Monday, December 1, 2014

SANTA PILLOW PATTERN ~ ~ ~





This little Santa was hooked by me years ago and what I love about it is that the background is the linen foundation. It hooks up pretty fast and would make a nice gift!

A couple of months ago, a customer ordered the pattern so thought I would draw up a few and offer them for sale. It will 9 x 12 and is $20 ~ since it's Cyber Monday, I'll include the USA shipping for today only! Email me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com!

Thanks so much for reading ~ I've been missing in action for a while ~ life gets so busy here!! We had a great Thanksgiving at our lake place with Ted and family ~ even went to Walmart and bought a Black Friday special! That's a first for us ~ it was very orderly and Sonny got a good buy on a flat screen tv. The kids make such fun of us because we still watch tv's with tubes and not very big ones at that!! Combine that with the fact that Sonny recently got a smart phone ~ they're pretty impressed!

Have a good week and I'll get these out as fast as I can!!!

Alice




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Thursday, October 30, 2014

TIPP CITY RUG FINISH ~ ~ ~





 This is my finished class project!  I worked on it Sunday and Monday until it was done!!  And I love it!  I used Wensleydale fleece that we brought back from our England trip in 2006 ~ I've used it sparingly until now and it was perfect for these sheep.  The snowflakes and dots of snow are needlefelted on top of the hooking ~ a great suggestion from Ali Strebel!  I still have to do a crochet edge for the finish but that will have to wait till next week!


 Just a note regarding the beard ~ I hooked this one in two different wools and it didn't stand out very much.  So I pulled out the narrowest strips of wool and started going thru my yarn stash!



 If you do a close up (which I should have cropped these photos so you could see them better) you can see that the addition of the chunky yarn made a huge difference in the overall look of Santa's beard! I'm not one to reverse hook very much but sometimes you just have to!


Irma begged to come home with in my hooking bag!  She is
created by artist Olive Rose and Karen Kahle brought along a
little trunk show for us to choose from! Last year, one of Olive Rose's cat dolls jumped in my bag so now she had company!

















This is Karen's needlepunch version of her Santa pattern.
It's very appealing although this is way toooo tedious for me to do!














Ali brought some of her work along for us to check 
out!  Love this little mat with cats paws, needle felting and her corded roving couched onto the border.
It's a great little piece!













Everybody loves Ali's heart! There are several different stitches and techniques that she uses ~
definitely on my to-do list with her sometime!

It was a great three days spent in Tipp City with old friends, Jackie and Deb, and many new gals that we met!  Jackie and I have been at all four of the classes that Ali and Karen have taught ~ hope they do one next year!!


Thanks for stopping by.  Most of my blogs in recent months have been from my phone ~ somehow that isn't working so I'm back in front of the computer! One thing I notice when I previewed what I posted is that the picture quality is sooo much better having transferred the phone photos to the computer!  Note to self ~ take the time to do it this way!  Except when I'm on the move ~ sometimes I have to post on the run ~ there are some things just too good to keep till I get back home!  I've been doing a lot of Facebook posting as those of you who are Facebook friends, know.  It's so quick and easy because it's a picture and a couple of words about and voila ~ it's out there!  If you're a blog reader and on Facebook, make sure we're "friends" and keep up with our adventures that way, too!

Talk to you soon!!

Alice

P.S.  I'm getting ready for a show Saturday at the Richland County Fairgrounds here in Mansfield ~ The Gathered Treasures Show ~ antiques, folk art and me! Follow "Black Cat Primitives" on Facebook.   Come see us 10-4 Saturday!

Friday, October 24, 2014

TIPP CITY CLASS ~ ~ ~









Karen Kahle and Ali Strebel giving us an overview of our three-day class. This is the fourth year and friend Jackie and I have been here for every one!








Vintage Christmas is the theme and this is Karen's rig offering. Many of us are hooking this one!









Ali's Peace Dove is very reminiscent of days gone by ~ and is covered in sparkles !!







This is her needle punch version of the same design.








Karen offered two more rug designs.

We are having a great time here in Tipp City! Pittsburgh friends, Jackie and Deb came Wednesday and while Jackie and I worked on our Maggie B projects, Deb finished binding a rug for her and an owl for Jackie! We had a nice, relaxed afternoon and then left early Thursday morning for the drive to Tipp.

There are 30 gals in the class working on all varieties of the above patterns. Some have totally designed their own ~ lots of creativity here in this big room!

If you ever get the opportunity to attend Ali and Karen's "2 in 1" class, you won't be sorry!



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Thursday, October 9, 2014

SAUDER STITCHING PROGESS ~ ~ ~







My Maggie Bonanomi bedcover is coming along! Laura and Pam and I gathered again on Monday and they're really helping me to stay at it!

There are still things to add and more stitches to do but it's on the downhill now!!

Life is busy here as always! Had a fun weekend at Kelleys Island with our lake friends. It was cold and windy but we made our rounds of our favorite watering holes and had lots of laughs!! The words on my project are Live Love Laugh ~ that's our motto ~ and hope that we've accomplished that at the end of every day!!

Here's to making the most of your day!!



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Thursday, September 25, 2014

IN THE SPIRIT OF FRIENDS SHOW ~ ~ ~

Hi all ~ just a quick note to let you know that I will be a vendor at the show at Malabar Farm this Saturday, September 27 from 10-4 p.m.   I made a decision in the Spring to bow out as we just came back from vacation Tuesday night and I thought I would be too tired.  But, I'm ready to roll and there was a place for me to squeeze in so ~ come see us all!  Lots of antiques, folk art and wool for your shopping pleasure!!!  Nothing better than a show on a sunny fall day down in the Pleasant Valley!!!

