Seven things

Debra tagged me for the 7 things meme, and I am really enjoying learning more about all of you, so I will play along. Let me see...

1. You all already know that I travel quite a bit, so that is not new. But you may not realize that when I am not traveling all I want to do is STAY AT HOME! I don't want to do anything, go anywhere. I want nothing more than some quiet time to sew.

2. I love all things computer and gadgety. Though in truth I probably know just enough to be dangerous, I love to play with new gadgets and am usually fairly capable of sorting out computer problems.

3. I love to read, though because of living in an apartment and the high cost of books here, I now "read' mainly ebooks and audiobooks. I am a big mystery and sci fi/fantasy fan. I almost never read anything educational! Well, I guess that depends on what you consider educational. Among my latest reads was Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. It was fascinating, funny, and yes, I think educational. Aww, now no one will want to be friends with me!

4. I love to learn languages. Each language gives a new insight into a way to view the universe, bringing some things into focus that weren't obvious or important in another language. I speak English, Japanese and Chinese at native or near native level, and I understand a bit of Cantonese, French, and Spanish. My French used to be fairly good, but it has been drowned out by Chinese and Japanese.

5. Okay, you may have already figured this out from my posts, but I am not very domestic. When I was about 12 I set the oven on fire by trying to cook frozen pizza without taking off the cardboard underneath (luckily nothing else was damaged), and though I can now cook and quilt, I don't sew anything else (except for pillow cases!). No one who has known me from childhood can believe I quilt.

6. I basically don't wear skirts. I am a pants person. Though there are one or two long skirt styles I like, I have entirely given up the short, straight "business suit skirt" that is so popular for working women. When I got dressed up once for a special event and actually wore a dress, my son, then about 5 looked at me and said, "Mom, you look like a girl!"

7. Should I reveal this? When not sewing, I like to play computer games, especially role playing games like Final Fantasy. I use my son as an excuse but truth be told, even without him, if I weren't so busy I would probably play a lot more than is good for me!

Oops, forgot that I am also supposed to tag 7 people. There are lots of you I would love to get to know more, but for a start Joyce, Dorothy, Quilting Fitzy, Beth , Flippytale, Weronica, and Diana.

New Beginnings

Although my blog focuses on my quilting, I wanted to share a recent work-related development that will also give you a taste of Macau life. I work for a non-profit, non-governmental organization (The Badi Foundation) that promotes human resource development for social and economic development in China. One of our projects is a formal school called the School of the Nations in Macau. Yesterday we had the ground breaking ceremony for the new school facilities, which will also house my office. This is a very long awaited development, achieved through a government grant of land and other much valued support from various government departments, as well as ceaseless work by the Director of the School and other staff.

We had a formal ground breaking ceremony in the Macau style. After some songs from students and speeches, there was the actual ground breaking. Luckily they caught me (I am on the far right) before the hat slipped over my eyes.

Then there is the ceremonial cutting of the suckling pig, with incense surrounding

Finally, there are firecrackers set off to scare bad spirits from the construction site and as celebration. I don't have pictures of that, but they were the long red trails of firecrackers, and they were hung from a construction crane. For those who are interested, the picture below shows what the new school will look like (I am in the picture at the bottom of the article helping to cut the roast pig).

I may have found my inner domestic goddess

Well, probably not, but I did discover pillowcases. After a search of the department stores found no acceptable pillowcases, I made my first pillowcase to go with my new spring-themed bedroom decor. Could it be? Yes, it was really quite simple. Granted, my pillowcase was so stuffed it looked like it might explode, but I could do it! I had made an item of home decor! Perhaps there was a domestic goddess lurking somewhere inside me.

Bursting with confidence and newfound domesticity, I began my second one. In my enthusiasm, I forgot to topstitch the hem of the opening on the back of the pillow, and then when stitching the pillowcase together, I discovered that I had not put the tension on my machine back to normal (I had loosened the top tension to try to zigzag stitch around the edge of the hem -- another story in itself!). Ugh. The resulting stitches were not going to hold that pillowcase together. No problem, I simply fixed the tension and stitched again on top of my first line of stitching. No one would be able to see it, right? Having done that, I realized that while my poorly stitched seam would have been easy to remove, I had now made it near impossible. No matter. I also somehow managed twist and turn the now completed pillowcase so that I could stitch down the fold that should have been a hem at the back of the pillow. Almost topstitch it anyway. The gaps wouldn't be too noticeable. I happily put my pillow into the finished product and it was about 3 inches too big! What did I do with the measurements? In the end, the large size was a good thing, because it allowed me to turn the pillowcase inside out again and simply cut off all the bad seams and start again without having to remake the top. Though the proportions of my original pillow design were lost, in the end, it turned into a pillowcase once more.

