March Temari Challenge

I've talked about TemariChallenge Yahoo group often. Have you joined yet? I sure hope so. Joan led us through a pattern that she figured out from one of the temari books published in Japan. I just finished putting the final touches on mine....

March Challenge Temari

Remembering Jerry Kreinik

Sad news from Kreinik thread company. Jerry Kreinik passed away March 23. You can read the obituary by clicking on this link. A good soul has passed.

Stash of Kreinik thread for temari

You can see I'm a fan! The company has always been very generous to me as a designer and author. I'm sure that's part of Jerry's doing.

Blue Stars Online Temari Class - learn a combination 10-division

Blue Stars Online Temari Class

Registration opens today for Blue Stars online temari class. Please visit this page on my website for all the details.

Extra patterns that come with the class

I hope you can stitch with me online!

Spring Sakura Showers

On this first full day of spring I was caught in the middle of a shower while on my morning walk. Not a drop of rain. Thousands of cherry blossom petals swirled around me like a blizzard! Every year this happens and every year I think back to the days in Yokohama when I took our young daughter to the park to get her shower of petals. I want to run and twirl and reach up to the sky like she did!

"I'm going to take off running.
Can you catch me?"

It's winter in northern Japan

Japanese temari from my book

Did you see the snow falling on the rescuers digging through the earthquake and tsunami rubble in northern Japan? It's cold there now.  Yesterday I got an email from Luana Rubin at equilter.com about sending quilts to Japan. She is partnering with Mission of Love to ship supplies to the victims of this horrible disaster.  I think this is a wonderful way to reach out personally to help. Luana is working on the logistics and I'll be posting about it as soon as she lets us know. I have an idea for a quilt to give.

I love this marking!

Back to the Flower Temari Challenge for a bit....

Someone in our TemariChallenge Yahoo group asked about marking the 10-part pentagon on a combination 10-division so you end up with a small pentagon in the center surrounded by small pentagons.

Thanks to NanaAkua who photographed her grandmother's temari and put them in a Flickr album, we can see an example of this.  Of course, we are enjoying the beauty of all her temari but they are also a great source for study on how to make them.  NanaAkua photographed one of her grandmother's temari that is marked like this.   

Earthquake Sadness

Shock and disbelief.
Profound sadness fills my days.
Can you help?

Japanese Family Crests and Designing for Temari

Want to add meaning to your temari designs?  Need inspiration on arrangement of stitched motifs? The Elements of Japanese Design, A Handbook of Family Crests, Heraldry & Symbolism by John Dower has been one of my best sources. And we all know every artist needs her sources, right?

"The Elements of Japanese Design is a library of traditional Japanese design motifs in the form of more than 2,700 family crests (mon) compiled and drawn by a Kyoto publisher and bookseller early in the twentieth century, and selected and interpreted by John Dower, a leading American scholar of Japan.

New Temari Class Begins on Tuesday

Echo Star Temari Class

I’m excited to be introducing so many people to this ancient needle art. We are beginning the class with almost 80 students! We are from:

Alabama, Australia (New South Wales), California, Canada (Alberta), Canada (British Columbia), Canada (Ontario), Colorado,  Connecticut, Florida, Germany, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, United Kingdom (Surrey), Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. WOW!

Hinamatsuri in Japan (Doll Festival or Girls' Day) March 3

Miniature Emperor and Empress

 We moved to Yokohama in the late 80's when my husband got a transfer to help DuPont Japan set up a research facility.  Wandering through department store displays of dolls for Hinamatsuri was heaven for my daughter and me. As soon as the New Year's decorations disappeared, the dolls came out, arranged on platforms with the Emperor and Empress at the top.  Some were traditional-looking dolls. Others, like those in the photo above, were an artful representation of the royal court.  The shiny black, lacquered,  platform is about six inches across.  Shells painted with metallic gold rest on now faded purple cushions.  Tiny wooden carved dolls represent the members of the royal family.

Split Kiku (2 colors, 4 needles)

In a diversion from the flower temari challenge, I'd like to share a new temari with the kiku (chrysanthemum) design stitched in 2 colors. I guess I needed a break from all those flowers!

If you need any help with temari terminology, please have a look at my website glossary and stitch directory. 

Kiku design temari stitched with two colors.