Questions answered......

Good morning Dear Friends ~~   There were a few questions about the long  runner hooked by Joan Strausbaugh in my last post.  I emailed her and had her put it in writing for me to share with you. 

I for one could not imagine doing this size, but hey, never say never, right?   I remember at the hook in that Joan was telling us all this information, but didn't remember the exact numbers.  So I asked her some questions....  One more look at this wonderful runner..

                                                  

The name of the pattern is called Paisley Garden and it was designed by Jeanne Benjamin (as a small rug).  Joan made hers 36"x 90"

How long did it take?  

6 hours to adapt the design
6 hours to transfer
18 1/2 hours of dyeing wool
352 hours of Hooking
11 1/2 hours in finishing (whipping)
Total = 396 Hours!!!!!

She also added that it took 8 yards of background wool.  1 yard of wool hooked 1 foot of background.

Now get this ~~~~   She started this rug on 12/20/10 and finished it 3/23/11 !!!!    (I keep looking at where the motor is on her arm.... I've yet to find one lol)

Joan, thank you so much for sharing your process with us. I personally am just glad you were the one pulling those loops and not me  lol.   And you did a spectacular job with it.  Annie Lee is going to Love, Love, Love it.  I do have to share with everyone that Joan hooked this same rug (the smaller size) and graciously gave it to Annie as a gift.  And then Annie commissioned the same rug in this larger runner..

Happy Tuesday everyone, I hope your week is going well for you.....

My feet hurt ~~~

What a wild last few days.   Thursday I had to get some blood work done in the morning.  Went straight to the hook-in after that and made myself some breakfast since I had to fast for  it.  Linda, Barb and Brian were busy working away.  I cleaned up my mess and before you knew it the first person arrived to hook.  Nancy needed help with color planning a new rug she will be working on after she finishes her pumpkin, so I took time to help her out.  The people just kept coming and coming... It was wonderful! 

Of course the celebrating had to continue for Linda's Birthday :).  Joan dyed her a beautiful piece of wool.

Joan finished her commissioned piece. Just look at this monster!  She was telling us how many hours  and how much wool it took.  I'm sure the new owner is going to be very pleased!

Delores came with Ellie, Joanne and Becky. It was show and tell...

Becky's rabbit. Love it!

Joanne's piece..

Diane very busy working on her rug.

Nancy P and her two foot stool covers from left to right and the farthest on the right is a small purse she is making.

Genny checking out her sister Bert's penny rug and she also brought her hooked piece to work on.

Bonnie working on an Easter egg mat.

Jackie learning to bind with the wool strips.

Nancee's dog rug. Sweet!

Sherry is ripping out to try something different.

Twin sisters Bert on left and Mabel on right.  Mabel made this quilt. 

There was even more Birthday celebrating going on. We had so many cakes that day! Barb made another one for Jackie. Her daughter dropped one off in the morning too for her. Can't say that anyone went home hungry :)

Birthday cards that got people laughing soo hard!

Sheep made out of cauliflower and black olives lol.  Too cute!

Group shots of everyone working.... Even Norton in the background LOL.  He's working on a pair of pants.

Some help in picking out colors

Sooo needless to say, I was busy the whole day. I really did not sit down much. By the end of the night I was pooped, and my feet really did hurt!  I teased Linda and said I guess I'll put my hooking away lol.  I think I pulled 10 loops the entire day.   It sure seemed like everyone had a great time. I know I did!!

On Friday I had dye group over Joan's house.  We were busy from the time we got there until it was over. And I had to leave around 2:40 or so. I had an appointment to get new tires put on the car.  I felt bad leaving, because everyone else was still working hard.  We will be starting a new group project, and we are dyeing wool for it.

It was also show and tell over Joan's.  Jewel finished her scroll piece. Just lovely. The background is a very dark plum.

Louise also finished hooking hers. Her background is a very nice soft black.  Mine? you'll probably never see it. Joan and I keep saying we lost ours :).  Not one I really want to finish!! It's not me. 

Jewel also is doing the letter of her last name. 