On the third pillow I was back to very carefully following the directions, and it turned out fairly well. By that time, though, I had run out of backing fabric for the pillow, so it does look a bit odd on the back...Despite all this, my husband has actually encouraged me to make more pillowcases, and to make them for the large bed pillows.

My updated spring decor is now:
The white cover on the headboard is temporary. It may someday be covered by a wholecloth quilt in either white or blue, and I may add some applique to my first pillow. Someday I may even make a set of pillows based on the ring of the single wedding ring in my Flurry of Feathers quilt. For now, my domestic goddess is tired and has gone into hiding.

First pillow. Imagine it with some flowers appliqued there like in my Butterfly Trails quilt

My second pillow

Look what I got!

Debra and I traded fabric at the Trader's Village -- I had some silks that I would probably never use, and in return I got these beautiful batiks. They are beautiful! Now I have to come up with a quilt to use them in.

On other fronts, I think I am leaning toward using the black background fabric in the Gamelan quilt. Although I think the other fabrics would work, the quilt in my head has a black background. I will probably go with Kona Black or similar solid black because of price, but I am tempted by black and black tonals. And, when I am ordering the black fabric, I can also order some variegated thread, some dissolving thread, and maybe even a wide quilt backing for my Log Cabin. I have never used a wide backing before, and it sounds nice! Although I could wait until I am in the US to get the basic black and white fabrics I need, it seems rather a waste to fill up my suitcase with plain fabrics when I could be filling it with so many other quilty things.

More on Mongolia

I am back in Macau, recovering from a wonderful and productive trip. Leaving Mongolia proved much more difficult than I had expected. First, the Mongolian government declared the day I was leaving a "no car" day to show their concern for the environment. That meant I had walk with my suitcase to an area outside the "no drive zone" to be able to get a car to the airport. That limited the time I could spend in Ulaan Baator in the morning. I was able to join a devotional meeting among the Baha'is in Ulaan Baator, but then had to run to the airport.

I arrived to find that because there were heavy winds, my flight was delayed until 7:30 at night. Apparently, Air China pilots are known for their fear of Mongolian winds, and even when local flights take off, Chinese pilots turn back to Beijing rather than facing the winds on landing. Flights are almost always delayed! So I headed back to join a Baha'i community meeting and the celebration of Ridvan, a holy day commemorating the beginning of the Baha'i Faith. It was great to get to share time with all the friends there and to see how creative and dedicated they are. My flight was successively delayed to 9:30, then 11, then 11:30. In the end we didn't take off until after midnight, and it was 3:30 in the morning by the time I made it to my friend's house in Beijing. I had a morning flight to Macau, so what was going to be half a day with friends in Beijing ended up being spent in Mongolia. I was thrilled to be able to spend more time there, but I am tired today!

I actually spent most of my time in Mongolia meeting with friends, so all I have are two pictures taken of the streets where I was meeting. You can see that most of the building are not very tall, and it has quite an open feeling. There are lots of interesting buildings and statues, but I didn't get pictures of any of them! The buildings are clearly built for the cold weather of the long Mongolian winters. They all have thick double doors at the entry way, and the apartments have two sets of windows separated by about 8 inches. The layer of air between the two sets of windows is good insulation.

Since I am quite pathetic and did not manage to get photos of this incredible country, I have decided to share some from other people that show what Mongolia is like.
In the outer parts of the city, you will see ger, the traditional Mongolian housing. These sections of the city are usually the poorer parts of the city and you may see lots of small fenced areas, each with a ger. This picture by yuki_tsatraral shows a traditional ger in the middle of the city.

