GARDEN STUFF

                       Thom planted this little maple up in our front yard from
             where it was lost behind my big rock and was
                  crowding out my rosebush...

It should add some lovely color looking out from our tv room...

Oh and see that big green thing--our water company is re-doing all the piping system 
in our area and they store their stuff on our cul- de-sac until their work is done....
[some view huh??]
************************************

My white iris peeked out this morning and I can see my purple ones are
just about ready to come out...
and you can just see the edge of my
low growing azalea's pink blooms...
here is the full bush⇊⇊⇊⇊

                              such a pretty soft pink...

                     This deep black/purple iris stands as a lonely sentinel in our front rock
                     garden in front of our patio seating area just by our front doorway....
                           Still wrapped up tightly.....
and lastly:

                     My one peony bush, transplanted from our old house,
                        waves its tightly closed buds in the chilly winds 
                          by our big rock.
                              This whole area has a lot of ledges, 
                                   some underground and some
                                    that have thrust up to the surface
                                       like this one...
                                          For some reason I love rocks...

         They do make a lovely backdrop for my daffodils in the early Spring and 
                the peony and my wild rose bush in the Summertime...

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Unfortunately we are overrun with poison ivy and poison oak in this area....
Thom has just gotten over a really bad case--so we are a bit hesitant to
go digging around too much...not to mention our "backs" which now
complain a lot...

Since we've moved here (gosh now has it been 11 years?  ;0000)
I haven't done a whole lot of planting or gardening...I want to add some
containers to house  annuals this year...
If the garden centers ever open up).

I saved marigold seeds from last year's
crop and am going to plant two containers of them this week...
and some culinary herbs ----back permitting...

I hope you had a sunny day and were able to get outside....
gardening is so good for the soul....
~ ~ ~ waving my memorial day flag 

Julierose, La Blageuse (dreaming of gardening-euse)

IT'S A RAINY AFTERNOON

                                      Working on:  My cross stitch Butterfly

                   I have been doing a lot of hand quilting lately
                            and I feel the need to  change 
                                         it up for a bit....
Here follows---
The Back Story:
                                                                 ↡↡↡↡

                               I had gotten this kit quite a while ago....
                                        So so pretty, and in the stamped
                                                  cross stitch I prefer doing...
BUT 
every 👹time I took it out I found
it to be SO big and SO unwieldy 
that I would fold it
up and put it away...😢 sadly......

It did not come with any floss, but as I have been embroidering with DMC floss
for a very long time [this was the very first craft that my Grand-mere taught me]
I have many colors tucked away...

When I took it out a few days ago--
I decided to cut the butterfly blocks apart...

WHY NOT???? I didn't want to work on it
as it was anyway--
and--
the blocks were marked with blue dotted outlines--
so this was a simple fix-- and now it is a lot easier to handle...

But wait...where were the instructions and the chart for DMC colors...????
I looked👀 high and I looked 👀 low-- Nowhere to be found
  👹
[And, evidently, they are still hiding in that place where all our "lost" items go...]

BUT, I do have the picture;  and I've decided to do all the
black outlining first. 

[Obviously putting off the color
choices I will have to make on my own. ]

So,  that is where I am starting with this. 

It seems that I will be improving again--
this time, in my embroidery ---
figuring out the colors from only the picture...;0000
WISH ME LUCK....💝

~ ~ ~ Waving in the torrential rains~ ~ ~  
Julierose, La Blageuse (stitching the afternoon away-euse)

"4TH OF JULY BASKETS" DECISIONS

                                                    4th OF JULY BASKETS
                Here they are as of last night on my design wall
                                    16 blocks in all.

They could be configured as below;

what do you think?-- 
or do you like them better all in rows????
then the "baskets" look👀👀 like baskets....
or in long, vertical columns....

Amazing how different they can look.....
                                                     ↡↡↡↡

                                                   Ojos Di Dios fashion....💗💓👸
                                                     Decisions decisions....
*******************************************

I am also auditioning different fabrics for sashings....
         the left one is the same as the handles; 
               center  is blue/gray with polka dots--
so far my favorite (I think??) 
                and that lovely batik iris piece on the right....

Here are a couple blocks featuring Lizzy's  {click}
thoughtful and generous 
scrap bundle she sent me:      ↶↶↶↶↶

                                     See that brilliant red and gray,
                                      the little patterned batik, and
                                      the plaid angled piece...they
                                     were all part of her bundle....

Thank you, Lizzy--you really inspired these baskets for me...;)))

I had been riffling through my container of leftover hubby pj's and
shirts to see what I could use and these helped me to pull it all
together....sometimes, I think just a few little pieces can send 
a spark of "AHA" to your brain and you say: 

                                "Yup--this is how I want/need to go".

