SLOWLY

                                       SUNDAY slow stitching 

Hand work on the deck with my morning coffee....a few little cooling breezes
for a while anyway...

Stitching another block for "Circle of My Life"--
 a different take on 365 circles.....

circling.....through memories.....
the navy squares are very old sun prints I made....they belong in a memory
piece, I thought....

I used ferns, hearts, and doilies to print with.....
becoming a SLOW MOON of stitches....

Meantime... my binding for Cassidy's quilt....is ready to go on.....
Perhaps my back will allow it tomorrow...

I decided to have it showing on the Christmas side and so, 
used a lot of leftover
green and red,  and just green fabric scraps.....

It is S L O W progress....and that is ok.

Hugs to all--hope you quilters with bad backs heal quickly....

Julierose, La Blageuse (hand stitching-euse) 

QAYG FLIMSY

TA DAH!!! Here is Cassidy's quilt (to be named later) ; it is quilted to the batting.

                   I love how the border frames these blocks--the colors worked out just fine....

Here is how the back looks right now--

I'll be tying the backing on soon

I've ironed all seams open and trimmed off extra batting at intersections....

NOW to add this to the back--the Christmas back that I always make for my grandkids'

quilts...

AND...they are almost an exact match in size--just enough extra for "take up" 

as I tie it on....

PHEW!!;--)))

They are now resting on my dining table and I am done (in!!  lol) for today...

Last evening the sky was so pretty right before sunset....

Lovely pinks, lavenders and palest of blues--just a whisper of gray....

against the darkness

settling in.....

hugs

Julierose, La Blageuse  (doing my happy dance-euse)

(DASTERDLY) DEER DESSERT ET AL

Aren't they lovely???

Well, read on.............mes amies

These  (Above) are all "before" the deer came through and

 this is AFTER ;000

Totally eaten...totally cut down....deer dessert!!;;000000

And so I am going to have to dig them up and either Winter them over inside in my backroom fridge or try them elsewhere....

On the quilt front....

I have begun quilting the top and bottom borders now--
HELGA does a nice job..;)))

Here's a closer looksee...Helga's walking foot edge was my measuring stick, so to speak lol

that's one down and one to go...then the side borders...

And that's a Saturday here; we walked on the CT River this morning and we will be having
BLT's with homemade oven french fries for dinner (I, will only be having a
BLT Salad...waaaah....still trying to whittle down my poundage....it is tough...

hugs to you all, (Go Sox, Red, that is!!)
Julierose, La Blageuse (quilting-euse)

BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEWILDERED

So....here are the first four of Cassidy's blocks sewn in a horizontal row....
Aren't they pretty???

Well, that looks pretty good, I'm thinking....(so without putting the next three
rows up on my wall) I mean, I could fudge the "leetle" bit of differences...ya know??

so, I sewed the rows WITHOUT placing them up on the wall .....(hmmmm)

Now, if you follow my blog, you know how upset I was (am) with those white strips being wonky, uneven and raveling..... (sigh!!) 
and I stated that I would butt them up against the straight
 edge of the 2.5" strips....right???

this is what it looks like now...

really, really  pretty fabrics right?? 
BUT, there is a gremlin lurking   .....
can you spot the problem????

Here and

Here and even more so.....

H E R E!  Aaargh!

Nothing is matching--I saw on the Youtube MSQ video-- comments how if you sewed a strip on the left and bottom of all the squares 
it would be easier to, well....to
match the seams....well, then again, maybe not....;(((((

Right now, only horizontal rows are sewn...two more to go.  I am not a seam ripper-outer...just not!!

 And there is just so much fudge-ability (this is a definite word in my quilting dictionary apparently! ;000)

sooo, I really am at an impasse here....
any suggestions--other than ripping out??? 

I was thinking maybe putting a 2.5" lavender strip in between rows (but no plain lavender in my stash!!) 

so here I find myself:

 "bewitched" by the video of MSQ,

"bothered" by wonky strips they recommended and i bought; 

and "bewildered" as to how to F I X this....