This is quite close to what things looked like outside the city, although with less snow. This trip I didn't actually get to spend time with herders, but this is such a wonderful shot, i wanted to share it.

by brog740: Terelj National Park, Mongolia">

Although when summer comes all will be green, at this point everything is still quite brown. This photo by Pokrandt of Inner Mongolia is what much of the countryside in Mongolia looks like. I don't know the current percentage of roads that are paved, but it is not too high. When you visit the herder families, often you end up driving off road. The driver identifies hills and other natural land marks and suddenly heads off the road and toward the mountains. Then you basically keep asking people you meet where a particular family is, until you find them.

Mongolia is really one of my favorite countries. Because I have always gone for work, I haven't ever been able to really explore it, so now I am thinking that next year I should get my family to go with me for a real family vacation. If any of you have a chance to go, you really should take it. It is well worth the trip!

Greetings from Mongolia!

This will have to be a short post since it is already late and I will have a full day tomorrow, but I am now in Mongolia and wanted to say hi. It has been a wonderful trip. This is my third trip to Mongolia, the last one being 7 years ago. Both previous visits have been in winter when it was very cold by my standards (though still mild by Mongolian standards), so I came prepared with sweaters and a down coat, but instead it is really warm and comfortable.

It is so wonderful to see old friends and see the development of the country. I have been here consulting with a development agency that I serve on the advisory board of (The Mongolian Development Center), and also for the Baha'i National Convention. When I arrived I expected to be met at the airport by one or two old friends that I haven't seen in some time, but instead I was welcomed by a whole group of people in the traditional Mongolian way -- with a bowl of milk resting on beautiful scarf (one drinks from the bowl and passes it one by one to each member of the group). I am hoping to get some pictures from my friends. Thank God I was not too badly dressed!

I hope to post a bit more about Mongolia in the next several days. It is really a lovely country and the people are incredibly warm and welcoming. Since I had better get to bed or suffer the consequences tomorrow, I will just share a few pictures. Sorry they are not better and do not show more of the country!! I have no pictures from my meetings with the Mongolian Development Center, and I do not yet have one of the full convention participants. The full picture would show much more of the traditional dress and the diversity of the community. Instead the first picture is of the new National Assembly and the Auxiliary Board members. The National Assembly is the governing body of the Baha'i community. It has nine members who are elected annually. The Auxiliary Board is an appointed body that helps facilitate learning, encourages unity, and assists the community to devise plans and bring them to fruition. I am seated in the front row wearing the pink jacket.

The next picture is just the Auxiliary Board members, and the final picture is of one of the Baha'is attending the convention. His traditional outfit was just gorgeous and I wish that I had gotten a better picture.

Something from China

While I was at the conference the other week, I wore an outfit I bought in China that I think you all would appreciate. As a project for social and economic development, a friend of mine's wife buys old embroidery and traditional items from some of the minority areas in SE China (Guangxi and Guizhou primarily) and remakes them into clothing. They have some really beautiful things.

A Trip Through History

Since my sewing machine is still in Hong Kong, I have not been doing much quilting. I did get out my hand piecing project, and did a few partial blocks. Unfortunately, I made my own templates with very thin and slippery plastic so my cutting is not particularly accurate. We will have to see how it turns out. I will try to get some pictures this week.

Last night DS had a school play, Dig It. The story is that Lucy (early hominid) takes some kids through history. It was a riot.
The tall skeleton is mine. :)

Civilizations of Mesopotamia

On to Egypt.
Confucius brings everyone to see the civilizations of Asia

Greece is the Way

Toga Party!Visions of the Future

Oh dear, no WIP For me

I finished the quilting on my Single Wedding Ring on Sunday. I extended the feathers into the border, and I am very happy how it turned out. To use the Ricky Tims binding method, I need to purchase two new presser feet, and since the only Bernina dealer is in Hong Kong, I decided to bring my machine for an annual tune-up, get the feet, and pick up the #3 pearl cotton you need for the method.

Since DS was sick Monday, I had to put it off until Tuesday. When I got there (having lugged the quite heavy machine from taxi to boat, through 2 sets of customs and immigration, and onto another taxi), I learned that the technician is sick, has a giant backlog, and I probably won't be able to get my sewing machine back for a week. They also didn't have the two presser feet I needed in stock, so that may take a week to two weeks as well. I did pick up the new 1/4" foot with the seam guide and some bobbins. So it looks like no machine sewing will go on in my house for at least a week, and my Single Wedding Ring quilt may take longer to finish than I had thought. I do have a hand sewing project that I usually only work on when I am traveling, so I may need to work on that. At least when I get the presser feet, that will be two more in the box that will have some idea how to use.

