Being Bad ~ Again

 

So I will never learn!  I have so much wool it is now being stored in plastic tubs, but how can I resist bargain wool?  One of the guilds I belong to was having a member sale.  One of the members is downsizing and had to purge wool . . . and at such a great price!  I only purchased four bundles but could have bought many more.  All colors I love and many were older wools that I like to have in my stash and are difficult to find.

These two pieces from another member were also a great buy and all the small pieces were freebies from the member downsizing.

Yesterday was one of my favorite antique and primitive shows.  I could not pass up going but was hoping to come home empty handed.  I'm purging, remember?  I should know better 😀  I must say, though, that I was very disappointed in my partners in crime.  Friend Laura who always finds a treasure of two and sil Lyn didn't play very nice.  Laura bought a bunch of pussy willows and Lyn nada, as in not a thing.  Sue, who lives near the fairgrounds where the show is held met us there.  She, too, was good (or is it bad?) and only bought an old funnel, I presume for a planter.  I don't know if I want to go play again with such dismal-shopping friends 😁

I came home with a few Easter goodies.  A vintage papier mache bunny and a small candy mold.  One of the mold clips is marked ERMANY.  I guess it needs to buy a consonant.

My colony is growing.

A vintage West German papier mache egg.

Inside . . .

I always loved old clock faces and found this one.  The start of a new collection?  And a piece of a very worn old coverlet.

After being so bad, I need to get back to the attic and work on purging!  I am slowly going through boxes.  So many trips down memory lane.  I am finding things from my college days that haven't seen the light of day in 50 years.  Decorating items from decades ago.  Things that I saved from my boys, now 44 and and 45.  I am keeping a few things but trying to be ruthless in my purging.  The items mean nothing to others so it's best to throw things away, give them away and items that have value, try to sell.  I definitely have my work cut out for me.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Slo-Mo Hooking ~

When I got home from my Katie Hartner class just over two weeks ago, I was almost half done with Primitive Chickens.

Since then, I have hooked almost daily . . . and accomplished little!  I am determined to finish this soon.

My teapot challenge rug (that I am dreading hooking ~ teapots are not my "thing") is calling screaming my name.  I have until June to git 'er done, but I want it done now!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Three Finishes ~

 

The last day of March!!!  As I say every month, time is flying by at warp speed 😏

Miss March Hare is bound and labeled and given to my sister-in-law.  The background is much more subtle in person.

Same with Ezra's Farm.  I actually changed out a rug that was hanging in the dining room and here it is.

I had another punch needle piece finished years ago, and he's the perfect topper for a cigar box.  I left the box labels intact.  Wasn't how sure how well they would come off.  I tried removing a label from another box and a little sticky residue was left.  When I tried to remove the sticky, the paint started coming off.  

And the inside!

Just call me bad.  I still need to purge and purge and purge, but none has happened in the last couple of weeks.  It is on "THE LIST" to get back to it.  Well . . . the other day I went to an antique and primitive sale held one weekend a month (March to October?) about an hour from home.  I had seen this crock in the pre-sale video and was hoping it would be sold by the time I got to there mid-afternoon.  Darn.  It was still there.  It is a small Donaghho crock, I'm guessing a half gallon.  It has a huge chip on the rim but it displays well.  I'm sure you've figured out it came home with me.  "Antique pox.  A disease for which there is no cure . . . except to buy more." 😁

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Door Prize ~

 

Crooked River Rug Hookers has traditionally used small mats hooked (or appliqued, punched, etc) by members as door prizes for our fall hook in.  This year member Rita came up with the great idea of decorating cigar boxes in the medium of your choice . . . hooked, appliqued, punched, etc.  A cigar shop near her sells the boxes for $5 each with all proceeds going to the local humane society.  The more boxes sold, the less that end up in a dumpster and a win for the homeless furkids.

Here is my first one.  I punched the piece years ago and never fully finished it.  For me, it's the journey and not the destination.  The "destination" was the perfect box topper.

