Monday, March 29, 2010

Quaker Diamonds, Go!

This weekend, I made my start on Quaker Diamonds, which you may recall was a RAK from BeckySC.



Today, like all of the last 7 (or so it seems) is a very grey and rainy one, so please excuse the quality.



The Valdani perle is such a joy to stitch with. I decided to stick with the recommended PTP Mello in 28 ct. Cashel, and I'm glad I did. The wonderful colour aside, their Cashel seems to have a really dense, stand-up-to-it quality that takes the perle well. I think I looser linen would be pushed around too much. So, for me Valdani perle + PTP is a must. I wonder what linen Becky used for her Quakers and Quilts WiP. She would be better qualified to make recommendations regarding suitable linens for the perle than I am.

Here's a bonus shot from our trip to Mitsuwa marketplace, a wonderful Japanese shopping center which just might be the happiest of all my happy places. :D



Look at those darling bunny containers! :D The sweets contained within are in front to the far left. The Japanese see a rabbit (or 2) in the moon making traditional mochi, a sweet rice cake made by pounding and turning cooked rice outdoors with a mallet (mochi-tsuki), flouring and sweetening as you go. So I'm pretty certain that this is packed in a rabbit more because of the fact that the sweets inside are rice cakes than the fact that spring is approaching.

It's from the gift counter, which has imported sweets with regional, seasonal themes. Very expensive, they are souvenirs brought back from traveling (omiyage), gifts for taking along on a visit to someone's home, gifts for your boss or those who have helped you in the past season. (It's traditional to give such things at 2 points in the year: New Year's and I forget the other; possibly golden week. Birthdays are much less important than they are here.) These are all facts from memory, so my apologies if you happen to know better than I and I've made a mistake there.

Well, spring's coming on slowly but surely, yet I do wish it'd hurry up! Or, just go back to winter. No more gloomy rain, Please! Hope all is well with you and yours--I'm back to my cake in the oven and Quaker Diamonds! Thanks again, Becky! I can't tell you how enjoyable this one is to work on! :D

Yours Spring Feverishly,
Berit

20 comments:

Tammy said...

Your project is lovely! And those bunny containers are awesome. What a great market that must be.

BeckySC said...

A most lovely start :) I am so happy you are enjoying it-makes my heart sing :)

I am using 40ct Lintel from Lakeside for Q&Q...of course only one strand of Valdani :)

Wishing sunshine for you :)
Have a lovely week friend :)
((hugs))

Ranae said...

A beautiful start on QD.
Stay dry!

JOLENE said...

What a beautiful start on your QD, and what a fun change of fibers....Valdani threads are yummy to work with. Smiles...

Unknown said...

Berit, what a lovely start. I was just thinking about starting a quaker piece - not that my WIP is not large enough, lol.

A Japanese marketplace, how intriquing - love the little bunnies.

Enjoy your week.

Myra said...

So what kind of cake are we having? :o) Isn't Becky just the sweetest? Such a great RAK and you have made a wonderful start on it. I love those little bunny containers and found all the info very interesting. Happy Spring! Bring it on!

corinna said...

looks like a happy start
the floss looks like a delicious box o' chocolates....lo-cal

Lainey said...

Lovely start on your QD, look forward to more up-dates.

Hazel said...

Beautiful start. xx

Deb said...

I like your new start and I'll have to remember your recommendation of the PTP and Valdani threads. I haven't used them for cross stitching. I do love those bunny containers - very sweet!

Jodie said...

The Quaker Diamonds are beautiful so far.

Really neat info about Japanese traditions, and cute bunnies!

mainely stitching said...

Oh, Berit, what a pretty post!

Sally said...

What a beautiful new start!

Sharlotte said...

Quaker Diamonds is beautiful pattern and you're off to a good start. Isn't Valdani floss wonderful?!

Catherine said...

Oohh! Lovely! I just had an email to day that the fabric for mine (I received one from Becky as well - thanks again Becky) is in! I hope to get to pick it up sometime this week - not that I don't have enough other projects going on!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Great start!! I saw that Valdani thread in the LNS a few weeks ago and really drooled on it! It's beautiful! Can't wait to see more progress!

Siobhán said...

What a fantastic start! I love the thread & fabric combo.

Brigitte said...

You made a great start on this great piece.

Dani - tkdchick said...

That's a beautiful WIP!

Danielle said...

Nice start on your Quaker design--I love anything Quaker and will have to pull out one of my UFOs sometime this year. Love the bunnies, too. Spring is more or less here, but I could use a little sunshine!