BACKING UP, et al

 

Here is "proof" (haha) that I am serious about

BB1's return to be finished:

[just in case you wondered?]

😏

I made this backing from very, very "olde"

fabric favorites that I have been

hoarding for years

(Why, you ask??

I don' t know why 

and it's

past time 

to use them )

Look at that lovely field of tulips

(paired with a newer floral)

and

this pink bouquet which has to be one

of my super faves paired with

another semi-new piece...

I think the reverse will contrast nicely

with this  (ahem,  & may I call it??) 

"Vivid" front--

yikers--

talk about

wild and

in your face!! 

What WAS I thinking??

I am looking back to see if I was

unusually stressed? Worried?

Anxious???

?????????????

Anyhoo....

It is what it is and 

it now layered up and

ready for pinning.

which I WAS going to do today,

{REALLY}

but,

 after food shopping early and

then putting together a 

Shepherd's Pie for our

supper tonight,

I have retired to my recliner armed

with a cuppa tea and a blankie...

👀😇👀

And

here it is already lunch time--

time flies when you are 

having fun, right???

AND because you lasted through

all  my silly

wittering..

here is the latest look at 

my Galaxy, Nymph Double 

Flowering amaryllis...

(try saying that 3 times!!);)))

Just heavenly ....

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(R&R-ing-euse)

 

AMARYLLIS ,et al

 

Yesterday, Amaryllis began to open up...

It looks like

 a striped pink one!!!....

💗;))))💗

(sorry for the dark photo--a very

gray day out there).

AND

this morning early....

She is opening more by the minute...

And....

↓↓↓↓

Now....

you can see the striated petals

Definitely worth waiting for...

So lovely against last night's 

snowfall...

Here is the early morning view from our

back deck--

You can just make out the last

of the snow clouds and the 

sun rising in the far misty morning...

A Winter Wonderland--

All so quiet and

so hushed.....

And now with the sun having 

come out...

the tops of the trees look

gilded..

.

I love the Winter landscape after

snowfall....

***********************
My friend Lizzy

encouraged me to take 

my Bramble Blooms 1

out and revisit it...

she liked my pot of 

little 

crocuses....😇

{I was unhappy as to 

how it came out before--

somehow I felt I had 

failed with this one}

It is resting on my dining room table

right now for a 2nd looksee....

I don't think I will abandon it

after all...

It measures 28" x 28"...

and

I have decided to finish it; as

it was 2024's big project

along with Audrey

for her SAL....

As my first ever effort 

making a 

medallion piece

it contains a lot of my 

favorite fabrics and those 

little yellow roses that

I made long ago...

Soooo,

I am now thinking 

it's worth finishing...

But.....

So so out of my wheelhouse...

😔

Thanks so much, Lizzy,

 for your kind words

 of encouragement.

Hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(watching-snow-showering-

off-our-trees-euse)

HELGA RIDES AGAIN/ MY OJOS METHOD

 

After a month-long hand stitching journey, 

Helga and I resumed our Christmas Ojos sewing.  

It felt so good to be at my 

machine again ;))))

Above are the mostly

green ojos

and here

↧↧↧↧

are the mostly red ones.  

I only have four of

the red blocks-- 

(16 separate 4" blocks

seamed together)--

as opposed to 

Six of the green (24 

separate 4" blocks...)

.

So, I went to work on 

making more reds

this morning...

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

My method: 

(this is for you Lizzy)

💖

When I sew strips on 4" telephone

paper squares (diagonally)--

or any size I like,

I only sew through the paper on

the first two strips:

(right sides together)

After this, I only use the paper

to measure how long the strip

should be to cover the paper and

I fold back the paper:

so, I am only sewing cloth to cloth.

Then I iron the strip open and 

unfold the paper to measure for

the following strip.  

I do this on all the remaining 

strips on both sides....

So at the end, I only have ONE 

sewn seam to remove and the

paper comes off very easily;)))

You can see the one seam here on

the completed square...

All my strips hang over the edges

and I then use the paper to trim to size.

And I do not add any seam allowance

when cutting; I just trim to the paper size.

Here you can see how I am just

sewing strip to strip with the

paper folded back...

I am sure there are many other methods, 

but this is how I do it; as I

really dislike tearing papers

off as often seams come apart on me.

[As a side note, I tend to tear my

fabrics into the size strips that

I want as I go--no hours pre-cutting

for these...the only cuts I 

may do using my dies

are triangles for the corners which

aren't really necessary but I find

easier for good coverage. ]

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

I am trying to use up most of my older

Christmas red, green, gold and

red/white fabrics.  They have been

around way too long; 

I am attempting

a no buy year...😏😔😏

With all the gorgeous new fabrics

coming out I find this very hard.

BUT, at 81, 

I feel that I must use up

as much as I can to whittle down

my stash....

