CABIN FEVER WAS A BLAST…

and not a blast of rain and ice and thunder like today!  It is so bad out there that I could not get down the steps to feed the deer – just flung the grain at them! and then Gord flung seeds at the turkeys! and carrots for the deer as the bucket was empty! Hmmmm, they must all have cleats on their feet – but I DON’T so I am not venturing out…

I am soooooooo thankful that the weather yesterday was BEAUTIFUL – warm, sunny, melty. As a result, we had a fabulous turnout for our first (but definitely not last) Cabin Fever Hookin. I don’t think anyone even got lost getting there! Of course, we did put up a sign with balloons on the highway – I am sure the local traffic was scratching their heads wondering what a HOOKIN was. Probably not as much as the time I put up a sign for my first hookin at the house – HOOKERS – THIS WAY! THAT one generated a lot of comments from our neighbours who had NO idea what a hooker was (well our kind of hooker at least!).

Thank you to all the ladies who joined us yesterday and a special thank you to those who brought door prizes!!! and goodies! (oh, by the way Gord will be eating all the left overs, not me! haha). We had some fun demos during the day – Carol demonstrated her woollen feather trees (for which she had kits!), I demonstrated wool appliqué and Wendo demonstrated her needle felted Tulips. We will all be teaching these workshops at Almonte Fibrefest in September.  In the afternoon we had a great show and tell so here are some pix of what people were working on (Unfortunately, photographer Gord forgot to take pictures until we were about half way through but some is better than none at all!)…

Ingrid was punching a Teresa Kogut pattern. hmmmm, cannot see who is hiding behind these lovely leaves!… Brand new hooker, Sylvie, with her first piece finished (pattern from Carol Shewan)… Nancy was finishing this sweet rug for a friend… Another Teresa Kogut punch needle design… Kelly was punching my River Otters pattern… Marjorie’s memories of down east (her own design)… Darn, who is hiding behind this rug – it is stunning…Barb’s finished rug – the picture does NOT do it justice…
May was working on her first rug a Candlemat pattern from Baa Baa Bundles… A lovely Maud Lewis by hmmmmm cannot see!… Lynne’s amazing fish which she is going to cut out and hang … Joni Black Spring pattern – who is the hooker hiding behind the rug ? haha…  Sherri’s 3 Blooms – almost finished …Jocelyn with her Idiom rug for the Olde Forge challenge…
Deb’s Prayer rug… Carol was doing some more work on her Downton Abbey challenge rug… Janice’s beautiful Canada Goose rug… Lovely piece being hooked by Jennifer… Sandy finished her Lisa Ferguson fox – it is soooo lovely (and yes I do have more patterns in stock 🙂 )… Lesley was working on her beautiful Rosemaling done in a class with Jane Cuthbert… Sandy was also working on a Deanne Fitzpatrick fish… Ohhh hmmm I think Cindy is hiding behind the Laurel Burch cats (pattern from Carol Shewan)… And another Carol Shewan pattern being hooked by Peri… Linda’s amazing Viking oriental – it is I believe 13 feet long! and more beautiful in real life!… Another Maud -was it Nancy working on this?… a few vendors… another Nancy’s tesselation sheep rug… Wendo enjoying a bit of down time… Carol consulting in her booth…

CABIN FEVER HOOKIN…

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR HOOKIN ON SATURDAY. Even Mother Nature is, as the weather is supposed to cooperate! So just a few reminders for those who are coming…

• bring along a lunch please – we are serving a variety of delicious treats and coffee and tea
• we are located NOT at the Lions Club Beach house but rather at the NORTH CROSBY COMMUNITY CENTER JUST OFF HIGHWAY 10 ON CONCESSION 8 outside Westport – if you google the community centre you will find us at 875 8th Concession Rd – click on the map for directions (please note this is NOT IN CROSBY but rather just outside Westport – the name is very deceiving 🙂 )
• we run from 10 – 3:30

See you there!

