HOME IS WHERE MY HEART IS, et al

 

Here is my scaled down version of 

"Home is Where My Heart is":

Now 8.5/11" +/-.

I have the top third invisibly basted in place and I

will be removing the pins as I baste the

rest this week.  

I have left room for embroidery this time...

Here is a little close up of the pretty

tea cups across the bottom:)))

I do drink a lot of tea so I thought it

would feature in this panel...

The second panel I prepped will

be for embroidering the title--

so, I have just used a collage of

low value fabrics. 

They are

basted in place,

but I need to cover

 the seams with stitching...

before I set up the sentiment...

A couple of pieces feature in the

house panel also..

I don't yet know what the 3rd panel will be...

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

I had two small lego pieces leftover

and decided to make them into

placemats with this lovely 

book background fabric:

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

And 

Here are the next two pages in my 

Junque Journal to be written in...

the pink card on the left flips over

for journaling...

The back of this facing page reveals

a large journaling area...

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

It is a super beautiful day here,

warmer temps and sunshine

definitely a deck day...

probably one of the last

of this year...

Enjoy💓

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(stitching-euse)

STITCHING GREMLINS, et al

 

Remember me?????

"Home is Where My Heart Is"

Well, it now looks like this:

Home is where My Heart WAS!!!!!

↧↧↧↧

I HAD to take it all apart as the sheet I was using for the backing piece

keep stretching and bunching up no matter how much I sewed it down...

It had a lot of "Polly-Wolly-Polyester" in it I guess...

:((((((((((((

Noooooooooo!!!!

I just could not make it behave--so I ripped out all my stitching--

yep until 1 am last night👽👻👹!!!

I could not see continuing on fighting it like this...

This time around I will use a

 solid COTTON

backing 

or a linen...

LIVE AND LEARN!!!

Here is a picture of that  offending sheet:

{bad sheet, bad sheet}

S  I  G  H  

What a total nightmare and waste of time...

BUT...lesson learned

Mr, Sheet has gone out in the recycle

today...;;;HAH!!!

Take that!!!

So, 

I put all the bits and pieces and various

off-cuts into a big container to await my

next attempt--maybe not too soon...

S  I  G  H...

Random sewing is not as simple as it looks 

👀👹👀

BUT...

I am not giving up

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

Now for some happier news:

I finished the August

block-- 

Sunflower-- 

yesterday....

Now I will start on Mr. Squirrel

who is September...

I am catching up 

slowly but surely...

My stitches are not perfect, but

they are getting better as I go along...

')))))

Here is the project photo included

with the kit...

SO.....

Only four more blocks and then

I can do the x'x borders, add some 

little beads (included),

and then make it into a wall hanging...

Just sewing with two long lengths 

of thread per day

yields good results 

and doesn't

seem to impact my hands...

;)))))

I hope you are all enjoying these 

last mild days before

Mr. Winter blows in...

I do look forward to seeing

snow each year; last year

we only had a 

few flakes of it...

;((((

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

[getting-over-myself-euse]

QUIET DAYS, et al

 

I have made some progress on my

embroidery project...

S  L  O  W  L  Y...

I've finished May, June, and July--

And am now working on August...

I only do two thread lengths per day

to save my hands from cramping...

Stopping in the middle of stuff is totally

new to me--I always have pushed on

to "finish" whatever--but 

time does bring changes and

I am trying to S L O W myself

down...

I had begun this piece with the thread

that came with the kit--so, as some of you

who are "eagle eyed" can spot--

that thread had a very "orange cast" to it.

I don't like that for redwork--so I 

 switched to a better red:

DMC Perle cotton ( 8)

Color 902:

a lovely deep, dark red...

↓↓↓

Can you see?  Can you see?

The little heart-shaped flowers are

that deeper red that I am using...

I like my choice so much better...

:))))))

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

The other project I have worked on is

a "Spine-ish" catalogue glue book

which I plan to use to practice 

collage and layering--which seems

to be very very difficult for me to

grasp.!!! 👺👿👀

The idea of covering up lovely

pictures--

( or pieces of fabric for that matter)

doesn't seem to make any sense to me...

