Heading toward Halloween

Fall appeared sometime between Saturday's 80 degree, intensely sunny afternoon and this morning, gray with a cold misty wind.  I love autumn weather and color, but miss the long hours of sunshine the summer provides.  I'm always a little wistful when I wake up to find summer gone . . . 

I have lots to look forward to this fall, though.  My rug hooking guild, the Peconic Ruggers, met on Tuesday evening.  We are going over last minute plans for our biennial rug show which will take place on Halloween weekend this year.  What fun!  Our co-president, Jennifer, who is full of energy and ideas, issued a challenge to us -- a graveyard challenge!  We are to hook tombstone rugs which will then be presented as a graveyard.  How clever is that?  I have been working on a design for a larger rug that is tombstone shaped, which will not be ready for the rug show given the number of shows Barb and I are vending at this fall, but I did make a small mat that I started last Saturday at Hallockville.  I discovered that it is a challenge to make an interesting tombstone, both because of the lack of color and the difficulty of getting great detail with strips of wool.  But here's my first try: 

I used a grayed and heathered lavender wool for the background, but it reads as a flat light gray.  It's not too interesting, so I am trying to think of a way to make a hooked gravestone sing.  Any ideas?  I designed a small stone to be needle punched, which is going to feature orange wool thread.  We'll see how that works.

The other great news about our rug show:  The Wool Street Journal is coming to visit!  Even though we are a tiny guild, Bonnie and her daughter, who runs Gwoolikers, are going to join us for the weekend -- all the way from Colorado!  They will have two tables to sell their wares and I am sure they will bring along their cameras to take pictures for the magazine.  So if you are in the tri-state area, you should join us for Halloween weekend here on the North Fork.  We have lots of great stuff to do -- wineries everywhere you look, art galleries and museums, great restaurants, beaches and walking trails, pumpkin picking and corn mazes, shopping -- all in addition to the rug show. 

There's more!!!!  We will also be hosting a Searsport Rug Hooking Trunk Show that weekend.  So there will be wool and patterns and supplies galore!  Here are the other vendors: 

Barbara Blossey-Chuvalas:  Baskets

Bumble Bee Primitives: Hooking and Needle Punch Supplies & Finished Goods

3 Bags Full: Reclaimed Wool

The Paisley Studio: Rug Hooking Patterns and Antique Hooks

thimblefolk: Hand-dyed Wool and Folk Art

Hope to see you in October!