I decided to add something to the inside, and thought a scrap book page of men's sweaters was a perfect complement to the guy theme.

The backside of the lid had an area where the graphic had been torn, so voila!  A Tim Holtz cutout was the perfect camouflage!

Not bad if I do say so myself 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Spring Fling ~

 

As usual, I failed to take many pictures at the two day Spring Fling!

Here are the few I captured of items being worked on at the table next to me.

This turkey was absolutely amazing.  Linda is not yet a hooker, but does amazing punch needle!  I've never seen a piece quite like this.

She is now working on a turkey table mat.  Simply beautiful and much larger than most punch needle pieces.

Deb, whom we met the first time we attended, has become a dear friend.  Whatever she works on is perfection. With permission, she adapted a hooking pattern (by Connie Bradley) to applique.  Her daughter works for Ohio State.

She was currently working on an applique runner.

This hooker was so close to being done with her rug.  I believe it was started in a class with Donna Hrkman, a name familiar to many hookers.

Travel mate Linda was working on her Lucille Festa design started last fall in a class with Kris Miller.

My other travel mate Val was working on a rug by Wild Cranberry Rugs.  They sell many paper patterns on etsy.  I know some people do not like to transfer a pattern to linen, but I find it very cost effective (maybe cuz I'm cheap?).

I will share the progress on my rug soon . . . since so little progress has been made . . . sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

A Correction and a Crock ~

This rug I showed in my previous post is actually a rug by Chrisi Koehl of Rustic Eweniques, titled Crock-O-Blooms.  Sorry, Chrisi.

On our way to the hook in, we stopped at one of the mega antique malls in Springfield, Ohio.  For the most part I am not a fan of the huge malls.  They generally tend to have the majority of the items in showcases and I would rather see items up close and personal.  I did, however, find a crock to add to my "cracked crock" collection.  Nothing special and the cracks are on the bottom (I am no purist!), but for the price I could not leave it behind (even though I am supposed to be purging 😁).  This pic is the one I took at the mall.  It is currently sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for me to clean the inside.

You know I can't come home empty-handed!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Bad Juju ~

 

I got new tires a couple weeks ago.  The one tire started to leak so I went back to my trusted mechanic.  He added air and thought I was good to go.  A few days later and two days before leaving for PA, the same tire was low again and I went back in a near panic.  I needed a new valve stem.  Whew!

The day before I left for southern Ohio I saw something under my car that seemed to be hanging down.  Then it completely slipped my mind.  When I was leaving the antique mall in Springfield, Ohio, 175 miles from home, it was really hanging.  ARGH!!!  I could tell is was some kind of plastic cover.  Sent DSO a picture and he said I was ok to drive but was hoping I didn't hit a big pothole or some such thing and rip it off.

Then when in Troy going to the hook in, I turned on my back window wiper blade . . . and it was gone.  WTH???

I made it home with the the plastic shield thingy still hanging on and DSO fixed that today.  Now I just need a need wiper blade.

I drive a 12 year old Nissan Rogue with a 131k miles on it that I want to drive forever . . . so I hope the bad juju is gone!

The Spring Fling was great fun!  Hosted by the Wooly Horse, Jo's Folk Art Fibers, Ali Strebel Designs and Rustic Eweniques it was held in a gorgeous restored barn in Troy, Ohio.

Jenny from the Wooly Horse is coming to our guild in June to teach a scrappy hooking class.  It should be great fun!

Here are a few examples of her scrappy hooking.

A close up of the bunny rug.  Besides wool, there is sari ribbon, yarn, velvet, ticking and who know what else?

And a couple of her rugs.  She is an amazing designer and hooker.

Jenny's punch needle pieces.

Her antique rugs that she preproduced.

The ladies' room was in the lower level of the barn, so they had a heated porta-potty trailer for those who could not do the stairs.  The sign just cracked me up!

A bit more to share in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren