Hope everyone had a good start for 2022. Mine was very peaceful. Nothing special, but we enjoy staying home together.
Since I noticed last year that I can hang a tapestry very easily on any wall, I made a new tapestry for New Year - Mt. Fuji.
Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It symbolizes common happiness for humans, e.g. prosperity, long healthy life, fertility, etc, at the same time, the mysterious yet beautiful part of the mountain feared people and it created religion and myths. There are many shrines that worship the god of Mt. Fuji throughout Japan. Also, it symbolizes hardship, endures, overcomes, as a nature of mountains.
Mt. Fuji is located near Tokyo, and it is actually an active volcano. It has been resting for a long time (the last eruption was in 1707) and it may erupt in the future. The history of Mt. Fuji showed it had caused distress, fear, and damage to people when it was active, but it is visually used in positive ways now, especially for New Year.
After I made this tapestry, I thought I like this layout so I made another one for sale.
Since Mt. Fuji is special only to Japanese people, I expected it wouldn't be sold quickly but was sold 2 days after it was listed. The customer left nice feedback for me. I am very happy to know she would treasure this tapestry for a long time.
Speaking of Mt. Fuji, I also made 4 sets of 4 placemats last year.
All 4 sets are gone. I wrote the description for them as:
The quilting pattern represents isobars, so what I see in the placemats is that Mt. Fuji surrounded by the ocean (as Japan is surrounded by the ocean) is viewed from the sky. The patchwork bands on both sides represent Japanese culture.
I like the design as well as the tapestry. I would probably again make similar placemats someday. I need some new placemats in my shop. The stock is very low.
So far, I have been working on drawstring bags.
I posted the same pictures of them on my quilt guild's Facebook page, and the one made with gold metallic fabric got the most attention. Today, the most popular one was sold. It was actually not my taste - I enjoy making, though, of course. I have an ambivalent feeling. The fabric was in the box of "scrap" that my friend gave me. I am happy it found a good home quickly :)
The big snow we had 10 days ago is still sitting. It is melting little by little but it apparently takes a while for me to walk around in my backyard. We are expecting more snow (2-3") this weekend.
My husband has an amateur radio event called Field Day this weekend, but since it is outdoor, it may be canceled due to the inclement weather. He is taking a serious electronics class this semester at the community college, also an easy class to help his professor friend. I would love him to use his brain against aging. I think he is doing a good job :)
Hope no trouble happens this weekend.