The sun came out~

Yesterday was our annual Cornfest here in Shippensburg, Pa. Nicole and I were on our way at 7:30 a.m. We walked which was a little over a mile to get there with umbrella's in hand. It was a very gray day in the morning and the showers were off and on. But they didn't last long. That was the nice part. Just felt sorry for some of the vendors that didn't have a way to cover some of their things. This is a shot of the beginning of the walk. You can't even see the end. I believe there were over 200 vendors. Nicole and I were determined to get our butterfly potatoes. And for those that don't know what they are here's a shot. Nicole and I found a covered stoop to sit and eat. They do have chairs and tables, but everything was wet.

They always have entertainment. Here was one part. They were having so much fun. There was a band playing and these couples were doing the jitterbug style dancing. Loved their outfits.

Nicole and I bought a few things, and then we started to head home. By this time, the sun had come out and the humidity was pretty high. I was huffing coming back. Got in the house and jumped in the shower and was back out the door to go back to the cornfest with Donna. It was just her and I this year. We had a wonderful time. She bought a few things and we stopped for a drink here and there to sit and chat. One part of the entertainment later in the day was a group from Jazzercise. Oh my, it was so funny. A girls softball team from the University here in town decided to join in. One girl went over to participate and then the whole team joined in. They kept up very well with the instructor!
Donna and I then went out to dinner and just sat and talked and talked and talked. It's been a while since we've done that. I got home after 11:00 last night, so it was a very loooong day. Was not up to going to church this morning, so I'll have to apologize next week for not bringing the snack to Sunday School :(. I'm sure I"ll be forgiven, and I'll make up for it next time.

Today I'll be cleaning up around here and figuring out what lies ahead for this week for me. I'm just going to chill today. The sun is shining and there is a wonderful breeze. Will have to turn off the air conditioner and open some windows.

Hope the sun is shining on your end! Have a wonderful weeke everyone...

not so much this week

Each day this week seemed to keep me from getting things done. A little was burnout, and a little was doctor's appointments, hair appointments, etc. But that's ok. These things have to get done too.
Yesterday however was the hook-in again at Grant Street Woolworks. Honestly, if you are in the area and want to come, you should. Nice lighting, lots of laughter, lots of wool and patterns to look through if you are in need (or just have to have!). If you need any information, please contact me, and I'd be happy to help.
Joanne came out again yesterday. The girl likes to travel! We went out to lunch before hand and even stopped at a couple yard sales on the way. And wouldn't you know it? Joanne found a rug hook for .25!! Lucky gal! We were wondering where all the other stuff that went with it was lol.
When we got to Linda's, Pat, Marion, Doris and Tracy were there. I think Tracy has been there before, but this was the first time I have been there when she was. So nice to see a full room! Joanne had made a creamsicle cake for Linda as a thankyou for sewing her pillow for her last week. Oh MY GOODNESS. Was it wonderful. Thank you Joanne, and Thank you Linda for sharing it with us lol.

Here is Marion, Pat and Tracy with her back to the camera. They were deep into conversation when I got there. But I had to get my pictures taken early so I wouldn't forget.
And it's too funny when one camera comes out, they ALL come out. As you can see lol...



Pat is just about done with her checkerboard rug. I can see her and her husband playing a game of checkers real soon! Pat even said by the weekend that she'd be starting something else. Can't wait to see what it is. If it's the fruit basket, I can't wait to see what colors she dyes...

Marion is just about done with hers too! Never did ask her what her next project is. Marion, I tried emailing you a picture. You must have changed your email address. It got bounced back to me. Email me and I'll send it to you.

And Tracy is doing this large rug. Isn't it wonderful? Very cute pattern!

Doris and Joanne were talking about Joanne's frame and stand. The stand folds up and fits into a little tote bag. Great piece for traveling with.

Just another shot of everyone ....

And here is a rug that Linda has not finished. But she will.................. (if we have anything to say about it!)
The kind soul that Joanne is, she was working on finishing a few pieces for a friend. How wonderful is that? We all have our own unfinished projects, and here she is helping out a friend. And there are many that she is doing for her. This was just one of them. I didn't get a shot of the other one she was doing with a sheep. All she has to do is whip this one now. Way to go Joanne!