I am not kidding about the presser feet. I did not get any lessons with my machine, and I am quite domestically challenged. I am sure that my sewing machine can do many amazing and wonderful things, just not while I am sitting at it. Lately, DH seems to be developing expectations that I will do something with it other than make quilts. A few weeks ago, he asked if my sewing machine could sew on buttons, and this week he asked me to make a quilt cover for a strangely shaped pillow that we got at Ikea. Honestly, he even used the word quilt to entice me to try to make it. What to do, what to do?

As you can see, the pillow has a connector to a zippered pocket that has a weight in it so you can hang it over the back of the chair and it won't fall off.

Book Meme

I haven't usually done memes, but I thought this one from Diana was interesting.

Look at the list of books below:
* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
* If you are reading this, tag, you’re it!

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)*
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)*
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King* (Tolkien) This is a favorite series of mine, and I reread it periodically
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring* (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers* (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9.Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) My mom gave it to me, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
10. A Fine Balance(Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* (Rowling) This is a fun series. It is not as good as Lord of the Rings, but it is really enjoyable and Rowling creates a believable and enticing world.
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone* (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)*
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)* see Tolkien above
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* (Douglas Adams) Great fun.
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)*
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) I started on this one but the basic premise annoyed me so much I never got far.
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)*
53. Ender’s Game* (Orson Scott Card) Fantastic book with an interesting twist.
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)*
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) I liked this series at the beginning but it got to be too much.
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell) A lot of inaccuracies. My husband, who is Japanese, hated it.
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)*
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)* A classic
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind) Might re-read it, but I am not sure. I liked the series at the beginning, but got tired of it as it went on.
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) I hated this book. Had to read it in high school
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Looking at this, I have read a lot of classics (mostly in high school, I think!) and lots of Fantasy/SF. But of course, I knew that! I also read a lot of mysteries. For the most part, I read for escape. I have never heard of some of these books, and others are on my "someday" list. I wonder how the list was originally put together.

A Slow Week

I have been so busy with work this week that I have not managed to get much quilting done at all. I managed to miter two of the corners on my Single Wedding Ring quilt. It was my first time mitering corners, and I think they turned out okay. I was going to take a picture, but I realize they need to be pressed first. Instead I will show what I have been doing when I haven't been quilting -- doodling! I intend to use freehand Victorian feathers on this quilt, so I have been practicing them on every available surface. Here are some of the results. All the pages are filled on both sides.

At this point, I think I am ready to start using them on my quilt. At least by the end of this quilt, I should be pretty comfortable with them!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It is a big time for celebrations here. Last night we had fireworks, and there will be more fireworks and firecrackers for the next 3 days. Here are some pictures from last night.

Now what to do with them?

I must admit that I am not the world's most accurate fabric cutter. Most of the time I design my quilts on my own, and I often cut in batches as needed so I don't feel compelled to figure out exactly how many 3" strips I need before I begin piecing. When I do get going cutting strips, I sometimes get carried away, leading to a shortage of fabric later in the process when I need a different size strip or realize that the fabric I have almost used up is exactly the right one for the border. I have tried recently to be a bit more careful recently, especially where border fabrics are concerned, but the impact has not been obvious unless I was working from a pattern in a book.

I originally intended to use blue and orange in all the blocks in my Rattlesnake quilt. Since Karen K. Stone's patterns do not give very precise cutting directions, I happily cut bunches of orange and blue strips from all the fabrics I thought might be fun to put in the quilt. At some point, however, I got the idea of having blue on blue blocks in the outer part of the quilt, blue and orange/red at the next "ring" of blocks, and orange and yellow blocks at the center so that there would be some luminosity. It looks wonderful in EQ, although I am not sure it will work quite as well using my real blocks. I just finished piecing all the yellow and orange/red blocks and all the blue/orange blocks, and I see that I am left with this:
What in the world am I going to do with all these orange and red strips? I do have a red and yellow lender/ender quilt that some could be used for,but this is a lot of strips! A new level of achievement even for me in the over-cutting department. Also, my blues seem to be mostly blue-greens and rather light strips. This may call for some creative quilting in my next quilts!

