FLOWERING, et al

 

My big front-yard Iris

in bloom...

It smells like grapes;)))

Also my Rhodie has begun

its yearly plethora of

flowering

↓↓↓↓↓

I do like this color bloom...

Almost a lavender-pink-ey hue...

Looks like Spring has begun here...

Pretty hot today, but not the 

scorcher they predicted..

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

My Fabric Journal "Beautiful Bird

and Favorite Color" page is

finished...

Flying away home...

Some beading and some 

wayward French knotting...

to add some interest

and a bit of lace at the bottom...

I kantha stitched this little bit of 

binding on the 

edge also...

All the fabrics in this series are raw edge...

This has been my favorite prompt so far...

We have one more for

 this group of

pages in this style...

This has been a lovely Sunday--hot, but not humid;

we are sitting out on our deck after our

bbq hot dog and potato salad

welcome to Spring dinner...

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(Enjoying-the-warmth-euse)

HAPPY MAIL ;)))

 

Look what arrived in my afternoon mail today!!

All these goodies for my Journal Pages Journey;)))

Thanks so much Lizzy 💖💝;)))

[click to visit her site]

This totally adorable little print:

↧↧↧↧

AND

These mushroom fabrics...

I just love mushroom prints...

and that cute little bird...

All so perfect for

future journal pages...

More lovely fabrics  to work with...

and

all these little bits for

decoration

↧↧↧↧

Including crochet lace and 

a lovely light blue lace strip.

What a truly beautiful and 

generous gift.

thank you so much, Lizzy;

you made my day..

👯

Go and see Lizzy's lovely blog 

at 

"Gone2thebeach.blogspot.com"

to see her beautiful photos and

quilt works...

hugs,

Julierose

La blageuse

(grateful-euse)

36 SQUARED, et al

I am continuing to get these

36-square blocks together.

Now there are nine

and

I still have a lot of mini

charms left...

It takes me two days of

limited sewing

to get one block assembled.

And...

I try to set out the next one

in readiness for my next

shortened sewing

session...

I am liking how they 

look all together--

very soothing somehow...

;)))

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

Here is my latest hexagon rosette

finish:

I have quite a stack of them now...

14 so far and there is still more

fabric in the Kismet Line to be

die cut...

I haven't removed any papers

as yet until I decide

how I will be putting them 

together...

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

L👀👀k

at what is about to burst

into bloom in our front 

rock garden

↡↡↡↡

What should be a lovely

deep purple iris...

and

a few daffodils are still

waving in the breeze:

This variety 

(I've forgotten the name!)

is a very light hue--

so soft and sweet

;)))

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

We have had fog all day

long and the humidity

has risen a lot...

so not comfortable out there.

Hoping for a nice weekend...

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(also-still-stitching-euse)

 

FABRIC JOURNAL: BEAUTIFUL BIRD PAGE

 

I have set up my 

"Beautiful Bird

and Favorite Color"

page to be 

tacked down...

This week is designated

for "composition".

I had a couple leftover

KF charm pack charms that

seemed to echo this 

Bird's coloring

just right;))

These fabrics are all scraps

and leftovers--except

for my Beautiful Bird--

which I cut from my

hoarded piece of 

Tula Pink 1/2 yard piece...

I have begun doing 

some kantha stitchery

on the purple piece and

my leftover bit of Batik...

and I will finish tacking 

everything

in place before I begin

embroidering...

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

I tried sitting outside on

our deck planning

to work on tacking, 

but

the wind was too

strong...

Very gusty and still

quite chilly despite

our warming temperatures...

Here is a picture from outside

that shows the brilliant

colors to better advantage:

I am planning to do a lot

more embroidery on 

this one...

and quilting around 

the clouds..

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

Dinner Menu:

😋😍😎

Tonight we are having 

black bean burritos

with sour cream and 

guacamole sides...

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(still-stitching-euse)

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS

Since my long hiatus from

sitting at my sewing machine--

aka "Helga" ;)))

I have begun trying to use up all

my mini charms; I had sewn them

into twosies as 

"leader-enders"

before this back issue occurred.

