BONNE ANNEE--HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS

Today my DH and I hot-footed it up to my son's house in MA @ 7 am, to drive him to hisOrthopedic doctor to have his broken wrist/arm/ thumb (??? whatever) evaluated and casted.  I baby sat for Fiona --our partay-gal--while Lin took Willa to MD for her shots.  So, Willa is very sore, of course, and this wonderful baby girl who never EVER complains is in distress...poor pumpkin...

Turns out, Jeff needs an MRI this Friday to determine just what is broken---oh..yes, and this is WHY:

.on Christmas Day he fell off the bumper of his car getting Christmas presents out of the top of the car carrier...and so ended up at our local Clinic to get a wrap and sling and x-rays...we had to open his presents for him...and generally wait on my baby boy..
.With a 2 yr old and a 4-month old babe in arms, things are rather hectic and difficult....not funny, in fact.

We are hoping that the MRI results are positive for just a bad sprain....in the meantime he has a half-cast and his thumb is immobilized.  We hated to leave them this New Year's Eve...
but at least Willa fell asleep and Jeff was able to relax his super sore arm...my baby....you know, you never ever stop being a "Mommy"....

As the year sets along with the sun above, we are resting and looking forward to yet another wonderful year with our family....and I am sending  a huge thank you to all my followers and commenters for making this year a banner one for me--I am very grateful for all your interest and your thoughts......

Hugs, and our best to you all

Love, Julierose, La Blageuse

SILENT SUNDAY: BEACH WALK BEFORE THE RAIN

HUGS,
Julierose, La Blageuse

CQJP /Diet Update/Project Life

Twelve backgrounds for my 2014 CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Project) finished today.  YAY!!!!

Now I can begin the year long process of embroidering each one in the evenings while I watch

Downton Abbey....

In other news, I managed to mantain 25 of the 26 pounds I lost over Christmas--I did "EAT" 

normally--mashed potatoes, candy, crackers etc. 

This morning I am back "on the diet wagon".  

This is my notebook--I write every morsel down that I consume---  and my scale and various  tools I need  as I continue down this weight loss road:

I am set up on my kitchen counter near the stove...

Here is my breakfast today--a 2-egg omelet, fried in real butter with 1 tbs real cream cheese filling--

It was SOOOO yummy:

I have become quite the omelet chef-ette these days...lol--When 'Kota was here she

"Shared" my omelet with me--you know she has to be pretty special for me to part with

any bits of this one!!  Hah! 

Lunches and Dinners have a salad with some kind of protein and snacks contain veggies and

protein (like full fat yogurt or ricotta or 1/2 avocado with cheese etc.).

Since this diet plan contains a lot of the food I like anyway--it's just portioning it out and adding up...a daily total of not more than 25 - 30 carbs/day...Easy Peasy

I will post about my return to Project Life Scrapbooking later on....I have set up about 1/4 of my sewing room dedicated to scrapping and am still on the lookout for a nice "under-the-counter" shelf unit to store my most frequently used tools, embellishments and photos etc.

I have to say that we all had a fabulous Christmas (we celebrated on the 26th) and so enjoyed

having everyone here....pix to come. 

Hugs to all of you--enjoy this "quiet week" --the hiatus time before New Year's

Are any of you resolution makers?  I used to be....but not so much anymore...

Julierose, La Blageuse

CHRISTMAS DREAMING

CHRISTMAS TAGS
I CRAFTED

SNOW LADY

                                                  BLUE LADY

                                                                                                                                                                                  CHRISTMAS MORNING.........................

AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT...............................................................a scene from our backyard "Wildlands" during the snowstorm...taking shelter and rest.......................................

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FOLLOWERS AND READERS......

HUGS,((((( JULIEROSE,LA BLAGEUSE)))))
see you all after the New Year.....

OHHHH, CHRISTMAS TREE

We added lights to our tree by the sliding door; this plant looks like it has had a bad hair day~! (lol)

Our little tabletop fiber-optic tree....very Monet-like...................

And here is a collection of the 8 blocks finished and ready for embroidery next year 

these are the last two I've finished up--only 4 more to go! (See that little piece on the right, that's the border of a gift I am preparing...can't show you the rest yet...)

AND

they are really all on the darker side--perhaps it's the time of year, or my mood.

I am hoping that the embroidery will help to lighten them up....

So far, 5" of snow here on the Coast, falling steadily; supposedly it will increase overnight and then change over to freezing rain/sleet in the morning.......soooo, another inside day............................

to sew--if I can get my energy up for it...

hugs, Julierose, La blageuse

NO HO-HO-HO 'S HERE RIGHT NOW: But Some Rays of Sunshine, Too

NOTE: Whine-y Venting Post ;--(((

Remember I told you I was working on a little Redwork surprise?  Well, today I
hit every store I could think of to find a frame--No dice aaargh!  Either too big or too small...Nada, Zip, Nil, No way....

.Sooo....I now have to shift gears (I NEVER LIKE THAT) and I guess make it a little wall hanging???  add borders??? Quilt??? or what...
AND only 14 days til Christmas.... (tick tock, tick, tock)....

BUT LOOK HERE:

I must remember to be THANKFUL for my wonderful grandchildren...
And not to sweat the small stuff(??) These were taken on their first day of school this year (see all the backpacks??)

The whole top row are the twins, Gregory and Connor & A little shot of Miss Liberty--aka "Libby"; Cassidy is on the bottom left and bottom top way right; Steven is bottom 2nd over and below (Connor again!) and last, but not least TIGER ...
AND: Here are;
Fiona and my son Jeff getting their Chtistmas tree--how cute is this!! And of course Willa Rose, too, she is asleep in the backpack with Mommy, the photographer....

