We dog sat during the holidays while Beth and family spent New Years Eve at a hotel which is their tradition. This is Petey and Ned after the ball playing... panting at me, right in my face. Just don't care at all. :D You can see the difference in height between the two brothers in this one.
We finished
Billions...loved all the many references to sports, books, history, philosophers, politicians, pop culture, etc.; their research team must have had a field day. I also loved the music that was chosen for each show. We are now watching something much gentler -Season 10 of Doc Martin. As they call it- 10 Surly Seasons now, :D. Those who watch "the Doc" will know what that means.
We really ate well during the holidays and are actually still eating Christmas treats that I froze. Amongst them was this large tray of homemade cookies and squares from family...the snowflake tray is unique and of course, the sweets were delicious.
How did you fare with the temptation of treats, etc. during the holidays? Do you have a sweet tooth? Tony certainly does!
I stitched another of the Quiltmania Xmas blocks. Poor tiny mittens are almost thumbless. I still have a little embroidery to do on the trim.
My Bramble Blooms QAL project is moving along. I really took my time making a decision about this one. It is meant to be improv and I just kept wanting to make the blooms small and neat and to look like actual flowers that I could name. But improv invites you to think differently and throw caution to the wind as it were.
The very gloomy weather must have been an influence as I gravitated to bold colours. Or it may have been the beautiful Poinsetta we got for Christmas from Tony's former inlaws influencing me.
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| More later about that lovely Ardisia plant that came with it. |
They are such beauties and I'm determined to keep them alive. I managed to keep a Poinsettia alive for a few years once since moving to this house. Any tips? Anyway, back to stitching- I made my cloth blooms really blooming big with overblown sized petals. I didn't draw a thing on paper first either, just went at with scissors on cloth. All from the scrap bags too. I used embroidery and matching perle cotton to stitch them down so they won't blow away and to tame the tattered edges. We are ready for the first borders. My mind is all over the place with that mainly because using up my scraps is my number one aim just now. What fun and a big thank you to Audrey at Quilty Folk for this entertaining QAL. Speaking of which, our friend, Frederique, has updated her page of current 2024 QAL's here.... Quilting Patchwork Applique. So many wonderful projects! Thank you for sharing!
January can mean fresh starts which certainly feed into the sense of newness that belongs to a brand new year. What are your fresh or new/old reimagined starts?
Have a great week all!
Linking up with Quilting and Learning, Creations, Art, Quilts, Whatever, Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Quilting Patchwork Applique and The Inquiring Quilter.
30 comments :
What beautiful flowers - in life and on your quilt! I'm going to play with some Accuquilt dies this year that I have not opened yet. Try a few new blocks (2 PDF's in my cart) and try and finish up a few old things this year as well. Of course.... waiting to see what everyone else is playing with and trying not to join in with everything.... =)
Wishing you a fruitful 2024.
Your Bramble Bloom is coming along so well--Love the flowers spilling over the borders...:))) We got a smidgeon of snowfall--but at least it's white--or really, white with green patches here and there...hugs, Julierose
lol the panters... "Hi Mom, what about a snack? I saw a tray of cookies..."
your poinsettia is brilliantly colored and love your array of threads too.
LeeAnna
What a sweet bright colorful center for you Bramble Blossoms SAL. I love the addition of embroidery. The list of BOMs, SALs, and challenges was fun to read. So much activity going on in the quilt world!
Those big, bold, blooms are just perfect.
God bless.
Beautiful red colours! Your piece is lovely.
I love your big blooms! Ned and his brother look like they had a blast together.
Your flowers are gorgeous. I like the way you created them without a lot of drawing out things.
Doc Martin is improved as he's not such a stiff character, same attitude, but has softer moments that he didn't have much of before.
I have a sweet tooth, and have a hard time leaving the holiday treats alone. It's easier now that I'm retired and don't have parties and student gifts to manage! Your Bramble Blooms flowers are so pretty - that looks like a fun QAL to work on. Beautiful holiday plants, too!
I think your improv flowers look beautiful, so bright and colorful. Happy stitching!
"Ten surly seasons" describes the Doc perfectly! We're catching up with season 10 now. Seems like he's mellowing a tiny bit, don't you think? I love your freewheeling flowers on your Bramble Blooms center, mine are much more staid, boring even. Need to post an update on my finished center when an uninterrupted hour presents itself.
Your Bramblebloom is wonderful! I can’t wait to see the rest!
The doggo brothers are adorable, so happy to be alive and is how our dogs act all the time. It's refreshing! Love your improv blooms. Reminds me a bit of an online embroidery class I did years ago from Karen Ruane, who does lovely work with textures and stitches. It really is fun once you get going and realize you can do whatever you want with your piece. :D That holiday plant arrangement is gorgeous!
Such long tongues! Martin Clunes is always fun. What a fun cookie tin. Oh, boy! we are slowly emptying out our last bag of cookies (even hiding them in the freezer didn't help!). I love your applique flowers. Lots of good stuff all around!
Awww - two such sweet doggie faces! I love your latest improv floral design and think it's somewhat evocative of the poinsettia blooms in the following photo. I've never had much luck in getting one to re-bloom and generally end up tossing them out. I did try planting one outdoors once but it didn't survive...although...the one I chucked into the window well and totally ignored for the entire summer did really well. Go figure!
I am a huge Doc Martin fan. We are watching it for at least the second time, just beginning season 9 on Acorn. We also found a wonderful program called Murder in Provence on Britbox here in the US but it seems to have only 3 episodes. We are partway through the third and so sad there are no more. I love hearing what others like to watch. We seem to click through choice after choice and dislike almost all of those offered! On PBS now, we’re getting a new season of All Creatures Great and Small. It is an excellent show! Happy New Year Jocelyn!!!!
The dogs both look so happy! I'm sure they love being together. I love your improv flowers. So pretty! I love the bright fabric. They look so cheerful. I'm trying to keep away from the leftover sweets from the holidays. It's not easy! Thanks for posting all the Sew Alongs. I can't find to my liking this year.
You are tempting and enticing me to join the improv flower QAL at Quilty Folk. I should not start a new project. Hm....
Love love love yours!
I should have thought to freeze Christmas treats. Yes, I have a sweet tooth but did pretty good at home during the holiays. It was all the treats arriving daily at work before Christmas Break that got me.
Wishing you a peaceful, happy, and stitch filled 2024! Your Bramble Blooms flowers look great. I wish I could join, but I have probably already taken on too much and want to try to stay in my comfort zone re commitments. I always get a couple of poinsettias in November and keep them going until summer and put them outside, but then the leaves are all green and There’s no red anymore so I throw them out in the fall and get new. Treats are a great temptation over the holidays - one of the joys🙂. Gladi Porsche
I’m not familiar with Billions or Doc Martin. I’ll have to research and see if we can access them. Luckily we didn’t have a lot of sweet treats this year. Good for my waistline. But there was a plethora of salty snacks. Ugh, I love them too! I love your brightly colored blooms. Both the fabric ones and the real ones. Anxious to hear about the plant with the Poinsettia.
Bramble Blooms is so cheerful!
Ned and Petey probably had lots of fun over Christmas. What delight for them to get to spend time together.
About a year or so ago we watched the whole Doc Martin series and eagerly looked forward to the final season. He's such a character and seems to have gentled just a little by the end of the series. It was funny to learn that at least one person visiting the set thought that Martin Clunes's personality was the same as Doc Martin's. She asked his wife how she could put up with him. (I saw this on a pbs short about the making of Doc Martin.)
Your Bramble Blooms center is looking great. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next with your quilt.
Hi Jocelyn! I just ADORE the picture of Petey and Neddy. Just in case you wanted to throw the ball again, they were ready. Wanna?!! I have the book "Spare" on my list but I agree with your feeling of sadness. Family - we all have them in spite of craziness/specialness. Holy moly, that poinsettia plant is just gorgeous. I've never had luck keeping them alive beyond March but it sure looks happy! I wish you all the best with it. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
Petey & Ned look thoroughly satisfied with all the fun they just enjoyed. They thank you so much! Lol! Your Bramble Improv looks great. I was tempted to join Audrey on this adventure when she first talked about it but I managed to "just say no". How is that poinsettia doing now?
Gosh that Poinsettia basket is gorgeous! Your Bramble Blooms looks like it but in brighter colors. So lovely! I watch Doc Martin too. Loved the last season. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2024/01/10/wednesday-wait-loss-362
Your Bramble Blooms looks fabulous, I love the bright and cheerful colors, perfect for winter! I'm not good at taking care of Poinsettia, they never stay red fo a long time...
Thank you for talking about my upcoming QAL's page, and for sharing your projects!
Unfortunately, I LOVE Christmas treats…I froze the lefse I made because I was eating it every day, and then there were cookies from my students, though I tried to convince Greg to try every one, and thankfully he made short work of several! Now I am on the January purge, though this year I am actually making some head way. I think my system has finally recovered from menopause and the stress of the last few years with a sick hubby. He is finally pretty stable, and I am sleeping much better than I have for the past 3-4 years, and amazingly, now I am gradually losing a bit of weight. My “system” helped me lose 25 pounds pre-M, but the past couple of years…I would lose nothing or even gain, so I believe it was the stress. Anyway, I am encouraged!
I love that your two pups still like each other and play so well…Bandit is doomed to be a lone doggie I think. He had too much trauma as a pup, and he can’t seem to let it go. We are instead working on serious obedience training, and he seems to finally be mature enough to control himself and obey. (Smart and extremely strong willed…)
We had a poinsettia for about 5 years, and then it just died. I know they are tropical, so maybe more light?
I have missed getting over to see your blog, will try to do better in the new Year!!
What pretty flowers - i love the colors you are using!
Hi Jocelyn, I see that you're embracing your wild side and doing some terrific improv. It's so liberating to just do it - cutting and stitching without the fuss. Of course, I'm accuracy challenged, so this is my favourite way of doing anything lol Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. Take care.
Loving your Bramble Blooms so much! Very bright and happy looking.:)
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