HAPPY NEW YEAR WITH FLOWERS, et al

 

A Christmas cactus bloomfest

and...

 soon to be Amaryllis blooms

I hope!!

⇊⇊⇊⇊

"all nestled together and

snug in their beds..."

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

Here is the finished 3rd panel on my 

"Sentimental Scroll"

I  just had to add a bit of "bling" on

that big flowerhead with 

silver beads :))))

(click to enlarge) 

I hope you and yours have a wonderful

New Year's Eve and 

a Healthy and a Happy

New Year

Hugs, to all

Julierose

La Blageuse

(Slowly-stitching-along-euse)

"SENTIMENTAL SCROLL"--HAND STITCHING

 

Here are the first two finished panels for my

"Sentimental Scroll" 

all hand sewn together...

Below is how they will attach 

(wind around) to my

Grand-pere's old velvet mill bobbin

that he brought home 

when he retired----

part of the "Sentimental" 

idea that sparked this project

for me...

↧↧↧↧

As you can see, it is a good sized

bobbin; I will be adding on a 

fabric piece to the left end of 

that first panel to be

sewn around the bobbin 

to hold it all in place once

all the panels are attached 

and done...

Below is the 3rd panel 

I have just begun to set up

↧↧↧↧

The central bit of bureau scarf 

was hand embroidered by my 

Grand-mere...

The flowers represent her 

love of gardening....

and the color blue...

The chunky "stems" are part 

of the leftover fabric

from my "Dark Days" project..

and that blue silk strip is leftover

from a dress Mom made for me...;))))

I will be adding stitches and other

bits and bobs to this as I go along...

You can see the "kantha" stitching I have

begun to add in white perle #8 cotton

on the right hand side...

So I will be using bits of crocheted

lace, doilies, and embroideries

made by my

Grand-mere 

that I still have left, and 

also some leftover fabrics

from my Mom's sewing for me, 

and a few 

vintage yo-yos (as above).

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

I hope those of you who celebrated the

Holidays had a wonderful time....

Our little gathering was truly 

wonderful....💖

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(slow-stitching-euse)

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!!

 

May the Light of hope fill your lives

Hugs, Julierose

HOLIDAY BAKING, et al

 

I made my Orange Chocolate fudge

this morning and it is setting in

the fridge:

Below is the (obviously) 

well used:)))) recipe

{click to enlarge}

and below

is my

Delicious White Chocolate fudge...

😋😋😋😋

Friendship Christmas Fudge 

 never fail recipe

above;;;;;;

{using white chocolate bits,

dried cranberries, freshly

zested orange rind, and

 I used sliced almonds

this time...}

So I can check these off my 

list for Christmas preps

;))))

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

AND...

While I was putting the fudges

together, I put two trays of

diced, stale bread crusts

dotted with olive oil and 

spices to make our next

batch of croutons.

I cannot see throwing crusts away that we

really don't eat that much!!

Instead I save them in the fridge and

dice them up right before

baking...

They take about 1&1/2 hrs 

at 225 degrees---

stirred about 

once halfway

through....

(don't stint on the good olive oil!!)

And now they will be savored on salads

and on Tom's soups--he is going

to make Canadian yellow 

pea soup tomorrow for us...

What a guy👴

👄👫😗

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

I hope you are all making headway

with your preparations for the 

big day...or if you don't do holidays,

are just enjoying this little respite from

the bitter cold today...

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(resting-oof-dah-euse)

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE, et al

 

At 9:03 a.m. here in Northern Hemisphere..

Winter Solstice occurs.....

May all your lengthening days

be happy ones

full of light...

💙💚💛💜

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO MY CLOSET THIS MORNING...

 

I got the Buckeye Beauties together

for a long table runner this morning--

I was going to deep-six them--

[in fact I had thrown them into the

garbage bin next to my machine even!!!]

--but then decided to try them in this

configuration......

I think the blue-ish one should be in the

middle when I get it together...

but--wonder of wonders:

I actually like it...;))))

AND....

THEN...

A very, very strange thing happened......

.

