PEARS' PROGRESS, et al

 

I talked about re-entry hand quilting

in my previous post; the top pear

fabric shows my very first efforts...

and the bottom one shows 

my stitching today.

I slowed waaay down and

did just one stitch at a time.

I am feeling a lot better working

this way...[do you call this stab

stitching? ] I don't know, but it 

seems to be working for me

right now...

💙

I love how it puckers up the fabric...;)))

I am also only working every 2-3

days on this hand quilting project

to make sure my hands don't 

get really sore...

AND

Here is the first section I am 

working on...So many many

fabrics I love💚--

Look at that green and white

leafy one--this piece holds

the very last little strips of it! 

AND

Here is a picture of the backing fabric 

I chose:

↴↴↴↴

I thought these woven baskets would

be perfect as my backing...

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

My granddaughter, Willa, has an

August birthday coming up and

she just got her ears pierced--

she will be 9 👧.

and....

She just loves little foxes...

I found this pair of earrings

for her present:

Aren't they just the cutest things???

I think she will love 

wearing them--

at least I hope so...

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

Another hot, humid day has dawned here;

I did an early morning stroll just around

our cul-de-sac and found it difficult

to even get an air!! 

So AC for me AGAIN today.

  

TGIF to those of you workers

out there..👌👋

Stay cool and 

stay safe

😷

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(Happy-to-be-back-to-hand-quilting-euse)

RE-ENTRY: PEARS OJO

 

I have begun hand quilting 

my "Pears Ojo"

It seems that my eye-hand coordination and

visual spacing of stitches have

suffered 

A LOT [!!!!]

in the year I was

unable to quilt at all!!

👀😒👀

S I G H ..

But I am persevering

and slowing way down--

hoping to find my rhythm

once again...

But...

Meanwhile, I may have to

remove these beginning stitches

and start over again!!

AAargh...

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

We awakened to 58 cool

degrees this morning

what a relief from all

that heat and humidity

for the past 2 weeks!!

;))))))

This morning we will do our

 weekly food shop

and we have a garage door 

repairer coming this afternoon

as our automatic sensor 

has failed--

Tom is not liking 

having to lift the heavy

door at all !!

It seems that everything is 

failing around here

at the same time...

windows, appliances etc. etc.

👺👾👿

Home ownership is not for

the faint of heart...

I hope you are all doing well;

take care and stay safe.

😷

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(quilting-slowly-euse)

CHRISTMAS IN JULY WORKS

 

Here is the title cover

for my 

Christmas Fabric [soft] Journal..

I love the little "snowdrifts"

on the lettering 💝

and

I just pinned together the 

"Christmas Wreath" page

for this soft Journal.

There is the wreath on the door--

and the scrap of Jason Yenter

fabric also wreathes the door

itself...;)))

So a double wreath...

I have to decide how to

embellish this one

as the fabric  

seems enough by itself....

The doorway is 

the first page and 

the entry into my Christmas

Fabric journal...

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

Here is the finished

"Winter Fabric Journal"

[hard cover book]

page for the  

"Wreath" prompt

↓↓↓↓

I did some kantha stitchery

on the little Winter vignettes

(top L and bottom R),

and made a little suffolk puff

(aka yo-yo)--

and added a 

scrap of lace on the bottom...

The wreath is a ruched piece of 

sari silk tied down with

my Grand-mere's old

buttons and smaller

buttons from 

my good friend

Lizzy...

[who so kindly sent them to me--

thanks so much;)))]

I am (this time around)

wanting to keep my pages less

busy --trying to use

the fabrics themselves to

set the scenes....

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

I have as yet not begun my "Pears"

hand quilting as I decided that the

cotton thread would be 

too hard on my hands;

and I have ordered some 

yellow hand quilting thread

online...

But it is all pin-basted and

ready to go;)))

T G I F everyone..

👋👏

Stay cool and safe

😓😷

hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse

(staying-in-the-AC-euse)

JOYEUX NOEL --in JULY--et al

 

Since we are having record heat

and humidity here, I am

pretty much staying in our AC.

and Stitching...

I began this on Saturday, transferring 

it to muslin, and backing it with

SF101 for stitching...

After an early food shopping trip this morning,

(Ai yai yai it was hot in

that parking lot!!)

I continued  working on THIS

title for my Christmas Journal..

Here is where I left off today:

The tops and certain parts of these

letters will be filled with white dollops of snow...

And for the first time, I used 

some gold metallic thread on the

baubles...

It's no where near perfect stitching--but then

there is no "perfect" around here.;)))

I am trying out new filling stitches

and looking them up and

trying to learn as I go...

So I have the snowflakes and the 

little drifts of snow to finish...

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

This Thursday-- slated to be the

hottest day in this mini heat wave

we are having--

 we will be getting

our leaking living room windows 

replaced:

Here is what the room looks like

now that Tom took down 

the curtains and  blinds in 

preparation...and moved

the furniture out of the way...

It feels like we just moved in!!!

We will have to turn OFF

the AC--

AND

I know

it will be 

HOT HOT HOT

in here.

😒😓😓

{S I G H }

This is a big window to be leaking 

[both for AC and heat];

and the small window on the right

has failed and mold has begun to 

grow on it!!

ACK!!!

👾👾👾

So it really has to be done

The workers tell us it will be a 

half-day job--

Fingers crossed that it will only

take that long...

And that is what is happenin' around 

the House on the Hill

today....

Stay cool everyone

and safe....

hugs, julierose, 

La Blaguese

(Stitching-Christmas-in-July)

RAIN, RAIN, BEAUTIFUL RAIN-- AT LONG LAST!

 

Thunder boomer rains brought out my lilies;))))

I finally got a picture before the deer ravaged them!!

[See the parched grass also? ]

This is along my front walk.

↴↴↴

I love this stripey pink one!

and

Here are my poor ferns 

soaking in the rain

You can see how some were

turning yellow from lack of

water...

How lovely is the rain!

💓💓!

We've had

gray skies 

and muggy

weather 

for a while now

So...

this feels like relief...

💙💃💃

I can recall on those hot, Summer days

when I was young, going out barefoot and 

just dancing in the rain--what fun!!

Splashing in all the puddles😁

Ah, YOUTH!!

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

Meanwhile...

this morning I finished up

My

Little Farm Girl

I love how she came out;)))

Now, I need to transfer another

piece to embroider....

Perhaps a 

"Joyeux Noel"

banner for my Christmas

Journal cover...

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

I made my chicken and rice casserole

for dinner tonight.

[it is SO wonderful to be able

to cook even if I have to sit

frequently while doing it!!]

I hope you day is a good one...

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

["Singin'in-the-rain,

Just singin'-in-the-rain..."]

=

UFO & LITTLE FARM GIRL

 

My "Pears" OJO piece

is the first of my UFO's that I will

tackle...

I plan to concentrate on 

finishing them up--before 

I attempt to sew anything new!!

Lately, I've been disappointed

in anything I've begun

getting used to my 

depleted stash?

Perhaps...???

👿👹

Anyway, I will be 

concentrating on one UFO

per month if possible...

But, I digress yet again:

😁

I was able to pin baste Pears in 

readiness for hand quilting...

Here is the cotton thread I plan to use

↴↴↴

Such a lovely color, I think...

AND--

here is a closer looks at that

Pear fabric..

I really love this fabric...

one of my all time favorites..

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

Little Farm Girl is coming along

Just a few small

bits to finish up...

I tried to do her hair, but

found it really looking pretty

awful!!

So I ripped out my stitching...

And now, 

I have to figure what stitch

to use for it...

Time to look in my Judith Montano 

books for possibilities...

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

It is Super hot and V E R Y 

humid here today.

We managed a short early walk,

but it really took the starch out

of us it was so muggy!!

Hoping your Sunday is a fun day;)))

Stay cool...

hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(chasing-down-UFO's-euse)

LITTLE FARM GIRL & ARBORETUM

 

I have begun stitching my 

"Little Farm Girl"

Aren't her red overalls fun?

So old-fashioned looking;)))

 

Did you wear overalls when

you were little?

I sure did...and bib overalls were

popular when I was a teenager, too.

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

I know I have stated that I

wasn't going to begin anything

N E W !!

B U T:

When I saw Wanda's [click to see]

Arboretum blocks mounting up I

was smitten...

Totally smitten!!!!

I mean they are SO gorgeous;

and isn't it all about having fun,

 feeling passionate about

what you are doing?

( Well, That's my story and I 

am sticking with it!!)

Here are my first four blocks:

↴↴↴↴

I will be using all batiks to

try to use up my big box of them...

I find them a bit "Fiddly" to make--

no surprise here==

 as I am totally

angle challenged 

as you long time

readers know...

AND

SO.............

I will have to be trimming them up

to the smallest one 

when I have finished them all

as I cannot make them come out

all the same size....

👽👿👺

I am making two at a time using the

same background and varying

the limbs and trunks....

The cutting in preparation is the hardest for

me right now, as standing and cutting 

for any length of time is still

a hassle...but

I am getting better and 

sitting in between.

Taking it 

SLOW and EASY...

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

We are in a mini heat wave here

and the dewpoints are in the 

70's every day.

So, we have been going

out to the Field where

we walk really early--

luckily they open up at 8 a.m.

It sure does feel good to get

back to our AC in our house, though..

I hope you are all nice and cool and

staying safe out there...

Hugs,

Julierose, La Blageuse

(somethings-new-euses)

COVER FINISH, et al

 

"Winter" cover is sewn....

And

Here is the little title tag

↧↧↧↧

I used another tea-dyed

Jason Yenter selvage

for the cover title..

"A Celestial Winter"

outlined with gold beads.

This is all stitched down onto

the old, soft sheet backing

and ready to be glued to

the cover...

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

While I am waiting for

our next prompt on 

Wed. 21st of July--

I transferred this cute little 

farm girl embroidery 

to work on:

↴↴↴↴

Isn't she just the sweetest thing???

💝💝💝

I see her in red overalls

a light blue shirt and 

"baboushka" ;))

[Are any of you old enough

 to 

recall that word? ]

Perhaps she lives at that farm 

on my journal cover??

😉

And....

Don't you love my sneakers 

poking out at the top?  

👵😁

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

Very hot and humid here today;

dewpoint is already up to 72

so we have the AC on...

Planning on take out grinders

for our lunch...

A no cooking day...

hugs,

Julierose, La Blageuse

(still-stitching-euse)

 

 

                                                                                  

IN THE BEGINNING--A FABRIC JOURNAL PAGE

 

Here is the "tag" embellishment I came up

with for my Winter "Deer" Journal page.

It is part of a selvage from a Jason

Yenter Christmas print that I tea dyed 

with my last batch...

I had no idea what to use for a tag

until I spied this part of the

selvage when I unwrapped

one of my bundles...

:)))))

Here is my progress on 

the  "Deer" 

page 

↧↧↧↧

This white reverse image of the 

reindeer on my Christmas

Journal took a long time to

figure out  how to make him stand out...

First, 

I sewed beads all around--

BUT

then I

cut them off--

they just looked

too heavy...👹

then i tried just backstitching--

Cut that out, too--just not

right!!

The final touches were:

that buttonhole stitch

that made him stand out as before 

he just melted into the background...

and the little imaginary saddle with

the late leftover Autumn leaves

dangling down....to match the

two underneath my tag...

YES!! That was it;))))

I Still feel that the  top left needs something to

balance out the tattered buttoned on yo-yo

on the bottom left...

still thinking....

AND

all the fabrics were "invisibly" stitched to

hold them in place and then

kantha stitched with perle cotton

in differing directions...

I am really loving this 

SLOW STITCHERY

💙💟💖

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

Since I have quite a lot of time

left before the 3rd Wed of this month

when the next prompts arrive...

I began working on a cover

for the Journal

↯↯↯↯

Here is the first iteration--just pinned

in place to see if I like it

enough to begin slow invisible 

stitching 

it into place...

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

We had a midday dinner today

BBQ-ed Hot dogs smothered in

olive oil fried onions

and beans...so good!!

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

I hope your weekend is going well

and you can find some time to

stitch and sew...

💗

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(pondering-euse)