TIME OUT OF MIND... et al

 

Hour Glass blocks=

Passage of time....

and

Sprouts=Garden

and

Canning Jars

[defeated me...;000]

Totally lopsided!! 

But they are what they are....

and remind me of this time

of my life and this story:

TOMATO DAYS:

During Late August

my Mom and I would go to my

Tante Priscilla's home, canning

jars in hand, to join

in the BIG tomato canning session...

We would each be assigned a task...

When I was old enough

I was allowed to dunk the tomatoes in

very hot water and skin them.

One of my Cousins, Claire or Irene,

would be chopping and helping to

stuff the sterilized jars and

my Tante would be pouring in

the liquid as needed.

We made enough to give everyone

20 jars to store for the 

coming Winter..

The whole place smelled of tomatoes...

HEAVENLY...

We had such fun, 

with much laughter and 

catching up on the 

the news.

  

My cousin Claire was 12 years

older than I was and took me 

under her wing...

I loved listening to the cousins'

stories about the boys

they had danced with at the Friday night

dances and the dresses they wore.

My cousin Claire was asked by an older guy

for a dance--he was Italian and told her

"When we dance, your bella' 

has to touch my

bella"!!

She said "You leave my bella' alone!" 

and stomped away..

😏😀😁😂😂😂

That made everyone crack up!!

So like her--she didn't take 

any guff from anyone..

So....

Every time I cut tomatoes

these days, I am reminded of

those young years....

***********************

It is a lovely sunny, but chilly, day

here....warm enough to grill

cheeseburgers [a la Thomas]

and have fries with them...

I hope your day is a glorious one...

hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(still-crazy-after-all-these-years)

;)))))))

WEARIN O' THE GREEN, et al

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.

My maternal Grand-pere was

an Irishman, so we always

celebrated and wore green...

What fun...

AND

💚💚💚💚

My Sweet Baboo is Irish, too

("I mean "Holleran?)

💚💚💋💚💚

BEGORRA:)))

***************************

Latest Memory Quilt block

⇊⇊⇊

I will be doing my virtual Irish jig in 

my Cowgirl boots....hahaha

This is my latest block for 

my memory quilt:

My maternal Aunt--"Tante Mildred"-

married an Armenian Sailor

after the war, and

moved out to California

to live...that was quite a

surprise to the whole

family.....

 

She and her new husband

[Uncle Ralph] 

came

to visit us 

one summer a few years later;

and they brought me a 

Complete Cowgirl outfit:

👏👏👏💘

A  leather skirt, fringed vest,

lovely light turquoise western

shirt-- with bolo tie and slide,

and a big hat and --

my most favorite 

of all

😊😍

THE BOOTS!!

I was so enchanted...I think

I wore it every day for that whole

summer...What fun:)))

*******************************

I hope you have a wonderful day!

[are you wearing green???]

hugs Julierose, La Blageuse

{Wearin'-green-euse}

💚💚😊💚💚

CROW'S FEET, et al

 

Here is my next memory block..

[I had to call up Jack the Ripper

two times--I had the feet on 

upside down (!!)

and the beak 

pointing the wrong way!!]

So

After a soothing 

cuppa tea,

I performed surgery on

Mr. Caw Caw.

Phew!! 

Those tiny little

feet started out as

3/4" squares...

I mean, really???

**********************

Anyhooooo...

While I was working on him,

I was reminded of when I

used to help Dad rake the

leaves in the Fall 

in our 

back yard. 

↓↓↓

[And here my little leaf block also works with

Mr. Caw Caw ;)))]

 Dad  had prepared a bottomless metal can

that we stuffed the leaves in

for burning --which

you could do with a permit in

those long ago days....

I just loved that

smell of leaves ummmm

Anyway, our little doggy,

Winnie, [Eng. Springer Spaniel]

thought it was great

fun  to chase all the crows that

flew onto the lawn

 to catch the goodies that

we had uncovered while raking

👪💛💭

I think of those fun Saturday

afternoons with Dad

every time 

I see flocks of crows

scurrying across our skies...

****************************

Still working on my hexagons

while watching 

"Drive to Survive"

on Netflix preparing

for the return of Formula One

racing next weekend (F1).

I have one rosette totally completed:

I think that this Kismet fabric

looks like Liberty of London..

don't you???

***************************

A TAH-DAH moment:

↕↕↕

Here are the back and front (?) hahaha

of Fiona's finished Dolly quilt

AND

Willa's

↧↧↧

All labeled and ready to mail

out for Easter....

I still need to make cards

and wrap them up with 

pretty papers and ribbons

😄

***********************

And that, my friends is where

my quilts and blocks stand

right now...

(not counting my too many

UFO's of course)

Grrrrr.

 **********************

Today is haircut day

for me

(a bit on the shaggy side!!);

and eating lightly 

as

we both feel that 

over the weekend 

we ate

VERY 

BIG 

MEALS!!

Ooof-dah..

(Oh, roll me home Mama!!)

😨😩😬

************************

Take care and stay safe

and Pray for Ukraine and

Ukrainians during these

dark days...

🙏😭

hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

(planning-my-next-memory-block-euse)

TRICK OR TREAT PUMPKIN MEMORY

Here is my 2nd memory quilt block;

My "Trick or Treat Pumpkin"

:)))

This was a real challenge for me because

those pieces were so so tiny to begin with..

But, I put my stitch length down to 1.5

and they went together beautifully.

[After a bit of "language" and

false starts..that is😅]

Here is one of my memories for this block:

When I was growing up, we lived in a

residential neighborhood with a lot

of interconnecting streets--

sooo....

at Halloween we used to get

loads of trick-or-treaters.

