IT'S THE BERRIES, et al

 

👹STRAWBERRIES UN-PICKING...👿

I began doing this hand quilting two days ago....

 B  U  T  .......

When I turned the pice

 over 

the whole backing was 

all bunched up!! 

This has never happened to me before...

👾

So this morning I began

taking out all the 3 rows 

I had done...

luckily I caught it early on...

I will be un-pinning next and re-ironing this piece and 

cutting out behind the appliqued pieces....

I think maybe that extra fabric

behind the appliques 

had something to do with it

And....

perhaps I wasn't careful enough 

with the pinning.?????

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

Here is my interpretation of

#Hillside Heart Prompts for this

week--which are:

"Playful" 

and 

"Singing in the Rain"

{you can click to enlarge any pix}

It's an outdoor concert--

[see orchestra on the right]

and The tenor (L) 

brought his kitty 

with her umbrella 

to listen...

😂

Across the street 

these skaters are 

groovin'

to the music...

and don't mind 

skating in the rain...

😁💦

[that's my story and I am 

sticking with it haha]

These were difficult prompts

for me--it took me quite a 

while to even marshal

my thoughts into what I

would use from my

magazines...

I couldn't find any 
rainy day pix 

so I used my white 

gel pen to draw

 raindrops and puddles..

what fun!!!

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

My Junque Journal's next pages 

are set up:

I put in quite a few journaling cards

so that I can take a little page prep

break....

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

We are having a lovely, soft, and wet snowfall this

morning --

covering everything into

little mounds...

So pretty.....

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

Tom is making his 

spaghetti sauce today

so no cooking for me...

😉😋😍

I will just toss a little side

salad for us to go with....

Y  U  M

Hugs, Julierose,]

La Blageuse

(ribbit-ribbit-euse)

..

FIRST REAL SNOW OF THE SEASON, et al

 

Here's our view from the  tv room on the

East side of our house...

I love how my climbing rose looks with

its snow frosting;)))

Tom put up those solar "flaming" lights

on each post--at night they just glow

and really do look like flames!! 

[My "10 yr old self" just loves to

watch them hahahaha].

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

Two of my Christmas Cacti are just

beginning to set bloom:

This lovely white one...

and

I am not sure if this is the yellow one???

We shall see...

The other two are stubbornly just 

waiting......👿

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

After yesterday's post--

here are the 3 I have finally

chosen to work on...

Early this morning, before I ventured out

into our frigid weather (Brrr 6 windchill),

I found what I think can be the backings for the

Christmas Strawberries

16" wide tablerunner.  

The rest of the red berries print used on the front

and this lovely leftover Christmas landscape

I found at the bottom of my Christmas box...

I am going for Christmassy prints as

these Strawberries do look like 

Christmas in their reds and greens...

to me...

I hope to sew this backing together

and layer 

this up 

this afternoon...

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

On this cold cold day I am cooking

us a chicken dinner with

all the fixins'--

[I cheated by purchasing 

a pre-cooked bird just

big enough for the two

of us with enough left

over for sandwiches

tomorrow...]

:'))))))

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(hoping-to-just-be-"whelmed"-

per-you-,Naan,-euse)

;)))

WIPS OVERLOAD, et al

 

I pulled out all my little pieced tops

this morning--I have some 

32-- 

yes, 

THIRTY-TWO!!--

In various stages of finishing...

YIKES!!!

👀😢😕👀

and 

All these above,

on the ironing board, 

are at least sewn together..

not orphan blocks...

[I haven't even counted those or

corralled them even....]

I am so overwhelmed--

👹👽💀

but this is just 

STEP ONE..

and ↶↶↶↶

Not counting these two which I have

unpinned and set aside for now.

{Why not start a NEW

WIP pile, right???}

WHAT????

Really????

These are just pinned up ↨↨↨

Willy-Nilly as they are in

the same colorways...

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

I left the room shortly after

doing this bit....

I have sort of put them in 

these categories:

1. Finished except for backing 

and layering pile;

2. Just possible pairings tops

{separated all the greens

for instance}

3. Strip sets begun from 2.5" 

jelly rolls

And

that is as far as I have gotten...

 this was my cutting space↡↡↡↡↭↭↭↭

👺👹👿

 *****************************

Later.....

I did sew these

into one big,  long

strip for a table runner--

so that is one decision made 

;)))))

And, of course, another WIP is born....

S  I  G  H....

I had planned on sewing a lot of these starts

together in one big kahuna piece--

or two maybe--

but they really are just all so different!!

If I can steal our living room floor for 

a while, I may lay them all out 

and take a picture...

that may help?????

In the meantime, in between time,

I NEED a cuppa my 

Yorkshire Gold Tea 

to calm my spinning mind

down...

stay tuned.....

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(opening-a-new-can-of-worms-euse)

*** Added note: at 1 p.m.

I cannot work up any enthusiasm for

finishing any of these right now...

Most are hanging back up--but at

least in organized piles...

there was a reason why 

I stopped work on these....

;(((((

I need a snappy nap!!

;)))))

*****Note Two --Added

at 6:30 p,m,

after a great dinner

(sauteed shrimp and rice) and

a Manhattan--courtesy of Tom 

;)))))

I have gotten over the "shock and awe" hahaha

of seeing all those WIPS in a pile now...

AND

I have chosen 3 to work on right now:

L: Strawberries runner: choose backing;

Middle: Improv mess to puzzle out;

R Large Ojos runner: choose borders and backing...

