Author Archives: Jill

Thousand Pyramid Quilt

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Here is the quilt, finished at last.  My friend kindly quilted it for me as she has a long arm quilting machine.

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Nice to have it finished so that I can move on to another work in progress.

The story behind this quilt is that my friend’s sister-in-law had just cut out the triangles from her stash before she passed away.  I was asked to put it together and now it will be given to her niece.  I hope she likes it.

 

Yoga Mat Bag

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I’ve recently taken up yoga again and decided it was about time I made a bag to carry my mat in.  After scouring the web for ideas I came across a blog by Sewaholic which I thought was a great tute with step by step photos and clear instructions.

So I used some fabric from my stash and the bag went together easily.  However, I did make a few changes:

  • I cut the body 30″ x 19″, increasing the width by 1″ after reading that some people had trouble fitting the bottom circle to the tube.
  • I wanted to give the pocket a bit more body, so I cut mine at 12″ x 6″.  Fold in half RST and stitch along both side seams.  Turn to right side, press and proceed to add velcro as per instructions.
  • For the strap, fold the fabric in half lengthwise, press.  Open up the fabric and fold each long edge to meet in the middle.  Press.  Fold lengthwise enclosing raw edges.  Pin and edge stitch along both long sides.  I always make straps this way for a sturdy, neat finish.
  • I wanted to strengthen the bottom of the bag, so I cut a second 7″ circle from lining fabric.  Place one circle on top of the other WST and sew a line of basting stitches around the edge just outside the seam allowance.  Proceed to pin this end piece to the bottom edge of the tube, easing any fullness by pulling up the basting thread.

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I am pleased with how my bag turned out, with my happy fabric purchased in Fiji – and best of all, it was put together without having to insert a long zipper!

Nagoya, Japan

Tuesday, 23 August – Whether or not you drive a Toyota, you will likely know Nagoya as its home city – and today we visited the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, a joint operation by Toyota Group companies.  It was established at the site of the Headquarters Plant of the former Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Co. Ltd, where the group began.

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Such an interesting display over a huge area, with a lot of interactive features so you understand how everything works.  You could easily spend a day here.  I thought it was really fascinating to see the robotics at work and we had to keep our eyes on the time.

Adjoining the automobile pavilion was the textile machinery pavilion.  It houses the original loom invented in 1906 by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of the Toyota Group.  There were also moving exhibits in this section too, but we spent so much of our time in the auto pavilion, we only had time for a quick look here.

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If we ever visit Nagoya again, we will definitely go back to this museum, which surprised me as I had expected to feel bored looking at car parts!

We also visited Nagoya Castle.  Much of it was destroyed during WWII and has since been rebuilt.  We took the elevator to the 5th floor and took the stairs down where there was access to each floor with various replicas and artificats.

Green tea icecream – what else would it be in Japan?
Nagoya Castle replica

 

Next morning we arrived back in Yokohama, ready to depart for the airport and our trip home.  Great cruise, beautiful ship.  10/10 go to the staff, entertainment, food and all the sights that we enjoyed.  What more could you ask for?