Blogger for iPad

I just discovered the blogger app, which I can use when I am travelling. This is really a test to see how it works. In 3 1/2 weeks I start a trip I have Been looking forward to for months. New Zealand - Tokyo - Osaka - shikoku island - Tokyo - stockholm- London - southampton - New Zealand.

Just a few more weekend classes to teach, some things to make which need to be ready close to the date I get back and of course the rush to try and get fitter and lost a few more kilos because I know I'll be on my feet , walking and walking for hours. 

Some random photos from a trip to Auckland a few months ago, to see how the photo loader works.

Tripping to Japan, Sweden and the UK

Yippee!
I am managing to pull together all the parts of my trip in September.

I have booked the Japanese part
I have booked my way as far as Stockholm but not back to the UK yet, as I am wondering about catching the ferry to Tallinn

I have 5-7 days in the UK to visit relies and I fly out from Heathrow

Let me know if you visit my blog and are interested in a textile tutor in any of those places!

clare

I'm not a student any more!

For the last two years I have been a student. In 2011 I was a Costume Construction student and I loved it. Then last year I did the Graduate Diploma in Applied art at Whitireia Polytechnic at the same time as working their part-time. This year I signed up for a Post Graduate Diploma in Design and after 2 weeks I dropped out. So in the weeks since I last posted a message on this blog I have attended full time lectures with a group of masters and PGDip students, and in the middle somewhere I drove to Auckland twice. Once to drop my son and his drum-kit off for the start of his university year, and back again 3 weeks later to pick him up when he found he couldn't play the drums this year because he needs to rest his arms for longer (he has OOS or RSI).

So now I am reassessing what I want to do. I love teaching so I am going to revamp my workshop list. I'm going to explore what I think 'Modern Quilts' are and a group of us are going to start a Modern Quilts group in Wellington. I'm going to make more fabric badges for sale (currently for sale at Minerva gallery in Wellington), and try and find some white fabric to dye because I feel like dyeing a whole load of fabric.
I'm also in the process of redecorating my son's bedroom - I was going to take over part of the room for a design wall - how was I to know he would come home so soon!

So I hope to post more messages as I reassess what I want to do.

I am also hoping to travel to Japan again and am thinking of taking a small group with me - let me know if you are interested - the kind of person who might be interested would be someone who is fit and likes walking (and textiles of course) but is a bit nervous to travel to Japan for the first time.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the last few weeks

 This is part of a very long 'shoe fence' on the back road between Wanganui and Waitomo. There are all sorts of shoes so if you ever lose a jandal (thong/flip-flop) go there and find another or leave your odd vandal on the fence.

 This is one of three old cars in the garage underneath a student flat in Auckland. from the outside you would never know that they are in there.

Tourist information office at Matamata

Sunset over Lake Taupo

Hobbit holes at Hobbiton

Tokyo Quilt Show

I managed to miss a week or so, with no access to the internet or limited access via Ipod touch. So this is a catch up. My kids and I flew back to Tokyo where my elder son went missing for three days while he attended 3 Jazz gigs and went to 7 Jazz bars (despite being under age in Japan). His brother tells me that he came home at midnight and was still in bed when I got up.

I caught up with  Chris Kenna from Wellington and the 'Toerags' from Lower Hutt and we went to Tokyo Quilt Show. I first tried to go on the Saturday but after seeing the  queues to get in, went off with my son to the Hakone area (near Mt Fuji) for the day. I finally got to the quilt show on Monday and it was amazing. Although the Japanese quilters are not so hot in the non-traditional 'art quilt' area and some of the machine quilting was pretty bad, the hand applique and hand quilting sections would blow us out of the water. Here are just a few that caught my eye. I'm doing a talk for Cotton On quilters in Wanganui on saturday so will add more photos as I get myself organised.

Here is a picture of the inside of Tokyo Dome with the booths in the middle and the crowds of people. The main people to watch for are the little older ladies. They are a head shorter than me so about 4ft nothing and their elbows are at kidney height. They have no qualms about bulldozing their way through.

