KINGWOOD HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

Last Saturday , Katie Allman and her little band of helpers, put on such a fun hook-in at Kingwood Center, right here at home in Mansfield, Ohio!  This is some of the wool that I dyed this past week to sell ~ it was a fun show ~ saw lots of friends and sold lots of wool!!  What could be better?!

Every year there is a challenge piece that we pick up for the following year.  This year's challenge was a paper pattern by Karla Girard and we could interpret it any way we chose!   I say we ~ but me ~ mine is still on the frame!!  This box was covered with a hooking by Deb ~ her dad made the box for her.  Her parents joined us that day and her dad is quite the character and her mom, a very sweet lady!

 The bottom framed piece was done by my friend, Jackie ~ needle felted onto black wool ~ it was very eye-catching!  The pillow pair were gorgeous as well as the enlarged design in the upper right!

 

This is a close-up of Jackie's entry ~ you can see all the great texture and little snowflake buttons to enhance the background! 

 These were the rest of the entries and the one with the scalloped edge won the People's Choice award!  Annette is a real creative gal and she won the wonderful gift of wool!!!  There was lots of sparkly yarns used along with all kinds of other materials.  If I ever get mine done, you'll get to see it right here!!!

 These four Henny Penny's were done in a class that Barb Carroll taught here in Ohio last year!  I love them all!  I have one of these that I started at the Woolley Fox last year ~ when I finish that one, you'll get to see it, as well!

 Another little gathering of rugs ~ love the sunflowers!  I don't know who the hookers are ~ I do mention their names, if I do!

These four were done by Fred Grey and I tell you, they are fabulous!!  He uses lots of wool, yarn, roving and it's very chunky and artistic!  His sweet wife Martha is a hooker, too ~ they make quite a talented pair!!

Love the sheep ~ I'm partial to sheep!  I wasn't at a very good angle so these rugs aren't showing as well as they should!  But each one is beautiful!

I do know that this gathering was hooked by Linda Cook ~ she was one of the featured artists that day!  Do you think I got photos of the others that were featured? No!  I know Grace Danals was one of them but her rugs were gone by the time I got in there to take pictures!  And I think Deb Tomchek was another one ~ she is a great gal ~ lots of fun!

Gloria and Desi were hooking away ~ look how happy Desi looks!!

 This is the last photo ~ there were lots of other rugs ~ I just couldn't get to them all! 

Linda Cook was the 'winner' of this original Deanne Fitzpatrick mat that were offered for auction at the end of the day!  There was a fun silent auction and also a live auction of some very special things!  Linda was pretty happy with her purchase!! 

And at the end of day, vendor Kris Miller and I and our Husbands and friend, Jackie, went out for supper at one of favorite local restaurants, Uncle Johns on the Square!! I think we don't look tired at all after our fun day at Kingwood!!  If you've never done a show, it's unbelievable how exhausting it can be ~ but we rallied for the cause!

Thanks, Katie, for hosting a great day ~ the ladies and men who attended had a fabulous time ~ and so did we!!!

BERLIN HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

These are some of my hooking friends ~ old and new!!  Well, they're not old ~ you know what I mean! Charisse in front, and Sue, Karen, Pam and me, and Carol in the back row!!  Charisse, Sue and Pam were nice enough to take me with them ~ they are three very close friends and I appreciate being included.

Karen and Carol are sisters and really nice gals, as well!  Karen's rug hooking guild is selling these playing cards for $10 and each one has a hooked rug picture ~ really well done!  Karen gifted each of us with a deck ~ hooray!  And I wanted to give you the information, if you would like to order a deck from her.  It is the Buffalo Trace Rug Hooking Guild in southern Indiana and you can email Karen at kjbuchheit@yahoo.com . 

and she will happily send them to you!  A great present for your friends and yourself!  Thank you, Karen, for thinking of me!  All of these gals met at another hooking event and planned to meet in Berlin!  WE meet wonderful people in the rug hooking world!

This is Sue's rug that she started in Betsy Reed's class the day before the hook-in.  Really cute rug and she got a lot done!!

Charisse hooked this horsey ~ and really got a lot of background done, too but that was after her photo shoot!!  She was our driver and did a great job!!

Pam is quite a nice hooker but she's a gad-about and I think this was what she hooked in two days!!  We love to tease her ~ she's a social butterfly and very sweet! 

This is the same horse as Charisse is doing ~  hard to tell isn't it?  I'm doing mine in 1" hand-torn strips!  You could call this a chunky little horse ~ very chunky!  I've got a lot of background done ~ not sure I'm crazy about my color planning ~ hit and miss with all my scrap wool and worms!  That part I like!  I'll show it to you next week!! Some  of the colors have already been replaced ~ I'm going to figure this out yet!