And Louis, well he loves his sheep. I didn't see how he got up on this table. He's a little kangaroo.... First time he ever did this too Linda said. You can see the sheep on the top shelf. He never did get it. I put him down on the floor. It's just too funny.
Today I was supposed to go to my dye group over Joan's house. But I got a phone call this morning from my mil. She wasn't doing very well, and needed me. I ended up calling an ambulance since there was no way I could get her in the car to take her myself. We weren't sure if she fractured her arm or not. Thank God, after an xray, we found out she didn't. That's a huge praise. She does however have tendonitis. The doctor said her bursa was filled with a lot of fluid. Now when I did research, I thought this was known as bursitis. But the doctor said tendonitis. Anyway, she was in a lot of pain, and we got her some help for it. She's back at her home and is resting her arm. I'm sure she'll be feeling better soon.

I did manage to go over to Joan's to pick up our stuff from the fair that she so graciously went and got for me because I had a major brain fart.. I got to see what they were doing today. Some gorgeous spot dyeing and they were working on braiding for our current project. I was watching Nancy doing her braid, and she was concentrating really hard. We weren't allowed to talk with her lol. Wish I had my camera!! Sure wish I could have stayed a little longer. Next month!

Tomorrow is our annual Cornfest here in Shippensburg, Pa. Nicole and I will head out early. We will walk there. It's a little over a mile. We do it every year. Then I will go back again in the afternoon with my friend Donna and maybe Lucy will be joining us. Rachel can't make it this year. Hope you are feeling better Rachel! Just praying for no rain. If it does, we'll just have to walk with our umbrellas. It's rained in the past and people still lined the streets. There are usually over 200 vendors lining the main street. Nicole and I are patiently waiting for our butterfly potatoes. Can't wait!!

Wishing everyone a relaxing weekend. .....

Sewie weekend

I was really looking forward to this past weekend for our online retreat. Wasn't the best weekend for me, and am happy to look forward to a better week. Saturday I ended up with a migraine, something that hasn't happened for quite some time. Was more nauseous this time than any other time it has happened. I picked a Stacy Nash pattern that I had to work on. It was on 32 ct. linen and it was a struggle at times for me to stitch. I took many breaks. I was quite happy frankly when Saturday was over. Woke up Sunday feeling like I was beaten up from the inside out, and really didn't want to go to church, but I did. At least the pain was gone, just feeling blah. Came home, cleaned up the kitchen, got the meatballs in the crockpot so they would be ready for dinner and then sat to finish the stitching. It was a slow moving afternoon, but that was ok. Until I realized something, and then I was a frantic lunatic. I was supposed to pick up our items from the Fair between 2 and 4. During registration, I repeated that over and over again to each person who brought something in. Don't forget to pick up your stuff~

Well, it was now close to 5:00. I live almost a half hour away. No way did I think they were still there. I called my friend Joan who lives near there and she thought they would be gone too. So I called Caroline who we worked with who was in charge and left a message on her machine. I was not concerned about my items. I was concerned more for my daughters stuff which was in a different department. I called myself some pretty harsh words and was just more dumbfounded that I would even forget. The phone rang and it was Joan (Dear, Dear Joan...Still love you!!) She had gone over to the Fair and Caroline was still there and was able to get all our stuff and it is now over her house waiting for me. I will be going over there on Friday for our dye group (I laughed and told her I hope I remember to come!!) I beat myself up pretty good yesterday and then finally found some peace. So there, it is over with, and behind me. Nuff said!!

So I slowly worked on putting my sewie together. Nothing was machine stitched. All hand sewn together. Learned a few things from this one. It was a lot larger than I thought it would be. From the picture (and not reading the dimensions lol) I thought it would be smaller. With the bird it is around 8" tall,. The base is a little less than 5" tall and a little less than 4" wide. I started to stuff it with some cotton stuffing I have that I really like, but the linen is so giving, and it was still lumpy to me. So I pulled it all out and used some walnut shells, which is some bird litter I had. Used a funnel and with patience, filled it up. The directions said to use a dowel and cut a slit in the top of the pin cushion and the bottom of the bird and put glue on each end of the dowel. Didn't want to do that, so I stitched the bird onto the top instead. I am pleased with it. Not sure yet if I'll keep it all year round in the wool room or just use it for Fall decoration. It has the word Harvest all the way around.

