Friday again?

Geez, the weeks sure are flying by. Can't believe it's Friday again. I had a really good week starting with the Chambersburg group on Monday which I posted about. Tuesday I went to church to hook with Genny. We try to get together each Tuesday for a couple hours. I showed her how to hook, wow I guess it's over a year ago now. Where in the world is time going?? She started with a small sunflower mat, then did a rug with a Dachshund in the middle that she drew up, and now she is working on a rug that is almost finished. It was a free pattern in a book that she enlarged and adapted it to fit her style. The original had 2 ducks in it. She chose to add 2 Dachshunds to it and a Basset hound. She is doing a fantastic job and it's a pleasure to watch her enjoy hooking it. I've always been meaning to grab a picture of her and her rug, but just never remembered. Didn't forget this time.

Wednesday, I took the time to start hooking the log cabin rug I am doing for Pam. I haven't had a chance to get to it since, but will try to make time Sunday when I can relax. Here's where I am with it so far.
Last night my daughter Nicole had her Winter concert at school. She plays the Tenor Sax. She takes after her dad with the musical instruments. I dabbled at the piano, but never stuck with it. Kind of wish I did. Brandon came over last night so he could go with us to watch her. He lives in another town so he goes to a different school.
Today was a fun day at my dye group. There were only 3 of us this time. Nancy was visiting her son, and Delores didn't come. So Joan, Louise and I did our onion skin dyeing today. We each got together some of our wools in lights, mediums and darks. We had 2 pots going. It was fun to rinsing them and seeing what we came up with. Joan did a great job and layering them in the pot and mushing them all down. Afterwards, Louise and I helped with the rinsing.

Joan was busy washing out the pots while we were rinsing. (ok, Louise was finishing the rinsing. I had to take some pictures lol.)
Joan lives in a sweet home that sits between 2 creeks, and she does an amazing job at taking care of the birds. I can't say I've ever seen so many birdhouses in one area. I went into her living room to take a picture of her Paisley rug she just finished, and saw her outside feeding the birds. In the rain! To watch her is something. She has a routine it seems. She goes from one area to the next. She can take a scoop of birdseed and in one sweep fill the banister for the birds to come and eat up. And man, do they! She has a HUGE heart. Just love that about her..

Got ya Joan!!

Ok, now back to the Paisley. Take a look at the wonderful hooking she did with this one. I just love it. I know she is happy to have the hooking finished. It's been a while in the making. She's not usually a fine cut hooker. I "think" she said she did this in a #4.
Tomorrow will be a day out with my friends Beth and Joanne. I am meeting them at the York Folk Art Show in the morning. We'll have lunch afterwards, and then who knows what!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, creative weekend!!

A day out..

Today I was able to attend the Chambersburg group to do a little hooking. I was pleased when I walked in to see so many people. It was a nice crowd, and I had a good time walking around and checking out everything that I've been missing. Since the car trouble, I haven't been able to make it to some of the groups. I'm using my mil's car, and although I tease her about it being the yellow submarine, I am very greatful that I am able to borrow it and do my daily running. It gets me from point A to point B, and that's all that matters.
There was a little celebration today at the group for one of the members Ethel. It was her birthday and she turned 89 today! God Bless her!! She has been hooking for many years. And here's the Birthday girl! She came with her daughter Eileen who does not do rug hooking, but likes to do some embroidery work. She was working on a really sweet piece that had chickens. Lots and lots of french knots. Here's a shot of it. Hard to get a good picture of it because it was so light in color.

Eileen didn't want to get in on the group picture because she said she wasn't a rug hooker, but I got a shot of her sitting next to her mom. She also brought in some cake and we sang Happy Birthday to Ethel.

Eileen was nice enough to use my camera to take this shot of all of us today. I couldn't stay really long, but it was nice to pull a few loops and just be out with some good friends. I had quite a few errands to do today, and I am happy that I got them all done. Free's me up a little for tomorrow. I will be going to church tomorrow to hook with Genny, so I'll get a little more hooking done I hope!
Ruth finished a rug for a gift and will be putting it in the mail soon. She did a wonderful job with it. I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the rugs they were working on today.

Was good to be out......

Too much fun!

This weekend certainly was a lot of fun. I joined in with the AAPG group that Kelley runs, and we had our monthly retreat this weekend. Kelley suggested covering boxes with fabric and told us to save our Oatmeal box. This is to be used to save our snippets from the rugs we hook, which are the small tails that you cut off evenly on the rug. I actually had 2 in the cupboard. One was expired, and the other one wasn't. Will make oatmeal cookies with the leftovers from that one. I can honestly say that I despise oatmeal. Wish I liked it. Tried, tried, and tried again to eat it. So many suggestions were made to me on what to put in it, etc. Well you know what? I REALLY don't like it. So that's that. Will not try it again! Ok, back to the project. Kelley made a great suggestion on how to make another top for the box, but I tried to use the one that came with it. I had an idea in mind, and just had to try it. I was still able to cover the lid and it still fit inside the can. Definitely took a lot longer than if I had did it Kelley's way, but I'm tickled with how it turned out.
The bird on top is from one of Stacy Nash's patterns. Love her cross stitch patterns! After this was done, I dyed some wool for the background of a rug I am going to be doing, and then drew up a pattern for the punch needle piece I did. Again, I have Spring on my mind, so this is what I came up with! Decided to put this in my Etsy shop if you are interested.
I got to see so many different projects in the last two days. These girls are so uplifting and inspiring. They really created a lot!
Well, it's late and I'm hoping to get to the Chambersburg group tomorrow to do some hooking.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.....

End of the week already?

Wow, this week flew by for me. How about you? Has been a low key kind of day, yesterday and today. Actually yesterday felt like a wasted day. Got hooked on surfing the computer. Hate when that happens. Swore today would be different. Well, I got some cleaning done and went through some more wool to use in a rug I'm hoping to start this weekend. Other than that? Yep, on the computer. Wasteful I tell ya!

I did have a nice surprise. The bunny pillow that I put in my Etsy sold already. How sweet! I'm glad it found a good home. I have another idea for a punch needle pillow. Might get to that this weekend too. Again, I'm thinking Spring! Can you tell I'm tired of this cold weather? Actually, the winter has been pretty mild where snow is concerned. I for one am hoping it stays that way!
Just a short post today. Hoping to have some pictures to share by the time the weekend is over on what I was able to get done.

This little cross stitch piece is something I did at the end of last summer. I had bought the linen at a fabric sale that I went to with Joanne and Beth. It was a pale bluish green, but too bright for me. I used some walnut spray on it, and it really dulled it down. Made a really nice background for the design I made up.




Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend!

Second post today...

Ok, my day is off to a good start. Finished making some phone calls, got the rest of the bills paid and off to the mail girl. Sat down and finished my bunny pillow. I designed this one day while I was thinking about Spring. I reeeeaaaallly want the warmer weather to get here. To see flowers outside, and hear the birds singing. And not because they are confused when we are getting 60 degree weather one day and 30 degree weather the next lol.

I'm pleased with this little pillow. I was going to make it into a pinkeep, and I'm sure you could still use it for one if you'd like. I stuffed it with some old wool scraps and some wool snippets. A very nice feel to it. Just happy another piece is finished! I have added it to my Etsy shop if you are interested. The link is in my side bar.

I'm off to my dye pot now to dye up that antique black I was talking about in my earlier post.

I have a couple days yet to figure out what I will be making for the retreat with AAPG this weekend. We are going to cover an oatmeal box with fabric to hold our snippets. I think that will be fun, and look forward to it. Now I just need to come up with some other ideas to make. Have already informed my husband about it, and he's fine with it. Just need to make sure there is food in the house lol!

Hands are busy

Time to post again. Have been informed of my "slacking" in the posts. Will try to keep up with them. (now I will have to tease her about updating hers..) I've been keeping my hands busy and have just completed and mailed off an eyeglass case that I have done for another rug hooker. Thank you Judith Ann for the order! Not sure if she reads the blog, but just in case, I wanted to say thank you. I hope she likes it.

I was able to get out of the house last Thursday night to go and hook at Linda and Pat's shop in Chambersburg for a little bit. I didn't have any of my antique black dyed, but was able to get the front and back picture all hooked. Spent the next few days filling it in and the constructing it. The whipping of it and putting the lining in takes a bit of time. During this time, I was also able to finish the 2 punch needle pieces I've been doing. One is a bunny and wasn't sure how to finish it off. When I went to look at my fabrics, I was amazed to see that I had a piece of material perfect for the backing. It really looks like I chose the floss to match the fabric. Just a wonderful coincidence... So I'll be making it into a sweet pinkeep. Will get to that today and post a picture of it later. Have to think about if I want to try and sell it, or keep it for myself. That's the problem sometimes. You like something too much to want to get rid of it. So we'll see. The other piece, I am working on attaching it to a piece of wool scrap that I got from Linda. She makes WW1 uniforms, and this piece of wool was used to make the garment. A bit too thick to hook with, but perfect for a penny rug. So I'm playing around with that also. I also brought some grey wool home from her that I want to experiment and dye an antique black to use for penny rugs. They are calling for some yucky weather today, so perhaps I can get the dye pot out and try a piece. Good day to stay in. Thank you Linda, and will let you know how things turn out..