I love working on runners and quilting them seems

so easy for me...so I thought two easy--

and one puzzler...

;)))))

SEED CATALOGUE PROMPTS--Week One

 

Remember this?

I cut down an old seed catalogue

into a tall traveler's size notebook for

the "#hillsideheartprompts"

hosted by 

"Caroline on the Hillside"

on youtube.  

She will be setting us

two prompts per week during

2025...

So, 52 pages....

of total fun and

joy in creating....

The first  prompts 

for this week

were:

"Sassy" 

and 

"Luminous"

Here is my 

finished page...

↧↧↧↧

I felt this girl (culled from

an Elle magazine) was

certainly "Sassy" looking in

that outfit...👀👀😂

{click}

I just 💖using 

magazine images 

in my journals...

so they are part 

gluebook and

part collage...

[She is gazing at the

luminous sky and the 

newly risen moon...

perhaps dreaming of her 

lost love,,,,,]

I used gesso to push back the images

a bit and make them seem more

luminous along with silver Stickles. 

The moon is cut from an old book

page surrounded by torn tea

bag paper...

and

a bit of outline with

my new black "glaze" pen 

smudged its rim...

The roses are on a netting which

matches the netting she is

wearing...

Thank you so much Caroline for hosting

these weekly prompts...

💓

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(crafting-with-joy-euse)

PITA BOX JUNQUE JOURNAL VOLUME TWO, 2025 START, et al

 

Here are the inside cover and the dedication

page of my new Pita Box 2025 

Junque Journal...

The little faux flower holds the first

journaling card 

[with the clock

representing 

New Year's Eve] 

closed...

and...

My Mom as a little girl (top R)

appears on her

bicycle in this bit

of very old torn photograph...

{ 10 years ago this June 

she will have been gone}.

I have unearthed a very old family

album with photos glued in on 

black papers which I plan to use

throughout my Journal this year..

and,,,,

As usual, I am using 

scraps from magazines,

torn papers, dyed papers,

 junk mailings,

flat-backed beads,

stampings, and a bit

of mixed media

to decorate these pages...

Below are the 2nd and 3rd pages

partially begun...

Some pages will have journaling right out in the open

on them, others will be on journaling cards,

and some hidden...

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

Also this year I am following Youtuber's 

"Caroline on the Hillside's"

prompts--one per week for

all 52 weeks in my 

re-allocated Seed Catalogue.

I have some pages gessoed or

painted to push back 

the images

therein...

I cut this down to be a tall Traveler's

Journal size...

I have begun prepping this 

double page spread...

and here is a gessoed apread...

and....

as you can see here I am reinforcing the

spine in the pages with washi tapes...

It is really nice to work on other than

stark white pages.....

leaving some of the original page

and covering the rest...

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

This is where I stand at the beginning of the

New Year with my paper crafting...

It really does bring me relaxation

and 

😇J O Y 😇

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(Will-you-be-up-

to-see-the-New-Year-

come-in-?-euse)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, et al

 

Because 2025 is the

Chinese 

"Year of the Snake"

I thought....

hmmmmmm

[or sssss]

😂hahaha😁

I want to try to make ssssssome 

curvey blocksssssss...

😊😂😍

🐍

Ssssssssssooooo, 

Becaussse

 I have been thinking about

what to make to try to get my 

"MOJO" moving again,

I thought

why

        not????

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

I have made Dresden circles and some

circular patterns but not really

any cut 

curvey 

blocksssss 

;))))

The moon over the mountain and

the faint ocean waves 

would make such a 

lovely 

piece.

But I  mean actually cutting curves-

freehand perhaps--

using 

scissors or rotary cutter???

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

↡↡↡↡

* added the Dec. 31st after

some research:

Youtuber Beth ⇑⇑⇑

at "My Sewing Room"

has a tutorial that looks like a good

place to start curved freehand 

piecing..

I like the 3 colors

and have way too many solids

in my stash that need to be

used up....

;)))

SSSSSTAY

Tuned...

for further 

develpmentsssss!

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

HAPPY NEW YEAR

TO ALL !!!!

May you be healthy 

and stay  

hopeful...

Hugs, 

Julierose

{Thinking-eusssssse) 

HITTING THE WALL, et al

 

A little improve and two sizes of Ojos....

(sorry for the dark pix, overcast today)

Working out of my green and purple scrap bags...

I made these improv sections--

I am thinking they will eventually be

connected into :

"Garden Beds" 

some way

somehow

???????

 ;)))))

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

Leftover Christmas fabric bits in reds,

greens, and golds that 

have been

hanging around in the bottom

of my Christmas container..

for yonks and yonks!!!

In no particular order....

and

I may make more as I still

have some scraps --these are a

made on 4" telephone papers

[not yet torn off].

Some blocks are all red or all green

and others are half and half...

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

And finally these have been in

the works for a while now..

.

Made again on telephone

papers -- 

this time 8" square:

"Flamingo Fling"

Just a little bit of  sewing to fill in these

days in between Christmas

and New Years...

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

I began sewing these because I have

felt like I've 

literally

"hit the wall" 

in  knowing what

 I want to make

or

even if

I want to make 

anything

lately...

Perhaps End of the Year

Blues....???

{a bit on edge and anxious

about the coming New Year--

to say the least!!}

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

I hope you have all had a wonderful

Holiday and you will have 

a very healthy and happy

💖NEW YEAR!!!!💖

Hugs,

Julierose

La Blageuse

(pondering-euse)