Because I L O V E this fabric...and have none left either...

I remain your (very )humbled quilter
Julierose, la Blageuse-in wonkyland

TIGER, TIGER, BURNING BRIGHT

   Monsieur Tigre--I just L O V E these colors....

and these

                             With these  three blocks I now have

eleven done out of 35 almost 1/3rd .....
getting there slowly...
Still loving this fabric line....

And the sun is out today YAY!! Hoping to get a short walk in this afternoon....
hugs to all, Julierose, La Blageuse (sewing-euse)

EENY,MEENY,MY-NIE, MO

The next block in Cassidy's quilt--I love this one....and...........

How can you not think this is scrumptious???.....{heart}

AND

then.......................OMYGOSH   TALK ABOUT BEAUTIFUL COLORS....

[note to self: use these colors on a scrapbook page with B/W photo--YES!!]

These Tula Pink fabrics are just so vibrant....and yet soft.....

I would have a hard time choosing which was my favorite.

I sewed these three together early this afternoon, ooh-ing and ah-ing over each one....
now I have 9 of the 35 done....(Can you find Mrs. Elephant & her crew???? ;)))))

Hugs,
Julierose, La Blageuse (amazed-euse)

SIX ON THURSDAY

First six blocks on Cass' quilt are done...of course they will be separated by white sashing strips in the finished quilt....

I never thought I'd like this yellow, but paired with the impressionistic print
it really sings....Tula Pink knows ;--)))

you can see the pairings
I choose here and...

and here,,I L O V E this one,,, with that shocking pink

and
this one,

There's that purple Cass loves....

So Spring-ey --reminds me of my little parrot tulips, which by the way, fold up every night and then open up when Mr. sun shines--how cute is that????

I am trying to "straighten out" those wonky white strips by placing the center block with the
white onto the 2.5" strips which are "pinked" but straight--WHOA, that white is wavy for sure....

They appear more aligned to me, doncha think??? They are all measuring 11" and I'll be adding 1.5" white strips (which I may end up cutting myself(!!) as separators....

We had FROST again last night, but now it is a lovely 57.3 degrees, and the wind has dropped--
which is lovely.  Hoping to sit out a bit around noon time and get some Vitamin D...

I hope you peeps are having a lovely day sewing...

hugs, Julierose, La Blageuse (slow sewing-euse)

BLOCK NO. 1

Here she is--BLOCK NO. 1 --34 left to go....I L O V E those Tiger Eyes peeking out.....

                           It is a bit wonky.. ya think???(actually MORE than a bit!!)

.and I am totally blaming the Kona Honeybun strips I am using !!
                                            --why you ask (as well you may):

 Because they ravel TERRIBLY!! As a matter of fact the threads got caught
in my feed dogs many times while I was sewing!!

 And they looked like they were TORN and not cut when I opened them up!!
                                                        :--0000

I had purchased them quite a while ago from MSQ Co.---  so kinda surprised....
                                                         :--(((

And, too long ago to return or get replaced---so going with them...what is it they say--???

                                                   Go With The Flow
See ya--
Hugs, Julierose  La Blageuse (not!! lol)
AND
Later on.....after (isn't there always a before and after??)

P.S.  AND today I threw my back out somehow--canNOT figure out what I did either--
I just turned to get out of the car and WHAM BAM--
so icing, Aleve, and PT exercising again....(BOOOOO!!)

P.P. S.  so , instead of sewing or scrapping or anything else, really!!

am reading a new series--By C.C. Benison
 "Ten Lords A-Leaping (he uses the Twelve Days of Christmas as titles ---
 12 being the first one...)
VERY British and VERY funny.... ouch--don't laugh so hard....lol

NOW for the the good news.....;))))))

P.P.P.S..DH got me a Canon Selphy printer for my upcoming  May birthday---
Just SOOOOO Thrilled to bits....;--)))))
AND
 a new lens for my camera--what a guy!!

