MEH????--DNF???, et al

Well, I've taken a long, hard look at 

how this is coming together...

👀👀👀

👺💣👿

And I've decided that I am not

really crazy about how...

Dark Days is looking...

An awful lot of hand stitching

went into this piece 

and

sadly

it is not yielding the 

results I had

hoped for...

S  I  G  H

😒😔😞

I don't think I am

suited to SAL's.

I had continued thinking 

that perhaps it would take a 

turn to make me 

actually  "like" it...

that I would get that

interior feeling of 

"Yes, this is going to be  

just great"!

But--

nope.

❤❤❤

I will say that I have learned a lot:

Various methods of working

by hand and 

certainly what I like

and don't like about 

working in this fashion.; 

But

most of all

what I don't like is

this resulting piece

[and after all that work,

I know, I know]!!

But I do not regret giving this

a try....

So, mes amies, 

💙💙💙

I have decided to take a break 

from it for now.

At this stage of my life, I only

want to make just what I 

REALLY WANT

to make...

But.... 

 I will continue watching the videos 

and move on with my regularly

scheduled quilting agenda...

Somehow, though

on the bright side;)))

💓💖💗

 this whole process has

 brought me back to my love of

hand quilting...

and,

strangely enough,

machine piecing, too.

I have been really wanting to

get back to machine work..

I've thoroughly cleaned Helga's

bobbin area, put in a new needle

and am ready to do some more

"just for the joy of it"

piecing.:))))

😂😍

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

Tomorrow I will be doing my weekly

 food shopping and our garden guy

will begin work dismantling

our little front, overgrown 

garden which we can no longer

care for; and 

he will be putting in

grass seed up to the edge 

of our patio seating area..

Last Fall, we did pull what we could out

and then covered it to let most things

just die down...

We were not able to pull the

deep-seated roots out 

and decided to call for help...

So, 

that is where 

I stand for now..

If you've made it through to the end of this

long posting I commend you

👌😉😍😎

Hugs, 

Julierose, La Blageuse

(re-thinking-what-to work-on-next-euse)

 

CHRISTMAS STRAWBERRIES QUILTED, et al

 

I finished the last lines of 

quilting on the borders 

last night ....

So this is ready for a binding

choice...

I really am loving all that heavy

quilting throughout...

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

Next up for hand quilting is

a much larger piece:

↓↓↓↓

This has been waiting in line for quite a while;

frankly, I cannot recall what I named it...

I know it is a pattern from Beth's

"My Sewing Room" on YouTube that

she named "Scrappy Strings".

I wanted to make it as I have had

troubles working with triangles through

the years.  Her tutorial is really

great...and I found it surprisingly easy.

I think maybe I will think 

about a name while I am quilting...

Now that I have hand quilted

 a couple of smaller pieces,

I think I am ready to tackle this

one.  

Obviously a much longer project.

You can see that originally I had planned

to machine quilt this one--I sewed two

long lines abutting the central long 

sashing which is a scrappy 

coin strip that used up the rest

of the cut offs from the central

strip-pieced blocks...

Here is the reverse side--

a very old panel to make a 

tablecloth that came down to

me from my Grand-mere...

I thought it would be a nice way to use this

piece so full of memories....

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

Another gray-ish day here with rains

forecast...

hugs, Julierose, 

La Blageuse

(embarking-on-a-big-hand-quilting-project-euse)

RAINY MONDAY, et al

 

Here's proof that 

SPRING is here....;)))

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

I've finished the quilting part of Block 3 

on Dark Days this morning...

Here is one of the five different

threads I've used.

And, you'll notice the little

needle threader that I cannot 

do without;))))

Below is what this block would look like

butted right next to #'s 1 & 2

Below is the other option of putting

some kind of sashing strip

between these:

I don't know right now which

I prefer....

Also

you will notice 

[you eagle-eyed sewists]

block 3's background (white) is about

an inch too short.  Whether 

I cut it short or the weaving

took it up I don't know;

but tomorrow I will sew

on another white backing piece

 to even out the length..

So, until this coming Wednesday,

when the next prompt is revealed,

i am done working on this one...

Hugs from the rain-soaked

house on the Hill

Julierose, 

La Blageuse

(adding-on-euse)

QUILTING AWAY, et al

 

Dark Days, block #3 for Comfort Cloth SAL at 

K3n's YouTube channel is almost

all quilted now.....

[It sits beneath my "quilting pillow

that I made for my "hoop-less"

lap quilting...]

I used a simple running stitch and some little

"stick" stitches to hold the raw edges

in place.....

This freehand way of stitching is a

very relaxing way of working...

On the right (above) that very light pinky

cloth is another little added square;

And

below here, I

 also added a few more

to break up the woven strips 

a bit...

My little outlined 9-patch  below remains unstitched so that

it will stand out from the rest of the piece:

I have just the very top dark blue strip to finish quilting...

This Wednesday the next suggestion will be given

Although, at this point, I cannot imagine 

adding anything else??????

But we shall see....

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

Christmas Strawberries is also

close to being all quilted:

I loved working on this fun and lovely

pattern of Melisa's

Here is the reverse Holiday fabric...

I just have to finish another couple rows

on the front border squares...

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

FYI:

 I sat for 4 hours during DH's in-office 

laser stent surgery

this past Friday and worked on Dark Days.

That kept me calm and passed the time along

with reading and doing some crossword

puzzles.

  

He did really well and is now able to

walk without any pain already!! 

He has a 2-week follow-up and

hopefully all the results will be good...

Many thanks to all of you who sent 

good thoughts and wishes...

Hugs, Julierose

La blageuse 

(stitching-a -lot-euse)

BIRTHDAY, et al

 

Tom turned 86 yesterday; we had a

little afternoon celebration

 just we two...

👫

A little birthday cupcake as we are

both trying to cut back on calories....

Need I say more???

😀😁😂😃😄

💑

He still has his sense of humor...

I asked what he'd like for dinner

and he said 

"Meatloaf with 

mashed potatoes

and gravy"  

Yuuuum.....

We watched the first "F1" warm up

last evening...

this week the race

takes place in Australia..

&

A lot of "rookie" drivers are

starting this year, so it should

be very

interesting.....

;)))

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

I am now working on my 

3rd and final Strawberry

Today will be echo quilting around

the strawberry....

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

I am continuing to work on block 3

for my "Dark Days"

 Comfort Cloth SAL

It is now all basted 

in place to the background--

and

Here, I've picked out an

uneven  9-patch and

 added the "heart color insert" 

that mimics the heart on

the First block...

I followed K3N's directions 

this week and 

cut away the little 

top strip square--

(the piece is from the 

horizontal lavender strip)--

 in the center and 

inserted the pinky-red

fabric, cut from an old

tie-dyed fabric in my stash,

to mimic that heart...

(I took a very deep breath before

cutting that out, believe me!!--)

But it worked out fine...

I am holding the little square 

 in place with some

Boro-style stitching...

then-----

 I outlined the 9 patch with 

a line of

whipped running stitches 

and added another line of 

little crosses that are

meant to be  

representations

of Springtime flowers

on the mountain strips...

I may add another line 

of pinky-red

running stitches..

and

it still needs to be quilted in

some manner...

Here is how this block will 

look next to the original

1st two blocks..

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

Cloudy and 41 today...

Tonight's supper 

will be spaghetti

with meat sauce 

(Bolognese style)

and little garlic rolls. 

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(Enjoying-stitching-euse)

INDOOR GARDEN, and such.....

 

My little table garden...

in our side tv room

facing Northerly....

I have two new amaryllis bulbs

placed there...

 that I have put on sea glass

in water for now,

 and

When they arrived in the mail

they were already sprouting...