We prepared ahead with a huge amount

of candy, of course.  In those days

a lot of us wrapped pieces of

candy into cute little napkin bundles...

One year my cousin, Claire, who was

12 years my senior, came to

take me out -- as I was too young

to go alone; and I wore

my usual "Gypsy" costume that

had tinkling bells on the skirt hem 

and a neat headband --

and I got to wear real red lipstick

and eye makeup--I was so thrilled!!

💓💓💋💅

Well, as it turned out, my Dad had 

the job of answering the door and

handing out candy that year...

When my cousin and I got home,

we emptied our loot out on the

kitchen table and went through it all,

as that was the rule to make sure

it was all okay...

We came upon one little napkin tied in a knot

with only 2 paltry pieces of candy and a few

candy corns....

Claire said scathingly--

"What cheapskate gave out these?"

Well, my Dad began laughing so hard--

and his face had turned so red...

as

he had run out of candy and made these

up so that he would be able to 

have enough to last the evening.....

We had a such great laugh over that..

☺☺☺

Every Halloween after that we would 

say--

"Are you sure we have

ENOUGH candy?"

👴👻👻👻💃

Those were much simpler times, I think.

So far ,these are my first 2 blocks

they are 6 1/2".

And so, I begin my

trip down memory lane..

**************************

We are fogbound this morning and

so far, only rain has fallen...

Maybe the snow will miss us

here at the coast?

I hope you are safe and warm

this weekend,

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(traveling-down-memory-lane-euse)

 

FINALLY, A FLIMSEY , et al

 

Olympic Curling has reached

the flimsey stage.

(Sorry for the tipsey photo--

I had to take it seated)

I had tried a red border 

out first,  

but that color looked 

like it would overtake

the whole piece. 

So, I gambled

that I would have 

 just enough

left of this really 

old  green fabric to 

eke out the borders

after using part of it 

in my  blocks...

Yes, just one little

piece left...

;D

I love that vintagey green

a lot...

AND....↡↡↡↡

***********************

👀👀💃💘

Yesterday I received a lovely

"Squishy Package" in the mail...

From my good friend, 

Dawn

:)))) {click}

Look at these lovely purple

scraps --actually

big chunks!!

I had just mentioned that I

was lowest on purples and she sent me these...

Along with these two lovely patterns

that I will use for my new long term

project --

My Memory Quilt..

I am going to step out of my

usual "comfort zone" and

try a few of these blocks 

that will remind me of

my "growing up" 

years...

A sampler quilt, if you will.

and a Long Term project..

Slow and  {hopefully} easy...

I have never done a sampler

 before and

now seems like a good time to

just make "one" block at

a time, trying to hone

my skills a bit...

    [actually a LOT!!].

;000

 

[Check out her Farm Girl 

Vintage blocks--so so 

adorable...]

My title will be :

"Je Me Souviens"

(which means

I remember).

French was my first language..

and we only spoke French 

in our home

for the longest time..

Aren't these little bunnies

just adorable???

Thank you so much

Dawn for your

generous gift...

💋💜

I love it...

************************

This morning I wound bobbins

and I hope to clean out my machine

and change the needle before 

setting it up to machine quilt the

two Dolly quilts...

{ After my little nap, that is}

They are all pinned and ready

to be quilted...

I hope your day is a good one...

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse 

(Full-after-homemade-burritos-euse)

😹

BACKS--or fronts???

 

Fiona's American

Girl dolly quilt

and

                                                               Willa's Dolly quilt

                                                          

            Here are the backs (or fronts??) of both that I finished yesterday:

                                                         ↧↧↧↧

Willa's

and

Fiona's

Can you see why I wonder which

they will think is the front???

Hahahaha

I hope to gift them for 

Easter, which, thankfully

occurs late this year....

Next is to cut batting...

✂✂✂✂

************************

On today's menu

is Roast Chicken dinner!

Tom will help me to

get it prepared.

He makes the stuffing

and the mashed potatoes and

I do the gravy...

Y U M M Y!!

***************************

I am hoping you find 

J O Y

in your sewing today...

💖💖💖

hugs, Julierose, 

La Blageuse

("A-Foggy-Day-in-Our-Old-Town"-euse)

OLYMPIC CURLING PROGRESS, et al

 

I will be working on sewing

these blocks together;

I have decided no sashing, 

just

block to block.

***************************

Also this week,

I tried improving a 6.5"

Maple Leaf block using

leftover mini charms and 

leftover chunks....

↧↧↧↧

This leaf must be ready to 

fall off the tree (ya think?)as one

of its leaves has been eaten

away by: maybe....

A squirrel??

👀😅

And I see that the stem 

has been also gnawed on..

(👾👾)

I used this chart:

Which I found helpful...

[But, uhhh, somehow still messed it up]

I am planning on making more 

6.5" or 12.5" blocks

while

trying to work through some of

my piecing issues...so I am

not going to "correct" this

block but rather leave it to show

where I am right now...

******************************************

I found this old watercolor painting

that I made a few years ago...

"My Dancing Piano"

I had such fun working on

this one, despite my meager

drawing abilities...

😉😹😼

************************

I am generally feeling better

this week; so I am trying to

get in a short walk a couple

times a day...

Yesterday, I got quite a long

workout at my 

👀 doctor's office which

is quite spread out!!

That's where I am 

this week...

💖

Hugs, on this sunny day

😸😎😊

Julierose, La Blageuse

(still-sewing-euse)