IRIS IN THE RAIN, et al

                                                            ISN'T SHE LOVELY?

this iris has three to four buds and as this one fades another one will bloom...
this beauty  also smells like grapes...amazing...

 My son and daughter-in-law gifted me with this lovely geranium for my birthday/Mother's Day...

It sits on my front steps....such a pretty color in these Ivy geraniums...
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Now, something feels wrong to me about this piece....It would be (in this form)
about 60 x 60 and                  
is a whole lot of blue and white...AND............
it has just begun  to not "feel right" to me....

Star Rise is lifting over my front garden (in my mind anyway)--and so I feel that I need
a garden of some sort at the bottom...I need to move it  around and see how I can add
deep, dark greens to indicate the garden areas...and what form they should take...

Why can I never seem to just follow a picture/pattern as is?  I don't know why...really...
after staring at this for many days now, it just doesn't "do it" for me--
as lovely as this pattern is...for me, it needs ..............

something a "je ne sais quois" bit...something more....

Here is the bottom section...uhhh....the same as the top...so I am in the throes of
changing it all up...to what and how it will turn out, I have no idea--well, a few, but they are really just amorphous right now--just a glimmer of an idea...

And so, on this very cool Tuesday, while I am pinning the 2nd "I Spy" quilt on my dining room table, my mind is imagining blocks....imagining in green,....
Hugs,
Julierose, La Blageuse (in wondering-euse)

STAR STRUCK

A trial star..using my 3.5" leftover squares....and another star quilt is born...this is the rough trial..
using the fabric from my "Georgie Porgey" quilt....


AND....I SPY...this one (another in the wings)...

Getting ready to pin baste for someone special :  I will be making a little "I SPY" booklet to go with this ...

                                              Just love (hah) this border fabric--

AND

"Poor butterfly, 'neath the blossoms waiting..." waiting for me to add to the group....

AND, lookie here:
a misty morning visitor...chomping clover...(as long as it's not my lettuces lol)..
He/she (??) quickly did the "bunny hop" as soon as I neared...("You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out... lalalala...lalalaaaa..."

I spent the better part of the weekend cutting --GO!BABY was awesome--lots of 
2" squares and strips and three and one half inch squares....while fighting off a persistent bug that tried to lay me low....ack!! 

hugs, 
Julierose, La Blageuse (la slice-euse)

STAR RISE EXPANSION +

These will be the 2nd row of stars..closer to the earth --
rising over the flowers in my garden...

DAWN sent me the blue/yellow and blue/green florals and I just love how they lighten up the lower
stars...thank you Dawn so much--;))))

Does this ever happen to you???
When I first saw them I thought: now how will these fit into my "Scheme"...but dipping into my blue scraps basket this afternoon I thought  AHA--lower=closer to the earth--stars rising over my garden flowers...and off I went....

Here's a closer look at those lovelies....nice old-fashioned florals--they hold a special place in my heart....

They stand out just enough....almost as if the moon is shining on them...

[And (I've just realized) that this will be a H U G E piece--
I should have started with smaller squares than 6" ones--
but so it goes...]

I am so comfortable and relaxed while making this type of quilt...and I love how when I put the blocks up on the wall there are surprises; and  how they change the whole piece...I haven't really re-arranged anything..just going with the flow...

All my favorite things: ocean waves breaking, trees, blue roses, garden pots, 
snowflakes,,,,
and that's just the blues....

I spent some time cutting more muslin squares for tomorrow's work;
 I have been doing two at a time using one as a leader-ender 
for the other...not really thinking hard about choosing what lies 
next to what--as long as it is different from what is already on the block--
so no repeats within each block...
What a free-for-all...very liberating...;)))
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A N  D....
Look who came to visit for my birthday and Mother's Day:

My 3-year old Willa with her Dad on Saturday..(need I point out that she always
gets chocolate from Grand-mere? hahaha) 

My daughter-in-law stayed home with Fiona and their dog, Kota 
(who is recuperating from an ACL operation poor baby doggie..), 
pretty tough...
so Mom and Dad have to split their times away from home as Kota 
cannot be left alone as yet...

