WHERE HAVE I BEEN…

Ohhhhh the last few days we spent down in the states. We had planned a short trip to the ocean months ago and since both moms at the moment seem to be reasonably okay we decided to take advantage and go away. I have not been to the ocean in about 2 years and oh my God I had forgotten how rejuvenating it can be – how the sound of waves and smell of seaweed restores the soul! So where did we go and what did we do – wellllll of course there HAD to be some rughooking and antiquing involved! We left home and headed for Burlington Vermont where the first shop we hit was 5 Corners Antiques in Essex Junction. I had been there 2 years ago and loved the upstairs which is a collection of primitives, small antiques and funky art. And YEAH the little footstool I had seen there 2 years ago was still there and hmmmm reduced greatly in price!

Was that a sign – you betcha! snapped that piece up real fast but ohhhhh there were a ton of smalls I was drooling over. But I knew I had a trip to Dorr Mill the next day and I KNEW Terry would talk me into adding to my order (it’s like going to McDonalds – how about a large fry with that!!! – hey Loretta come into the back and see what I have thats new!!!). But I was a good girl – I got ONLY what I had ordered (heck that brought me up almost to my limit for 48 hours!). Of course I was tempted to join the group of ladies taking a BRAIDED EDGE class – apparently this is held every Wednesday and had I known we would have been there on time for me to join in – they were doing butted ends and they looked fabulous! From Dorr we headed to Portsmouth which is such a beautiful old city. It has (unlike so many cities) a very vital, fun city center full of wonderful little artsy shops and great restaurants. I found a shop I had been in 2 years ago that carried wonderful quilted pieces by Chris Roberts-Antieau. These are soooooo funky but just a tad more (well make that a big TAD) than I can afford now that we are retired! But ohhhhhh so much fun… And I had for dinner the best seafood chowder in the world (or so they say on the sign outside the door) at hmmm River side Restaurant. On the way to Portsmouth though we drove down highway 4 – did I KNOW this was called ANTIQUE ALLEY!!!!! nooooooooo…. And did we stop at any of the shops – noooooooo….  As Gord whipped by all the antique stores (they claim there are 20 stores – 500 dealers along this stretch) my heart was breaking…. But the following day made up for it – drove up the coast to York Harbour, York Beach, Ogunquit, Perkins Cove, Wells and Kennebunkport. We walked on the beaches, dug our toes into the sand, frozeeeee our feet as we dashed in and out of the water, walked the Marginal Way in Perkins Cove and gloried in the sound and smell of OCEAN.

And of course on the way back to Portsmouth we stopped at hmmm Antique Store! (only one although there are a LOT in Wells). But I think we found the best one – again a nice mix of antique, retro, vintage and new shabby chic and ohhhhh some amazing folk art. So although I did not buy any antiques I found a wonderful folky sheep by an amazing artist. Her work was sewn painted muslin animals that were so funky. Name – hmmmm unknown! not marked on my sheep! Darn…

The next day we headed back to Burlington via – you guessed it – ANTIQUE ALLEY. I think by then Gord was thinking (but would not say it out loud) not another bloody antique store!!!! Saw lots of wonderful pieces – more firkins and little benches than I have ever seen – but hmmm by then over our limit for the weekend and still one final store to hit in Burlington (well and a few more on the drive home ))

While I was gone I did finish hooking Celtic Fish which will be made into a pillow for the now owner of the Celtic Ducks rug.

Today I am working on the Celtic Eagle and at the same time dyeing some wonderful teals, greens, blues, aqua’s – inspired by all the wonderful art I saw in the shops along the ocean.These colours are as is Cushings colours – jade, aqua, turquoise, mint(with a touch of yellow) over a varied selection of wools…and mixed in with some chartreuse for a little zing!

HOOKIN …

Saturday was the my first hookin of the summer and ohhhh the inspiration… and ohhhhhh the goodies! Ahhhh hooking and eating – 2 of the best things in life especially if you share them with amazingly creative friends. That and the garage sale in the driveway (Wendy decided to clean out Vince’s garage – of course the guys went off junkin so that almost negated the selling off of excess!). So pix of course of the wonderful rugs etc. that people were working on…

Elizabeth’s Karla Gerard Red Bird rug – love that eye!…

Linda with her Karen Kahle inspired bag…

Linda’s button tree…

Cathy’s Holly Hill goat rug…

Cathy finished her Sharon Smith Bunny rug…

Wendy’s lost and found punch needle (lost in the aisles of Walmart and discovered in the garbage in the lost and found!)…

Wendy’s Sugaring Off rug – many recycled wools in this give it a wonderfully aged look…

Wendy’s beautiful sunflowers… 

Lydia’s Notforgotten Farm rug…

Donna’s rug for her graduating son…

Sue with her first hooked piece…

Shauna’s 3 Wise Men in all its glorious colour!…

Linda’s Sharon Smith rug…(getting those houses wonky is tough!)…

Alana fondling her stash…

Alana’s next project…

Alana with her current finished project (no doubt hooked in about 2 hours!) – a lot of recycled fabrics in this piece…

Peri with her Pine Islands Primitives eagle…

Marilyn and her deer…

Linda (the other Linda) as usual had something totally amazing going on – felted rocks apparently hooked with roving and then needle felted onto the backing…. 