Mom and I collected this sea glass

on our beach walks long ago...

And....

This cactus has had only one bloom

But, it is so pretty...

So....

I have ordered new cactus soil

and feeding beads as I think

their soil is depleted...

I will be doing some planting

of them in larger pots...

My "forgotten" amaryllis has

sent up lots of leaves

but no stem as yet

Below is my spider plant,

a favorite for me...

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

This morning I set up Helga for

quilting and got

to work on my 3 placemats...

This is the first one

in progress:

I took a little "shoulder" break and

went for a short circuit of our Cul-de Sac--

Here is the placemat all quilted:

This is made from all the little cutoffs

from the Christmas Ojos I made...

and

the back--

this fabric has been hanging out in

my Christmas box for-EVER!!

I used matchstick quilting as I know

it will be washed a lot and

wanted to make it sturdier...

Two more to finish before I work

on my larger Ojos; I thought

I would work on these smaller

projects to "get back" into

machine quilting before 

tackling bigger pieces.

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

Our garden guy is stopping in at noon

to give us a quote on digging up

our little front patio garden as

neither of us 

 cannot handle digging 

anymore; we will just

have him seed it with

grass for easier care.

So, between the clump of bushes 

and the patio seating area 

will be just a continuation of our lawn..

The roots are pretty big and deep

S  I  G  H  

I will SO miss 

puttering about in this small

garden area for sure...

but.................

 I plan to put out some pots

along the patio edge and also

we will put our new garden planter

on the side of the patio...

Here is Tom putting it together...

this morning it was warm enough

in our garage for him to poly-

urethane it...

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

The rest of this week will be machine 

quilting a bit at a time and then

filling in my 3rd strawberry with

hand quilting...

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

Oh 

and...

Reading :

(stitching-away-euse)

DARK DAYS: MARCH PROMPT, et al

 

Our prompt for March for K3N's 

 Comfort Cloth SAL is:

"Joyful Places".

And we are to weave this one with 

torn strips attached to a 

backing cloth...

My two favorite places are

the Berkshire Mountains, 

where Tom and I lived when 

we first married; and

where my daughter, Candice,

was born...

The mountains are represented 

by the vertical

purple-ish strips--

 

And woven through

them horizontally 

are the blue strips representing the

ocean and beaches where we

live now and where my son, Jeff,

was born...

and also where

when  I was a little girl

was taken to enjoy  

the beaches every sunny day.

So these are the two meaningful 

places for my "Dark Days"

next block...

In the summers...

I recall driving up the winding mountain

roads for picnics at the top of 

Greylock Mountain in the Berkshires.

Also, being surrounded by these

beautiful mountains;

which, as a girl having come 

from the flatlands of the CT valley,

was a new and wonderous experience tor me.

I had the sensation of feeling protected

by those mountains which changed color

every time you saw them...but mostly

I recall seeing them look purple

in the early evenings...

I do miss the mountains...

So this cloth brings together the two

"joyful" places I've lived...

For now, it is just pinned in place and

next I will be invisible basting the strips 

down to prepare it for any 

fancy stitching I may want to add.

I enjoyed picking out the fabrics and

tearing the 1"(+/-) strips, ironing them

and choosing the order to lay them in...

then weaving and pinning in place.

such a lovely, quiet, and thoughtful

way to work.  

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

Here is a picture of my latest

acquisition:

This lovely African violet.  

It is sitting in my living room right

on our round glass table in front

of our picture window...

I just love the color...

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

While resting my hands from 

stitching, I was able to prepare 

a couple more pages in my

Junque Journal:

In a different way, I am finding that

my pages reflect the same type of

feelings that my "Dark Days"

project inspires...

A lot of black and white images

that speak to me...

On the flippy  card (left side) I

included a picture of my 

Dark Days; 1st block...

I am preparing pages ahead so that

I can journal each day ....

I hope your week is going well..

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(back-to-sewing-euse)