We did a lot of this:  "See my dancing moves, Grand-mere"
and this, too

My little perpetual motion machine...love her....
She's getting so big so fast...time sure flies by....one going to college in the Fall 
and one 3 yr old--what a lucky Grand-mere I am ....

Hugs,
Julierose, La Blageuse (making stars-euse)

SCRAPPY STAR RISE

                                                  SCRAPPY STAR RISE SO FAR.....
                                             This definitely will be a long-term adventure....

I am building this one on 6" muslin squares and totally enjoying
string sewing once again....(and I will not be putting any other batting between front and back--)

I am using all small strings and triangles and bits and bobs to fill
the bill for these in deep dark blues and pale white/blue/pinks.
AND............

here are my baskets of culled pieces I've been pawing through....

Set to the right of my sewing machine and near my makeshift ironing spot....

                                and I am still plugging away by hand on these every evening....
I have 7 done--five to go....

I can finish about 1/3rd to 1/2 of a circle each evening depending on the state of
my wrist/thumb issues; but, I am totally enjoying this big stitching....

Hugs, Julierose, 
La Blageuse (stripping-euse) lol ;)))

READING, QUILTING, GARDENING

                                                    HELLO, KITTY;))) & Peeps ;)))

I want to make each of my two little grandgirls one of these in pixilated form--using 1" squares...
Cute Kitty...this is on my list --maybe for Christmas shhhh..... We'll see.
But, I digress (again!!)
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Now for what I am currently reading:

One of my very favorite authors is Rosamunde Pilcher--
and I just got her  "Coming Home".
I really love her writing style; and she pens a good, long 
book to get lost in... 
{my paperback copy is 977 ppgs long...YAY!!}

I read her "Shell Seekers" before and instantly fell in love with her
storytelling-- the kind of story where you really want to know what happens
to the characters and hate it when it ends....

I usually read British mysteries (actually I devour them so fast that I cannot
seem to find anymore-- and have re-read all of the ones
I own more than once!!). 

So,
I am now waiting for Ellie Griffiths'  "Ruth series"  next book and also Ann Cleeves' Shetland Series...to come out in paperback---

Meantime, this is a nice change for me; and, I see that Pilcher has written a lot of novels...(doing my happy dance)--
I love it when I see a whole range of books ahead of me...
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On the quilting front:

I have finished quilting Oasis and trimmed it up ready for binding which I cut this morning...as you can see, I just did a wavey line--and I really like
how it came out...[it is such a gorgeous breezy day here at last!!]

Here is the back--I used Moonshine by "Free Spirit" fabrics...

In my usual Christmas-type holiday reverse style...
I love the colors in this one...
I had it on hand in my backing box...another serendipitous event!!

I am hand quilting my 4th Dresden right now--I usually work on them in the evenings while watching the Red Sox.

and look what came out with all of our rain:

My Bleeding Hearts--a gift of two tiny sprigs last Autumn from my gardening
friend Jean...hasn't it just taken well??? So old fashioned and so lovely, thank you Jean B.  

And my lettuce has really been moving along--even just in this pot on my deck:

Two yummy varieties...I will take selective cuttings for our sandwiches and
salads and hope they will continue to grow throughout the summer...

I also planted some saved marigold seed from last year in front and I found a
packet of Aster seeds that I hope wintered over in my back fridge...
Little by little I am getting into my Spring mode--now to move all my long
sleeved shirts to the back and bring forth the short ones...

Tonight I am making American Chop Suey for dinner with a small side
salad for us both...
hugs from sunny, warm (at least for now) SE CT  a blessing of a day...
Julierose, La Blageuse

P.S. Bonnie Hunter (at Quiltville) is doing a Snowball 9-patch BUT,  her snowballs are string pieced--be still my heart--I may have to do one of those..I love how hers is looking with blue/yellows and neutrals...I just watched her quilt cam--love her and her stuff...take a visit to be inspired...;)))