The hook-in was hosted by the Amish Country Wool Artisans and there are 8 ladies who put this all together!  They do a wonderful job ~ we had a beautiful big room and great food ~ lots of vendors and lots of rug hooking friends to visit!  It was a great two days in the middle of Amish country with kindred spirits!  What could be better?

There was a rug show, too ~ I'll post pictures of that next time!  Have a great weekend!  The weather is beautiful in Ohio right now ~ finally!  I know some of my blog friends are not having quite such good weather where they are!  Hang on ~ Spring is on it's way to you, too!

Alice

SATURDAY'S HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

 Look how diligent these rug hookers are!  This was at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio last Saturday.  There were 85 gals all in one place, hooking up a storm!!  Katie Allman put it all together and did a great job ~ from hanging the rug show,  preparing the snacks, to organizing the silent auction and a lot in between ~ she does it all!




 Donna and Judy were in our room along with new friend,
Linda! She came to our house with the Columbus group a few weeks ago ~ nice to see her again!
(I have no clue why these words are highlighted ~ Blogger and I have a love/hate relationship ~ this would be one reason why!)

Kingwood Center is a lovely place to spend some time!  As we were schlepping stuff to our truck, this beautiful peacock was just sitting on the fence, watching us trek by!  He didn't flinch when I stopped to take his picture ~ beautiful bird, isn't he?

Here are a few of the rugs ~ I ran over at the end and snapped a few pix with my phone!  Nice roosters!

A great stool ~ wish the photo was a little better ~ it was cute as the dickens!!  Hooked by Rhonda of My Glory Stars!

The red flowers are hooked by Katie Allman and I'm not sure about the others.  This was really a striking rug!












There were some fun things in the silent auction and I was the proud winner of the  HOOKR bag by 31 ( I love their products!). Katie was the donor and had it stitched with this unique spelling!  I love it ~ thanks Katie for your generous donation!!

Last year, Katie had little bags of various yarns and ribbons to purchase for this year's challenge.  Of course, I did mine the night before ~ the pumpkin was hooked as a sample for a project and since the bits and pieces in the little bag were compatible colors, I got the bright idea to use them in a proddy edge! It worked out swell ~ I didn't win but I love my little pumpkin hooked into the linen backing!  There is a nice piece of orange plaid wool on the back and it's stuffed with wool lint from the dryer!!

It was a full weekend, to say the least!  Friend Jackie came from Pittsburgh to spend the night on Friday ~ she got to help set up that afternoon ~ lucky her!  We finished up Saturday morning and she joined some Ohio friends for the hook-in while Sonny and I manned our booth!  There were four wool vendors (Nancy Blair, Woolnuts, Roche River and me), Lana Omler with her own pattern designs, Larry Ault cutters and Lauren from Rugs and Pugs blog with her cute silver spoon rug hooker jewelry!  We had a good time and a busy day over in our building.  My friends, Charisse and Pam hooked in there along with Donna and her group and a few others. Thanks to all who stopped by  ~ we had a great day!  Even though, I've done shows for 30+ years, it's still a fun thing for me ~ imagine that!

Sunday, we took our friends Cliff and Margo, to the new casino in Cleveland!  It's in the old Higbee Department store where my mom would go to shop when I was a little girl!  It's very nice ~ we had a good  lunch at Michael Simon's burger place and left a little chunk of change in the casino's pocket!  If you like that kind of thing, maybe you'll take a trip to downtown Cleveland!

Yesteday, I drove to Columbus to have the car serviced and met a friend for lunch!!  And on it goes!!!  Life's a merry-go-round here!  The rest of the week is pretty wild, too!

FUN AND FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

 Sweet little lamb brought by one of my house guests!!  Last week, I had hookers come visit at the lake for a couple of days!!  We really had fun ~ laughed, ate, shopped ~ and hooked a little bit!

 We took a tour around the area ~ Pam, Sue and Charisse loved the Marblehead Lighthouse!  We went to Just for Ewe yarn shop, Cruisin' tunes for some cute tops, the Moose and Terry's Tavern in Bayview for perch (not in the same day) and in general, just tried to help the local economy!

These beautiful hollyhocks were in front of the Keeper's House at the Lighthouse ~ so pretty!  We've tried to grow them here at home but not enough sun ~ too bad because I love them!  When I was a little girl, family friend Mrs. Lang, used to make little dolls out of them for me!  A sweet little memory from a childhood that didn't have a lot of them!

This past weekend we went to Kelley's Island on Saturday to see potential customers!  We had such fun, we didn't come back to the mainland until yesterday ~ it helps to have friends who invite you stay over!! This was my lunch/supper at the Island House Martini Bar on Saturday ~ New England Lobster roll and Duck Fat Fries with drawn butter!  Need I say more about why I am pleasingly plump?!!  Oh ~ and they have peanut butter martinis ~ that is a happy thing if you like peanut butter!! 

After a nice breakfast yesterday at Dockers Marina, we finally made our way to the ferry.  But first, we got in a little beach glass hunting and watched two ferries come and go while we walked with our noses to the sand!  We got a couple of heart stones and small bits of pottery and some nice nuggets of glass ~ a nice little gathering of gems from the lake! 

And Friday night, we had fun with our friends Diane and Greg and our Kelley's friends, Janet and Tom! We met for dinner at a new/old place ~ Brandy's Steakhouse at the old Islander Grill in Port Clinton.  Such scrumptious food ~ loved every morsel!!  But more important that eating is just being with people you like that make you laugh ~ and that laugh at me ~ I was on a roll for sure!

Saturday is the annual hook-in at Kingwood Center in Mansfield so of course, I am dying wool and marbleizing wool and getting together some goodies that might entice the rug hookers!!  It begins at 10 and is free other than $5 parking.  There will be several vendors, a silent auction, some goodies in the kitchen to munch on but you might want to bring your own lunch if you want more than snacks!  Katie Allman does a wonderful job of putting this all together and also hangs the rug show of rugs we all bring in ~ if you come, bring your rugs to show, too!

It is getting so dark outside ~ seems like a storm is brewing and Luke has a game at 5:30 ~ I hope it blows over fast!!!  I hope to blog a little more often ~ it's really hard to put my mind to it in this busy summer season!  This is the last week for ball games so it should slow down!!!  Thanks for checking in and stop by soon and often!!!!!

Alice

LAST SATURDAY'S FUN ~ ~ ~

This sweet bouquet of hooked and felted flowers was made by the members of the Western Reserve Rug Hooking Guild and it was one of the door prizes at their annual hook-in this past Saturday!  I was a vendor there and this was won by my friend, Heidi!!  I was such a gadfly and actually very busy, that I didn't take one picture of all the great things there were to see! Tonite, Heidi let me come out and take a picture of hers so that I could have one hook-in picture to share! Lauren of Rugs and Pugs has a few on her blog if you want to wander over there!

The WRRH Guild has 90 + members ~ Heidi and I are two of them but we are far away!  Lots of the gals worked on these ~ there were a lot of them given as door prizes.  There were over 60 rug -hooking related gifts in the Chinese auction that were donated by vendors and various teachers around the country.  Last but not least, a beautiful rug hooked as a  joint effort, two wool tote bags and a wool sunflower pocket were raffled off with a share of the proceeds going to local charities.

Everything about this day was just great from the lunch to the decor (really big flowers hung from the ceiling), and a cute flower cut-out where you could stick your little face in to be photographed!!  There was all this wonderful blog material that I missed out on but I had a wonderful time seeing old friends and making new ones.  Our booth was busy most all of the day and I want to thank everybody who stopped by to find  something they couldn't live without!  I have been doing shows for over 30 years and I can still honestly say that I just love doing shows!!!

When I was at Heidi's, this cute arrangement was hanging right about where I photographed the flowers ~ so that gave me one more picture to show you!  Cute isn't it?  The hostas at her house were mammoth ~ I should have taken a picture of those!  And I got to see Heidi's rug that she started at the Woolley Fox ~ very nice purple animals!!!

Not much more to talk about tonite  ~ I'm trying to get my act together after the weekend.  We've been going to our share of baseball games and we have a junior high choir concert coming up and a dance recital!!  We should get a ribbon or something for perfect attendance!!

Monday and Tuesday nights are consumed with Dancing with the Stars and the little online Facebook party we have!  Next week is the final week and my online peeps are wondering what we're going to do with our time ~ we'll miss each others caustic comments a lot!! 

Hope you're having a good week and enjoying our weather!  I worked outside a little this morning before I got my nails done ~ I have plenty of work and weeds awaiting me, for sure!!  Talk to you soon! 
Alice

 P.S.  I think there may be a pattern available later for the hooked  flowers ~ I'll let you know when I find out. And I have a few of the paper patterns left for the Bee chairpad, if you would like one!

SATURDAY'S FUN ~ ~ ~

Last Saturday, The Ladies Of The Wool, rug hooking group came for a luncheon, house tour and day of hooking!  They came from Columbus and surrounding areas ~ a long way!

 I didn't get everybody's picture ~ having too much fun to take pictures until some had left!  There were 14 hookers and they were all lovely ladies! It was interesting to me that most of them were fine hookers ~ fine meaning narrow cut ~ not a wide hooker like me!! 

This is Karen and Annette with Annette's adaptation of  Emmet Kelley Jr.  Karen, who is a teacher, was giving her some help with Emmett's eyes!!

 I wanted you to see a close-up of this piece.  This is Annette's second rug ~ second mind you!  She's doing a great job ~ an amazing job to me!

Karen brought her rug done in a class with my friend, Maria.  Quite a colorful background and a nice contrast to the softer colors in the pumpkins.  Very nice ~ and so was Karen!

 The gals brought a few rugs for a rug show!  We put them in the exercise room right off the hooking room and of course, I didn't get pictures of all of them. 




I was kind of a busy bee that day but managed to get this one before it's owner went home.  I love this rug and could easily have made it work here in our house!  She almost left it ~ that would have been too sad!!

I had to take a picture of Annette's shoes ~ toe shoes!  Aren't they cute?  Each little tootsie has it's own space!  The feet belong to Emmett Kelley's hooker!  Oh ~ that sounds terrible!!  But I'm leaving it in! 

This beautiful rug belongs to Jane ~ a lady I have done shows with in the past for many years.  We hadn't seen each other in a long time and now through rug hooking, we have reconnected!  She and her crafting partner made many jumpers and sweatshirts and I was a doll maker at that time ~ we spent many a weekend peddling our wares at the same shows!

This group of gals were so nice, so appreciative and complimentary ~ it was a pleasure to have them here.  Thanks to Sharon for bringing her group and I hear they want to come back in the fall!!  We'll be ready!! My friend Vivian helps me serve lunch and I sure couldn't do it without her!   If you have a group you would like to bring, email me or call me to set up a date!  You'll have a homemade lunch, a tour of our house and can spend the day hooking in my hooking studio! 

By the way, in just a few days, I will have Lori Brechlin's paper patterns of the Bee Chairpad to sell.  They are $12 and I should have them in time for the Western Reserve Hook-in where I'll be vending this Saturday.  I'll also have available some of the dyed blue background wool that I used in mine.  Let me know if you would like one!!

I'm working at my desk today ~ scary in here again!  And sometime, I will squeeze in some dyeing between now and Saturday!  Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you're having a good day!

KINGWOOD HOOK-IN ~ ~ ~

 It has taken me several weeks to post these rugs ~ no excuse ~ I'm just like a dog chasing my tail ~ round and round I go!  I love Linda's rug!  Linda is a new hooker ~ she came to one of my proddy classes and she has done a fabulous job on the Lexington Proddy Sheep!  She has some border to finish but I couldn't wait ~ Linda, you have hooked a really great rug!!! 

Stacie hooked this cute rug ~ it's a pattern that she bought from me ~ I can order some in if anyone would like to add it to your pattern stash!!!

 Here's another sweet sheep ~ my weakness!!

There was a display of 'first rugs' ~ I thought this was a very ambitious first rug ~ and very well done!

 This crazy rug is my 'first rug'!!  I went to a retreat at Shaker Village, in Kentucky that Margo White and Sandy Kandris used to host!  Friends Heidi, Danese, Gloria and I went for several years ~ it was always a great time!  I met Betsy Reed there ~ and the infamous Jeanne "Red" Langston (one of the funniest  and prettiest women you'll ever meet!) and lots of other great gals from all over the country.  Actually, Betsy is hosting her own retreat there this month ~ wish I could go ~ I know they'll do a great job!

Friend Charisse saved me a seat so we could visit!! 
I'm such a gadfly that I never hooked a loop!!  I wandered ~ I ate ~ I visited ~ I looked at what everyone else was doing ~ I shopped from Betsy ~ and just had a great day all the way around!! 

This lion rug is gonna be great!!  Friend Donna started this at one of Barbara Carroll's classes ~ I like it a lot!!  If I would get back to hooking, I would put this on the 'to do list'!!!! 

Katie puts together a really nice gathering ~ there were lots of hookers there ~ and lots of vendors ~ she treats us very well!   Next year, I'll be one of the vendors!!  I'm excited!!

Have a good weekend ~ and hook something nice!!  That's if you're a hooker ~ if not ~ just enjoy yourself whatever you do!!

Alice