So there it is. Oh, and what is that I see sitting next to it? Why yes, those are my stubs to pick up my Fair items LOL.

I also finished whipping my circle mats on Friday. I have the labels ready to sew on today.
Also received a package on Saturday from Deirdre. She had my name in the Anniversary Wool Toss on AAPG. We were to send a box of worms to each other. Thank you so much Deirdre! Can't wait to use them up!!

We also had a little passing in our family. We discovered Sammy had passed away. Nicole had 2 hamsters. One a Dwarf and the other a Teddy Bear. Sammy was the Dwarf hamster. Cutest little thing. Not one that liked to be held. Valentino (the teddy bear) likes to be held and doesn't mind it. This was back when she was just a baby. Never grew much more either. She will be missed.. Another reason why I don't have pets. Even teared up over this! lol. sad....... Off to get my day going here. Looking forward to a productive week. Hope yours will be one too! Happy Monday to you all!

It's Friday, and that aint no "Bull"

Yep, it's Friday (and I'll get to the part where it aint no "bull"). Busy, busy week. It started out by me helping out at the Fair. I did that Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I help out in the needlework section..lucky me.... It was hot, hot, hot, and the gnats and flies were trying just as hard to survive. OR, they were just hoping we would swat them and put them out of their misery. Here's Mike, bad back and all, hanging the quilts. He had some great helpers. I hope he is feeling better. You can see how hot it was.

Joan was shushing the bugs away by blowing. We ALL were. Got her all puckered up lol. I would say everything went pretty smoothly minus a few bumps in the way, but we got everything registered, checked and rechecked, judged by the judges and then displayed for the public to see. It was fun, and I do enjoy it. (I even won a few ribbons myself...)

Wednesday, I had a lot of catching up to do on the cleaning since I was busy the previous days. And Joanne was coming on Thursday to spend the day and go hooking with me at Linda's. Wednesday night I was able to finish putting together some more of the little 3x5 pillows I hooked up. I took the other 6 with me to Linda's to finish. That was the plan anyway.

Joanne came to my house yesterday and she brought me something. Ok, before I start here, I have to ask you all. How many of you have cocoa (the Hershey's in a can for baking) in your cupboard? Well, apparently everyone does but me. Well, now I do, I had a can sent to me by Jo lol. I think Joanne thought I was from Mars when I said I didn't have any. Sooo, she made me an honest to goodness chocolate cake, Made from Scratch!! The icing too! Ok, I know that's not unusual, but she made it for me, and it's not even my birthday lol. That was very sweet of her. And on top of this cake were little candy Bulls! Ok, not really. They were little cows. After I made fun of myself in an earlier post about thinking that a cow was a bull because it was black, I have been the butt of jokes ever since. I don't care though. I think it's funny too! Soo, I was calling them little bulls all night long. Here is a shot of the cake, and let me tell you! Joanne is an awesome baker. Will have to get the recipe..... Thank you Joanne for making it.. I took it along to Linda's and shared it. But you better believe I brought it back with me lol. I'm doing everything I can not to take a bite of it today. Will wait until after dinner! Oh, and Joanne, Nicole has cleaned up the sides real nice she said. I looked at it, and any icing that had fallen off into the pan, she did a good job of eating it lol. Before we went to Linda's, I asked Joanne if we could stop at Joanne Fabrics. I had an idea about covering my bulletin board for my wool room.. We stopped in the Goodwill first that was right next door. I lucked out with a redware plate made by my friend Becky Mummert. I was so surprised to see it. Not a scratch on it. It has Becky's name on the back and the year 2003. So, Becky, if you are reading this, I saved it and brought it home with me! Also got a little windsor back chair. Not sure what I will do with it yet, but thought it was cute.
When we got to Linda's, Pat was there and her daughter in law Kami. So were Madeline and Seth, Linda's grandchildren. Madeline was in the middle of drawing up a pattern for herself. She is 10 years old I believe. Seth was off running around with his gun shooting q-tips. He was having fun all by himself. Seth is 7.