Interesting Sign

While DH was traveling in China recently, he came across this sign:

I'm back!

Okay, you probably didn't realize I was gone, but I have been traveling for the last few days. It was a very busy but good trip to Tokyo. I didn't get to go to any quilt shops, but I did make it to one fabric and crafts store. This time my focus was thread. I got some silk thread and some some mettler threads, and a few fat quarters that I couldn't resist. Here are my purchases. The thread is all blue and white because the next quilt I am likely to finish is also blue and white. I need maroon thread for my rattlesnake quilt, but unfortunately I didn't bring a fabric sample, so I was afraid to buy any thread for that quilt.

The Mastermind

Debra posted about the Myer-Briggs personality test, so I thought I would join in the fun. I have done a few online tests, and the result of this one was the same: iNTj -- the mastermind. Apparently it is a rare result, composing no more than 1% of the population. In one of the descriptions it said:

"When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know. "

That fits exactly! If it is my area, I usually can see a solution or path immediately. Or, I can tell that what you need is not what I can provide. My job involves a lot of consulting and creating systems, helping organizations to get their systems working.

I am also 56% introverted. I am surprised it is not higher! I think as I get older I am becoming less and less social!

I saw a funny British show once in which they brought together a whole bunch of people to be tested, picked the individuals and who had the most classic results in each category, then gave them various tasks to do in teams while the psychologists predicted what would happen. It was hilarious, and the experts were right on more often than not.

Musings on Culture

This week, American Idol started to be shown here. Of course we don't get to vote, but my son and I usually enjoy seeing the different singers and deciding who should win. This time, DH was in the room for the first day's auditions, and he had to put on earphones and block it out, it bothered him so much. There did seem to be an abundance of poor singers this year. His comment, aside from expression of astonishment that DS and I could stand to listen to it, was that something must be seriously wrong with the culture to have so many people totally unaware of just how bad they are.

Granted, a tv show will tend to choose the most dramatic examples to entertain people. But still, just how is it that people can end up so unable to see themselves clearly. Did no one ever say, "honey, we love you and appreciate your singing, but you are simply not that good." Where does truthfulness come in?

Here, people, especially friends and teachers, can be very blunt and even harsh about your faults and weaknesses. While it took a bit of getting used to, and I can't say I always like to hear it, I have also found it freeing. I don't need to pretend to be someone I am not. My friends and colleagues like me even though they see my faults, and tell me they do. It seems to me that the "I don't care what you say, I believe I am great" attitude is really just the flipside of "I am terrible, I have no good points at all, I am worthless". Both lack an ability to see reality and are mainly focused on self.

We all have the experience of being discouraged by someone, and we probably try not to discourage others. At the same time, though, when does encouragement and support become a nurturing of blindness and a kind of lying to oneself and others? How do you avoid discouraging people, but at the same time, help them to see reality in a way that they can develop their potential?

Am I attached to my quilts?

Forrest Jane asked the question about whether we are attached to our quilts, in the sense of whether it is easy to give them away or not. I think for me, I generally am attached to them. If I have made something with the idea from the beginning of giving it to someone, I have no difficulty giving it away even if I love the way it turned out. For the ones I have made for myself or my family, the thought of giving them away feels a bit like giving away one's children. They may not be perfect, but I learned something from them and there is something about them I love -- either the pattern itself, or the fabrics and colors I chose. I did give away three smaller quilts to friends this year, and while I think they liked them, I am not sure I really should have given them away.

The quilts I gave away were ones that I basically liked. Now, if I really don't like a quilt, or think the quality is just too poor, I can't imagine giving them to someone else! How could I foist something I don't even want myself onto an unsuspecting non-quilter?

There is one quilt in my collection that I wouldn't feel too bad about giving away -- it is one of only two true UFOs -- the one that sat on my bedroom table for a whole year trying to guilt me into working on it, the one I intended to hand quilt before finding out how much i love machine quilting. The one for which I chose an absolutely boring background quilting motif of parallel lines, got 1/3rd the way through and lost interest. It is also too small because I ran out of fabric and figured it was big enough for a lap quilt at least. The Little Red Monster. My red Out of the Box quilt.

