Row by Row Sewn Rows

These are from 2015 Row by Row Experience when we traveled last summer from Denver and headed East from there, then down to TX, and back up to ND, and ending up in Nebraska for Peter and Jewel's wedding.  Along the way we stopped at some 40 quilt shops and collected patterns and fabric license plates.  I'm getting around to putting these together then will make some quilts out of them--sometime in the future.  It was a great experience meeting so many small business owners and talking about our favorite past time.  Would love to do it again in another year. 

The top is from The Fig Leaf in Ft. Collins, Co, the second one is from The Stitchin' Post in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

The top one here is from Sew Chic in Fairmont, WVA;  the middle one is Watergun Fight! from from Robin's Nest, Edwardsburg, MI; and the bottom fish are Igg and Ook  Best Fish Friends from In the Making in Birmingham, Alabama

The top one is from Quilters Haven in Rockford, Illinois, home of the Sock Monkey;  The bottom one is from Material Girls in LaPlata, MD.  I added this verse from Acts 14:17: "...He did good and gave us rain from heaven..."

The bottom one is from Unique Stitches in Bedford, PA.

More coming. 

This one is entitled, It's OK to be Different from Heartsong Quilts in Hot Springs, SD, the second shop we visited.  

Top one is a football field from Sew Delightful in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; the middle one is from Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA, and has batik fish; the bottom one is Making Waves from The Quilted Ladybug in Moorehead, Minnesota. 

Typhoon passes by

Today we got dumped on by a typhoon, but not a direct hit.  There was lots of rain, but very little wind.  The yard had standing water, the fields also had standing water and the creeks were nearly full to overflowing.  This does not happen often here in Kobe, for which we are grateful.

The veggie garden under water

The creek below our property that's on the left slope.

Harvested rice field across the street.  The chaff and straw are not going to be usable, unfortunately.  It gets used for mulching and covering seeds so birds can't get at them.

This bird sought shelter under our eave and on the cross.  Good place to be. 

This is the field right outside the kitchen--lots of standing water.

The creek below our property was nearly flooding at this point.

The larger creek across the street normally runs slowly; today it had white water. 

It's Harvest Time

Saturday here in Kita Kobe.  The farmers were harvesting rice as quickly as possible because of a coming typhoon.  Normally it is done over a several days, but not this time.

Rice ready to reap.

Two men starting on another field; the last one of the day. 

This machine will cut the rice off the stalks and bag it into 40+ kg bags.  

Philippians 4:19

Saturday I was making breakfast of pancakes and eggs and realized there were just four left for Sunday and Monday's meals--not enough.  I thought to myself, I should have bought an extra carton.  This was about 8:00 a.m.

Less than 10 minutes later my neighbor calls and asks, "Would you like some eggs?"  I said sure, thinking maybe she had an extra carton.  She brought over a box of 30 eggs her son got on a business trip to another island.   What a blessing.

 God answered the need before I even asked.  How cool is that?   Thank you, Lord for providing our daily needs.


Please pray for Mrs. Tsujigami (tsoo-gee-ga-me) and family to get saved.  In recent months I have taken Mrs. T to her doctor visits because her family is either at work or in school and can't take her.  She has given us oodles of fresh vegetables over the years, so it's like payback.  She always asks what I am making for dinner and I tell her and she asks if I could make some extra for her family.  Usually it's spaghetti or pasta because that's our usual Wednesday meal and her appointments are on Wednesday.  I figure it's an avenue of opening the hearts of the family to the gospel.

Philippians_4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Progress

The scaffold has grown to two levels and extends the length of the building, about 52 feet. Meanwhile, looking out the kitchen window one sees a beautiful sunset amid the boards and planks.

Support beams have been placed. That black stuff is mold on the gutters up there.  The entire side will get power washed first, then painted. 

Joshua helped by securing the support boards. 

Sara had to get up there and help Dad remove the lighted cross and the church sign.  I was out shopping.  Upon return, I also got up there with Sara and helped take down the sign.  NOT one of my favorite things--I do no like ladders. 