While waiting to get the tires on my car, I got a text from my friend Rachel. She was wanting to know if we were going out to dinner. Donna was coming too.  Sooo, I made it home from the tires, made George his dinner and then they were knocking on the door.  We walked to Pizza Hut from my house. It was quite chilly out, but was nice that we walked!  We had a great time.  I made sure I was in bed by 10:30 last night.  Because today I picked up Linda, and we went to an Antique store that was having some sales.  We spent quite a bit of time there. It was fun looking at everything. Even ran into our friend Beth and her Mom. I bought a couple things like a tin watering can, a crock and some oil cans for some make do's.  From there we went to grab a bite to eat.  I promised her a Birthday lunch :)  Her salad was soo colorful. The young waitress took time to really make it look special.

Of course you can't get out of there without having a piece of Birthday cake!  Linda shared it with me.

And now I'm home, trying to get some cleaning done. I was teasing Linda all day. I don't want to go home, because then I have to clean lol.  But I guess someone has to do it.  It has been a non stop few days, but very enjoyable!  I think tomorrow after church it will be my rest time.  Before you know it, Monday morning will be here.

Well, back to cleaning!  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend ~~~

Happy Birthday Linda ~~~

Happy Birthday Linda ~~  It was Linda's Birthday yesterday.  I won't tell you how old she is because I got it wrong on her Birthday card anyway.   She loved me for that :).   

It was a fun day Celebrating with her at work.  Barb made the most delicious cake for the celebration and we had ice cream to go with it.  It was an oatmeal cake with coconut and nut topping. Mmmmm! She even bought the Happy Birthday candles.

Got a shot of Linda ready to blow out the candles while we sang to her.  Barb got her laughing so hard because Norton (get to him in a minute) was not singing. We were half way through singing and Barb whacked his chair, and he chimed right in.  The timing was priceless lol. 

Ok, here is Norton... We call him Norton, or Ed because that is who he reminds us of. He is a real jokester and has you giggling throughout the day.  His real name is Brian and he is here for 2 weeks while Linda teaches him some sewing. Can you imagine what the 2 weeks will be like??  He wasn't here for 15 minutes and already it began.... Picture says it all.. He grabbed a piece of scrap wool out of the can and wrapped it on his head and began making jokes.

Happy Birthday Linda... I hope the upcoming year brings you good health, new friends, and more joy than you can handle.  May all your wishes come true ~~~

Now I'm late for work.... I hope she forgives me :)

Finished Rug ~~~

Happy Saturday friends ....   My rug is finished and I'm ready to hang it. Just deciding where I'm going to put it.  I am really happy the way it turned out.  I took it with me on Thursday to put the label on it. 

Then I moved on to something else.  I took some scrap linen with me and drew up a couple designs.  The blue and cream check mat I did up because I needed to do something blue for this month's theme on AAPG. Nothing fancy, just plain and simple. The other piece on the linen is another mat with the word Harvest on it. These pieces I will most likely take with me to Colonial Day in the Fall.  Getting a head start on some things to make and hopefully sell.

Jill came early on Thursday and brought her little girl Faith.  Jill and her husband Danny foster children. Faith and her brother Dallas are 2 that they have had for a while now.  Isn't she just the sweetest?

A little ham for the camera...

showing off her backpack lol.

Jill is just finishing up the red border on her son Isaac's rug.

Joan came and was working on her large rug of a dog. This is a gift!  And now Jill, before you start in on me about you in the picture, I really tried to crop this.... All I kept coming up with was your head in the corner lol.  And besides, just look at Faith looking up at this huge rug!! Priceless :)  (I could very well have posted that "other" picture... so don't go there lol)  

Nancy is now working on her background. Great job for a beginner!

Joan had brought a present for someone who would say the word she had picked out in her mind.  So she listened that afternoon for one of us to say it.  Well, I did end up saying it, but Linda actually said it earlier in a conversation with Joan and Joan didn't even realize it. We laughed quite a bit over this one!!  Look at the pretty piece of wool Linda won!  Joan is a wonderful dyer.  Linda was a very generous  and shared it with us..  Jill is sad she didn't say the word lol.

Nancee came and was working on her new rug. It is 2 dogs.  Very cute pattern, and do you think I took a picture of it?  ugh!!  Sorry Nancee, next time!

She also started off a celebration for Linda.. It is Linda's Birthday on Tuesday.  (I'm sure we will be celebrating for a few weeks lol).  It was a sweet package, and I just had to get a shot of one of the gifts.  Oh how we howled....  Linda  here reading what was on the front.