The Little Red Monster is acutally one of a pair. It uses wonderful batik fabrics I had on hand, against a bright red background. It's colors are...jarring. The other one of the pair uses the same batiks against a blue background. It is soothing and calm, and somehow refreshing. It was the first quilt I attempted free-motion quilting on. The free motion quilting could use some work, but I love the quilt with all its faults. It hangs on a decorative ladder in my bedroom because no one in the family will use it because it, too, is too small (this time because I was so happy cutting that I didn't realize I had cut far too many pieces and used up all the fabric that should have been for the borders). It will probably never be used at my house, and it would make a great gift for a child, but I doubt I will be giving it away. Maybe I need to work more on generosity.

I did post a picture last Wednesday of the Little Red Monster sitting on my sewing table waiting for quilting. It is probably going to be a major theme of tomorrow's post as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures handy of its current state or its more attractive twin. Hopefully, tomorrow I can remedy that situation!

A break from our regularly scheduled programming: a matter close to my heart

Terri at StegArt asked me about the Baha'i Faith, and I realized some people reading may not be familiar with the Faith. The short answer is that the Baha'i Faith is a world-wide religion that began in 1844. Baha'is follow the teachings of Baha'u'llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah's teachings are vast and touch upon many aspects of human life, both spiritual and practical (though that does not seem to be the right word since spiritual things are also practical).

What seems to me to be a key element of the Baha'i Faith, however, is Baha'u'llah's explanation that throughout history, humanity has developed through various stages. Different Prophets or Teachers (such as Christ, Mohammad, Buddha and Baha'u'llah himself) have guided and stimulated the advancement of human civilization, and all the religions of the world are fundamentally part of one civilizing process. Humanity is now on the threshold of a new stage in its development, the stage of maturation. The new stage of human development brings both new powers and new responsibilities. But, like the stage of adolescence for individuals, it is a stage with many upheavals. If we are to reach maturity, we need to change patterns of behavior developed in childhood but no longer appropriate to either our capacity or our goals, and to understand new principles that were previously beyond our capacity to recognize. And, we will have to learn to apply those new and renewed teachings both in our personal lives and in the organization of society. Baha'u'llah explains that at this stage in human history, the most fundamental challenge is our recognition of the unity of humankind. Only when the oneness of humankind is fully recognized can humanity hope to establish a harmonious and peaceful world civilization.

There is a link on my sidebar to The Baha'is Website for those who want a more extensive (and more elegant!) introduction, but I also want to share some recent events in Egypt affecting Baha'is that have been on my mind in recent weeks since mid December. There are no quilts or quilting in this, but I hope you will indulge me a bit and allow me to share something that troubles my deeply. To understand the situation and my feelings, though, you may need a bit more background.

Since its beginnings, the Baha'is have been persecuted in many Islamic countries including Egypt. One reason is that Baha'is are considered heretics because they follow the teachings of Baha'u'llah, while Muslims believe that Mohammed was the final prophet and that God will send no more Teachers for mankind. But further reasons are that there are no clergy in the Baha'i Faith, and those religious leaders who are attached to their name and position see the Faith as a threat to their own power. Further, Baha'i teachings such as the equality of men and women are not easily accepted and are sometimes seen as a threat to the social order.

In Egypt, the Baha'i Faith is not one of the recognized religions. However, identifying your religion is required for all government documents such as national IDs, passports, marriage and birth certificates. Last year, an Egyptian Baha'i went to the court to ask, not for recognition of the Baha'i Faith in Egypt, but just for the right to put "other" or leave the religion space blank on documents asking for religion. In a recent high-court ruling, that request has been denied.

What does this ruling mean? It hits me particularly close to home as I have recently visited with an Egyptian Baha'i friend living abroad. Her passport will soon expire, but despite official policy being that passports can be renewed within 6 months of expiration, each time she goes to the embassy, she is told, "Come back in a month or two." They will not renew her passport without her putting either Muslim, Jew or Christian (the three recognized religions) in the place for religion on the application. Since they already know she is a Baha'i, they will not refuse to help her outright for fear of criticism for violation of human rights, but will delay and obstruct until she is forced to return to Egypt to try to get a new passport there. When in Egypt, she will face the same runaround, with barrier after barrier being presented unless she is willing to lie about her religion. But the Baha'i Writings explain that "Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness, progress and success, in all the worlds of God, is impossible for any soul." How can she be asked to deny her religion, something so significant to her own identity and purpose?

