YESTERDAY ~ ~ ~

We had a fun little class here in my little studio!  Vivian and MJ are new hookers!!! I love being part of that!!  We had such a fun day ~ we hooked ~ we laughed ~ we ate!  Vivian and I have been friends for a long time now ~ Sonny built their new home years ago and since we both like the same style of home and furniture and do shows ~ we have lots in common.  I just met MJ at my last show and she was so anxious to learn the art of rug hooking ~ we all hit it off and are planning a little field trip in a few weeks ~ new friends ~ I love that!  New hookers ~ I love that, too!

Congratulations to my Seattle daughter-in-law, Coni ~ on the right!  She participated in the 3-day walk for breast cancer research for the third year in a row!!  Her team was 81 strong and at last report was the highest earning team in the country ~ over $205,000 pledged for the Valley Girls team!!  That's amazing!  They walk 60 miles in 3 days ~ and my son and the three kids cheer her long the way!!!  I hear that two of my Ohio daughters-in-law are going to do the walk next year!!!  I'll be on the side-lines cheering them on!!!!

That's it for today ~ Heidi will be here shortly and off we go to our class in Tipp City!  It will be fun and we're looking forward to learning lots of new stuff!!!  Have a good weekend, everybody!
Alice

FALL DECORATING ~ ~ ~

Yes, I did get some decorating done last week!  This is as you enter our back door ~ which is really the only door we use!!  If anyone rings the front doorbell, I know they don't know us!!  I used a huge pink hydrangea turned greenish/pink now along with goldenrod, and other various wildflowers (weeds) that I am sad to say were growing in the MIDDLE of the garden!!!  Even weeds are beautiful to me!!

To the right of the door is this antique bench ~ looks like it belonged on a buckboard!  Instead of a mum, I put this huge kale plant in a basket along with a gourd that has been dried and painted like a pumpkin.  And Witchipoo stands guard and greets guests for me ~ she's a Dan DiPaolo creation that I bought years ago.  There's a sweet pumpkin lady that goes with her but I haven't hauled her up from her basement dwelling yet!!

Antique pumpkins ~ real ones but I think they come from heirloom seeds ~ sit atop the summer planters outside the double doors.  There was still enough color left in the plants but kind of sparse in the middle so I just plunked the pumpkins in the center and added some stuff around them.  It looks kind of cool close up but the colors are kind of pale.  Still, it made short work of decorating the steps!  And believe me, time was of the essence last week!

  There's a little arrangement on the garden gate to welcome visitors of hydrangea and garden weeds ~ it worked for me!!  The mums to the right are a pale yellow and pale pink ~ pale, pale, pale!  See the theme!!  I think it's evident that I wasn't my usual self ~ I was feeling pale on the inside and it was reflected in the colors I chose for the outside!  Interesting!

 Orange mums and pumpkins ~ more colorful!  Actually, yellow mums were not available any place that I was shopping last week ~ kind of weird isn't it?  I found one ~ it's on the porch in a basket that was out of view of the camera.  I can see that yellow adds the spark that I needed ~ note to self for next year!!  The white pumpkin is left from last year ~ it has been inside the house since last fall ~ it didn't deteriorate and didn't dry up ~ it still looks great ~ so outside it went!!!

And this cute guy sits at the edge of the road ~ so people knew where to come ~ I think it helped!  Remember, I had a birthday party here last Saturday for my classmates ~ there were fifteen of us in all ~ and I was sick, sick, sick!!!  I felt sorry for them having to be entertained by a coughing, hacking hostess ~ but I wasn't alone!!  There is evidently lots of illness around this part of the country!  Fortunately, they all brought part of the meal and we furnished pork loin and roast beef sandwiches and a birthday cake!  It was nice to see old friends ~ a couple of them we hadn't seen in many years!  And Sonny helped me ~ a lot!!  And it was our 28th wedding anniversary!  He lucked out ~ no fancy dinner ~ no dress up ~ we just got to hang around on the deck!

Sunday and Monday I did something that I don't very often get to do ~ NOTHING!!!!  I reclined in the recliner, covered in my blankie, watched Lifetime TV and slept for two days!!  Trying to get rid of this affliction!  I'm getting better ~ thank goodness ~ not great, but better!!  Tomorrow, I have a couple of gals coming for an all day class and Thursday, friend Heidi and I are going to Tipp City, Ohio (isn't that a great name?) and take a two-day class from Alice Strebel, Nola Heidbreder and Karen Kahle!!!  We don't know exactly what we're hooking ~ it's a surprise!  These three gals are going to team teach us something and it's a great opportunity to take class from all three of these well-known rug hooking teachers!!  We're looking forward to it immensely!  Then, Friday, we're driving straight to the lake to our lake havens!  Saturday, Sonny and I and our friends are heading to Put-in-Bay to the annual Winefest ~ a new event for us!! 

