Tuesday, October 21, 2014

New business cards remind me that....


New business cards for Japanese temari
Ordering new business cards is fun. But I am reminded that nobody around here calls me "Master Instructor," not even my dog!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Desert Spirit Temari Course now available

Did you miss the online course? This is your chance to purchase the text and videos. Work at your own pace. Send an email to the instructor if you have questions!


Purchase the course in my etsy shop!


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Are you interested in joining the Japan Temari Association?

I can make it happen! This year, I am again accepting students who would like to join the JTA and go through the certification process.  The JTA has four levels of certification - each of which is a challenge! You'll learn a lot about temari by pushing yourself to complete stitching the balls and writing patterns. Reach Level 3 and the JTA will certify you to teach - quite an honor.

Read about the process on my website and let me know if you are interested. I'll get back to you as soon as I can with more information and a contract.

NOTE!! The deadline to sign up for certification in the summer of 2015 is NOVEMBER 15, 2014.

I hope you'll join me in this exploration of your temari skills and talent.

This is a brochure from the JTA...


Friday, October 10, 2014

Shifting Spindles

Still in the spirit of stitching fall foliage, here's a leaf stitched on an 8-way center.


This ball is marked in a combination 8 division and I'm stitching large maple leaves at each of the six 8-way intersections of guidelines on the ball. Shifting the spindles a little bit or a lot  really changes the look of the leaf. Here's how...

Place pins 3cm from the center. Stitch a partial spindle with the tip extending 1cm past the guideline.

Stitch a spindle with the top extending 0.5cm past the guideline.



Stitch another spindle with the top extending 0.5cm past the guideline.


Stitch the last spindle with the tips even with the guidelines.



Add veins and a stem.

You can vary the placement and the length of spindles to make different leaves. 

Happy Autumn!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Timely Maple Leaf on Temari


In our TemariChallenge Yahoo group, we are working on temari with a fall foliage theme. I'm trying out one from the Japanese book Creative Temari. Looks like I need a little work on my spindles but so far I'm loving this design!

Below are the steps for stitching the leaf on a 10-way intersection of guidelines.