From one perspective, return to Egypt shouldn't be a big problem for my friend -- at least she has family and friends there. But she will have to break up her family, and she has a small son, only about 3 years old. My friend was married in Hong Kong and has a valid marriage license, but the Egyptian government will not recognize it as is. Instead she must have the marriage certificate re-issued from Egypt -- again, something that cannot be done without lying about her religion. By law, her son should have the right to an Egyptian passport since his mother is Egyptian, but again, he cannot get a passport without his mother declaring him to be a Muslim, Christian or Jew. This means that her son may very well be denied a visa to Egypt when she must return home to renew her passport.

One solution would be for her to change citizenship, but her husband is Iraqi, and getting Iraqi citizenship is not an easy matter at this time. Because of the overall disorder in the country, no simple administrative procedures work as intended, and she would have to be in Iraq in person to follow the entire process. The dangers in Iraq make that too great a risk. And anyway, why should she have to change her citizenship in the first place?

Baha'u'llah has explained that the most pressing issue facing humankind at this time is unity. The unity of humankind seems such a simple statement, but its implications are profound and in many cases beyond our current vision. One thing is clear, though. Justice is indispensable to the establishment and maintenance of unity. "The purpose of justice is the establishment of unity amongst men" In perpetuating a system of such gross injustice to the followers of the Baha'i Faith and other unrecognized religions in Egypt, the Egyptian government both goes against the Human Rights conventions it has itself signed, and turns its back on the teachings of Islam, which call for justice and fairmindedness. Further, in this ruling Egypt aligns itself with the destructive forces in the world that are placing themselves as barriers to world unity rather than supporters of it. My heart goes out to my friend who must suffer through this period of uncertainty and face the possibility of being separated from her son and husband, and it is filled with admiration for all those Egyptian Baha'is who, through their quiet, steadfast adherence to their beliefs and to the principle of truthfulness, strive to advance the forces for unity and peace in this world.

The end of 2006. Welcome 2007!

Only another 8 hours or so until the end of 2006 and the beginning of a new year. Hurray! This is the first year in my life when I can honestly say that I am eager to see the old year go. I had some wonderful experiences, including two trips to Haifa, Israel to the Baha'i World Center. It seems quite unreasonable to say so, but despite those trips and a wonderful family, on the whole, UGH! I think I will have to do all the various folk ceremonies to send the bad spirits away so that 2007 is better! Here in Macau, at Chinese New Year (not until February this year) we have 3 days of fireworks to scare off evil spirits and bad luck. In Japan, on Setsubun you throw dried beans while calling out, "Happiness inside, demons out!" Unfortunately that one is also not until around February. I remember being in New Mexico once for the new year and seeing the burning of the Zozobra (the accumulated misery of the year, in the form of a wood and paper mache sculpture of a pretty scary giant man). However, DH may not appreciate me burning one in the apartment. Anyone know any good ways to make sure 2007 is not like 2006? Any I can use in the next couple of hours?

On the quilting front, I think I was pretty productive in 2006. I finished

• Autumn Roads
• A wallhanging using leftover Autumn Roads blocks
• A table topper using more leftover Autumn Roads blocks
• Butterfly Dreams, for a friend's daughter
• Spring Stars, for the family
• Two Kimono wallhangings
• A landscape, Hanging Garden
• Once Upon A Time, a story telling quilt for a friend's son
• Almost Amish, for the family
  
• Still Not Amish, for the family
  
• Two wall-hanging/table toppers from leftover blocks from Almost Amish.

Not too shabby! I hope I can do as well in the coming year. I am also determined to begin exercising again and get myself into shape. Five years ago, before I was appointed to a position I currently hold, I was in great shape and exercised regularly. Over the five years, exercise has completely fallen by the wayside. Although my weight is still fine, I am definitely out of shape. Exercise is coming back on my schedule this year! Welcome 2007!

Since I have no quilty pictures, here are some from one of my trips to the Baha'i World Center. I plan to use the one of the open gates as the basis for a wallhanging someday in the future.