So ~ you see why I have to get well ~ Now!!!  If there's time, I'll post the girls' progress tomorrow ~ it should be fun ~ they're both very enthusiastic!!   Ta ta for now ~

Alice

LAST SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

Here's my booth at the "In the Spirit of Friends" show ~ it always looks hodge-podgey (that's not a word, I'm just sure!) but a nice man stopped by and told me he really liked the composition of my booth!!  Another said that it was a bright spot among all the primitives!  So, I take comments like that and run with them ~ maybe it does look okay!

It was a great show!  I saw lots of people I knew ~ and met some that I only know thru blogland ~ like Bobbie of "The Evening Stitcher" blog and Linda from "Simply Country Seasons" blog!  It's really nice to be able to put a faces to the names now ~ both great gals ~ lots of fun!

The weather couldn't have been better ~ a sunshiny fall day ~ and lots of shoppers having the time of their lives in amongst all the primitive folk art and antiques!  This concrete sheep was my one and only purchase of the whole show!  We used to buy a lot ~ one of our friends said Sonny and I were big 'consumers' ~ well, not any more!!  We have more 'stuff' than anybody should have and we've learned we don't need everything that we see that we like!  But, I did need this guy!!  And he'll be very happy here in the woods with us!


I sold lots of wool ~ a few pieces of the marbleized wool ~ not as much as I would have liked ~ I realize that it maybe doesn't appeal to the primitive rug hooker as much as those who might hook more of the adventurous 'out there' kind of projects!  I'm going to make a concerted effort within the next week to get it on my website.  I added a couple of patterns to the website the other day and a picture of the old guy and me under 'About Us'!  I really do need to develop the website into a selling tool and make this more of a year round business rather than relying on shows and the occasional classes that I have.

Speaking of classes, I have  a beginner class next Wednesday, the 29th, that I'm setting up for a couple of gals ~ one was at the show and is really enthusiastic about learning the art of rug hooking!!  A friend of mine is also joining us and I know she'll love  it, too.  There was another very animated customer in my booth talking about taking a class ~ if you're reading my blog and are from Toledo, you'll know I'm talking about you!!  The two of you talked and laughed and I thought you were together!!  Toledo Girl, if you're available for a class next Wednesday, M J and I would love to have you join us!! And anyone else, that would like to take a beginner's class and have lots of laughs,  check out the class info on my website and give me a call!!!

As usual, I have an event I'm planning for ~ at our house ~ this weekend!!  I may have mentioned before that I'm having a 65th birthday  party for my classmates ~ at some point in this year, the most of us are turning 65!  So, the party is here on Saturday ~ we have about 20 coming ~ and my main thrust is to get this yard looking presentable!!!  It's like Wild Kingdom out there right now ~ I worked out there a bit yesterday and Sonny came home last night and used his machete on some of it ~ I exaggerate a little!  The bad thing is that I have a horrendous cold ~ since last Thursday ~ and it's really slowing the old girl down!!!  Now, it's sprinkling and I sure can't go work in the rain ~ I would if I was healthy but I'm hanging by a thread!!  I even had to miss a hook-in yesterday that I had been so looking forward to attending!!  I pouted all day but I really wasn't up to driving that far and didn't want to expose all those hookers to this malady that has taken up residence in my body!!!   So, to the extent that I can ~ I'll be like a white tornado around here the next couple of days ~ pumpkins and mums do a lot to add ambiance to the homestead ~ I'll have pictures if it all comes together!!! Thank goodness that I'm only providing the meat, the birthday cake and soft drinks!!  The other 65 year olds are bring the side dishes ~ it makes my work a lot easier and I thank them in advance!!!

A couple of other things are on my plate this week, too ~ but I can do it!!!  Right now, I'm going to take a little break ~ have a little Lean Cuisine and maybe a nap!!!  Take care and hope this cold/cough thing doesn't find you!!!  Have a good week!!!!
Alice

SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

Just want to show you some things I've been working on for Saturday's show!  These are purse fronts ~ one is finished ~ one is not ~ but it will be!!

I spent one afternoon packaging patterns!  At my show last week, I tried just hanging the patterns from round rings but they really needed to be packaged individually so I copied each picture and labeled with name and size ~ it will make it easier for the customers to see the overall design!  I also have Liberty Homestead patterns by my friend, Jane Augenstein ~ bless her heart for sending them pre-packaged!!!