ANDREA’S AUDUBON RUG…

On Monday Andrea came to visit. She had just finished a Sharon Smith pattern – Audubon – totally done in yarns and sari silks. It is lovely. So interesting to see how different rugs can look when you hook them in alternative fibers. When I was in England 2 years ago the rughookers I met were using no wool at all – they were hooking with all recycled “stuff” and wow some of the rugs were amazing. Very colourful and fun. Good to expand our horizons on a regular basis and see what can happen. Here is Andrea’s piece (Sharon I hope you see this). This will become a beautiful big pillow with the perfect wool fabric for the sashing…

Yesterday as I was packing up for my morning at Stitch by Stitch I had suitcases of wool sitting on the front porch. One of the suitcases was stuffed so full that a few pieces of wool were escaping and I had to bungy cord the suitcase closed – leaving a bit of wool sticking out of the top. WELLLLL, didn’t a sweet little chickadee land on the suitcase and start picking at the wool – looking for nice warm colourful nesting material no doubt. Of course I HAD to help him(probably a her!) out – left a pile of snippets and threads out on the table for easy pickings.

Just a quick note for anyone who will be at the Quilt show in Ottawa this weekend – I will not be attending. With everything that has been going on I did not want to commit to a 3 day show not knowing if I might have to leave unexpectedly to take care of moms. I hate cancelling out of shows but… So instead – hookin here! on Saturday. Should be a lovely day – not too warm hopefully. And hopefully those hummingbird sized blackflies with the huge fangs will be gone by then – well probably not but we will be indoors!

RED BIRD IS DONE…

Well weather was toooooo nice this weekend! I would not have minded some rain – am I crazy you are wondering. NO. First of all we neeeeed rain! I am nervous that we are going to have another one of those hot dry summers like last year – I panicked a bit and stopped taking showers (well not really – but a good swim in the lake every day did replace a few). I was worried our well would run dry and hmmm sinking a new well is a costly proposition. So dishwater was used to water pots (well as long as there were no little floaty things in the water) and showers got cut reallllly short! So yes this year I would not mind a bit more rain. Our road is gravel and holy cow the dust is dense as you drive in and out – our black car is grey! But second reason for wishing it had rained is that I was part of a studio tour and when weather is tooooo nice people have other things to do – gardening, raking, kayaking, getting the boat in! So the show was a bit quieter than we had hoped but still fun. Met some former hookers, some existing hookers and hmmmmm some prospective hookers! So I had a fun weekend and  I ACTUALLY FINISHED A RUG! The Red Bird pattern of Karla Gerard that I adapted. So my red bird is actually a red-winged black bird (my harbinger of spring!). I added some hills and deleted some leaves and had such fun hooking this bright little rug. Now unfortunately back to reality and gardens – Gord cleaned up but he does not know the difference between a weed and a flower so I have to go out and decide.

On Wednesday I will be at Stitch by Stitch from 10 – 12 – hope you can visit if you are in the Kingston area…

SPRING HOOKING…

While we were away dealing with a family emergency I decided to quickly throw together something to hook – something bright and cheerful that would lift my spirits and calm my nerves (and that did not include alcohol which hmmm might have the same effect!). I pulled out one of the Karla Gerard patterns that I had in the studio, made a few slight changes and cut up cheery colours for the hooking. Threw it in a bag and left (well with Gord and a suitcase in tow!).

Welllll not only did the family emergency resolve itself quite well (although another is pending in the other direction! – one set of parents live 3 1/2 hours east and the other 4 1/2 hours west!) but I actually got a LOT of hooking done and oh it is such a fun and cheery springlike piece that I am loving it (even though there is BLUE! in it). I had to put it down though because now that I am home again I am packing for a studio tour in Kingston this Saturday and Sunday and will take this along to work on. Definitely work therapy or rughooking get me through tough emotionally charged times…

Happy spring… it is WARM today…

A few weeks ago, Rachel came to take my finishing class. She brought along a rug that has a wonderful story to it. A number of years ago she met an elderly man who was a beekeeper and started helping him with his business. Eventually Walter passed away and Rachel took over the business. She also inherited his rocking chair and wanted to hook a piece that was whimsical but evoked memories of Walter and their friendship and mutual love of beekeeping. With her suggestions on what she wanted in the rug I came up with a whimsical bee skip design which Rachel then hooked and attached to the back of the chair where it will be a reminder of her friend on a daily basis. Don’t you love rugs that have a story behind them…

