Weekend here and gone

Can't believe it's Tuesday already. I had a busy weekend running around as usual. That's what happens when you have a teenager. But I did make time to finish hooking the background of my group project. I like it, but then I want to change things with it. But for now it will stay just the way it is. Now I need to draw the chevron stitch border. I was almost able to finish it yesterday at Chambersburg group, but I had things that needed to get done, so I left the rest of it for this morning at church while hooking with Genny. Sunday, Joan and Nancy picked me up to go see the Pennsylvania-German Vintage Hooked Rugs at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, Md. The rugs were from the collections of Dr. Patricia T. Herr and The Heritage Museum, in Lancaster Pa. We got there early enough to walk through the museum, and I can say I'd love to go back. It was very nice. I thought there were going to be more rugs to see, but what we did see were very nice. We stayed for the lecture by the Author and Collector Dr. Patricia Herr. She did a fine job. There were questions and answers at the end. Also you could have your book signed by her after it was over, and that is what Joan did. I don't have this particular book. No cameras were allowed, so I didn't get any pictures. Except for Joan having her book signed. They didn't mind that. The other picture's I got of her, I will send directly to her. She's a silly goose and we had rabbit ears from both her and Bob standing next to her lol. So yesterday was Chambersburg group, and it was a nice sized group that showed up despite it being such a gorgeous day. Some people didn't come, and we were thinking they were home working outside. Sandy is working on her chair pad. This is the same pattern that Peggy had done as a larger round rug in one of my previous posts. I am surprised that she has stuck with this one for as long as she has. It's in a #3 cut and I KNOW her next rug will be in a larger cut. She's doing a great job with it though!
Doris has finished hooking her rug and was working on the whipping part of it. I really love the color planning of this rug. Just beautiful Doris!
Thelma is working on this rug of flowers and butterfly. Looking good!

Naomi is almost completed hooking her rug. It is a gift.
And another gift to be given was made was by Joan. She did a punch needle piece. Isn't it wonderful? She's trying to find a frame for it, but is having a hard time because of it's size. She would like a square frame. I "think" it's around 6" x 5"? Sorry if I got that wrong Joan, but if anyone has any suggestions as to "where" to find something for her, please let me know so I can pass it along.
Ok, back to today. Geez, I feel like I'm all over the place here. That's what happens when you don't post often enough. Genny from church is just about done hooking her rug. She is very excited about it, and I will wait until it is finished all the way before I snap another picture of it to show. I had some errands to run afterwards. My son and his girlfriend Lake are moving into an apartment tomorrow and I wanted to get a gift for them. As a matter of fact, they are signing the lease as I type. (sniffling and clapping. such mixed emotions lol) I will be busy all day tomorrow, so I won't be around to help him move his things. I'm pretty sure they've got it all covered. So when I got back, it was so nice out, I decided to wash my car. She was filthy. Glad that is done. But why is it, it takes HOURS to clean a car inside and out? I could have gotten 3 rooms done inside the house lol. Which I need to do after I finish up here.
Tomorrow I'm really excited to be meeting up with Joanne and Cheryl at the Salvation Army fabric fair in Chambersburg. Hope the weather isn't too yucky. It's supposed to rain. Afterwards we will go out to lunch and then go over to Grant Street Woolworks to do some hooking, or whatever else we bring along to work on. Looking forward to just hanging out with everyone.
Well, I must get my rumpus in gear and get some work done.
Wishing everyone a great week ahead! Create something that makes you smile.........

Group project and 7 sisters..

What a day I had today. It was Joan's dye group today and we are working on a new project that we dyed some wool with onion skins a while back. We were to draw up a circle, oval, something on foundation and hook the center any way we wanted to. Everyone else drew up a circle, and I picked an oval. Just wanted something different. Here is mine. Not sure if I'm liking the background or not, but I'm going to keep going with it. Here's Nancy and Louise working on theirs and then a shot of Nancy's circle.

Joan had another pot of wool going with onion skins while we were discussing the next step of this project. The next step is to mock braid around our shape by hooking our wool to look like a braid. Joan is very good with seeing dimension, and had no problem at all drawing it on her piece. The rest of us were sorry creatures LOL. We just couldn't understand it at first. I caught on after a bit. I don't have mine drawn on yet because I haven't finished hooking my center yet. I will wait to do that part. Here is a shot of Joan's after she drew it on. She said it looked like a chevron stitch. You can see where she started to hook. It is going to be really neat. After that is all done, we are going to actually braid some wool and then stitch it to the outside of the mock braiding. Shall be interesting to say the least! A very good lesson. And we certainly had a good time laughing at one another!
I had to stop for groceries on the way back from Joan's house. Made it home in time to eat some dinner and take Nicole to drop off an application for work. She wants to get a job. Glad she is eager! Also took her for a quick drive to get her used to the car. She's doing better each time.