Well.............. Time for lunch--another salad for me--22 lbs lost now...my sweet DH has taken to calling me "skinny"--I am not, of course, but it sounds wonderful...

Hugs to all, keep tuned for my answer to this little problem..
Julierose, La Blageuse

MONDAY, MONDAY

Here are the first two block backgrounds for my Noveau Ladies. Actually, I am trying to do one a day and have them finished up to begin embroidering in January.

Here is the other one (plus the one on the left above):

This is the 3rd one I did--yesterday and










Here is the first one from Friday.








this is actually harder than I imagined it would be.
Not only am I matching colors to the ladies' dresses, but trying to blend the blocks somewhat
as they will be in one big piece...AND NOT USE TOO MANY OF MY PRINTS (lol) so that I'll have space to stitch..........
the fabric on the right of Red Lady is the one that seems to
blend best with them all and I am going to incorporate it into all the blocks--hopefully that will pull them together!  

You don't want to see my cutting table right now      ;---0

I also managed to finish up basting my Cabin in the Woods, so I will be hand quilting it--I really
wanted to finish it up and hang it for Christmas, but....well,,,,we'll see how that goes.  

Hugs to you all this freezing-rainy-sleety-snowey-Winter Monday...
Julierose, La blageuse

WELCOME SWEET SPIRIT

AND............What could be wrapped in spun gold, lying against my beaded  shawl????

My Sweet Spirit Art Doll.  Chris Flynn of "My Irish Gypsy" Etsy shop sent her to me ....
Her work is amazing. Delicate, intricate and full of beauty................

Each year I choose one Art Doll to add to my new collection and
this was the one I chose....she is hand crafted from only earth friendly materials..
visit Chris'  shop to see her beautiful creations....Sweet Spirit is meant to hang on the wall.

And so, I have placed her at the entry to my sewing room where I can see her whenever I work.

She is spreading her sweet blessings over our household:

And, Chris included these lovelies:

Beautiful pieces that I can use in my beading projects for the coming year....

Thank you so much Chris, for your lovely and generous package....it made my day...
Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

WHY IS SANTA DANCIN'???

                                                                S N O W!!!

HUGS, JULIEROSE, LA BLAGEUSE

SILENT SUNDAY (PREPPING EDITION:Picture Heavy Posting)

Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

PLUM CRAZY

Here is a test run of my adventure in Crazy Quilting.....I signed on for the CQJP2014 project which runs for the whole year--one block per month.....(this one will not be included--it's just a trial for myself--when I saw the work online during the year on their site, I sort of went CRAZEE --had these dreams of fanciful blocks full of laces, ribbons and stitches, shell buttons, ephemera-- you name it!....and so...I began to try out new stitches...............

......................and 

HERE, TOO:

For this underwater scene I drew-stitched (as I went along) some ocean floor flora.  This was such fun choosing threads and making it up on the fly!! I think this will be a little pillow...

I am planning out my theme for January-December 2014; tomorrow I go to JoAnnes to buy muslin backing to stitch on.  

Hugs to all from this frigid Friday--
P.S.  Everyone @ my son's has awakened with the flu this morning--sick all night long....so we are going to my daughter's instead of to MA this morning....
you just never know......Julierose, La Blageuse

PUTTING ON A SHOW!!--------- "WALL OF SHAME"

My "Christmas Cactus" decided to put on a bloom fest for us this Thanksgiving!

I have 4 plants --2 of each color--that I collected the past few years..............

I think I like  that red, green and the glorious pink (with perhaps a bit of cream)
for quilt colors---what do you think?

Off to make my apple pies for tomorrow....peel, peel, chop, chop, measure, measure, trim crust, trim crust, oops--don't forget the butter-butter!  (LOL) 
Can you guess I'm making TWO???? 

Since I am not hosting thanksgiving this year and I visited Mom yesterday I had 
time this morning to step  into my sewing place: I (foolishly) decided to sweep up the floor --(I do that once a year whether it needs it or not --ROTFLOL) 
 Anyway--
one thing led to another--and I ended up in there for TWO hours--re-arranging my old projects and putting them up on my now-renamed: 

                                       "WALL OF SHAME"  !!! 

Absolutely nothing new will I do  until I finish these  few (or give them away to someone....)  There are things there from the 1970's---I mean really!!

AND of course, then I had to put labels on new containers and start to try to organize both fabrics and scraps...ongoing, ongoing (what is with with 2 today??)
SO....while I was in there, I started sneezing (maybe dust--ya think?) or from handling all those strips and scraps and strings of fabric--??? 

I think I'll have to W A S H  IT  A L L !!!!  OOOH NOOOOO!!!!

I complained to DH and he said (being the typical functionally minded person he is)
Why don't you wash all the reds, then blues etc and THEN you can also rearrange
them after....(S I G H !!)  It is a good method--but a daunting prospect

To be continued---ad nausem.......

I will end here, this was supposed to be a short two picture posting today...
And so it goes...plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose....and all that jazz

Hugs, Julierose La blageuse

HAPPY "TURKEY-LURKEY DAY" TO YOU ALL!!!!

HUGS TO ALL, 
Julierose, La Blageuse Joyeuse

"...HE'S COMIN TO TOWN..."..SUNDAY STITCHEs x 2

DANCIN' SANTA 

Pig-Tailed Dreamer is watching my latest little project grow....

Nine of these courthouse steps blocks...

what will they become?????

Only Santa knows....

AND..................................................................................

Here is a peek at my redwork surprise for someone special ....................................................

can't show too much........................................it's secret.......................................................

Only the little birdie knows who will receive this gift................................

Hugs to all this brrrrrrr................this cold and very windy Sunday...stay in and sew!!

Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse