FAST FORWARD, et al

I made this little table topper quite a while ago;

I had some leftover blocks that I didn't use

but couldn't bear to part with as they

were so darling, I thought...

but

the colors didn't go with the 

above ones..

soooo

I put them in a little

baggy on the shelf

and really forgot all about them...

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

Fast forward to today;;;;;;;;;

While unearthing many little

started and never finished

projects--you know how that goes!! 

I found this little baggy with those

blocks...

Here is where I was at:

with the Bramble QAL

↓↓↓↓↓

BEFORE:

 AND  NOW 

AFTER

↴↴↴↴↴

My latest version of Bramble Blooms 

now looks like this...;))))

Six of those little leftover blocks

 and just a bit of that

little pansy fabric 

yielded two borders...

HURRAH!!!

I think these colors add 

a lot to what 

I was fearing

was  really

a totally drab block 

and felt "why was I continuing

with this QAL???"

;00000

I am much happier with 

how this is now

looking. ;)))

And that is what it is 

all about, right????

 Being happy

with what you are making.

And also, not giving up too soon...

😊😊😊

Thank you so much Audrey ,

for your encouraging comments--

I had been feeling really lost....

And now....

I am looking forward to the

next prompt....

I also want to thank my good 

friend Lizzy, for all her

constant cheering me

along and not letting me

just give up...

And telling me 

"what's what" fearlessly...

I so appreciate that ;)))

💕

hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

("Brambling"-onwards)

 

RAINY FRIDAY, et al

 

I am pin basting my 3rd and final 

Christmas Ojos tabletopper

this morning..

I've been saving this fabric for so long;

I decided that 

a couple 

of toile 

Christmas birds

AND

Lovely tulips would be  a pretty

border for this one...

Meanwhile I will be hand quilting 

Christmas 

Ojos Deux!!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I began hand quilting this scrappy 

piece, but for some reason, all

those seam allowances I found

super hard to quilt through!

So, this one will be finished

by Helga...[my machine ;}}} ].

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

The grandgirls'  quilts

are still waiting for border work...

I hope to find the perfect borders

today....

[hope springs eternal, right?]

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

I hope you are faring well--

it seems that our whole country is either

having a lot of 

snow, 

ice,

 or rainy

Days..

Hugs for a super weekend,

Julierose

La Blageuse

(pinning-and-quilting-away]

BRAMBLE SAL, et al

 

Here are my first set of Bramble

borders...

Audrey suggested wide borders

and 1/4 sq triangle corners...

👀

As you can see, I didn't go that way;

no matter how I tried wider borders

using my chosen fabric stack--it just

overwhelmed the center I thought.

So......

Above is my compromise ;))))

I used 1.5" little squares that I

had on hand 

↴↴↴↴ 

In here from one of my cutting

escapades with a new Accuquilt die...

:))))

And...

I was able to bring in 

that golden color

with just little bits that echoing 

the stem color...

without overwhelming the piece...

That purple leafy print is 

one of my favorites

from my purple stack...

↓↓↓↓

Which you can see above...

I may need more on either side ....

SOMETHING!! 

But as yet, my snail-like

brain hasn't come up

with anything...

Perhaps more of that lighter beige??

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

We had freezing rain/drizzle 

overnight, but it is melting

in our fog-bound skies...

We plan to meet with friends

for lunch and then do

some errands--so i hope

the roads will be cleared by then...

Hugs for today,

Julierose,

La Blageuse

(Brambling-along-euse)

FIRST FINISH OF 2024, et al

 

My "Christmas Ojos No. 1" is 

done and dusted!!

I have two others in the wings as I want

them to be sprinkled on tables

at Christmas time...

Seems like a long time since I've had 

any kind of a  "finish";)))

Here is how the quilting looks on the back; 

I think it almost looks like

a subtle Shashiko-- a bit.

The binding fabric is left over from a project a made

a few years ago...it was all ready for me in

my "leftover binding" basket;))))

that was a treat to find! 

Below are a few close ups...

Here is one green/gold Ojos center

and

Here is the red/white Ojos

and below the 2nd green/gold with

the VERT LAST of that

lovely gold fabric print!

I am happy with how it came out.

:)))))

And

Here it will sit for viewing

on my Grand-mere's old wicker rocker...

in our living room...

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

Next up for hand quilting is 

this Green Scrappy table topper,,

:-)))

All layered up and pinned...

This one is a true "bits and bobs" leftover

crumb mini quilt....

It should be fun to hand quilt...

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I am continuing on my Afghan journey-- 

the stripes are mounting up 

little by little....

I am still only doing one

row per day...

I am using up all of my variegated yarns;

isn't this pink just gorgeous?

↧↧↧↧

Especially next to that lovely 

deep, dark grape one>>>>

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

We started out the day at 12 degrees 

but it is warming up pretty

well; noonish now--and 

 it is 30.9 degrees

I'll take that ;))))

hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(keeping-busy-euse)

INTO THE CLOSET, et al

 

I've been re-sorting my fabric stash into colorways.....prints

and solids separately:

↴↴↴

I had no idea I'd collected so many solids over the years!!

[There is my little found blue stack on the top left...;))) ]

I will have to try to make a totally solid quilt

this year...I've never managed that...;)))

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

Then I decided to work on

 my threads and notions, too.

↧↧↧↧

I took one drawer at a time into the tv room and sorted

them and even managed to label a few...

I didn't throw any of the threads away--even my

Grand-mere's old American thread Co. ones,

as I can use those for basting;--

and i am a bit sentimental about them..

;))))

At least I have a good idea of what's on hand

for me to work with now....

Mostly I worked in 20 minute stints

a couple times a day....

I still have tons of containers with

started and abandoned projects and

more bits and bobs of fabrics left

to do.  

I hope to hit those this weekend; 

for today and Friday I am

trying to shake off this head cold and

tummy troubles...just don't feel

all that good...

B U T 

I feel great 😃😂😄

that I've managed to do this much.

I feel like it's a good start

to  

2 0 2 4.

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

I hope you are all keeping well

and warm during this massive cold snap

we all seem to be having...

😱

More snow predicted beginning

tomorrow night into Saturday with

continuing  C O L D temps here.

They say not too bad a storm, but

that's what they said about the

last event, too....

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

{pretending-to-be-organized-euse;))) }

THE CASE OF THE MISSING BLUES, et al

 

Evidently, when I did my 3 fabric pulls for

this Bramble SAL, I not only pulled

some blues for each pile but must have

just decided to put  ALL my blues

underneath the three stacks!! ????

I have no idea what I was thinking--

Or not!! 

I do feel silly now....

😬😮😱

This morning I went to take 

out my Bramble Center from its box

and didn't find any blues in there at all....

????????????????????????

I KNOW I pulled blues, I thought; 

at least a few should be in here!

So, I went into my closet and there on

the floor were the 3 stacks with just

a few blues interlaced with other colors--

I decided to take Stack No. 1 and put

it out as I plan to do the 2nd prompt...

And--

VOILA!!

underneath all 3 stacks[!!!],

laid out flat,

was the rest of my

blue stash....

I guess I couldn't decide what

I would be using; so I must have  thought,

just put them all there????

What a dufus!!!!!😳

My only [feeble] excuse is

that I don't do fabric pulls and

I have no idea where

this project will be going????

So I am no longer 
"Singing the blues".

Now I just need to 

recover my "sew-jo"

for this project...

👽👾👿

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

This morning it was only 16 degrees

with a 13 windchill when we went

grocery shopping! 

Brrrrrrrr.

We are expecting another 

storm tomorrow night into Friday...

So we are all stocked up

just in case...

[Also got more Paczki--hah!!]

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(now-searching-for-my-"sew-jo")

CHRISTMAS OJOS, et al

 

I've just finished stitching the center Ojos 

this afternoon....

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

And:

L👀👀k what has arrived

at our Big Y:

We had them for breakfast this morning

[pronounced "push-key"];)))

They bring back memories of my 

Polish Aunt Sadie who

made them for us every year

before Lenten Season...

Our favorite flavor is 

Bavarian Cream...

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

Candice brought me a lovely

Christmas bouquet--and

these are still in pretty

good shape:

Aren't those mauve-y pink roses

just beautiful...?

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

We've just finished watching the final

Episode of

"The Crown"

and so, 

I've begun reading this:

And finding it quite fascinating....

A totally different point of view

on the Royals....

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

I must take out my Bramble central block 

now that Audrey's next

prompt has come out.  

I need to begin 

to think about Borders, colors, and

1/4 sq triangle block corners....

I have kind of lost my way on this after

such a long break....

So I will be pulling out

my fabric stack

and seeing:

"Now, what was I thinking?"

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

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(still-stitching-euse)

CHRISTMAS OJOS QUILTING, et al

 

I began hand quilting my 

Christmas Ojos table topper

on Christmas Eve...

I just love hand quilting these

 ojos-type pieces.

So relaxing and easy

to see where to quilt...

And i love how they look 

all crinkled up with

quilting;))))

💖💕💓💝

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

FYI for my Decluttering Amigas:

Now that my tables and cutting board 

are all cleared off--I can begin

to work on my glue booking

magazines today.

This will be my Day Three

as

my back needs a rest 

from reaching 

and

stretching 

and 

bending over.

OOff-Dah

:000

I will be paging through

 two bins-full of

catalogues,

magazines,

and 

Ads;

and culling images

 that I think

I can use in my 

"En Masse Journal",

"Color Glue Book"

and my 

"Anything Goes"

Glue book...

The only foreseeable problem here is

if I get distracted by

 little images 

I want to

 "fussy cut"!;)))

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

I must say that after my clean-up

of stuff on my surfaces,

I kind of am "paralyzed" as to 

what to sew next...

The ideas just aren't flowing...

[Am I hesitant to "mess things up again"??]

There are:

No little pieces of fabric

out there

that say:

"Oooh, now I go

so well with 

that one--SEE???",

 etc.

Or

That box has the "project

 I so wanted to

finish"

...hmmmmm---

Sooooooo,

I am thinking that, for me, 

a "bit" of clutter 

is a moving force for any

creative ideas spring up...

[notice I say "a bit" not

a ton of it!!]

So I have already learned that 

about how I

like to work during 

this challenge.

It's all good...

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(throwing-a-few-bits-and-bobs-around-euse!!)

:))))))))))))))))))))))))))))