After that, I headed out to Genny's house. Genny is the one I hook with at church. WELL, she has 6 sisters!! So there are 7 of them. Oh MY LOL! What a hoot. I don't have any sisters. Too watch them, well, there were no words. It was funny, hysterical at times lol, and just heart warming. So nice to see a group of sisters get along the way they do. Genny thought of everything to get them started. She began by collecting hooks from ebay, as well as foundation, and also had all her worms for them to use. She had her husband make little starter frames that they could tack their foundation on. I was impressed with how much effort went into this. She gathered up pictures for inspiration and I brought along some of my rugs so they could see some variety. It was funny how they all started saying ooh, aah, I want to try this or that. Everyone got their drawing onto the foundation and tacked to the frame. Then all you heard was discouragement, but in a funny way. Like all us hookers in the beginning. Looks so easy until you try to pull your first loop. It just takes practice. By the time I left they were all managing well. Here are some shots.

Genny is standing, Cathy is hooking, and Doris was drawing up her design.

Then we have Gladys, Bert, and Mabel.
After a bit, Bert was helping Mabel, and Dot was watching. Dot watched for a while before she pulled her first loop. She wasn't going to do it, but I think after everyone else tried it, she gave it a shot. She was doing just fine when I left.

I cannot imagine that many sisters! But how wonderful it was to sit back and listen to them, and watch them help each other. I really got a kick out of being a part of it all.

It's supposed to be a gorgeous weekend. I have a little running to do tomorrow with Nicole, but after that, I'm hoping to just sit and hook. I feel like I've been running all week again. Take a little time for yourself this weekend, and be creative!

Another Birthday gift..

After a weekend retreat of crafting, I had one more piece to make. I was hoping to get it done over the weekend, but the other two pieces took up all the time. This one is for a friend too. I used 6 strands of floss to punch this design by me. I hand sewed a cording that I made from the floss around the edge and then hand stitched a piece of wool to the back of it. Stuffed it with all my saved snippets from my rugs for a nice feel. Hope she likes it! I even labeled it! I think it's more duller in person. The flash kind of made it bright. I liked it so much, I think I have to make one for myself. I was able to finish this at church today while Genny hooked and Betty knitted. Was a really nice morning.
Not much to really say tonight, but thought I'd share a funny thing that happened the other day. My daughter never ceases to surprise/amaze me. It was a school day, and about mid-day, I heard the phone ring. Well, usually I hear the upstairs phone ring first, then the one down here. Well, I didn't hear the one down here. I thought oh geez, she left the phone in her room again. I ran upstairs to answer it, and I could still only hear the phone in my bedroom. I got to it on time, but it was just an automated message. Hate those things. (I have to say, I am one of those people that can't stand to hear a phone ring and let it go to the answering machine). So then I started looking for the phone. Looked in her room, looked downstairs, looked high and low for this thing. I thought ok, I will push the button on the kitchen phone and it will beep and I'll hear it. Well, no beeping. Hmm, alright, it must be hidden under a blanket or something and it's muffled. Nope, still can't find it. Soooo about 2:30 when my daughter gets off school, the phone rings. It's her and she's laughing. She said "Mom, guess what I have"? I said the phone lol. Yep, she put it in her bag to bring downstairs in the morning and forgot to take it out. It was a good chuckle for the day......

Stitching weekend

It was a weekend retreat for me. The theme this month was flowers. I had gotten a pattern from Lori Rippey, a member of our online group AAPG. It was very generous of her to share her pattern with us. When I first saw it, I knew where I wanted to put it. It now hangs in my downstairs halfbath. I just love how it turned out. Couldn't get a head on shot because it's behind glass. I used praire cloth for the first time, and have to say that I really enjoyed working with it. It's a little stretchy, but I like the affect. This had a little bit of cross stiching and applique work. It's 5x7 when it's done, but I wanted it in an 8x10 frame. So I found some nice cotton fabric to attach it to. I just folded under the edges and then did very tine whip stitches to secure it to the fabric.

The next piece I did for a friend for her birthday. It isn't for a while yet, but now I'm done! Feels good to have one gift ready. This is a penny rug pattern by Ginger Sanchez . When I saw it, I thought of my friend. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift last year, but that never happened. And in all honesty, if I would have waited like I ususally do to start my gifts for the holidays, it never would have gotten done. This was a LOT of stitching, let alone all the cutting out of the pieces. My shoulder and neck were burning quite a bit. I did take breaks often today. I had no choice. My arm just wouldn't let me make too many stitches at one time. I had to have it on a flat surface and I was standing most of the time doing it to keep it even. It measures 14 1/2" around. Not the best picture. It's late and not much light in the house.