Pat was working on her checkerboard rug. Oh my, it's soo nice. I love everything about it. I got her hooking and smiling away at something, and then the next shot is a close up of her rug. You can see Madeline in the background here already starting to hook on the pattern she drew up.
Love the goldish color around the tree....

Linda hardly ever sits still when we are there, but she was determined to finish this chair pad for the shop.

And she DID!!!!!! Way to go Linda!!!

Here is the progress in just a short amount of time that Madeline did on her rug. She got her gourd done and was starting on her pumpkin. She took a little break and showed me the dress that Linda wore 40 something years ago. Too cute!

Jill and Beth came, and they are always so funny. I envy their relationship as sisters. I don't have any sisters, but am truly Blessed with so many girlfriends that I consider them all sisters to me. Love this shot of them!!

Jill was working on her basket of flowers and is just about done. She has opted not to do the border but to frame it by adding some rows of red around the outside. Great work Jill!! And hmmphhh, I didn't get a shot of Beth's snowman. Next time Beth!

A few things were changed after this picture and it really made a difference. Never did get another shot. Will get one when she's all finished!

Seth was still busy occupying himself!!

Joanne had brought along a pillow kit to work on. She was busy, busy, busy...
Checking out the picture she got with the kit.

She's a very fast hooker! She got it all done, and then Linda helped Joanne by sewing it on her machine, and then started stuffing it.

Joanne was helping pull the stuffing apart and Seth was out of the picture, but he was having fun too.

Here it is all completed!! Isn't it cute??

Ok, I may have taken quite a few pictures, but I did get some work done too. I was able to complete the other 6 pillows done while I was there. Here they all are.

Today I had some running around to do with Nicole and then I thought I would paint my bulletin board. Linda had graciously given me a piece of fabric from her shop that I thought would look good on it. She told me to bring it by on Monday to have her serge it. But I was impatient today and gave it a tight zig zag around the ede, and voila!

It's all done and hung up!!! I even got my buttons out and thumb tacks. I hot glued them on to the buttons. I sanded the edges of the frame slightly to age it. Thank you Linda!! I will use the extra piece I cut off to wrap something else in the room or maybe use it for the tabs for my window curtain I want to make. We'll see.

So it's Friday, and I'm all caught up on what I wanted to accomplish. Great feeling. Have some other projects lined up for the weekend. It's our retreat weekend on our online group AAPG. This month's theme is sewies. I most likely won't post till Monday.....I'll be busy.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and I hope you get things done that are on your own list....

Loving this weather

I know, I know it's too hot for some. Even me (at times), but it just feels good... Have been real busy working steadily for the show. Everything just takes time, and of course I'm feeling the crunch time of it all. I want to do so much and I know I'll run out of time and energy.
Saturday we went to my husbands work for a few hours. They were having what they call Power Day. Stuff for the kiddies, a car show, food, music, a tour of the plant, etc. It was all outside. Hot but nice out. We had a very nice time. I only took one picture and that was of my daughter showing us how much she wants one of these crotch rockets lol. We just say...Um, No! She's such a goof.. After we got home, I worked some more on my little 3x5 pillows. I was able to finish up the hooking of them before I went to bed that night. Will take a picture after they are all put together.
Yesterday was church and then afterwards I helped out with the registration for the South Mountain Fair. I have to go back this afternoon to help with more of that, and then tomorrow I'll be there from 8 till ? It's judging day tomorrow and there is a lot of work that goes into it. I do like helping out though. A wonderful group of people to work with. Thanks to Joan for getting me to volunteer a few years back.
After dinner last night, I really wasn't in the mood to do anything, but thought I'd be wasting my time if I just sat still. The heat and the gnats at the Fair wore me out~ So I cut apart all the pillows, and zig zagged around them and actually got one put together and stuffed.
Also on Saturday, the AAPG online group had their one year Anniversary~ Congrat's Kelley, for starting it up, and for everyone making it work so well~ !! They had an online party with some guessing games, and how well do you know each other. It was fun. Lots of laughs! They talked about an Anniversary Wool Toss... throwing some wool worms up in the air like confetti. That gave Kelley the idea of a worm swap. So we signed up for it and she gave us a person to send a box of our worms too. I've got mine all ready. Will ship it out today or tomorrow. So Rhonda be on the look out!
Joanne is coming out on Thursday to go hooking with me at Linda's. Looking forward to seeing her, and I know Linda and Pat will too! Hope we get a good turn out.
Hope to have some pictures to share on my next post. (I'm sure there will be lol). If you aren't liking this weather too much, I hope you are staying cool... Enjoy your week~

