HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~ ~ ~

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day wherever you are!!  We are in Seattle with son Chris and family ~ the first time we've ever spent a holiday away from home
and all the kids that live around us!  Grandson Hunter has two football games this weekend and we'll get to see him play for the first time ~ one of them is today, of all days!!!  We're putting the bird in the oven and when we arrive home ~ hopefully, dinner will be ready!!

Yikes! I forgot to post this yesterday (I created the post before we left) so here it is - a day late!! Hunters team won 12-0, Gramps & I put the bird in before we left, mashed the potatoes, baked the sweet potatoes & green bean casserole and when we got home, dinner was ready to eat! Have you ever used the cooking bags? Son Teddy always does so we put the 17# stuffed bird in the bag and it was ready in 3 and a half hours! Amazing!




Have a wonderful day with your families ~ will post when I return ~ or maybe before from my Iphone!!  Ta ta for now! 

SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

Last Saturday was the Gathered Treasures Christmas Show, held here in Mansfield, Ohio!  Here's a picture of my helper and our booth at the beginning of the show.  I swear, I think he's doing sudoku ~ or maybe he was counting out my change!! 

 Our friends, Vivian and Lou Schomburg had the booth next to us ~ they make all kinds of boxes and shelves  and file cabinets and television cabinets, etc. ~ I could go on and on!  We divided 3 spaces between us ~ a booth and a half each ~ it worked out swell!  Then we went out to eat after packing up ~ we always laugh and have a good time!!  We love doing shows ~ well, a couple of us do!

 This is Sherry Davis' friend ~ don't know where Sherry was when I was taking pictures of her booth ~ she always has such interesting things.  Eclectic ~ that's what she is and that's what she sells ~ you know what I mean!  Actually, Sherry is pretty eclectic herself!

I thought this was a great looking booth, too.  There were about 35 of us ~ lots of primitive antiques and folk art.  I was a little concerned as to what I might sell as I don't have holiday things or gift type items ~ but bless those rug hookers' hearts ~ they shopped!!  Thank you one and all!

Friend Lauren was there ~ Rugs and Pugs is her blog ~ and she just happened to have one of her silver spoon necklaces with her!  We made a nice trade of wool for a necklace ~ she has them for sale on her blog ~ you can contact her thru there! I see lots of my hooker friends wearing these so I was glad to get one!

Last evening, I updated my website ~ namely, the pattern pages.  I mailed out some yesterday and decided I need to mark "Sold" on what is gone (but I can order them if you'd like one) and added pictures of all the Liberty Homestead patterns that I have.  These patterns are primitive and folk arty (if that's a word) and some are small if you want a quick project to hook for a friend or yourself. This small Rooster pattern is one of them ~

I also added the Sauder Rug Week class to my Classes page ~ and I was happy to hear from a gal today that has signed up herself and her friend!!  Yay!

That's all for today ~ I was outside for a while cleaning up the garden ~ still some out there to put on the compost pile ~ hope I'm not still out there when the snow flies!!  Off to pick up Miss Luci from the bus ~ she doesn't know it but we're going to make banana bread!!  She'll like that ~ especially when she gets to take home a loaf!  Have a good evening ~ a friend just called and invited us out for dinner ~ my evening just got better!!!!

Alice

RUG FINISH AND SATURDAY'S SHOW ~ ~ ~

The Berks County Floral is finished!  Actually, it was finished on Monday!! I emailed a picture to the Woolley Fox and it's on their website already!  I'm quite happy with the finished product and now all it needs is to be bound!  I might get that done tonite and take it along to the show this weekend ~ more about that in a minute! 

When I was pulling out the 'junk' wool used to hook the numbers,  I decided to leave the number seven just as it was.  Two different wool strips were used and it looked kind of neat so it stayed in! This rug was hooked with  lots of antique paisleys and lots of sparkly wool ~ not your typical primitive but a unique one, for sure!

Kathy works for Barb at the Woolley Fox and she brought in her almost finished Purple Peeps!!  We all loved her bright, Spring-like version ~ she's almost finished ~ we got the idea that she had been working on it a while! Hook on, Kathy!!!

This Saturday, the "Gathered Treasures Christmas Show" will be held at the Richland County Fairgrounds!  It's a new primitive antiques and folk art show put on by the gals that do the "Gathered Treasures Spring" show and "In The Spirit of Friends" at Malabar Farm in the Fall.  It's from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. so if you're looking for a fun way to spend the day, come see us!  As shocked as I am, Christmas is right around the corner and this would be a good place to start your shopping!  We'll be there with wool, frames, etc. ~ gifts for your favorite hooker!! I am packing now and have a BARGAIN BASKET with some great mark downs (lights, pillows, candle holders, etc.).  Also have some 1 yard bundles of wool for $20 and some $5 Christmas trees!!  I'm cleaning out the shop ~ come to the fairgrounds and save some money!!!!!