Here is the winning quilt - Twelve Days of Christmas' by Osami Gonohe. Most of the day, you couldn't get closer than 4 metres because of the crowds but I stayed till closing time one night so I could get a shot of it without the crowds.

Above is what it normally looked like.

Above is 2nd place winner which was even more amazing in my opinion. Unbelievable points!It is by Emiko Yoshino

But what about this quilt in the Tradtional quilt category which didn't get a prize? The pieces are smaller than my fingernail (don't worry, I'm not touching it, my finger is about a cm away). I'm sorry, the catalogue name is in Japanese.

I think this is based on Ainu decorative work. The Ainu are a tribe from Hokkaido.

This is made using a lot of antique indigo cottons

I think I like the detail even more

This looked like a prizewinner till you see the one that actually won!

 This quilt is incredible - it is - Scherenschnitte (Chris Kenna told me) - like a papercut.  It didn't win a prize!

Centre of the Scherenschnitte quilt. 

There were also a large number of amazing quilts from famous Japanese quilt makers who were invited to show their prizewinning quilts. The one below is called 'Nostalgia' and is by Tsuneko Shimura.

Some interesting things

Pucho flavours in Okinawa - from top - mandarin, Pineapple, mystery flavour, a different version of pineapple

 My kids are mad on these chewy sweets called 'Pucho'. They are chewy fruit flavoured sweets with small jelly lumps in them. Everywhere we go we have to go and check out the flavour available in the local convenience stores, because there are different Pucho flavours in different parts of the country.

Appropriately, Okinawa is the only place we have found pineapple flavour and  Shikuwasha flavour (a tpe of orange grown in Okinawa).  We also try to find the local flavour for the chocolate bar -  Kitkat. In Kyoto the flavour is green tea, in Okinawa it is purple yam. The Kitkats here are purple coloured but to me they taste like white chocolate. In Takayama which is north of Kyoto, Kitkats were white bean paste flavour. You can also get red bean flavour and Oolong Tea flavour.

Cigarette warning signs

How does the Guide Dog know where the toilet is?

A big cushy Kokeshi doll

Thigh length furry boots

A very low beam in Matsumoto Castle. Even I had to duck and James could see over the top.

Tokyo continued...

Today was our last day in Tokyo and we all went in different directions. My older son and I started off at the National Gallery of Modern art and saw a great exhibition of  dolls, then we went to the Mori Art Museum and saw weird skeleton-like sculptures by Odani Motohiko.

Then Chris went off to find Jazz cafes in Shinjuku. My younger son dissapeared in the Ginza Sony display room and my husband is somewhere up in the hills - he got tired of Tokyo crowds.

 Above is a photo taken in Shibuya, showing the crowds as wel as a large poster for the band 'Bump of Chicken'. I must find out what sort of music they play sometime.

Tokyo is still New Year sales mode. Lots of shops have Lucky Bags or 'Fukobukuro'. As you have no idea what is in the bags, it is best to find a shop which has mostly things you want,  like socks!
Here is a Fukobukuro (I hope that is spelt right) from a kimono shop. There are two bags - 5000 yen and 10000 yen ($75 or $150). I'd love to know what is inside.

We saw Mt Fuji from the roof of our hotel today. It is amazing how clear the sky is in Tokyo in winter.

Yesterday we went up to Matsushima on the train. It is about 3 hours North of Tokyo by shinkansen and local train. Long train journeys are great for  giving our feet a rest from walking.
I love seeing the trees with strings to stop the  snow breaking the branches. Below is a picture of some handmade snowboots.

The photo above is of octopus flavoured icecream at icecream-town in Namja land, Ikebukuro. This is in the local big shopping area to where we are staying.

I hope to be able to add more info and photos when I am able to find a more comfortable position to use the internet. It is hard typing when sitting on a high chair with the computer on a coffee table. More later!

More photos of japan

The blow-up NZ rugby ball under the Tokyo Tower (actually its round the back where no-one can see it)
Notice on door of lift
james finds his dream roller coaster at Tokyo Dome
I didn't know that you get a container full of ball bearings to play pachinko. I thought they were just slot machines.