Also, I found that nothing really

"sent me" after being away

so long....

(to use a really old

saying from the 50's 

remember that tune 

"You Send ME..??) 

Nothing felt right to me-- 

nothing at all; 

since I haven't been able

to sit and sew...

I don't know why, but 

everything was all a-jumble

in my mind...

AND

So, I've decided to 

"START AT THE BEGINNING"

so to speak.

[See title" When All Else Fails]

The first quilt I ever made was

for my Father and just was green 8"

squares; tied...and had a plain

solid green back...

It resides on our spare room bed

for the summer months...

I was so proud of finishing this one;

Mom helped me to tie it and then I gave it 

to Dad for his birthday...and

it still lives on...don't you

love how quilts last

so long....💚💗

SO...

This week I began sewing

the twosies into 36 piece blocks...

My skills have  ummm...

"slipped" a bit...

it seems (seams!!)

[matching seam crossings

and that pesky 1/4" !!].

So this will be a good practice 

for me...and I can do just

a few at a time..

I had collected so many

(a ga-zillion, I think!!)

;(((

mini charms to use for

my "Postage Stamp" 

fling...and was gifted

many more...

This will fulfill my need to sew

while hopefully using up

most, if not all, of those

mini charms...

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

I am slowly returning to a semblance

of normality here--

Able to exercise a bit and walk

a bit--still icing and being

super careful...

I want to thank all of you who 

sent me such good wishes and

encouraging mail; it really

kept my spirits from flagging

throughout all this...

💕💖💝

I am sending you my best

wishes for

A Wonderful Mother's Day

this weekend....

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(Still-square-ish-"after-all-these-years")

[Apologies to Paul Simon..];)))

APRIL FINISH

 

I've finished up my

April fabric journal

page...

Here is a close up of the

tree bark I added using

chain stitching with

mixed threads...

↧↧↧↧

I noticed that I had pulled

the chains too tightly and

had a lot of fabric puckers--

 so

I turned the piece over and misted

the whole thing and pinned it out

on my ironing board to dry

overnight...

[you learn something with

each project, don't you?]

👵😌

Still a couple little places

that wouldn't stretch out left, 

but I may try a bit of steam

ironing to flatten it a bit more...

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

May's prompt is:

"Favorite Color and Beautiful Bird"

I have a bird fabric in my stash

and

 for some strange reason

no one color 

springs to my mind--

?????

Mine used to be blue, then peach,

and now?????

I like them all--

maybe I should use a printed

background or 

another one of my hand dyes...

I will have ponder this and 

look at colors...

It's really strange that nothing

springs to mind...

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(pondering-euse)

APRIL FABRIC JOURNAL PAGE, et al

 

Here is the beginning of my 

"Cottage and Old Quilt"

 page for April

in its beginning stages...

I used my own hand dyed 

fabric for the evening sky

background...

And,

as I said last time, I don't have

any old quilt that I would cut into== 

So, I took this older leftover fabric and

quilted it for the roof...I 

thought it looked like the last Autumn

leaves had landed there...

My cottage is a simple one--

 using an old batik fabric--

a favorite of mine-- 

and I outlined the tree

with freehand backstitches...

using a frixion pen so I can

iron out any ones I decide to

change up.

I plan on filling in the tree with

chain stitches to simulate the

bark...

I added the moon and the

clouds for a little whimsical

note...as this piece looked a

bit on the somber side 

The bottom 

[to be ruched] fabric is 

some sari silk I had leftover

from my crazy quilting pieces...

adding a bit more color. I will embroider

grasses over that and perhaps a 

few beads for a bit of sparkle..

And so, now that most pins are 

off --as I invisible stitched the

background and house and moon,

I am ready to begin 

my embroidery

journey....

:)))

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

I have set up my Kismet Rosettes

onto this background fabric to

be appliqued in place...

I haven't as yet removed

the papers or really decided if

I like it like this....

So, it is simmering 

for a bit...

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

It is a bit warmer [thank goodness!] 

here this Sunday.

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

{hand-stitching-euse}