My  'Finishing Touches' class is now added to the Coming Events on my sidebar.  Sauder Village class sign ups started yesterday at 10 a.m. ~ I wonder if anybody's on my list?!  We won't really know much until December.  There is always a frenzy to get your favorite teacher but no doubt,  there are some who are not full yet. So,  if you're thinking you might like to experience Sauder Rug Hooking Week, you should check in and see if there are  still openings ~ or at least, come for the day.  They have one of the best rug shows in the country and Kathy Wright works very hard to assemble a list of very talented teachers and give us lots of choices ~ you should consider putting it on your next summer's list of things to do! 

I need to get organized for tomorrow's packing ~ right now, I'm washing and wishing ~ washing wool and wishing I would get some new projects finished!!! Off to the hooking room!!  Have a good weekend!

WOOLLEY FOX TRIP ~ ~ ~

Good grief!! I hit publish instead of save!!  And then, yesterday afternoon, I typed a whole big post and at the end, hit some darn key and it all went into cyberspace neverland!!!!!!  I gave up!  But, I'll start anew!

This is Barbara Carroll's Berks County Floral that she introduced at the ATHA Biennial recently.  I have been wanting to hook it since I saw the sample last fall but had to wait until it was rolled out in Lancaster!  It's 17" x 20" and I hooked all this in the three days we were at the Woolley Fox this past week!  The background is a mixture of my sparkly wools and the hearts and gold flower centers are paisleys.  Barb's loving it and I am, too!  The numbers are hooked in just to hold the space and then I'll rehook after the background is in. That's a very good way to make sure they stand out ~ same for the flower stems!

Maria and Mary M. were having a fun chat!  This was the only people picture that I got ~ we were really hooking up a storm! 

Judy is hooking a new Magdalena pattern ~ I can see Happy Trio in the upper left of the pattern so that must be it's name!!  Love the duck with all it's directional hooking!  Judy also stitched a little pinkeep for each of us ~ very thoughtful!





Mary is hooking this monster of a rug!!  It is a room size rug with pineapples on both ends ~ the colors she and Barb have chosen are beautiful mauves and creams ~ it's really going to be something!  Mary says it's her winter project ~ for me, it would be my lifetime project!

Miss Maria just got in around noon on Tuesday and managed to get this hooked in her day and a half with us!  It's Aunt Tillie's Garden ~ another sizable rug!

Donna ~ our leader ~ is hooking Magdalena's Great Grandaughter's Rug.  When she was returning from the Biennial with a friend, they travelled the Magdalena Trail as set out in Kathy Wright and Evelyn Lawrence's new book.  This pattern is painted on a barn that's on the trail and Donna is  memorializing their trip with this rug!  It's really going to be soft and old looking!

This is Donna's new friend ~ Gabby!  She made herself right at home in Donna's hooking bag!!!!!  We had a lot of fun with Gabby and Posey, the Woolley Fox cats ~ they go anywhere they want ~ and they're quite entertaining!

We had a great time on our trip ~ it goes so fast ~ it's time to head home when you're really just getting settled in.  We ate some great food and I love the shops in Ligonier ~ we always find some great things there!

The day after I got home, Tad had to have a tooth pulled ~ we have been dealing with this tooth for a couple of weeks and Tad and I are both so glad it's over.  Dealing with dentists and oral surgeons who are in no hurry to make things happen, made this mother have a headache!!  It was quite an ordeal but he's on the mend and happy as a clam ~ thank goodness!!!!

Luke and Luci and their mom, Miki, were at the lake with us this weekend!  Son Teddy was deer hunting so they hung out with us. Miki joined us and our lake friends for a trip to a local winery, Chateau Tabeau, in Fremont!  Very nice little place ~ good wine and good food.  It was a beautiful afternoon so we set outside for a while and then moved inside for a bite to eat.  We have been doing this for a couple of years in the fall ~ just a nice way to wind down our season! 

I have a NEWSFLASH!!  I have been asked to teach a one-day workshop at the Sauder Rug Retreat next August!!  Kathy Wright called me some time ago and I'm really honored to be included on a roster of such creative rug hookers!! I'm going to be doing a hands-on finishing class and want to make it fun and informative for you gals that want to know how to put that finishing touch on your artistic endeavors!  You can check out my  page on the Sauder Village Rug Retreat website.  Come join me!!!

So that's it for tonite!  I finally got this post done ~ and now I'm going to hook on my class rug!!!