Building a Temple

As part of Darsha's Summer Challenge for Cursed Quilt I decided to make a block of the Seoul Korea Temple.  It is a fairly odd shaped building, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't convey the sense of the building but I really think it does.  Not bad for my first representational block design.

If you don't know what this is supposed to look like click here There are lots of little details that could be added in, but as maybe you can tell, my favorite part is the cool wavy bushes in front.  (After my time teaching here in Korea, if you had asked me to describe the temple, that is perhaps the only detail of the exterior that I could have given....well that and the super steep street you have to walk up to get there.
The structure of the Temple is done with "foundation piecing" and that was an adventure to figure out.  The great breakthrough for me (although why it took me so long to imagine it that way I haven't any idea) was to divide it into columns around each pillar.  The tiny pieces that make up the doorway were pretty tricky too, but despite my lack of experience, applique' with the machine is really pretty straight forward.  I was emboldened to use the tiny tiny pieces after watching my mom make some dainty little bugs for Miss Emily's flower garden quilt....The wavy bushes are also applique' and are a little hard to see in the pic.  Sorry.

I worked on an almost literal "million things" this summer and have tried to take pics as I went, but that means I have a terrible backlog of  reporting.  I intend to put them all up, but we know all about good intentions and where they lead!  The projects include tie-dyeing 39 shirts, hand quilting a whole lot (Grandma Hunt did MOST) on "Not a Wallflower" for Senn, a whole cloth butterfly hanging for Mom's Birthday etc.  I also made pillow cases to go with Wallflower, went windsurfing with no wind, prepared my first "Quilt of Valor" submission, and contemplated but still didn't bind the tree.  Poor neglected tree.

Happy sewing, reading, cooking or whatever else it is you are doing.  Be happy. k.

Uproar in my Head

Not so much "work" or "play" lately.  Just one of those internal times I guess.  I have several projects that call out for finishing, a whole lot of mess that calls out for organizing and a whole lot of sitting and just contemplating that seems to be the only thing happening. :)

Yesterday Isaac and I ventured out to the Sejongno Immigration Office.  To my dismay last week I discovered that many things were set to expire while we are home on our family trip.  The most important of which was a little stamp in our passports.  I (of course) just missed the convenient "on post" way to get that taken care of so I had to go down town. 

After all my online research, trying to figure out just what this was going to involve I had worked myself in to quite a state....so I geared up for spending the day waiting and waiting.  I even made plans for how I was going to get Senn home form school if 10-2 was not enough time to get the job done!

We were done in less than an hour.

That made me happy.

So now I really need to get packing for the trip, need to wrap up some of those projects and do about a million loads of laundry (complicated by the fact that it is super humid and stuff will never dry.  I wonder how bad it would be to pack my laundry and wash it at mom's. hehehehe

There has been a lot of mental drama too, but as that eases off, I find that I don't even want to explain.  I need to just let it wash over me. :) k.

The Secret to Surviving February

February has never been my favorite month, and in the depths of our extra cold winter (which is breaking as I finally get around to posting this.....so slow, I know. I will get the rhythm of this blogging one of these days!) I decided that what I REALLY needed was some color. So here it is! (Complete with a pic of what it actually looked like the day these events occurred.)




This first picture was my favorite. Lilies with the tips edged in a sunny yellow, irises and sweet pea for height. The last time I bought irises at the Flower Market they were really expensive and most didn't even open up when I got them home. I had already purchased the lilies and knew that irises would be just the thing so I bought them anyway with the assumption that I would be disappointed. Not only were they much cheaper (slightly more than half what I paid last time) every single one opened up gloriously....if somewhat after the pic was taken. The sweet pea also opened up all along its length, although the lower ones were browning by the time the top ones opened.

This arrangement sucked the water down like crazy. It is in one of my BIG vases and it went dry (seriously) 4 times. I was pleased at how well this one lasted, looking great right up to the end.

The more FALL flavored arrangement was n's favorite. The lilies were dyed I think (as their leaves had a reddish brown tinge as well that was more noticeable as the arrangement faded.) They were so beautiful I couldn't pass them up even though I already had lilies bundled under my arm when I saw them. They were surprisingly inexpensive....which meant what it usually does, that they were little tired and weren't going to last quite as long. Lilies are actually good survivors and will often recover and last longer than other flowers in an arrangement; epecially if you are vigilant and re-do your arrangement after a few days and trim the stems again. I don't know that that is what the professionals do, but it works for me.

The Orange Gerber Daisies were selected specifically to go with the lilies in question. When I got them home I almost chickened out, but they didn't work with anything else I had so in they went. Gerbers are always wired and have plastic cups on them to protect them in the shop/market as they are pretty fragile as far as I can tell.



Tulips are what I think of for Spring so I couldn't resist, even though I have trouble arranging tulips every time I get them. These ended up really floppy when we got them home. With the stupendously UPRIGHT Sweet Pea, I was fairly disatisfied with the result when we finished all the arranging. I knew s would like them no matter what (PINK) so I just tried to balance the droop all around the outside the best I could. After my friend who shopped with me left, and I retreated to my office, a miracle took place. The tulips, newly trimmed, sucked up the fresh water and stood right back up again.

All in all, an excellent trip to the Flower Market. Color that I desperately needed, a gorgeous hot house smell for almost a week and an excellent adventure. All for about $30. I think I will miss Korea when I have to go.... k.

P.S. The opening picture in each post is actually a "real time" image of what my office looks like when the post is being written....well this time when it was inspired, but you get the idea. My creative space is rarely tidy and in fact quite alarms my beloved much of the time. This is why I always get an office when we move around. hehehehe (It was NOT a pretty sight when s in her role as "the baby" came on the scene and usurped my office space as her bedroom back in the day.)