Hooking and some finishes~

Had a great time at Grant Street Woolworks yesterday. Just sorry it wasn't more full with people. Never a dull moment even for just a few people. I was determined to get some work done this time and I did! I was able to finish one complete circle mat and then start on another one. I was finished with the second one after dinner last night. Here is the one I did while I was there. They are almost 9". Linda had gotten some gourds from Meadowbrook gourds and boy are they sweet! Linda loves them too lol. And then Linda needs to be Linda! Love her tooth LOL.....
Sherry was there and I think she was ignoring us. Nah, just working hard!
And it's coming out really nice. She's working on a snowman as a gift for Christmas. Never too early to start!

Pat was also there and we had a great time chatting. Her gameboard rug is turning out really nice. Hope to get a shot of it next week~ Doris couldn't make it. She has a pulled muscle in her leg. Wishing you a speedy recovery Doris!! Make sure you rest!

I was going to cut off the circles from the foundation today to whip, but I have some extra room on there that I will make some small hooked bowl filler pillows before I cut it apart. Will get to that soon after I'm done here. Spent the morning finishing up on tagging the items I have done for the show so far. And also finished framing this pn piece that I will put in the Fair next week. Might even try to sell it at the show. Hard one to decide on! This is a freebie pattern from Betty Dekat over on PrimitiveBettys called Falling Leaves. I wasn't sure what to do with the frame. It was just a soft stain to begin with. So I just re-stained it using a wash of an acrylic paint. I like the way it turned out. Need to keep moving, or else I'll end up sitting again and getting nothing done. The weekend will be kind of full as well. My husbands work is having an outing for employees and their families. Hoping to get some more stuff done after that is over. Sunday afternoon I will go to the Fair to help out with registration. Can't wait to see all the entries for this year. I help out in the needlework section. How great is that???
Wishing everyone a great weekend!~ Keep using your hands.....

Heat wave of Hookers..

Wow, was it a hot one today. As soon as you stepped outside, you felt the wave of heat. I was very surprised that it did not hold back the women of Blue and Gray today! Extra chairs and a table were brought out. So nice to see such a full crowd.

I sure hope I don't screw it up with who's rugs are who's~ Feel free to correct me PLEASE if I get it wrong.. Here we go...

This is Pat's.

This is Ivi's. Love what she chose to do with the border.

Another of Pat's. Love how she adapted this pattern.

Here's Kim's.

And this one is easy. Violet is in the picture. Such stunning fine cut!

This is the one I'm stumped on. I "think" it's Margaret's.

I think her name is Kay?

Here is Marion's. Marion, I know you are reading this, and just so you know, I mailed your green to you this afternoon. You should have it in a couple days! I had a piece left, and even mailed your strip back to you LOL.

This is Ellie's.


This is Joanne's.

And here is Joan's. She went to camp this summer, and boy has she taken on a detailed piece! Just beautiful..
And here is Brenda's. She has made this for her son.

I had a really nice time. Even pulled a few loops myself. Nothing fancy, just a hit or miss circle. Of course no picture lol. I take them of everyone else's but mine.

My camera is also going whacky on me for some reason. Will have to get the book out or just wait until Nicole comes home from work and ask her. I'm sure she can figure it out before I get to page 2 LOL. I thought I took more pictures. Not sure where they went!!

I feel I wasted the rest of my day on this darn box. I was looking for something, which led me to something else, and so on and so on. I'm sure you know the drill. And I never found what I was looking for. Grrrr!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Will try to get my focus back on track.