Morning Geese by Lisa Ferguson has now been added to my online store as either a rughooking or punch needle (miniature) pattern.

WEEKEND RETREAT PIX…

This past weekend I spent a wonderful 2 days in Montreal with a group of fun and creative hookers at hmmmmm, a nunnery! The time slid by way too quickly but I did manage to get some pictures of what people were working on… Enjoy…

Ti’s Celtic knot chairpad for the Barachois Church 200 Cushions project… Carolyn was working on ultra wide cut… Carolyn’s (the other Carolyn) mega runner for her neighbours (I should have tried to get her to adopt me for the next big rug!)… I was working on finishing a rug for a friend who has vision problems now and cannot hook anymore… Rosemary was working on her Maud Lewis… Jacques’ fabulous rug …  Ti did her self portrait all in velvets (see her supply below!)…Luscious luscious…
Diane was working on her scrappy rug… Dawna’s chairpad for the 200 Cushions project… Candace’s leaves and thistle rug… Sampler by Claire (taught be Carol Shewan)…
Helen was punching a lovely piece… Carol’s Downton Abbey tribute rug… Chris’s Dancing ladies done in velvets and pantyhose!… Claire was working on this lovely beach scene…
Maureen’s mountain landscape… Sherri – colour planning her Karla Gerard 3 Blooms… Ti’s multi media pieces…

SOME PICTURES TO SHARE…

Elizabeth’s first hooked rug and first punch needle!!!!… Sandi won first place for these next two pieces – I can understand why!!!!… punch needle pattern by Old Tattered Flag… Michelle finished punching her Lisa Ferguson Blue Jay… Kim finished her second piece – a future Tea Cosy… Jill is hooking Lisa Ferguson’s pileated woodpecker – I want to do this piece – I have it as a hooked rug and miniature punch needle pattern – where to start!!!???… and Michelle finished this Karla Gerard Bright Blooms -love this piece…

BUSY BUSY BUSY…

No, not with painting and decluttering (although hmmmm the back porch is filling up rapidly with stuff to go to the thrift store) but rather dyeing and drawing patterns and wow even some hooking and wool appliqué in there.

Although I have no pix of my own work to share at the moment I do have some by others.  First a new beautiful Lisa Ferguson pattern that I will shortly be listing on my online store…

Morning Geese…

Michelle framed this lovely miniature punch needle – one of the Karla Gerard patterns I carry for punching or hooking… Deanna made Fraktur(one of my patterns) into a bolster pillow… and hooked this lovely pattern from Deanne Fitzpatrick… She also hooked Neighbours (one of my Karla Gerard patterns)… and her first rughooking kit from a few months ago – do we think she is hooked !…

WESTPORT SUMMER HOOKIN IS FULL!!!!…

I cannot believe we filled up in one day! Thank you to all who were so prompt in registering.  If you did not have a chance to register yesterday you can email Carol today to be put on the waiting list. She will be home – iced in like so many of us! A good day to hook and NOT go out!…

CABIN FEVER… AND WESTPORT SUMMER HOOKINS…

Wellllllll, not a good weather prediction for today and tomorrow – 10 hours of ice pellets and freezing rain. Thank goodness Gord (on my advice!) crunched up the driveway ice yesterday with the tractor and chains while it was still soft. So, right now it is like hmmm, corrugated tin on our road! Yeah… if the freezing rain does happen we will hopefully have a good crunchy base and should be able to get out tomorrow! Today, ahhhhhh playing in the dye pot, hooking and putting together all the wool to finish a rug for a friend who has lost her vision. That will be my project for next weekend’s retreat.