Here is another rug I did back in 2005. It's a Norma Batastini pattern. A group of girls I hook with got Norma to come out here and teach a technique with this pattern on using different materials. I wasn't able to attend the class, but did purchase the pattern and chose to hook it plain. It's hanging in my hallway when you enter my home.
Wishing everyone a warm, creative day..

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.... My wish for you today is that you will be spending it with loved ones and doing something fun, restful, crazy, out of the ordinary, you get the idea. Show each other how much you love them by doing something special for them today. Even the smallest of things sometimes can be remembered as the biggest in the eyes of the beholder.

We don't do a lot for Valentines Day, but I try to do something small for everyone. Last night I had put out their gifts on the counter. I always get the kids some candy and for George I ended up buying him some of his favorite candy, peanut chews, along with some oreo's. He hasn't had them in quite some time, so I thought I'd treat him. When I read his card, I was presently surprised that we had picked a card with the same topic. He made mention to it too after he read my card to him. When you are together long enough, you really do know each other.
I woke up before everyone else today. My back starts to bother me if I'm in bed for too long. As much as I'd like to stay there, I just can't. My husband said last night that I would be surprised today. Hmm, the mind started wondering. Teasingly of course I said "You bought me a new car!". With all the car troubles we've been having, it was a good joke. He smiled and said "if I could, I would". And I know he would... So, when I came down this morning, (of course I looked outside first lol), then I looked on the counter and there was a box of dark chocolate candy with a card. Yep, that was a surprise, considering all I wanted was a BAR of candy. He knows my addiction . But on the envelope in the corner he wrote, your real surprise is in the fridge. Hmm, the mind started wondering again. I was thinking flowers. Nope, opened up the fridge and there is a box of strawberries, CHOCOLATE covered strawberries! Now THAT was a surprise! I love them, but have never asked for them. How long is all of this going to last? Hmm, if I told you, you would probably gasp! Sooo, I'll just say I'm going to enjoy every bite! The card of course brought tears to my eyes. I always ask for a mushy card, and he always succeeds.....

Nicole will be going to a church dinner tonight with her boyfriend, and Craig will be with his girlfriend, so I think George and I will rent a movie and order take out, or maybe even go out for a bite. Not sure yet. He'll be working on the jeep today.
May your day be a Happy one! Tell that special someone you Love them even more today than you did yesterday.......

Oh, and the rug I posted was one I did last year at Joan's dye group. The background we did as a group. We brought our wool and each of us used a pan and added some onion skins and some snippets to the top. Joan had a huge bag of snippets (which are the tails that you cut off evenly on your rug) and we just picked a handful here and there and sprinkled them on top. We added some water to the pan along with some vinegar and baked it in the oven for I think around 45 minutes or so. When hooked, it looks to me like confetti. I have it on my kitchen table with a dish of candy on it. Well, the dish is empty right now, so I'll have to refill it lol! I'll share my candy with my family today, BUT George doesn't like strawberries, so they are mine, mine, ALL mine!! Just kidding, I'll share them with Nicole. I know she will like one, I mean some lol.

Hump Day

Isn't that what Wednesday's are called? Funny name I think. But I'm ready to push this week right on through. It's been pretty stressfull for me. Going through some issues that I need to work out personally. I have some friends praying for me, so hopefully God will lead me in the right direction.

On top of that, we think this is the year of the car. Meaning whatever could go wrong, has gone wrong. My jeep is still in our garage, and George is slowly trying to fix it. Gotta love him. He works very hard and then comes home to work on it in the evening, or if he's too tired, it waits till the weekend. Well, this past weekend he did what he could and was out getting the last part for the day, and I get a phone call to come and get him. The rear on his truck blew out. Had to have that towed back to the house, and now he is using his car again which is what I was using for a while. Sooo, my son took me over to my mil's so I can borrow her car. AND the battery was dead. Had to wait for AAA to come and get it started. George put it on the charger when I got home, and it's been fine since. Just need to run it a little each day. This all happened on Sunday. Went to pick Nicole up from her ski trip Sunday evening and she had a temp of 102.5. I'm telling you when it rains, it pours!! She's feeling better today, had her to the doctors on Monday. Well, good enough to go to school tomorrow. She's already missed 3 days, and I know she'll have a lot to catch up on.

Missed my rug hooking group on Monday, was really bummed about that, but did work on some punch needle. I have one finished and am starting the other one tomorrow. They are both on the same cloth, so I have to finish them both before I can cut them away. God willing, I am going to try and make it to Linda's tomorrow night for a little bit of hooking. Will see!