GARDENS CALL…

Started this last Sunday but before I actually posted we were called away with a family emergency…back now so hmmmm maybe I should publish it…

As I wandered around the yard yesterday I noticed that some of my lovely green shoots seemed to be missing their tops! Cropped down no doubt by our dear deer! Oh well, not to worry – they will grow back. A little ragged perhaps but…

Yesterday we decided to go to the Maple Festival in Perth which is about a  45 minute drive. It was spitting and cold and all I could think about was being curled up in a nice warm living room with a cuppa coffee and my book or hooking! But off we went. Spent about 2 hours looking at the OPP mobile unit (that would have been Gord!) and checking out all the street vendors (that would have been me!!!). By then I was so cold we had to go for coffee and lunch just to warm up. Then another few hours of walking the main street and hmmm I was ready to come home. All my plans to go junking afterwards went down the tube. Even though it had warmed up the thought of spending a few more hours visiting rust just did not appeal to me.

So today more gardening and maybe some dyeing and hmmm who knows – maybe I will draw out a new pattern and get hooking!

I did actually finish a piece this week – I have a footstool made by a friend of mine (Twig Artist Veronica Chenier) that has always called for a hooked topper. I had thought years ago that I would do a little primitive pictorial but realised that the footstool had so much going on that it just needed a little geometric. So inspired by a rug I had seen that seemed to use up scraps I started pulling out my leftover worms with good intentions of using only precut wool – well we alllll know where that leads! To CUTTING MORE WOOL because I did not have the amounts or colours I needed. Finally finished the little mat and attached it (after sanding down the surface of the footstool and restaining it darker). Now of course I have a lot of worms again! ready for another scrappy project!

A few days ago Meryl dropped by to draw out her new project and brought along pix of her Deanne Fitzpatrick rug. It is wonderful…

And Deb shared a picture of her dog (Tibetan Terrier) inspired chair pad (don’t you just want to run your fingers through his hair!)…

So hmmm maybe the gardens should not call so often!!!! I realllllly love winter…

AHHHHHHH SPRING…

is here and my aching back knows it! Every year at this time I reallllly envy those people who live in more temperate climates. It must be so nice not to have to deal with the ravages of winter every spring – dead leaves that have blown back into the gardens, dead foliage we did not manage to get out of the garden before the snow, dirt, sand, salt from winter! But once I actually got out into the garden on Monday I remembered what I love about spring. I love to muck around in the garden clearing away all the winter mess and discover the beautiful little green shoots coming up. So on Monday I cleaned up 4 gardens. But when you live in the forest you need to have a particular method to your clean up – 1. don’t clean up leaves on a windy day! 2. work up or is that down-wind so that when the wind blows the leaves back they are not blowing into the already cleaned area of the garden! 3. do not try to rake out the forest – it was MEANT to have leaves and pine needles 4. wear gardening gloves cause hmmm there are critters under that leaf litter! and never ever tell anyone what critters you found – those black rat snakes and the black salamanders are endangered and you may never be allowed to clean up again!(hmmmm not a bad idea actually!) 5. make sure tetanus shots are up to date for when you rip open a finger or hand on rusty garden ornies! So slowly! the gardens are coming alive – just in time for my lovely momma deer and her darling yearlings to discover all those tasty fresh green shoots!

So while I have been playing in the gardens – others have been hooking!!!! My friend Liz is a budding fiddler and decided her fiddle case needed some serious embellishing!… Canadiana style!…

Linda’s version of Alana’s funky Chicken Soup pattern…(I do carry this and many other of Alana’s wonderful funky patterns!)

A few pix of the class I taught in Hawksbury (boy I guess I had not cleaned up photos on my camera in a while!… and I wonder what Ruby is thinking…

Brenda’s version of my Squirrel pattern – so very very different from my version and sooooo lovely!!!!…

Yesterday I taught a primitive dye class here in the studio – I think Meredith might have been under the assumption that dyeing is REALLY messy!!!.. 

Next weekend I am taking part in a studio tour in Kingston. I will be a guest artist at my friend Tamara’s. The tour info is available here http://www.kingstonartists.com. It promises to be a wonderful tour as there are some pretty amazing artists taking part. Hope you can visit. And for those of you who are local please note NO STUDIO TOUR in Westport this spring! I am a little concerned as this is the first time in many years that Westport has not had a Dandelion Gardens Studio Tour and hmmmm will people show up at the door expecting 8 amazing artists here on the long weekend in May!!! to find ONLY me!!!

And finally, some new Carol Feeney patterns that I have in the studio – verrrrryyy different from my usual folk art or primitive style!!! but so colourful and lovely…