Monday, October 31, 2011

IT'S OVER! (Officially over)

Summer and Fall are definately over!
SIX (6) inches of snow on Saturday
Can you believe that in October????

No more fried green tomatoes from our garden
 One of the joys of the Maryland summer
 These are from the last crab feast of the year.
Just last Sunday the whole family met at
Gilligan's crab house on Pope's Creek to
celebrate the marriage of my grandaughter Victoria.
So sad to think that we have to wait another
year to pass before we get to enjoy these lovely
creatures again.


\HOOKING

 Just a few more pictures from Lancaster.  A few of
my favorites.  These very large Poppies caught my eye
 I think this is my favorite of the whole show!
Look at the love in that dog's face.
A wonderful hooking job
 Imitation of Paisley
A very interesting piece
 I know I showed this piece before but I wanted to
refresh you memory because I want to show the
picture below.
What a terrific hooking job this face is.
So expressive, beautiful yet sad


Of course, I bought some wool - how could I not?
I think that we all have wool "itis"
 Some of the wool for a new piece I am
planning to do.  I should be ashamed of myself.  You
would think I don't have any wool
OR

Any projects started and in the "not finished"
category.
Oh well, gives me something to think about while
the snow is melting!
I hope all of you that went to Lancaster has a wonderful time.
I'm sure that it will be a long time before ATHA comes
to the East coast again.  It was good to see so many folks that I knew and to be able to spend time with Lauren who came all of the way from Ohio.
We had a delightful lunch together.
If you read her blog "Rugs and Pugs"
how about sending a small check to the Ohio Pug Rescue during
this holiday season?  This is an all volunteer organization
and all of the money goes to the "dogs."

I hope all are warm and cozy - so many without electricity
in this area.  Do take care of yourselves.

Thought for the day -
Everyone who says they have only one life
must not know how to read a book.
 Unknown

Doris


Saturday, October 22, 2011

MOMENTS IN TIME

IT'S SHOW TIME

Yes indeed, it surely was show time.
The Biennial held in Lancaster, Pa. this past week
was surely a winner.  Frankly, I have never seen so many people in a hotel lobby before.  Speaking of hotel's, The Eden is a beautiful place and we had wonderful accomodations.
The pictures for this blog posting are just to wet your appetite to see more.
 A few shots  of the shoppers - sorry they are fuzzy but
so many people all moving around.

Traci, Joan and Barb looking at wool in one of the booth's
 More talking about what wool to select - did Joan make up her mind?
 This hooked piece says it all.  Hooking is an art!

The following pictures are of some of my favorites in the show.
In another blog posting I will tell you more about our
activities but I wanted you to see some of the
hooked pieces first so that you can begin to enjoy the work.
This picture "stole the show" = it was beautifully hooked.

This closeup's of the man's face says it all - the hooking
was wonderful

 
 This piece was hooked by Joan Strausbugh (spelling)
I believe I have a better picture of this rug which I will post later.  My computer has a mind of it's own today.
 To me, this was one of the most spectacular pieces in the show.  The Lion's face was beautifully hooked and the mane was prodded!
Look at the beautiful colors in the mane.  The prodding was quite high and very nicely done.

I hope that this litte bit did wet your appetite.  I will be telling you more about out activities and showing more pictures.  According to my camera I took 75 pictures but I promise not to bore you will all of them.

I would like to acknowledge my friends that made it possible for me to attend the biennial. THANK YOU Sunny and Traci.  Eloise also thanks you!

Thought for the day
Beauty is not in the face.
Beauty is a light in the heart.
 Kahil Gibean

Doris

Friday, October 7, 2011

A LESSON LEARNED


Unfortunately, my lesson learned was on a beautiful rug pattern designed by Pearl McGown.  The name of the pattern is "Maturity."  I still think that it is one of the most beautiful rug patterns
I have ever seen.
The rug is room sized (9 x 12)  I had planned it for my dining room.
I no longer live in that house and of course, this rug
will never be completed.
The picture above shows a portion of the rug that has
been hooked.


