my Favorite Things

This is my new knitting bag, made by my aunt. It's PERFECT. Not only is the bag made out of fabric I bought in Japan, but the pockets are just right for all my tools.

The 'Daruma' fabric on the outside of the bag is from a store called Sanki, about a 15 minute walk from where I used to live in Japan. The blue fabric on the inside is from a fabric shop in Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture), I think.

I love this long pocket on the side- it fits my needles, crochet hooks, and other long tools just right.

I put the finishing touch on the front pocket - a Switzerland pin, and a cute Japanese Mickey pin I bought on my trip to Disneyland earlier this year.

This is my 'origami wallet'.

  

It's definitely one of the best purchases I made in Japan. This wallet is perfect for holding tons of coins, which makes sense, since Japan is mainly a cash based society.

I bought this 'tenugui' (Japanese cotton cloth) while visiting Yokohama, Japan. My aunt made this beautiful wall hanging from the cloth, which now decorates a wall in my room.