And now just a few reminders about our Cabin Fever Hookin which is full – if you are registered and sadly cannot come please let us know. Hopefully we will have fabulous weather and good driving for all that day:

Date – Saturday, February 23

Time – 10 – 3:30

Location – North Crosby Community Centre (not the Lions Club Beach House in Westport) just off highway 10 outside of Westport – 875 8th Concession Road

Please bring your lunch along – we will be serving coffee, tea and yummy treats (oh guess I better get baking!). We will be demonstrating a few fun projects and vendors will include myself, Carol Shewan and Wendo van Essen with her needle felting supplies and finished pieces. There will be door prizes and some silent auction items to get excitement up! And OF COURSE bring your hooking or punching or felting!

and now!!!!! REGISTRATION FOR THE SUMMER HOOKIN BEGINS! Please email Carol asap as we tend to fill quickly and hate to disappoint! cshewan@kingston.net

Date – Tuesday, July 2

Time – 10 – 3:30

Location – NEW LOCATION North Crosby Community Centre (not the Lions Club Beach House in Westport) just off highway 10 outside of Westport

We are trying out a new location this year – plenty of parking, big open room with a kitchen and great lighting. Not on the beach but there is plenty of shaded lovely outdoor seating for those who prefer to be outdoors.

A few lovely pieces to share:

Danyelle’s truly beautiful pieces…

Kim started hooking a few weeks ago – last friday she came with her loon kit finished and we worked on putting it together as a pillow.  She left with worms and a pattern for a tea cosy that we drew out and 4 days later hmmmmm almost done! Do you think she is hooked? 🙂 …  Diane finished her 2 snow shoe pieces – the left is an adaptation of one of the Karla Gerard patterns I carry and on the right is an adaptation of a Shelly Atkinson pattern I carry. I love how these look on the vintage snowshoes I let her buy at the junk store! 🙂 and check out the tiny snowshoes she made to attach to her rug… Sandra hooked my River Otters rug and ohhhh it is so wonderfully primitive and antique looking. Sandra has such a knack for making a rug look like it was hooked in the 1800’s… 

M.I.A?…

YES it appears I have been missing in action – no blogging in a long time! But lots of decluttering, cleaning, painting and redecorating. Many trips to the thrift store to get rid of stuff, many bags of garbage and much less stuff (and Gord doesn’t know this but that means room for new stuff!). I am feeling the junk stores calling my name 🙂 .

Despite the aching body – I realized I am getting older when I had to think about how I was going to get up off the floor after I painted a cabinet – arthritic hip, sore knees and bad shoulder meant a lot of thought went into the process – I have been doing some hooking. Ruby’s rug is done! Well some cleanup and tweaking and show binding but the hooking is done. I had left a small 2 x 2 inch square section till the very end – the horse and cart. As you can see from the painting there was not much to distinguish the horse and cart from the buildings besides 4 wheels and 2 legs and some shadows but I am fairly happy with the way it turned out. May tweak it a bit yet but for the most part it is done and will soon be wending its way back to Ruby’s daughter and then on to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum.

So a few pictures of the rug in process:

The painting by John Sims and the original photograph…

Rug as it stood when I got it from Ruby’s family hmmmm over a year ago…

A few months later I finally tackled the easy parts… And then the really easy part – the sky…Once the sky was in I had to get back to the tough parts…
And finally today the cart and horse went in…
Only a year to complete! But it is a big rug. I dyed all the wool for Ruby when she decided she was going to hook the rug and it was all done in number 8 and number 6 cut (well a few number 8’s got cut into 4’s). It was a challenge hooking this rug for so many reasons – firstly, my hooking and Ruby’s were quite different and I had to adapt mine to hers so that the rug made sense; secondly, this would not be something I would normally hook – I love primitive and hmmm this does not read primitive to me; finally, I would have cut that darned cart and horse out of the picture however, it was in the painting and original photograph that inspired the painting so although Ruby and I both talked about the horse being in another county! it actually did make it into the rug 🙂 . So, now I will show bind the rug and send it on its way – it has truly been a love/hate relationship with this rug but I think Ruby is happy it is done!

And a few pictures of other completed pieces by friends:

Amazing!!! Barn Owl miniature Punch needle done by Michelle (one of the Lisa Fergusson patterns I carry in rughooking and punch needle)… Sweet little bunny punched by Jane… I love Wendy’s rug using up her worms…