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                                                                                            

APPLIQUED CABIN IN THE WOODS---DONE!!!

Can you believe it?  My first Appliqued piece is done--I was dancin' my "HAPPY DANCE"
last evening.  It doesn't really bear close scrutiny--but I feel a wonderful sense of relief and, really,
joy. (This was a kit from Jan Patek)

 Obviously (heh heh), it was a windy day:..... :regardez le pine tree leaning in the wind and Mr.
Bluebird (of happiness) trying to hold that last Flower of Summer upright!!

His poor right leg is scrunched under that gusting wind (LOL)....I used a button for his eye as I couldn't face trying to applique a little circle the size of the head of a pin!!  (DUH)...I plan to add a few
more buttons to that flower --it looks off-center right now...and perhaps some embroidery...

A button for the door knob, too!!

I bid you a fond farewell as the Winds of Winter blow into my little Cabin in the Woods...

Hugs,
Julierose, La Blageuse

MY FINE FEATHERED FRIEND--SUNDAY STATUS

(All my pix are crooked--sorry!!)

Faithful Melody block "Toute Fini"!  It took me at least 3 days to add the second round of hst's and still
the points are cut off--(sigh)!  But, I am content to have discovered just how to work with them.....pour moi--not too soon again....(LOL).
This is done! Just back and quilt....

And here are the other two on my Design Wall this morning to be finished--

 That Zig Zaggy--that "zigged when it should have zagged" in a few places!
A tabletopper to be......

AND.....still waiting for me to either re-cut that tree and bird or attempt to salvage them as is:

My Jan Patek "Cabin in the Woods" applique.... any suggestions from you appliquers out there??

SO: in reality, these 3 projects were "learning"--trying to find out what I like, what I am able to do fairly easily and what I need to WORK ON--the skills that need honing....................

I put Wonder Woman Woven Wall away--it still needs to be tied and then kantha'd (is this a word??)

And my Sea Glass needs borders; and, and,,,,,the rest of this year is going to be dedicated to a huge FINISH UP --hopefully by 12/31!

I feel these projects hanging over me--I know they can wait, but I'd really like to start afresh in the New Year as I am enrolled in the CQJP2014 for one block/month--which involves learning new hand stitches and producing a completed crazy quilt block each month!

 Hopefully, my hands will tolerate this stitching....I am excited to be using ALL kinds of fabrics: silks, knits, moires, wool, old laces , embroideries...etc.  This will be my long term project for 2014.....

So, for today, this is where I am at...........

Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

WILLKOMMEN FRAU PFAFF-- A Snowy Day Tale

Welcome back my old friend, Inga!

I bought her in 1996 and she gave me many wonderful years of straight seam sewing.

AND SO:  Out she has come......to save the day!

I am totally exhausted from trying to hold my fabric in Helga (my new Viking)!
SOOOOO.............................
I set up INGA this afternoon; cleaned her, oiled her, and re-read her manual...and
set up my "scant 1/4" seam" (a la Bonnie Hunter--see that little clear sticky
re-positionable plastic scotch mounting tape in front?) and sewed on my fun
Santa project...which I will post about later....WHAT A GAL!!

The seam stitching is so nice; I had forgotten how straight those
 feed dogs grab and pull...it means using my own power for "needle-up/needle-down", but ...............................................................
it's worth it to get such a nice finish and ease of sewing. 

I am thinking that Helga, with her big harp, will be my "quilting" machine and 
Inga will be my  piecer--perhaps it will slow me down  a bit too--not a bad thing. 

Here's my little corner set up (a little tease on those Santas on the left  hahaha).

I will tell you one thing--this girl is S O L I D!!  Heavy and stable--no shakey table here.  I also resurrected my old drop in table that I bought (when we really couldn't afford it) from my extra piano teaching master classes I used to hold on one Saturday a month--back in the "olden" days...oh how I love drop-in tables. 

SO....this is my snowy afternoon tale for you today...................

Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

ANOTHER GO @ HST'S....

My Pig-Tailed Dreamer is holding the Triangle marker that I picked up at
JoAnne's today; in hopes that his method of making HST's will be good for me.....

My DH is out at his Monday night band rehearsal and I am watching Netflix': MidSomer Murders...

I have cut some 2" squares with my AQ GO!Baby--( a good portion of which didn't
get cut through and left also a lot of threads hanging!!); since my shoulders and
arms are sore lately I used it even though I really am not happy with it!  
Here they are all stacked up on my SandBoard dark/light, ready to be marked.  

i hope to get to sewing them tomorrow....

I thought I'd post a few questions to those of you who own an AccuQuilt cutter:
Which model do you have? and Do your dies stay sharp--is it,do you think,  the cutting boards that get too etched??  I really have relied upon this cutter as my arthritis worsens....

Well, off to marking and to trying to solve the mystery...hmmmmh, there's one person I instinctively don't like--it would be TOO easy for him to be the murderer....Just love my mysteries....

Hugs to you all on this very chilly (and with a cold NW wind coming up) and getting
chillier night....hugs to all
Your Julierose, La blageuse

BIRDSONG

Here are the next two rounds...those pesky (!!!sighs!!!) hst's ----they are just so small ...(sigh).....my fingertips are sore just thinking about it......

I cut them with my AQGo Baby and they still didn't match up--I am very disappointed in that die...finishes at 1"--hah!  The dies don't stay sharp very long;so it seems to me---what's the point????I might as well rotary cut them....

Anyway---I still like it...so far.....

BUT--I AM going to have to compensate somewhere for that very bright 1st border, huh,,,,

It doesn't look that vivid on my wall...






To Be continued......
Hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

SATURDAY TIE-IN

Wonder Woman Woven Wall is finally all basted; today I began to tie it.

It is so H U G E (15" blocks) that I have yet to determine if I will do the Kantha Stitching.

So far,( while my "night owl DH" is sleeping in on this Saturday) I have done about 1/4 of the tying............using this new product I found at Michaels

Since this quilt appears to be old and tattered and has raw edges, I decided that a softer and more natural tying thread should be used to keep the "aged look".

So far I like how it feels.

Looks like my lady approves, too!

I have raw edge appliqued many "fussy cut" flowers  (some used as headdresses for the women) and have also sprinkled them across the surface along with various leaves to move the eye around (hopefully).

My quilting friend, Jean, was over this week to take my fabric donations to the group that makes quilts for children in hospitals and she like the older look.  As I do.

My fair ladies bid you a wonderous weekend filled with the joys of quilting..

HUGS, 

Julierose, La Blageuse 

INSPIRATION FLEW BY.......

I just found LORI'S blog and was blown away by her QAL "Faithful" little quilt. I am calling mine
"Faithful Melody"...:---))))

This afternoon I pulled out some blues, pinks and bubblegums and "snap, crackle, pop!" I put it together--at least parts 1 and 2...you should hop on over there and see just how cute this is.

Her linky is closed now, but the whole quilt (this is just one block of it...sigh!!) is on her header...
I just love its scrappiness and had to try it out.

I was able to use my AQ Go to cut some pieces:  now for the "dreaded "hst's" --I cannot seam (haha--seem) to get an accurate 1/4 inch on my machine, so I've decided to just go ahead and ignore that and trim up later.............. well, we shall see tomorrow.

On this grey, rainy afternoon, I found myself really ENJOYING the "process"

Isn't that what it's all about????

Hugs to you all, talk soon, Julierose, La Blageuse

I'M LATE, I'M LATE, FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE....

                           no time to say, hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, 

                                           I'M LATE for RSC13  Browns

Hugs, Julierose, La blageuse