CASSIDY'S QUILT ( aka Confession)

I ORDERED THIS FABRIC LINE IN A  CHARM PACK AND MATCHING JELLY ROLL
 to make the MSQ Co.'s "Square in a Square" quilt for Cassidy's quilt FRONT.
{finally, a decision}

 Her favorite colors are purple and lime , and I really L O V E this grouping of colors in this Free Spirit line.  I already have the white honey bun needed to make this pattern....and it's EASY  ;--))).  (Or looks easy)

THIS will be my new project to get my quilting mojo back once more..............

For:
I have been wandering around my craft room and doing scrapbooking and then kind of feeling like something has been missing.  I have been reading, looking at my stash, looking at my stash
AGAIN... and, looking yet again--and nothing has struck me-- for her colors are almost
non-existant in there....

(Also, my first Easter holiday without Mom kind of made me sad once more
 and mopey)
;--((((....

and so,
I KNOW I could have fiddled about and found  something from my stash--
and I probably should have--

BUT this kind of LOOKS like my granddaughter...and so....I broke with my fabric diet....
I have been a VERY good gal before this....and this fabric, well, you can see for yourselves
it is sooooo gorgeous...I think she'll love it...

.(Looking on the MSQ Co site is akin to going to" look at " puppies-
-there is no way you will go home without one...LOL!!)

And that's the news on this rain-swept Monday ..My darling .DH is poking around
 at Home Depot and I am having my cuppa and planning a nice roast beef dinner
for us--with mashed potatoes, gravy and a tossed salad--
 (my healthy choice ).

Hugs,
Julierose, La Blageuse (Naughty-euse   ;--000)

TESTING, TESTING

Here's the top 1/3rd of my Test quilt for Cassidy; (it may, in fact, 
turn out to be her quilt--we'll see--it's not purple--but then I could put that color on
the back after all)....hmmmmm

I am finally using a jelly roll (yay) from Moda-- Three Sisters--
 called "Etchings" which I have had for eons....and I love dearly

I have never made a jelly roll quilt before and am using the pattern "Cinched"
from Hydee's  blog (which I absolutely L O V E--and for which she wrote a 
fabulous tutorial).................{thanks Hydeeann;--)) }

AND, of course, being "MOI", I am changing it jut a weensey bit. 

 Her finished quilts--oh yes she made two--amazing!!--are 60 x 70 --
which is too big for my needs--

So, friends,  instead of 30  (2.5" ) strips across, I took off 5 strips which should
yield somewhere around 49-50" in width.
  
And on the length I am aiming for @ 60" .  

I was looking for a "simple to sew" pattern and after seeing all those
 "Gypsy Wives" around the internet (E N V Y) 
and knowing it's way too complicated for me--I chose this as
one that has a similar look....(stay tuned) .

I am also using my big 9-patches as leader-enders as I sew the strips two by two--

Here is a picture of my Valentine's Card for my honey (that is DH of course...
( heh heh !!)

  
I used watercolor paper (heavy weight) and I can see (as this is the first card
 I have made===and really just a "test") ....that I wouldn't use that 
again--and perhaps a darker black....

But it was fun using these really cute "Lawn Fawn" stamps (my favorite right now).
Talk about getting ink all over though--I need to practice....for sure....
not as easy as it looks or sounds...

AND, (sigh) it is snowing yet again here and still really cold....AND
tomorrow, (the day we were supposed to go to my son's) they've predicted
freezing rain....so we will go another day sometime this week.

ON THE SCRAP FRONT: 

This morning I went to JoAnne's and got a Fiskars Round punch on sale and a cute
sticky words book from the Tim Holtz brand...

plus, I ordered a set of the most darling papers from an online site
with (natch!) roses on them and a lot of B&W--which I love....
I will share them with you when they arrive (can't wait!!)....

I finished scrapbooking all our Christmas photos on Saturday and Sunday and spent time watching some great videos of Tori and Shimelle on YouYube--these gals are such
talented scrappers...

Well, I wish you all a
                                   HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY

Hugs Julierose, La Blageuse (Wannabe A "Gypsy-euse" )