Hugs for a wonderful 

and productive 

weekend,

Julierose,

La Blageuse

(Ojos-ing-along-euse)

PROGRESSING....

 

Early morning shot of my new Amaryllis--

are we ready yet to bloom? 

And what color will emerge????

Meanwhile....

very slow progress 

is evident on my 

rescued

amaryllis...

Definitely growing..

and gives new meaning

to "slowly".

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

I've begun my new puzzle...

Moving right along...

the lower section will be 

the most difficult. 

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

And here is where my

Dark Days

Comfort Cloth 

stands...

I've added 3 rows of stitching around the 

center block--

[oh -- and I took out the next 4 rows as they

got increasingly uneven...

the coffee dyed fabric

seems to be difficult 

to needle through.

So last evening 

I re-rinsed all my

pieces...

and am letting them dry

overnight...]

As you can see, I only dyed small

pieces ....they look really

dark here, but as they dry they will

lighten up..

.a lot of the coffee-dye 

still leached out until 

the water ran clear...

↓↓↓↓

Notice the Paczki, off to the

background, which we will

scarf up with our 2nd cups of

coffee this morning;)))

It's that time of year again...

Our favorite flavor is

"Bavarian Creme"

Y  U  M  !!!!!

I hope the rest of your week is

a good one...

hugs, Julierose

(a-bit-of-everything-euse)

Happy Lunar New Year

COMFORT CLOTH / "DARK DAYS", PROGRESS, et al

 

I couched a pin/lavender sari silk

ribbon in a circle on my 

Comfort Cloth this week--

and

then

I did  a running stitch surround

on the outer rim...

and

This morning I whipped that running stitch

and added an inner running stitch on the 

inside of the circle

and added a 

whipstitched wool/felt

heart...

[Here you can also see the whipped

outer running stitch better...

I love how it thickens that simple

running stitch line]

💗💜💗

I will be adding more stitchery to this first

block, but I am not sure what I want to 

add as yet...

This January block (18" +/-) 

can be added to:-- as ideas/

emotions/feelings/happenings

occur to me...

It is meant to be a 

"cloth of comfort "

to turn to 

during these

tumultuous, difficult

times....

A slow-stitched

journal of sorts....

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

This noon I will be putting together

my chicken soup from the leftover

chicken dinner we enjoyed

last Thursday; 

meanwhile,

we have each had another total

meal and also 

sandwiches from it.

 There is just

enough left for a good,

warming soup for our

supper tonight...

Soup is so good on these

cold, gray days...;)))

😍😋😍

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(cooking-euse)

TAH--DAH, et al

 

All Done 

👌👋😊

I'm letting it sit out there for a few days...

before I begin the next one that 

I received for Christmas..

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

On the Amaryllis front:

My new one has

still not opened up:

It's been on the verge for a good

week now...

Waiting, waiting...

and

The rescued one is growing

but.....

see for yourself...

↓↓↓↓↓

V E R Y  S L O W L Y 

It looks like it's a

huge effort--

and perhaps it is....

;(((((

Meanwhile my Cacti have 

begun to bloom:

↶↶↶↶↷↷↷↷

A Lovely pink lined one

and

 

this pure white with a hint of pink inside and at the tip...

and

what looks like it may be peach with hints of pink, too...

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

Keeping myself busy, I put down the base layers

for two more pages in my Junque Journal;

went food shopping, and made a new-to-me

stove top recipe for beef and noodles,

[I will report on how we liked it or not],

and pinned my now complete 9-patch

to its backing cloth...

I hope to be able to invisible baste it

to its backing tomorrow...

I hope you are all doing okay

these difficult days...

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

(sometimes-we-just-need-quiet-euse)

"DARK DAYS" VARIATIONS, et al

 

Four coffee dyed blocks

&

Four "Roses" blocks

& 

Two of each.....

The final tally of votes:

Coffee dyed:  8 

Roses   :       4

Pebbles:        3

Red:             1

I want to thank all of you

who took the time to vote...

I really appreciate 

all of your input...

It really helped me come to

my decision...

💖💗💓

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

I have decided:

TAA-DAA:

💃

To go with

all four 

coffee dyed squares..

I think it gives me the best

options to then add surrounding

fabrics...

Tomorrow,

I will start sewing the blocks

together into the 9 patch

and pick out the backing fabric.

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

I would begin sewing 

this evening but the

skin right next to my right

thumbnail has split from the

dryness and from 

using glue on my paper crafts

without wearing gloves...:(((((

👹Ouchy!!!!👹

It sounds like a little thing, but it

is pretty painful and I cannot

sew with it right now...

it is covered up as best as it can 

be in that corner spot...

😬

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

Our predicted snowfall amounts

for tomorrow 

keep going "down" with each

weather forecast; so

I do not know just how much we

will be receiving...

 now they say it 

will be  2"-4"...

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(nursing-the thumb-euse)