That's all I got done this weekend, but it sure felt good to just devote this time to making a couple items. One for me, and one for a gift. The weather was gorgeous yesterday and I did take a break to go help my mil with her shower. Windows were open and we had a real nice breeze.

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm shot, and I think I'll go watch a bit of tv before I call it a day.

I hope whatever you did this weekend, you got the most out of it!!

As I promised

Have always been told, don't say you promise to do something and then don't. So I very seldom use that word unless I know I will hold true to it. My kids know if I say it, I'll do it. I just feel you shouldn't break a promise. It's a powerful word to me. Sometimes my daughter will say to me, do you promise? And I will say no, because I'm not sure if I can follow through with it. So since I promised to take a picture of it today, I made sure I did, and decided to post it now, so I wouldn't forget.

Soooo, I went to church this morning to hook with Genny and Betty. Betty was knitting a dish cloth (they are always so pretty) and Genny was working on her rug. She is on the last color on the border. She's almost finished, and it looks great. Don't know what I was thinking by not taking pictures. Had my camera out and was showing them both some pictures from the last couple days. Will take some next time I go. And we'll see if Betty and Genny came to look at my blog. I gave them the address to it. Hello Ladies!!

I got to work a bit more on the background. I was able to hook all the way around the piece and then start filling some more in around the motif's. I'm really enjoying it. Working in a #8.5 is wild for me. The highest I've ever gone is a #7. The design is done in a #8 on this except for the swirly vine. That is in a #9!! Can ya believe it? My teacher Cynthia Norwood suggested it. So glad I listened to her. One row and it was done lol. I doubt if I'd use such a big cut for a whole rug though. It would hurt my arm after a while. I think the #8.5 will fill in rather quickly for the background if I can just sit and keep hooking. I'm looking forward to getting this done and hanging it up on my wall. I know just where I'll put it. This weekend is the retreat for the online group AAPG I belong too. The theme this month is flowers. I have been wanting to make a friend something for Christmas for a while. Obviously, I didn't get it done last Christmas. So this will be the perfect opportunity to do it. It's a penny rug and has flowers. I'm heading up to the wool room after typing here, so I can start cleaning up and getting my supplies ready. I also have a couple other things in mind to make if I can fit them in. (If you don't hear from me in a couple days, please send someone over. I may have gotten stuck somewhere up there. It is a mess lol!!!)
Have a wonderful rest of the week, and be creative!

Back to hooking

What a few busy days I've had. Being around some wonderfully talented people the past couple days has gotten me motivated to get moving on my camp rug. It was such a nice relaxing day on Easter Sunday. Couldn't have asked for anything better. It put me in the mood to gather up my rug and wool to head out to Blue and Grey on Monday. We had such a nice size group. Frustrated with myself that I took pictures of rugs, and not of anyone there. Duh! I did pull a few loops on my rug, but of course ended up talking most of the time. So much to see! Here is Peg's rug. I missed taking a picture of it at Chambersburg group. I am so happy she brought it here. Love the colors. Someone may want to correct me on this one. I'm not sure if this is Violet's rug or Peg's rug. I thought it was Violet's. Lot's of dimension on this one. Very pretty. Nancy finished her rug. I just love it. Reminds me of rick rack. What is even more unique to me, is the way she finished it off. There are 3, yes 3 rows of whipped edge. I'm not sure if you click on it or not, if you'd be able to see it. But it is a very interesting technique. She was kind enough to explain how she did it. Take a look at Ivi's rug. Wow! The coloring of this is just amazing. She did a beautiful job! Doris finished her bird rug. Again, another one I missed at Chambersburg. Glad she brought it along. Just beautiful! This is a HUGE rug by Violet. She just loves her fine cut. And speaking of fine cut, here is one from another Peggy. Such perfection. Doris was working on this rug. She was telling us that in her classes, some people think that primitive has to be dark, but not so! Look at this... I fell in love with the colors. So different. Becky has been using up her scraps. Just love a scrappy rug. Her design is really interesting. She said the center part of this rug was done with wool that wasn't in her scrap pile. Everything goes together so nicely! Brenda finished her rug. She is new to hooking, and is doing a great job! Her next rug has lillies in it. Can't wait to see what she does with that. There were many more rugs that I didn't get a chance to take pictures of. Can't believe I didn't snap one of Joan's! Next time! Again, too much talking...

