SAUDER RUG SHOW ~ ~ ~

What a great day Heidi and I and our friend, Peg, had at the Sauder Rug show!  It's taken me a while to get my act together but here are a few pictures to show you the many beautiful rugs that we got to see first hand!  This is the introduction to the retreat teachers' rugs ~ I do know the rooster is Gene Shepherd's. 








This darling rug is by Jane Halliwell Green, author of the
new Pictorial Rug book.  I've seen her rugs on her blog but was surprised that this particular one and the next one are so small!  Such great detail and beautiful colors. Jane is a painter and this rug has a wonderful 'painterly' quality!

Again, another of Jane's small rugs with her beautiful dyed wool ~ after the classes on Wednesday, we could stop in and browse the classroom ~ I was glad to get the opportunity to meet Jane (my England Memory Rug is in her book) and purchase some of her wool.  Her colors  are gorgeous and she was very sweet ~ I'm sure we'd have lots to talk about if there was time!!

This is Gene Shepherd's "Big Momma" rug ~ a treat to see in person ~ we've all seen it on his blog before but it's even better up close and personal!  I picked up a couple of pieces of Gene's wool but better yet, I bought one of his #8 bent hooks and although, I haven't used it a lot, I think I'm going to like it!  I love my #9 Hartman hook and I sell all sizes of those, but I'm going to give this one a good try ~ I've always been told to use a couple of different hooks to give your hand a rest from using the same one over and over ~ maybe this will be my other one!

This colorful rug is Bea Brock's ~ Bea is from Kerrville, Texas ~ where my sister lives ~ I believe Bea taught Joyce to hook and occasionally they cross paths at a hooking group!  When I walked in the room, she knew who I was because we look so much alike ~ I had made arrangements to pick up a pattern so she knew I would be dropping by! 

Don't you just love these upside down roosters?  I do ~ enough so that I bought the pattern and some of Bea's wonderful wool to go along with it?  Bea's colors have a very unique quality ~ her rugs look like watercolor paintings to me!  Of course, I have no idea when I'll ever get it started but you'll be the first to know!  I knew several of the gals in her class ~ they were definitely enjoying themselves!

The fourth teacher was Helen Jeffries, I believe and she taught braiding.  We did stop in after her class and several of her students were there working with Helen.  A couple of those gals were quite humorous (one with the last name of Funk! ~ is that right?  she was fun!)~ and they all were doing a great job of braiding!

One of those gals was Carol Daugherty (who didn't want her lovely face on the web  - maybe she's in the witness protection program!) but she did let me photograph this great sheep rug.  It's an MShaw pattern so I'm going to ask Margaret to send me a couple for my shows in September ~ and one for me!!  I hope Carol will send a photo of her finished rug ~ I know it will be a good one!

Heidi, Peg and I stayed the night at our lake place and the next day, Peg and I made a little visit to this place!  Poor Heidi was stricken with a headache and begged us to leave her ~ I exaggerate a little but I do think she needed some quiet time ~ so off we went and ended up here!  It's on the way to Catawba and  years ago, Sonny and I stopped but this was the first time I'd seen the lights on ~ I made a u-turn and back we went to visit with the proprietor and his wife ~ Don and Joann.  For people like us, who like antiques and really old ones, this was so much fun ~ Peg and I have lots of the same pieces in our homes as Don has in his museum.  We also bought penny candy ~ which by the way is far from being a penny these days! 

Behind the store, is this log cabin and in front of the cabin is Don, our tour guide for the day and log cabin restorer!  This man is like an encyclopedia of knowledge regarding log cabins, old tools and furniture.  Peg and I were probably there for two hours ~ he was quite entertaining ~ I said that to his wife and she said "not all the time"!!!!!  I'm guessing she's heard some of this stuff before!!  If you're ever in the Catawba Island area, you should take the time to stop by and see Don and let him entertain you for a while! 

So enough for now ~ it's been a busy week of Luke and Luci in the afternoons ~ school starts Monday~ yay!! ~ and helping Ted and Miki decorate their new beauty salon!  Lots of trips to coordinate paint colors, fabric, floor coloring, etc.!!  And I have two shows in September and I'm planning a 65th birthday party for my classmates on the 25th (most all of us turn 65 sometime this year) and Heidi and I are taking a class at the end of the month!!  Holy crow ~ I may meet myself coming in the out door!!  And last week, after being gone for the rug show, I drove to Columbus Friday morning for the primitive wholesale market and then up to the lake later in the day!  I needed to rest on the weekend!  Went out Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening with friends and Sonny made homemade ice cream for us to enjoy for dessert!!  That is a wonderful treat ~ his second batch this month!!  No wonder I'm pleasingly plump!!  Ta ta for now!

Alice