This sign is now 18 years old and could use some new paint itself.  It's long, but surprisingly lightweight.  

Sunset and light reflection out the dining room window. 

One huge moth

This critter was found near our trash pick-up station.  This moth must have been  over two
inches in size, about what is in the photo.  There appears to be a "face" right behind its head. 
More wonders of God's creation. 

Time for Cleaning the House

Henry has started a much-needed project of cleaning/painting the outside of the building.  The preliminary step is to make scaffolding.  Josh Durden came over to help put it together.

The truck delivering the 2x4-cut lumber (not common here in Japan). 

Getting the frame laid out.

The basic set-up being set up.  This will go the length of the building about 52 feet, then it has to be dismantled to do the other side and the front and back.  First the building gets power-washed, then it will be painted, so there's going to be lots of putting this up and taking it down in the weeks to come.   Please pray for safety.  

Latest Quilting Efforts

These are 6 of the over 40 Row by Row patterns I collected in 2015. The top one is from Somewhere Sewing in Millersburg, OH, UFO one is from Olde Forest Quilt Shop in Greensboro, NC;  third one is from Quilting Sew Easy in Gaffney, SC; the Waves one is from Weaver's Dry Goods in Lititz, PA, the bottom one is from Branums' in Martinez, Ga and the Fargo one is from Rae-Bon Sew and quilt shop in Fargo, ND.  Now, after I finish sewing the rest of nearly 40 patterns, I do not know exactly how/what I will do with them.  These patterns have lots of applique, some cut via laser which makes them very precise.  Very colorful and different patterns from what I usually do.

This is a quilt I gave to one of my English students.  I'm thinking I should have arranged the blocks differently, however, she really loves it, so it's fine. 

This is a simple quilt for a new baby girl.  This type goes together fast, of course. 

The latest quilts

This one is for Pastor Bentley in Omaha, pastoring 40 years at Midwestern BC.  

Little Jason got an on-point I Spy quilt.  The label is below...rather fitting for this little tyke.

This one is for big brother Joel, also an I Spy quilt but with a blue border.

Big sister Abby got this purple and pink one, also an I Spy.  They can all play games trying to identify/find items on the fabric squares.  It's educational, too.

These make over 290 quilts I have made for people over the last 20 years.  More to come.

More critters

This stag beetle is a popular pet in Japan.  Nasty looking thing with extremely sharp claws. Here it is grasping a gladiola and giving me dagger looks.  Don't mess with me!

Blue tailed lizard scurries around for a place to hide.

  This is another beetle found under one of my outdoor shoes.  Fortunately, not in my shoe.    

Accidents will happen

Came across this at a busy intersection in front of the train station.  No telling how the driver managed to get up over the guard rail.  Only saw two policemen and no driver or anyone else around.  

Anniversary dinner

We went out for our 33rd Anniversary to a yakiniku place we like.  You can choose any type of meat and as much of it as you want, then cook it at your table and eat it.  Then there was desserts like ice cream and the usual pastries, plus salad or curry or noodles and sushi for those who like those.  We even got a discount on the price because we are over 60!  Makes for an enjoyable meal.  PTL.

More critters

Two little frogs taking a break on the cucumber plant. 

Lacewing found on an upstairs wall--how it got there is a mystery.

More July Flowers

Lily with all six blooms.

This purplish glad was in the garden on Monday, but by Tuesday morning it had broken off because of its weight. Now it's inside. 

The lily opened all if its six blooms!

Sushi----

July 10 we had a sushi lunch provided by Mrs. Tanaka in honor of her husband's passing a year ago.  This is one of Japan's traditions. 

The main lunch had some 20 different items; most of them were really yummy.  Such a variety of flavors all in one place. I really liked the small dishes which look like a child's tea party set. 

Sara preparing to eat with chopsticks--no spoons allowed. 

These are the side dishes including soup in black bowl, dipping sauce for the tempura on the left, and rice.  

The kids had their own type of sushi which most ate entirely.  

Normally we do not eat sushi like this, but it was delicious.  We usually have rolled sushi or "California sushi" which is much simpler and easier to eat.