At the market, I buy a little this and a little that to round out my booth ~ this is a great primitive pumpkin sporting it's very own crow!

I also picked up these hooked things ~ love that crazy cat!

The pumpkin pillow is gone!

 A 3' stuffed crow ~ he'll look great on a door for the entire fall season!!

I also want to show the linen-type fabric runners that I've fringed around the edges to make ready for wool applique (I did the pumpkins on the machine - more primitive if you hand stitch, for sure!) or needle felting and possibly hooking ~ I haven't tried to that yet!  There are various sizes to choose from.

These are my newest batches of marbleized wool ~ it just amazes me at how beautiful and varied they are!  If you see anything you like, I'll be glad to pull it for you ~ friend, Lori did that last week so she has what she likes and didn't miss out!! 

I also had a call today for a gift certificate ~ so keep that in mind if you have a rug hooking friend ~ you can give them a gift that they can pick out themselves!! 

It's been quite a week ~ busy, but I haven't pushed myself ~ maybe I am learning something along the way!  I did take a morning and run over to Amish country to buy apple crates for displaying the wool ~ I had been wanting more but didn't want to take the time to search for the store that might have them!  As luck would have it, friend, Peg called and mentioned that she had been to Amish country with her sister to buy apple crates ~ she told me right where to go ~ very easy ~ and on the way home I picked up some mums and pumpkins ~ not as many as I would have liked but my little car was full!  It was a beautiful morning and I wished I could have spent the whole day stopping at the various little farms to add to my fall decorating!  Maybe next week!

And yes ~ the show last week at Quailcrest Farm was great ~ the sun shined all day  ~ the customers came ~ and the rain held off until we were packed!  This Saturday promises to be a beautiful day as well ~ if you're close enough to come to Malabar Farm, we'll be there!  Sixty primitive folk artists and antique booths will be awaiting the throngs of visitors that I know will want to come spend a nice fall day in the Pleasant Valley.  A little trivia ~ Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married there in the Big House that belonged to author and agriculturalist, Louie Bromfield!  It's a great place to spend the day!! 

See you soon ~

Alice



MARBLEIZING AND SALON OPENING ~ ~ ~

This was my first attempt at marbleizing wool and it turned out not too bad ~ love the flame design on these pieces ~ would love to tell you there was a special technique  but it was just a fluke!!  The solids are the three colors used in this dye pot.

The next set used teal, yellow and lavender and again, the results were good ~ to me, anyway.  These colors can be used in flowers, skies, water ~ all kinds of places where you want a variety of color without mixing wools.

Can you see the beautiful leaves that can be hooked with these greens?

Love this combination also ~ blue water or sky ~ yellow flowers ~ a lady's dress ~ you can use your imagination and let it run wild ~

These colors are a little funky ~ even for me ~ but after Heidi looked at them and gave approval ~ I decided not to overdye them and maybe some creative hooker will find a great place to use them!  I always say there is no 'wrong' color so this will be the test!!  Even if something in the dye pot turns out differently than we planned, there is always a place for it ~ somewhere!! 

These look like camouflage colors to me!  Tree trunks, leaves, fall colors!

These are the styling stations at the new Michelle's Salon ~ beautiful, hm?  You can catch a glimpse of the new fabric on the waiting area chairs ~ all very contemporary.  We started with the floor color and worked off that ~ the colors and decorating all evolved as we went along.  My son, Ted, has great ideas ~ he said this was a vision of his for the last 11 years ~ their former salon was very nice, too ~ this is just different!

The wet stations are really neat ~ the shampoo bowl and chair are one piece ~ very futuristic looking!  The glass walls in this photo and the previous one, came from the old salon ~ this one hides the new pedicure chair that massages and vibrates while you're laying back getting your tootsies worked on!!  Woo hoo!!!

Teddy painted the old manicure tables and made new tops for them along with the tops for the cabinets and behind the wet stations ~ he and Sonny's son, Brian, made them out of concrete and then stained them ~ they look great ~ and inexpensive to do! 

The last photo is of the 'artwork' I painted for the back hall ~ the wall was bare and needed something but Mama had helped them spend lots of moolah on the decorating, so I decided to paint these canvases, based on the circle fabric in the chairs! Thursday night, the canvases got a coat of black spray paint and Friday morning, Sonny brought home some of the wall colors ~ he couldn't get it out of there earlier because there was always someone around ~ and I wanted it to be a secret!  Finally, they dried and I hung them about 15 minutes before the party began!  I didn't tell them where they came from until I got their okay that they liked them ~ didn't want them to hang them out of pity for the 'artist' !!! 