Monday, September 22, 2014

HOOKING CRUISE ~ ~ ~
















Kris Miller was our illustrious teacher and these are the four patterns we chose from. They are darling in person ~ and so is she!!












Posting from my phone isn't very much fun so I will post when I return to Ohio!! It was a great trip ~ we loved it!!



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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

MENDENHALL GLACIER & NUGGET FALLS






We took a bus tour of the city of Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier today!






A telephoto of the glacier ~ it's blue ~ icy blue!




We took a two mile round-trip hike to Nugget Falls ~ 34 years ago it was covered by the glacier ~ global warming is a real thing!!

We had a wonderful driver/tour guide ~ Archie ~ a Tlingit Indian ~ so interesting and informative!

It is a privilege to be able to see the glacier and this land of some real pioneers! Pretty rugged territory!

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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Cruise to Alaska ~ ~ ~







On the Grand Princess ~ Princess Cruise Lines!





Our mini suite is pretty comfortable and of course, comes equipped with a cabin boy! Wonder if he'll come home with us?!




Our view leaving the Port of Seattle on Sunday morning.





First stop Ketchikan this morning






The view from our balcony at 6 am this morning!


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Thursday, August 28, 2014

STITCHING AWAY ~ ~ ~








On Tuesday, four of us from the Sauder class got together here and worked on our Maggie Bonanomi bed covers. This is Pam's piece ~ she had a lot finished and pinned, ready to stitch! She changed her words to Faith Family and Friends ~ things that exemplify her life.





Pam, Laura, moi and Princess Jackie (from Pittsburgh!) spent the day stitching, eating and chatting ~ a lot of chatting!! Sonny dropped by and we had him take the photo ~ we thought it would show off Pam's work but it was too dark, so I cropped it out! The girls all brought something for lunch so we ate really well!! It was a productive day and we're going to do it again next week!





This is mine to date ~ since the project was a kit, they will all be similar unless, like Pam, she made a change. Jackie and Laura did as well, using some other wools and embellishments. I'll get a picture of hers and Laura's next time! So far! I'm doing the pattern as is ~ actually, I think I'm too lazy to change it!

It was great to get together and share ideas and help each other keep this project moving!! I don't often get to do that ~ it was fun!!



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Thursday, August 21, 2014

WRRH CHALLENGE ~ ~ ~















Many members of Ohio's Western Reserve Rug Hooking Guild, participated in this challenge rug and they were all displayed at the Sauder Rug Show!















Member Rebekah Smith designed the fractur style pattern.














Kim Miles hooked this beauty ~














This photo doesn't do justice to Linda Gustafson's entry. They were all so different and so many participated ~ I'm a member but didn't get in on that one!









These two rugs are antique rugs that were on display.







Both were in great shape ~ I hope the rugs we're hooking today survive the years as well as these two!!

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Friday, August 15, 2014

PROGRESS ~ ~ ~




Yesterday's progress and a little early morning stitching! Today is our last day of class so I'll have to go fast today!!


A few rugs from the show ~


Love this!

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Thursday, August 14, 2014

SAUDER CLASS PROJECT ~ ~ ~









This is Maggie's finished bedcover! Even more beautiful in person!










Maggie signing her books ~ a new one is in the works! I have all of them but have never done a project ~ now maybe I will!!







Yesterday's progress ~ wool appliqué is a lot of work for this rug hooker!! But I'm going to love the finished product!





One of Maggie's rugs in the rug show!!

We're having a great time ~ lots of fun, food, and inspiring art in the form of rugs and coverlets!!



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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

A LITTLE KITCHEN MAKEOVER ~ ~ ~




The old counters were a blue grey Formica and now they're honed black granite.


We're going to be on a kitchen tour this Saturday and Sonny has been wanting to update the kitchen for a long while now.


It made quite a difference!


He installed beadboard on the wall from the counter to the bottom of the cupboards. Painted it the colonial red used in the rest of the room and I had him overlay it with black and wipe it off to leave it in the grooves of the beadboard.


Yesterday, I washed the bell jars that are in the breezeway and in the garden. The tour goers will exit through our courtyard garden so everything had to be spruced up! If you want to see the newspaper article, go to www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com and click on Life - that's the Lifestyle section. They did a really nice job with a great shot of the kitchen.


Last Saturday, grandson Luke turned 15. So hard to believe that he's that old. Seattle son, Chris, was home for a couple of days last week ~ so lots of fun for me!!

Have a great week ~ finally, nice weather is here!!

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Saturday, May 3, 2014

HAPPY HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID BUT I WENT INTO UPDATE MY BLOG AND CUSTOMIZING AND WHO KNOWS WHAT BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN OUT OF THE BLUE ~ VOILA!!  MY OLD BLOG IS BACK!!!!

WOO HOO!!!  HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!

SPRING FLOWERS AND FOOD ~ ~ ~




A little welcome bouquet of Lenten Roses on the garden gate!


This is one plant ~ they're the first to bloom - even thru snow if they have to!


My first homemade hummus ~ everybody liked it even the grands !!


Yesterday, we had an interview and photos for an upcoming local Symphony Guild kitchen tour that we will be on. I made a crustless pumpkin crumb pie so it would look like a "working kitchen"!! Kind of my own concoction using the recipe off the pumpkin can and crumb topping off Pinterest ~ pretty tasty!!


This is for members of the WRRH guild - Jason Molyet was the photographer yesterday and son of Elaine Molyet, who was a treasured member of the Guild. What a fine young man he is and I know Elaine was so proud of him!!

The blog issues remain the same ~ bear with me till I take the time to update!!

Happy weekend!!




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