Thought I'd just share a couple rugs that I've done in the past. This one is from one of the Need'l love books. It's one of my favorite rugs and hangs above my tv. And this one is a rug I did for my husband. It's his QSL card which has to do with ham radio. That is him in the rug operating his radio. He has it hanging in his "shack" in the basement.
Hope everyone's week is a happy one!

The sun is shining

Yes, the sun is shining and the weather is a bit warmer than it's been. There is snow still on the grass, but it is slowly melting. I am sooooo ready for Spring!

I've had a pretty busy week. Here is a birthday gift I had made for Kelley from the group, An American Primitive Gathering" that I belong to. They are a wonderful group of women who share so much of themselves and are so talented. I have added the banner to my side bar. If you ever want to see what they are making to sell, just type in usaprim in the search bar on ebay. Since she already received it, I thought I would share it. I had never stitched on Osnaburg fabric before, but have wanted to try. Love the look of it, but it sure was hard on my eyes. I know she is a cat lover, and started with that, and then just added a few extras on there. I did stitch small x's around the edge of the pinkeep, but did it after the picture was taken.
If you remember from last October, I did a commissioned piece of a log cabin rug. Well, recently, Pam had contacted me to do another piece for her. She mentioned how much she liked rug I had done for her, and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing a half round for above her door way. She wanted another log cabin in that as well. I have been in contact with her through emails, and have drawn up a pattern which she has since approved. I am waiting to hear from her about some red samples I sent her in the mail. She had wanted the same red border that I put around the other rug for her. I had never marked it down what I had used since I "thought" it was the only one I was doing for her. Lesson learned on that one lol! I had it down to two formulas that I may have used for it. After I had dyed them, I was pretty positive that it was one of them. So just waiting to hear from her so I can start it. So that is pretty exciting for me, to have someone enjoy the piece so much that they want another one! Will share photo's when I get started on it. I also want to say to Linda and Pat, thank you for opening up your shop in Chambersburg!! I had to run out to their shop on Wednesday to get some Cardinal dye to dye the reds for Pam. I couldn't believe that I didn't have any here! I would have had to order it and wait for it, which would have just extended things even further. May your shop be a HUGE success so it will stay around for a looooong time........
Every day this week there was something that I had to do. Daughter had a dentist appointment on Monday. Took care of my mil a few days this week, and I had a doctors appointment myself on Wednesday. Thursday I went out to lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a while and just relaxed and caught up on some things. I've been struggling with a few things, and it was nice to get out and just chat.
Yesterday was a fun day. I went over to Jill's house. She had asked me to come and bring some of my rugs that I have done for the other rug hookers to see. Seems there were quite a few beginners, so they got to see a good variety of what I had done. Always glad to share and try and inspire others. Jill had Barb come to demonstrate some dyeing for the girls. Here is Barb getting started with explaining a bit about the dye formulas. Everyone had started out by sitting and listening..... But it didn't take long before they were up and looking to see what was going on.
Barb did a great job explaining, and even got some of the gals involved with measuring the dye themselves.
After the dyeing was done, the girls learned how to make the wool feather tree. They seemed to enjoy it, and then took time out to eat some lunch that Jill had prepared. Soup, sald, drinks, and dessert. Everything was delicious. Jill has an adorable son Isaac that was just too cute, Hi Isaac! And a cutie of a husband that I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of lol.
Jill, thank you for inviting me, and I hope the women were all inspired to go home and hook, hook, hook!! I had a wonderful time, and to top it all off, I got an order for an eyeglass case that I had shown that I hooked. That was very unexpected.. Will get that done soon!
Made it home from Jill's house in time to get my daughter off to church. She went with the youth group to the Big Mac Ski Attack for the weekend. I hope she is having a good time, and is just enjoying the fellowship of all her friends. Came home and cleaned up the kitchen a little and then left to go out to dinner with my friend Vicki last night. Had the most awesome burger! We had a good time just venting away the stress of the week we just had. Stopped at a couple stores after that, and ended up sitting in Starbucks for a coffee for her and a tea for me to finish off the night. Thank you Vicki for a nice relaxing evening.
I have the Blue and Gray hooking group to go to on Monday and will be finally getting to hook some of my camp rug. It's been so long since I've seen it, I'm sure I forget what it looks like lol.
I'm off to get my day going here. I stopped over my mil's this morning to help her out already, so I have the rest of the day to just get some laundry done, and get a few other things done. I have 2 punch needle patterns drawn up that I want to start today as well. Will share more as the week goes on.
Hope something inspires you all to start something new!