And here is a close up lol.  (of course there is always a story behind everything... I'll just leave it at that :) )

It really was a fun day. I didn't get as many pictures this time. I was actually sitting and hooking!  The next morning I picked up Linda and we went to a few places just to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.  She had some gifts to buy and  then we ended up going to the Antique mall in Fayetteville and walked around.  It really was a lovely day. Thanks for the fun Linda! 

I had to be home by a certain time and waited for George to call me. He was meeting me at the car dealer. I received a notice in the mail about a recall, and needed to be fixed.  Picked that up around lunch time today and now I'm getting ready to head over to my son's for a cookout.  It's a bit cooler than yesterday, but still wonderful to be out in.  The sun is shining and I am thankful..... I keep thinking of the people in Japan and how long their days may seem right now.  It just breaks my heart. How very fortunate we are ~

I also want to share an RAK (random act of kindness) from Sharon in our group.  I am going to start using some of the linen this coming week.  I want to do a freebie pattern from Betty.  Thank you Sharon for such sweet gifts... linen, calendar book, patterns and a sweet pad. I'm still smiling :).

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I started my Spring/Easter decorating and it's getting there. I don't have as much as I thought. But that's ok. Less to put away!

Get togethers ~~

Hey there everyone!  I was hoping to do this on Friday, but for some reason I was really tired.  Hmm, I wonder if it's all the fun that was had from the night before at the hook-in??  Plus I spent some time hooking on my rug that day too.
Getting together with all who come to the hook-in and just having a day of fun is so good for the soul.  And the hook-in's are getting fuller and fuller it seems. How awesome is that?? So I'll get right to it. 

Marion is a fine hooker and this one she has been working on for 3 years now.

Marion and Linda looking at all the flowers and the detail!

Patty and Nancy getting right to work..

Mary Margaret preparing her piece to be whipped.

Marion showed her and Patty how to do the Herringbone whipping stitch. It's a wonderful technique.

Group shots.. and it wasn't even full at this point.

Nancy's pumpkin.  What a great job for a beginner!

Jackie's amazing color sense.  She started on her background. It is a bunch of neutrals.

She has already chosen her next rug!

Pattty's dancing rabbits.  Everyone admired it, and we were teasing her that it was being raffled off.  She was sneaky though and took it home lol.

A bird done by a different Nancy.  We are getting mulitples of names. It is going to start getting confusing lol.

Joan was working on a very large dog rug that she drew up for a gift. Here is the head.

Genny finished her last chair pad.  This was #8!

She brought along a couple pieces to show Beth I believe of what she had done. But Beth couldn't make it, so I told her I'd put them up here for her to see.

Diane's piece coming along nicely.

Jill's stair riser almost completed.

Janice finished her turtle.

Nancee's cat rug.  Isn't it wonderful?  Nancee is another super woman when it comes to hooking.  She starts and finishes them in record time! I'm sure by next Thursday the background will be all filled in lol. 

And here is my rug and what I have been able to accomplish.  It is all that I hoped it would be. At first I wasn't sure of my choices. I always have an idea I want, but then never seem to duplicate it on the foundation.  But this one, I'm loving more and more.....

Yesterday I met up with my friend Beth.  We went to the Folk Art Show in York. It's different than it was in the past. New owners took over. Only a handful of the previous years vendors were there.  I'm hoping that more of them come back next year.  I bought a couple things, but nothing really knocked my socks off.    Joanne was supposed to meet up with us, but she had a very long trip home the night before and, well, lets just say she needed her rest :).  After the show, Beth and I went to lunch and then I had done some googling to see where there were some Antique places to check out. We went to a few.  Always a good time oohing and aahing and gasping at the prices of some of the pieces.  Turned out to be a very long day, but a well enjoyed one.

Now another weekend has flown by.  Today was a rainy day ALL day, yuck. But happy it wasn't snow!  Went to church and then did some odds and ends around the house.  Watched a movie with George and hooked for a little bit too.  Of course when you go to a show, there is so much inspiration and ideas running through your head. I doubt I'll ever get to them all!!

Wishing you all a very creative and peaceful week ~~~