So this is a concept 

I am experimenting with in

this new gluebook I've concocted.

I took a mail order catalogue and

folded each page to the middle and

glued it into place and then

used washi tape reinforce 

each spine area:

Here you can see the pages are now 

half-sized vertically and have 

washi tape for strengthening...

It is a clothing catalogue and the

pages are just as they came to me;

I will be adding my own collages over them..

It should be challenging to see what to

cover and what to leave in place...

Nice change from starting with 

all-white, plain pages.

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

Tomorrow morning, Tom and

I are going for our senior flu shots...

and hoping that we don't have any 

reactions...;((((

We have an appointment for 11 a.m.

Soooo

I will be preparing everything for

our dinner ahead of time just

in case I start to feel funky...

👽👽👽

I will be making my Chinese Chicken Hoisin

in my wok over steamed rice...

This is one of our favorite meals...

Take care and enjoy this long weekend

ending with Columbus Day...

hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(stitching-away-euse)

STARRY-EYED JACK IS BACK ;))), et al

 

Welcome OCTOBER:))))

This was an especially fun patten to make

along with Lizzy, a few years ago..

Welcome back, Jack:)))

I also have put out my Fall/Orange pieces:

This hangs on my dining room wall 

the 2nd Jan Patek piece 

I've made with some of my

very first appliqueing efforts...

and with my all-time 

favorite Cherries fabric...

AND.....

here are a couple of table toppers....

in my scrappy style:

All just cut-offs on this one....↟↟↟

AND

My "Orange You Glad"..Ojos...

with that pretty "Pears" fabric 

scattered throughout.

Yesterday afternoon at cocktail hour (4 p.m.),

I lit my pumpkin scented candle

that warmed our room while we had 

a special treat of Prosecco

before having 

"Chef Tom's" Marinara Sauce

for dinner...

↓↓↓

My candle lies on an old glass dish 

of my Grand-mere's 

surrounded by dried roses that Tom

gave me for our anniversary...

and shells we've gathered...

Such wonderful memories surround us...

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

Here is a project a began in 2021!!!!

I have picked it up again to do just a 

bit each day...↧↧↧

My favorite Redwork...

So, it is the month of May block

I am working on

right now 

{not "June in January" like that old song}.

Hahaha

Here is the project booklet⇊⇊⇊

This is definitely 

Right Brain work 

and so, slows me down a lot...

I am using "stab stitch"

and a hoop for this work.

"Home is where my Heart Is"

WIP -is certainly

 a left-brain effort;)))))

Nice to balance one to the other...

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

Today I get my haircut--

fingers crossed that the 2nd cut

with this new hairdresser goes

as well as the 1st one did!! 

You just never know ;)))

Hugs, 

Julierose

La Blageuse

(slowly-stitching-versus-wracking-my-brain-euse)

HOME IS WHERE MY HEART IS PROGRESS

 

When I began pinning and

basting I realized two things

Very quickly!!!!

No. 1:

This is too big for me to handle,,,,

Now What?????

Hmmmmm....

So with my 💜in my mouth...

I peeled back the 2nd 3rd layer 

of fabric above the bottom

and cut the backing--

So I will be working on this bottom third first...

and then when I join the overlaps from the middle 3rd

will cover the join....

It is all pinned and I've begun the invisible basting ......

so much easier to handle..

.

And, as you can see, it has changed 

yet again in the process...!!!

Since this is all things I love 

about and around my home, 

I added mushrooms.... 

two of them cause I 

REALLY like mushrooms ;)))

and a pretty decorated plate, 

teacups, and buttons...

which you can see in the 1st shot above...

AND...

a little house Fairy 💃

See her here>>>>

Now, if she would just come and clean house for me!!!!

😀😁😂😄

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

I also have learned--

  No. 2:

That using an old sheet 

(one that is part poly!!) 

is NOT a good

idea; 

it is not stable and is 

quite slippery!!!!