I lucked out that George would take Nicole's boyfriend home last night. The kids still had off from school and he came over. Soooo, I headed out to East Berlin to do some more hooking. Didn't get too many pictures. One didn't come out good at all. It was too dark and I couldn't do much with it. But I'll show it anyway. Kim is doing this for the new grandbaby that's coming soon. The border was in a really nice green, and the background was soft in color and spot dyed. Here's Becky, Tonya, and Katie. Hi Tonya, Hi Becky! Tonya and Becky say they read my blog, so just wanted to say hey! Tonya held up the hit or miss she finished. She was working on another one that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of, but you can see it on her frame.. She does beautiful work. And I know right about now, my friend Beth is saying Wow. She really likes the hit or miss rugs. You could have seen it in person, if you would have come........... (I'm determined to get Beth back into hooking a rug one of these days). I'm not giving up on you Beth!
Here's Willa, Janice and Kim. The girls out in East Berlin take turns having the hooking at each others house. This month it was at Willa's (standing). And here is Louise getting her stuff ready so she can hook. Is that a huge basket or what??? Love it! Ok, now you are wondering "where's my rug"? Well, I haven't taken a picture of it yet, and it's late and it's too dark in the house to get a good shot of it. Today was a really busy day. I will be going to church tomorrow to hook with Genny. We usually do it on Tuesdays, but I made a doctor's appointment for myself for today. I'm not feeling so hot and I feel the thyroid is out of whack. So I went for a blood test right after the appointment. I'm hoping to find out in the next couple of days. If it's not that, then we will have to look into some other things. But with the way I'm feeling, I can almost bet money on it. So back to my rug. I promise to take a picture of it tomorrow. Not much really to show, other than some background being filled in.
The rest of my day was filled with doing my mil's grocery shopping, helping out at the concession stand at the track meet (the weather was rainy, windy, and cold). Not good for the way I feel, and I'm exhausted. Didn't eat dinner until after 7:00. I don't like that at all! I'm just glad I got these pictures on here now. I know "some people" are waiting for an update lol.
Will do my best to update again tomorrow. Enjoy looking at all the rugs. I know I did!

Too many miles..... and more

It's been a long week, and hard to believe it's Friday yet again.. I have driven over 300 miles since I got the car less than 2 weeks ago! Way too many, and it's time to stay home and get some things done. I'm really tired of running. (but I just love my new car lol)
I was able to get the mat I made for the basket bingo done. It was done being hooked earlier in the week, but just never got around to whipping it until last night. I hope whoever wins it, will be happy with it.

Linda and Pat had their hook-in last night. (Jill and Beth, we missed you and hope everything is ok). There were 5 of us. Marion came and was working on her eagle rug. It is really coming along very nicely. She says she is having trouble with the stars, so a suggestion was made to use a smaller cut. She is going to try it. Linda is working on her granddaughters rug. The flowers turned out great.
Willa came last night, but I didn't get a picture of what she was working on. She was knitting something that looked like a shawl. Very pretty colors, and she was going to add some embelishments to it. Wish I would have gotten a shot of it!

It was a fun night. Lots of laughing, desserts, and great conversation. After the week I've had, it was so nice to sit and relax. I was very pleased that I was able to whip the whole piece last night!

Earlier in the week it was just run, run, run like I said. And it wasn't until yesterday that I finally got my ham for Easter! I think I'm pretty much set for what we are going to have as a meal. Still need to pick up a few things for the Easter baskets. Yes, even though my kids are grown, I still make everyone a basket. I just enjoy it. My mom used to make one for us until we got married.
I had a very sweet surprise in the mail this week. On the group AAPG that I belong too, we have something called RAK's (random acts of kindness). Well, I was so surprised this week that I got a package from Sharon. She said she was thinking of me when she made it. My husband and I are amateur radio operators and she said she was looking for a tube from a radio, but this one is from a tv. It is sooo creative. And as of today is still the only Spring decorations I have out. I still have a snowman or two laying around.