I was searching in my closet where I keep all

my started and not yet finished pieces hanging

 and l👀k

what I found,,,

Yikes--I had made a Buckeye Beauty with a semi-controlled colorway 

and

totally forgotten that I had made this one!!!!!!!

Ye Olde Brain is not what she used to be!!

FOR SURE!! 

I have no memory of having made this

AT ALL!!! 

👿👺👹😈😱😲😳😶

Did the little scrap fairies make it overnight

while I was sleeping????

How long has it been there????

Maybe my brain when I had the awful

Lyme disease event and was hospitalized

just wiped it out???? I do have some

memory loss it seems...

You can see above just how differently they

are put together .....

Really and truly, I have not the least memory of it...

{nothing, nada ne rien}

SCAREY....

So, my friends, what else lurks in my closet--

I am almost afraid to look now.....

Do any of you recall my making this???

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(wondering-euse-?-?)

"LOLLIPOP FLOWER MEDALLION", [ AKA BRAMBLE BLOOM #1], et al

 

I've finally begun quilting my "Lollipop Flower Medallion" 

the first ever medallion style quilt I've made....

 along with Audrey. 

She held a 

SAL tutorial for 3 quilts 

in her style and methods

on her blog...

Perhaps you can see the 

quilting better

here--

I am using WonderFil Perle

Cotton #8 in the ecru color of 904..

All my central piece is done in 

raw edge applique style--

I really l💜ve all those 

raggedy, frayed edges..;)))))

[I do miss Audrey's posts and 

seeing the quilts she's working on..

Her last post will explain why she is

no longer posting...but she has left 

links to Bramble Bloom 2 &3 if you

should want to follow up with this SAL.] 

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

It is a very gray, rainy, and windy day

here so I lit our little tabletop tree

when I first got up to give our

tv room a bit of warmth and color...

Here is a little sample of how it glows--so comforting

on this raw Winter's day--

And all our beautiful

snow has been washed away 

now with this

rain....;(((((((

It is but a lovely memory as

our temp is 52 right now...

So soft and hushed......

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

I did my final "big" shop before

Christmas yesterday and I am 

hoping that I won't have to go back

for any forgotten items....👋

I now have all the makings for

my fudge; I plan on making

two batches this weekend:

Chocolate/Orange with almonds

and 

White Chocolate with cranberries

and walnuts....

I look forward to these all year long and

only make it for Christmas gifts

{and us, too of course}.

:)))))

😃😄😇😋😍

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

My waxed amaryllis is ready

to burst into bloom

I thought this was a stem, but it turns out

it is a bloom waiting for that magic

moment to open....;)))

and

My planted amaryllis from a kit

has begun sending up shoots...

If I remember correctly this will be 

a pink one....

I wonder if I will have flowers for

Christmas Day????

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

Tonight's easy-peasey supper

will be my leftover chicken and rice

casserole reheated...

Take care, stay warm

and enjoy this run-up to

the holidays...

Hugs, Julierose

La blageuse

(hand-quilting-euse)

IT'S SNOWING ;)))), et al

 

Here is the view off of our back deck----

the "dingle"--all clothed in white--

The cedars heavy laden with snow.....

Our V-Shaped old Apple Tree

with those lovely branches ...

and 

our tallest cedar below

Tonight we are expecting a frigid blast that should

keep the snow for a while....

Such a beautiful, soft, gentle snowfall we've been

having--

and still coming down now....

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

I tried making some scrappy

Buckeye Beauty blocks with all my

4-patches, but they just felt flat and

uninspiring...so ..........

Then----

I tried just putting them up 

all in rows and I really didn't like

that much either!!

these are all the purples and 

blues pretty much...

😕😖😣

[ I also  have a bunch

of Autumn colored ones

sewn into 4-patches.....]

S  I  G  H  

Well, I will have to think of some other way to use them,

I guess.....

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

My Big Scroll is coming along

though....

Here are the first two panels...

I will be starting a new piece to work on this week...

