November

Silent but not idle...
Here's a mosaic showing what I've been busy with...

I finished this small chartreuse quilt...

It's probably the last of my Colorplay scrap quilts.
Today I picked out these fabrics for another quilt, but except for the small chartreuse piece, they are not leftovers from the Colorplay series.

In other news, I started knitting a sweater with a beautiful new Katia yarn (it's the "Merino Effect" yarn).
I've put a new warp on my Louet loom, and I'm experimenting with point twill, and also using floating selvedges (and loving it!).
Last week, I did some book binding with a new great little tool, I spent as much time as possible outside, I played a lot with my GD, and of course I studied Japanese.

I've also been working on this quilt with the Japanese fabrics. I pieced a lot of blocks, but it suddenly got very boring, so I started adding smaller pieces. This is where I am now...

Do you see the two small textile pieces on the right side of the photo? These are Tambani embroideries that I bought at the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork in September. I want to use them for making two little bags.
You can read here about the Tambani Textiles project in South Africa.

Blue and white

I found this nice blue and white fabric in my stash yesterday. It could be great for my next 12x12 quilt, but it is too small a piece. I definitely need to dye some fabric next week.
We took care of our little granddaughter yesterday night and today until noon. She's such an easy baby! She woke up after 8 am this morning. Look how hard she's trying to stand up in the playpen now.
(Please note that her pajamas are blue and white...)
I've started knitting a little sweater for her. Knowing that I am not the fastest knitter, I chose to do it in size 18 months... Hopefully it will not be too small when I'm finished.

Tokyo, day 2

One of the reasons to stop by in Tokyo was of course to visit the Great Quilt Festival. So, off we went on the second morning, map in hands, trying to find Tokyo Dome which was supposed to be within walking distance of our ryokan.
This is me...
...taking this picture on the way to the Dome...
(While I'm typing this post today, this is the view I have...
I finished these socks just in time for the trip).
Actually, the Dome is really not that far from the ryokan. We can already see it down the street...
Oh, oh, it's not ten o'clock yet, but we won't be alone ...

Sorry, no pictures of quilts. Photographing was permitted, but only for personal use.
The quilts were absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen a show with so many quilts of perfect workmanship. I must admit that some appliqué quilts were so perfect that they bored me a little... but there were also many beautiful indigo quilts, and lots of very original designs.
Then, the exhibition "Forest: everlasting life" featured quilts made by 75 top Japanese quilters (I didn't know there were so many of them... ;-) ).
There was also a special exhibit devoted to 8 very famous Japanese masters, and we had the privilege to meet Shizuko Kuroha who is one of my idols and is a lovely and charming lady. Noriko Masui was very nice too.
There were many more other exhibits to see. The show was getting more and more crowded when I tried to visit the merchants booths. I bought three cute zakka books, and also a few fat quarters from Marunan booth (Marunan is a very large fabric store in Shibuya, Tokyo, and I knew I would have no time to visit the shop). Of course, I couldn't leave the show without buying the catalogues.
Here are my new fabrics... 
I gave up at around 4 o'clock and went out. It was still sunny. We had a little walk in this crazy neighbourhood, full of shops, restaurants and amusement attractions, before heading back to the hotel.
In the evening, we met my former sumi-e teacher Ichiro Sato Tessen, who's now living again in Tokyo after many years spent in Europe. If you google his name, you'll find some of his paintings on the web.

High fiber diet

Tonight, for a little change, I prepared Chinese food. 
Egg rolls (filled with bean sprouts, carrots and chicken), sweet and sour sauce, fried rice with shrimps (forgot to take a picture of the rice and sauce, and now it's all gone)
This sweater is almost finished... I have yet to do some more sewing up. (I like to knit, but I hate having to sew the knitted pieces together...)
And I'm still quilting the baby quilt. It's already all quilted in the ditch, but I decided it was asking for more. So I'm adding some straight lines in each block. A little bit every evening while watching TV (Am I really watching or just vaguely listening?...) 
I enjoy doing this quiet work while thinking about the next baby quilt, and also about my 12x12 "chair" quilt.

Of this and that

DH came back safely from India, with hundreds of pictures...On the quilting front, nothing new to show... The baby quilt is doing very well. Tomorrow, I'm going to start working on the new 12x12 quilt. The current theme is Mathematics... Too many ideas in my head... but now, I've decided which one to choose.
And last Tuesday night, I started knitting a new pair of socks while waiting for the US election results... 

No sailing

There was almost no wind this week-end. We didn't sail. But instead, we took a very long walk on the beach.
We met this creature... ... also lots of shells. Not as many as in Nicolette's pictures though...
And yesterday, I finished my 12x12 quilt.
I hope the quilt police is not around, because this is how the back of my quilt looks...And next, a picture just for Shirley. She wanted to know how my knitting was doing... 
There's the sweater, a sock (that I still have to finish), and also a piece of knitted sari yarn.

Waiting for spring

No sailing yet... We are still waiting for more decent weather...
My second 12x12 community quilt is finished. Here's a little preview...
Actually, this was my first idea, but I lost interest once the top was done, and it had to stay on the WIP stack for a little while. I still like the other one better.
On the knitting front, here's my first sock! I like it a lot.
The yarn is Preface by Phildar. My DH has already placed an order, but he would prefer some more low-key yarn... I wonder why...

I've been knitting

This is only a prototype... I've seen so many lovely socks on so many blogs, like the ones on Shirley's Dyeing2Design or on Kim's SkybellArts... Then, the other day, my friend Marie-Paule told me about the wonderful socks she knits for her hubby... I couldn't resist anymore. I had to have a go at sock knitting... So, now I'm making myself a prototype with plain yarn... Hopefully, I'll soon be able to indulge in some of the fancy yarns I've spotted in a shop last week... (Must be the real reason why I've started to knit again!)
On the quilting front, I've finished one of my Twelve by Twelve community quilts. Here's a little peek...
The other one is ready to be quilted...
Next week, I plan to work on some ATCs and fiber postcards swaps, finish this 12x12 quilt, and think about a few new quilts. I must also try and finish my March Take it Further challenge. As the weather is quite awful these days, I should have plenty of time to spend inside.