So ~ the wine-and-cheese reception was fun ~ a lot of people came ~ Teddy and Miki were the stars of the evening ~ along with the girls that work for them ~ working with Miki, several of these girls gave up their whole week to do whatever was necessary to see that the salon was ready for opening and close down the old one!  And Sonny boy worked day and night that final week to bring it all together ~ he and his son, Brian, and Ted were the construction crew! Congratulations to them all! 

This Saturday is Quailcrest Herb Farm's fall show ~ I'll be there selling my dyed wools, some hooked pieces and a few pieces of fall folk art!  I'm getting as much wool dyed as I can ~ stop by and see me and the old guy!!  

Alice

RUGS FROM FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

Susan sent this picture of her house rug that she hooked for a gift ~ it's hooked from one of my patterns and I think she did a great job! I love the variety on the border ~  I drew in some various options for her and then she ran with it ~ this pattern can be on monks cloth or linen.

Lisa ordered this small crow pattern and posted this picture on Facebook ~ so instead of waiting for her to email it, I just lifted it  so I could put it on the blog this morning!  Love the red background ~ both these photos this morning have red backgrounds!

This has been a long week but tonite's the night ~ Miki and Teddy's open house at Michelle's Salon!!  The decorating is basically done ~ Sonny and Teddy were meeting at 6:30 this morning to give the floor a final coat of sealer.  We have to shop for the snacks yet ~ I talked Miki into going back to her original thought of a cheese and wine reception ~ yay!!!!!!!  Then I'll go over this afternoon and set up the table, then come home and get ready to party!!!! 

Can you believe it's Labor Day weekend already?  This summer has gone so fast ~ hope it's been a fun one for you!

Alice

FINAL SAUDER RUG SHOW POST ~ ~ ~

This is my last Sauder Rug Show post and shows the rugs of Mary Sheppard Burton.  Leonard Feenan was there in person and I got to chat with him about his dear friend, Mary and what they brought to each others lives ~ a very nice fellow for sure! 

Noah's Ark was the highlight of the show ~ a collaboration between Lennie, the artist who drew the patterns for Mary's vision ~ and Mary who hooked her vision along with many other volunteers who helped bring this work of art to fruition. Sadly, Mary died a couple of months ago, but did get to see the installation of this great work of art at the ATHA convention last fall.  If you go to Gene Shepherd's blog , you will see many close-up photos of the ark and the animals that give you a very good view of the magnitude of this work.

I love the big rug at the bottom titled "Luster"  ~  Beautiful pieces of lustreware floating in a sea of green!

Another beautiful example of Mary's fine rug hooking ~ such a pretty rug!  As I understand from talking to Lennie, Mary never sold any of her rug hooking.  So all of these rugs on display were in her own collection and must have been hanging ~ they were in perfect condition!

Isn't this little capelet gorgeous?  This is one of two on display ~ the other was a long white cape ~ absolutely such fine hooking ~ it must weigh a ton ~ I wondered (but didn't ask) if she wore it.  They both are works of art, for sure!

The four  rugs depict  Sycamore Hollow Farm in the four different seasons ~ really detailed work!  The Canadian geese and whimsical turkey rugs display more of Mary's talent!

My very favorite of all of Mary's rugs is this half-moon shaped seascape!!  Lennie said this was the last rug she hooked and he did all of the embellishments after she died.  This photo does not capture the true beauty of this piece of art!  I loved everything about it ~ the colors ~ the movement ~ the sparkles ~ the pearl buttons as bubbles ~ the hand-carved wooden sea creatures that Lennie did just for this rug! Someday, this will be inspiration for me to hook something  on a smaller scale over a door,  at the lake!  It is a thing of beauty!!

The final picture is a roomsize rug that Mary hooked and it is fabulous!  It's hard to imagine tackling a project that large and with so much detail! To the right of the rug, Mary's granddaughter was sitting in Mary's rocker, hooking on an unfinished rug of her grandmother's.  That was very sweet and she was doing a great job!  I should have gotten her in the shot, but I wanted to get as much of this rug in as possible.  If you double click on the photo and then click on the little plus sign that shows up at the end of your curser, you can really see the detail in all of the photos.

Thank you for reading my posts on Sauder ~ I'm happy to share these rugs with you ~ we're so lucky to be close enough to make it a day trip, if we choose ~ after reading your comments and emails, I value that even more!  This show is well known among rug hookers far and wide and if you have the opportunity, you should put it on  your vacation schedule! 

Have a happy day!
Alice