Meanwhile, it is still snowing but our temp has risen to

32.4, so the snow is getting heavier and wetter,,,,,

I don't know if this will last until Christmas--

but that would be so nice if it did...

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(oh-well-euse!!)

 

MONDAY MAKING, et al

I've finished these last two pages for Candice's

Christmas bunting....

I packaged and mailed it out to her this

morning.  I am just hoping that it is

the right length for her mantel...

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

On the machine piecing works

in progress:

These are almost the last of my 2.5" squares

going from (pictured above ready to be sewn)

"Twosies=

into=Foursies" ready to be used in some

future 2026 project....

I am still rounding up some more and will

be steadily sewing these together...

I feel I will be more likely to use them

as "parts" sewn together like this...;)))

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

My other machine project is getting these

neutral Ojos sewn; I still have a lot of

neutral cut offs left to use up.

↡↡↡↡

Here is my stack so far...I have left the

papers on until I use them...

I do really enjoy making these...

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

And my new hand project is 

a scroll to fit this large bobbin that

my Mom had saved from the weaving mill

where my Grand-pere (her Dad) worked:

I am working on this one right now; trying

out new embroidery stitches ....

and below

This first piece is all sewn....↻↻↻

Again just using all little cut offs and

leftover bits of mostly neutral fabrics.

I seem to have centered on these low volumes

lately--perhaps it is my

wish for some snow????

😇😉😊

I will be joining them together with a small

vertical strip as I go; the backing

I am working on is some soft flannel...  

I am enjoying working on these small

pieces and am happy to be using that

"special-to-me" old bobbin 

to hold them...

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

I have no plans for any bigger quilts

right now.....

and will be trying to do some more

smaller pieces that I started and are

in waiting.in the New Year.

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

I see that Tom has brought out our two little

table topper trees just now.....

and the two boxes of

ornaments and decorations...

So, I guess that will be in my schedule for

this coming week....😊

Here is the one in our side tv/sitting room

waiting to be decorated...;))))

[I am trying to not get rushed during

this run up to Christmas, but rather

take my time and enjoy all the

"little" fun things...]

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(small-stitching-euse)

 

DECEMBER FINISH, et al

 

"Sunrise, Sunset" is all bound and

labeled now...I finished her

this morning...

Here are a few more shots:

The reverse and my little label 

[thank you, yes I will accept 

your applause that

I remembered ;)))]

😁

Full revere side shot ↟↟↟

I used both fabrics leftover 

from this side to 

make my binding yesterday...

And here she is 

resting on my Grand-mere's

old caned rocker in my

living room...

And some very special fabric cut offs 

I fussy cut specially:

the darling little girl in her bonnet

and

Another bigger one in the 1/2 sq triangle cut...

and

The pensive ladies, I call them....

I began this whole "Sunrise, Sunset"

hand quilting journey 

the beginning of last April.

So, 7 months' worth...

This has been, along with 

"Blues in the Night" a

really wonderful project 

using the same pattern in

different colors and 

orientations...

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

We are awaiting a storm which may be a combo

of rain, sleet and some snow momentarily.  

Being right on the SE CT coast, 

we often dodge these big snow

events and end up with

mostly rain or sleet...

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

I am now working on my daughter's 

Christmas bunting and have 3 more

little flags to finish up...

Hers will be much longer than mine, as her

mantel is 74" wide!! It is taking some

figuring on the length and tie offs to be

making this without having that mantel to

measure against!! 

And i am notoriously math-challenged.

Fingers crossed that it will turn out 

the right length!!

Here are the next three

and the final 3 I am working on below

These little flags are a joy to work on..😊😍

I get to use a lot of those special bits that have

been saved up over my quilting life...

The Snowman block has all been 

tea dyed by me...I love that color!! 

So vintage!! 

Depending on the final length

 I may have to come up

with another flag????

We shall see...I measured out

74" along my opened dining room

table and will drape it across the edge

of that to see how it will look...

Wish me luck!!💚

🍀🍀🍀🍀;)))

hugs from under our gray skies...

and rain spritzing down,

Julierose,

La Blageuse

(sewing-with-joyousness-euse)