;((((((

So,

I will replace the 

last two backings

with muslin....

And....

Thank goodness for phone 

cameras as I have taken

shots to see the placement of the 

sections...as I will be

unpinning and putting them on

the muslin....

You never stop learning.....

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(Basting-euse)

SUNDAY'S SCRAPPY STORM , et al

My dining room table is somewhere underneath all that stuff!!;)))

I have pulled out all the scraps and cut-offs I could find and

laid them all out here ...

Here's a view from the other side of my table 

looking into my dining room,,

It's a good thing we are not expecting any company for dinner

anytime soon....hahaha...

.

It took me 2-3 days to gather everything and

try to put stuff in "like" piles for use...

The rectangle in the midst of all this bounty

is my new slow stitching project;

an "assemblage" of sorts--

I really don't know what to call it...

I have been watching "Railway Cottage Studio"

on youtube and here is a camera shot

of her work in progress:

It looks so very different from mine..but I  am using it as an

idea springboard to try to make my panel wall hanging..

.

She has collected a plethora of thrifted vintage table scarves, 

French fabrics, and old needlepoint canvases...

among tons of other things which, of course, I don't have...

But you can see how this 

idea "called my name:--))

collaging with fabric instead of papers....

Be still my 💓!!! 

I am giving this a try just for fun...

There is a small side wall between my tv 

room and my dining room that needs

something....I am hoping

this can be it...;))

Below is just the very beginning of my 

"base" layer which I've only laid out

on an old piece of bed sheet....

Nothing is pinned in place and I cannot

tell you how many times things have been moved about!! 

Just auditioning everything before I pin it all in place

and then baste it all down...by hand...

{this picture is kind of "washed-out in color, 

it is much more vibrant--

today is a gray day and the overhead light

changes the colors way too much!!}

It is:

Pretty much all cherished fabrics 

trying to live together ....

And...

See that dark brown, old piece of velvet ?

It came as a remnant from my

 Grand-pere, who worked in

the Norwich Fabric Mill and used to bring 

cut offs to my Grand-mere for her sewing..

It has been sitting in my stash FOREVER!!

I will need to iron it and cut only what I need

for that spot --hoping I'll still have a bit leftover....

.

I HAD to put that in  for sure...

💝

I am calling this"

"Home is Where My Heart Is"

Here are a few houses that made it

through the culling process:

That ribbon , again washed out, is really a lighter greener green...

and

Midway on the right is this homestead...with that green

washed out also--my phone doesn't like greens, I guess!!

and, lastly,

This home, which I think reminds me of the residences 

we saw on our Big Trip to Italy...

had to go in, right?

It sits, 

amid a bevy of owls, my coffee dyed pear,

and the cheery sunflowers...

with a bit of Old Italian lace and

lovely old trees..up there in the 

left hand corner...

A lot of the fabrics are culled from 

various Cathe Holden prints

that I purchased a while back...

And I am using a total mixture 

of old and new...

I will tell you this, it 

takes courage to CUT INTO a lot of

these....👀😕😔👀 that I have

hoarded over the years...

{and actually I am ripping whenever I can

to get those frayed edges

that I really want in this one}

Right now, I keep on changing out 

[and putting back in!!]

small bits and bobs ==

But, I do  

have to make a decision

that it's ok as is

at some point....

For, of course,

I realize that 

I can always add

on embellishments--

sort of crazy quilt style, with 

fancy stitching and a few yo-yos and 

hexagons scattered about...

I hope, when it is basted, I can roll it

up and take it wherever I want to 

sit stitch on it...

But for today, it

  is resting.

But, what fun to use all these precious

memory-laden fabrics....;)))

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

Tonight's menu is:

BBQ'D Bourbon marinated steak tips, 

home fries and salad....

and some Prosecco 

beforehand...😂😇😉

Hugs, 

on a gray 

and rainy afternoon--

Julierose, La Blageuse

(amidst-try-outs-euse)