 This pic shows what happens to rug backing when not properly
cared for.
 Look at this mess!  This is what happens when sun and heat
get to a pattern backing.  This did not happen overnight.
This is the result of several years of laying in the sun.
In addition, I folded the rug instead of rolling it and
the creases deteriorated more quickly than the rest of the backing.

I have decided the thing to do is cut off the unused portion of the
pattern, and just simply hem the piece.  I will than use it as a visual aid
for my students as they learn to hook flowers.

The following pictures speak for themselves.
I thought I would share than with you in case you are struggling
with hooking flowers.
 A lavender Dahlia  with lavender leaf.
 A dalhia of a different color with bud..
 What a mess!  However, there is an example of the
back of a rose.
 Rose with buds
 A better view of the back of a rose.
Yellow is one of the hardest colors to use in a hooked rug.  I don't think this rose is super good but it is the one example I have of a yellow rose with blue green leaves.
 Lavender Tulips with blue morning glories.
 Another Tulip - slightly different color.
 A two toned Lily
 A different type of Morning Glory with bud
 Full blownMorning glories with buds.
A stilll different Morning glory

I hope that I haven't bored you to death.  I have been looking
at the wreck of this rug for several months now
and it has been on my mind to share it wilh you.
I hope you like what you see.

I am still unable to leave comments.  The minute I preview them they disappear,.  Also if you have the small pop up window for
your comments, I am unable to certify who I am
and blogger insists that he./she know who I am.
I would like to say hello to Julia, Courtney, Nettie, Lauren,
Cathy G., Moosecraft, and all of my other blogger
friends

Quote of the day -
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf
is a flower.

Albert Camus

Have a wonderful weekend everyone
Doris










Monday, October 3, 2011

HOOKING AND A DEAD BRAIN!

On my last posting, I showed pictures of rugs being
worked on at the ATHA Mason/Dixon meeting.
These pictures continue with that meeting.

We are so lucky to belong to that group.  Among
our members are three wool vendors.  There
is always lots of heavenly pieces of wool to choose
from if you are in the market for wool  (and
who isn't?)


This is Barb looking over wool from one of the
vendors.  I think that is Bob with her.

 Look at this beautiful wool - all for sale.
 This is the table of another vendor.
It is so great to have these ladies come regularly
to the meetings.

The program for the last meeting was really interesting.
We divided into four groups and the groups
rotated every half hour to another station.  Four stations had been
set up.
 At this station Sharon is showing the ladies
how to crochet and edge on an oriental rug so that
fringe could be attached.
 This group is learning how to do
the herring bone stitch.
 This group is being shown how to frame
any size hooked piece.
This group is learning about prodding.

Now on to the DEAD BRAIN!
I have had a really busy week.  The only thing that
stayed home was my camera!!
BRAIN DEAD!

On Wednesday evening I had a delightful time. 
My great grand-daughter invited me to
dinner with she, her sister and her
sister fiancee.  We had a wonderful time.
We went to the best steak house in Hagerstown
and had a great meal.  The nice thing about these
grands is that they enjoy my company.  For some reason,
who knows why, they think I am the font of all information
and seems to love my stories of life "in the dark ages."

On Friday I attended a social hook-in at
Barb's house.  It was a delightful day.  Everyone
was in such a good mood.  Rosalie was knitting,
Sandy was pinniung together a sweater that she had just knit
amd everyone else was hooking.
Some really nice pieces are being made in this group.

On Saturday I went to a meeting
of the Boonsboro ATHA group.  It was a cold, rainy day
and not a lot of members showed up.
It was the kind of day that you just wanted to stay in bed.
Programs for the future were discussed
and Elinor shared with us her beautiful
Quilts.  Her work is so beautiful, and she is very
prolific.  We were all thrilled by her presentation.

On Sunday, yes out again, much to Eloise's
displeasure - to a bridal shower at the Holiday Inn.
A very nice affair for my oldest great granddaughter,
She is being married on November 4th
at the Cortland Mansion in Hagerstown.

This is why I say I am brain dead.  All of these
nice things and no pictures!  Don;t know how I could have been 
so thoughtless!

Thought for the day . . .
Life can be complicated
but happiness is really pretty simple.
 Marianne Moore


Until next time
stay well, be happy an
tell your family that you love them.
Doris