So now comes the waiting and the re-arranging and 
the decision time....
I will set them all four ways over this Memorial Day
weekend and see what happens....

I am wishing you and yours a safe and happy 
MEMORIAL DAY weekend...please wear your mask
and social distance for everyone's safety.....
~ ~ ~ waving from my deck on this lovely day~ ~ ~ 

Julierose, La Blageuse (pondering-euse)



                                      

     

BASKETS AND SNOWBALLS

                    The bottom 3 blocks are this weekend's works.....

I have been slowing down to allow my back to heal and taking 
frequent rests from sitting at my machine....

Today I was able to prep 6 more handle parts to prepare for some
sewing later on this week....

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

And here are the           ⥥⥥⥥⥥

next two 

Merry Month of May
 blocks....




And the following three
 so that I am  now caught up to today's block

                                         so 18 of these done so far...

12 more to go for 30; and on the 31st, I hope to have received the 
sashing fabric I have ordered; although these days, who knows???

******************************
Tomorrow I have to go food shopping, so it will be an early wake up call for
senior hours; hoping I can sleep tonight.....aren't we all just so weary these
days????

Stay safe-- despite the many openings this week;0000

Julierose, La blageuse ( weary-euse)

4TH OF JULY PREVIEW, ET AL

                                      I don't have a 4th of July quilt.....

Yesterday during my room clean-up, I found a container of my husband's
old pj castoffs--deboned and cut into strips...

And having wanted to make myself a basket quilt for yonks, I decided to make these.....

The bases are sewn onto telephone book papers and the resulting blocks
measure 7.5".  I will be working on these off and on.....

The lovely flowery bits are from a squishy mail package from Lizzy who kindly 
sent them to me...I love her vintage-looking fabrics and her own basket piece...
Thanks so much for thinking of me, Lizzy....  :))
*********************************************
Meanwhile,

I am working on tying SIL's zig-zag quilt using Valdani thread 
and a  Sailor's knotting --
I thought this a good choice as a lot of the 
fabrics are Sea oriented....
&     &     &     &     &     &     &....
I first pinned the whole quilt, then machine sewed three stabilizing
vertical rows...

                  

 



before beginning

the tying


process....

                                      I am set up on our dining table with my sweater blocking
                                       mat underneath the quilt....

                        I am doing the points first in white on the white and then will
                                be adding more ties in the centers of the zig-zags...
                                              these will end up being about
                                                   a fist's width apart...over the entire top...   

I prefer the "feel" of a tied quilt myself,
so much softer than the big stitch I have 
been closely sewing on my table toppers and wall hangings...
for those,
I feel that closer quilting helps to
flatten out the pieces for better hanging...

 [ AND:   blogger keeps changing my font!!???]  WHY????
**********************************************

The sun is emerging slowly and it is 66 degrees this morning....
Still a cool breeze coming out of the North, but perhaps some
deck sitting will be possible this afternoon...
I need a new portable handwork project...I will be looking at what I have ongoing....
*********************
Tonight will be "Breakfast for Supper" which I really love....;))) yum

~ ~ ~ waving under milky skies~ ~ ~
Stay safe
Julierose, La Blageuse (tying-euse)




                                       

THURSDAY TOTALS

                     Luckily, I saved this one square for my Merry Month of May...
                   this is for the 13th and will be doing today's block later....

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

                                             Four new 16-Patch Squared ....
                             I love how those leaves in the top left one
                                just came together--
                                   totally serendipity....;))) 
                                      12 of these done...

****************************************
And something beautiful to raise your spirits as it did mine;)))⇊⇊⇊

                   Here is the Mother's Day and Birthday bouquet my son
                       and family sent me....
                           I love those little white roses 
                                  and the snapdragons...;)))


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

                    I now have 63 Courthouse Steps made.....
                      (7 by 9 = 63 ) which doesn't even come close
                        to covering even just the
                          top of our king bed....

                             I have put these on a bit of a hold ----
                               while I set up to quilt the SIL's 
                                 "Sailing into the Future" quilt
                                    I hope to set up Helga for
                                      quilting tomorrow, and work on it through
                                           this weekend...

  I want to get  this off of my dining table and get it D O N E!!!

**************************************************
We, at least, have a nice sunny day today (not even thinking about
the storms headed our way for tonight and tomorrow!!); 000
I hope to take a little stroll around my yard to see 
what is going on (if anything)
with my various little garden spots...

I hope you are staying safe ---

~ ~ ~ waving while walking~ ~ ~ ~ 
Julierose, La Blageuse (deciding on quilting-euse)

PLAYING CATCH UP

                             

                                                May  11th
And for today May 12th:↴↴↴

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

                                                Next two 16-patch squared...
~ ~ ~ waving in the sun
Julierose, La blageuse (running in place-euse)