On the day it came, we were all sitting down to eat dinner, and I said to my husband, I forgot to show you something. This is the funny part. My husband, for as long as we've been together, has never gotten up out of his chair at dinner time to do anything. I had made a really nice roast beef dinner. I showed it too him head on so he could see the bunny. Not too much of a reaction, until I turned it sideways. That man got up out of his chair to go get his glasses! He got the biggest kick out of it and was looking to see what kind of tube it was. He knew what it was after looking closely at it. I was just amazed at how quickly he moved! I teased him big time later about that. He too thought it was very creative. Thanks again Sharon! It will definitely give us smiles every time we look at it. (Oh, and she said when she told her husband what she was going to do with it, he wasn't all that interested, UNTIL he saw it. Then she said she had to make him one too LOL!). So my bunnies twin brother lives in NJ...The other bit of excitement this week was yesterday. I took my daughter Nicole to take her test for her driving permit. When she came out, I asked how she did. She said I got the first 15 right and it said I passed. She didn't have to go any further. Way to go Nicole! Of course she said could she drive home lol. Hmm, let me think about that one.... Um, NO! She's never been behind the wheel yet. So when we got back to our development, I pulled over and let her drive to our house. YES, in my brand new car! She did fine. Jerky, but fine lol. I snapped a couple pictures so I could send them to George and work. LOL, do you think he was scared???
Then when it was time to take her to her track meet, I let her back out and we went around the block and then she pulled over so I could drive the rest of the way. I will be signing her up for behind the wheel at school. It will help on insurance too. Any prayers that you want to say for us will be greatly appreciated lol!
Today I will be cleaning, oh joy! But it will be nice to just stay in.... And I will finally get out some Spring decorations. I'm hoping, and I know I keep saying this that I will finally get back to hooking my camp rug this weekend. I think I'm caught up for now on all that I "needed" to get done. I'm not sure if I'll get back on here before Sunday, so I'm wishing everyone a very Blessed Easter. Good meals, and great fellowship to your all!

If time could stand still

Lately all I've been saying is how the days, weeks are flying by. Well, now I realize how the years are flying by. My baby girl Nicole turned 16 today! Sweet 16..... I looked at her this morning and it hit me hard. Held it in till now, and now I'm blubbering. Heard a song on the country station this morning, and had to turn it off. But I felt it was sooo appropriate for today. I've added it to my playlist to play first. It's called It won't be like this for long by Darius Rucker.

I sat here this morning wondering what I'd put on the blog today about her birthday and how she's grown. I guess pictures speak a thousand words. I could have put on so many, but just picked out a few. Oh geez, I'm blubbering again.

She has a brother who loves her:

Such wonderful friends: way too many pic's to choose from...

And a boyfriend, they seem crazy for each other:

Being partial, I can say she was the cutest little thing growing up. One thing she always liked was hats. Always wore her grandmoms hats......


I think the infatuation with hats has always stayed with her. She's always putting someone's hat on, and her Dad is always teasing her about her BIG hat and calls her the "towel monster" lol.

All that being said, I wish I could just hold time still. Just for a little bit. But I know that would be selfish. And yes I know.... It won't be like this for long.

I was up on the computer late last night playing around with a really silly picture to put on the computer as the desktop background. Took me a while to put some words on it. I'm not good with the computer. It's a picture that I will NOT share with you or she would have a fit. But something that just makes us laugh. During all of this, my son comes home and he has his girlfriend Lake with him. A short time later he surprises me by telling me that he has found an apartment and is looking to move out soon. I was speechless (knew it would happen some day), just not prepared for it I guess. Are we ever? I felt bad this morning because I didn't show more happiness towards him. I AM happy for him, (Craig I LOVE YOU), he's growing up and I'm SOOOO proud of his accomplishments. Just so dang hard to let go!!! You think you get through one phase, and another one comes along. But you know what? It won't be like this for long.....

So this morning Nicole wakes up and I make her some pancakes for breakfast. She opened up her gifts this morning before school. She just wanted money to take to the beach this summer. She's going with her boyfriend Brandon and his family. She also got a purse she wanted and a book, along with a hysterical card from her brother and Lake. I got her a little something just from me. A memory box from the Willow Tree collection. It has a mother/daughter on it. So here is just a few pic's from this morning.







Tonight we are going out to dinner, her choice. She chose Cracker Barrel, and then we will go to Cold Stone Creamery which she has a free coupon for her birthday. Brandon will be joining us. Craig has to work tonight, so he won't be able to attend. We will miss him.
I'll be taking her on Tuesday for her physical so she can take her test for her drivers permit! Look out World, here she comes!! So another phase to go through as time passes on. It's funny how when the kids were young, I would always say, it's a phase and it will pass. Easier when they were younger. Not so easy now that they are older. I guess some might think the opposite, I don't know.
My goodness, I've never blubbered like this for my own birthdays. I actually welcome them with open arms and an open heart. Guess I need to take a page out of my own book and just rejoice in each of my kids birthdays and for each of their accomplishments. God willing, there are many more to be had! And just imagine for a second how God feels about each one of us. He must say that over and over again when we are going through some tough times, and even in good times............. "It won't be like this for long".... We just need to hang in there and persevere. Happy Sweet 16th Birthday to my Dear Sweet Nicole!!! I Love You!!