Friday, August 28, 2015

I Need Your Help

Last year I designed a rather larger rug called Birds and Branches.  My vision of it was to have fanciful and colorful birds -- as opposed to realistic birds.  Barb and I decided to feature birds in our booth at shows this fall, so I the night before Pete and I left for vacation, I drew the pattern out and grabbed a variety of colorful wool from my stash and packed it in the car.  I figured the rug would be a good exercise in using what I had at hand, instead of dyeing or buying my wool.

I made a good start while on vacation.  I hooked several birds and sets of leaves and I liked them -- individually.  Not necessarily together. The more I hook, the less pleased I am.  I'm forcing myself to stick with the colors I chose, and they just don't work.  I re-hooked the biggest of leaves pictured here yesterday, so they are completely different -- darker.  Now I think they are too big as well as being too light.  My two favorite birds, the ones  think are the most successful, are the two done in pink and green.  This morning I am thinking I will rip out all the others and do all the birds pink and green . . . and the blue bird with the pink wing in the lower left hand corner.  He's just flat out ugly.  I hate ripping stuff out.  And I have a deadline.  Oy. What do you guys think?

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Thinking Pumpkins

I was going to post about upcoming classes at the quilt shop today, but they have been put on hold for a bit.  The first class was to be my BOO garland.  I'm going to go ahead and put kits together anyway, and will sell them in my etsy shop and at my fall shows if the class doesn't happen.  So if you are interested, look for them in the next week or so.


September is less than a week away, and that means Barb and I will be vending at our favorite shows again.  Sadly, we will be missing the Hallockville Fall Festival this year because our nephew is getting married that weekend.  We will be having a great time with family and friends, but this will be the first time in 20 years that I have missed this Festival -- and this is the Farm's 250th anniversary year!  You will find my guild, the Peconic Ruggers, at Hallockville both days, and they will have a few of my patterns for sale.

Here is our schedule.  We hope to see many of you on our travels this fall.

The Paisley Studio Fall 2015 Show Schedule
  
September 26 & 27, 2015
Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival
Washington County Fairgrounds
392 Old Schuylerville Road
Greenwich, NY 12834

October 17 & 18, 2015
New York Sheep & Wool Festival
Dutchess County Fairgrounds
6550 Spring Brook Avenue
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

November 7 & 8, 2015
Fiber Festival of New England
The Big E
1305 Memorial Avenue
West Springfield, MA

November 27, 28, & 29, 2015
Country Parlor Holiday Folk Art & Gift Show
Hallockville Museum Farm
6038 Sound Avenue
Riverhead, NY 11901
http://www.hallockville.com/




Monday, August 17, 2015

Ten Loads of Laundry Later . . .

Pete and I are back from a ten day trip to the family cabin in Northern Wisconsin -- hence the huge number of sheets and towels and clothes that smell of campfires that I have washed this past week.  While I laundered, Pete cleaned up the yard and picked the overabundant and oversized vegetables that overtook the garden.  Think zucchini the size of pumpkins or a small dog.  Lots of work, but lots of good eating and low grocery bills.

Clara, her boyfriend Josh, and their large dog Lucy met us at the cabin, after an epic 28 hour drive from Seattle.  The cabin is Clara's "happy place," a constant in her 27 year life, and she wanted to share everything about it with Josh.  She took him kayaking to the caves of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and treated him to the parade and fish-on-stick at Cornucopia Days.  We all went to Tetzner's Dairy Farm for homemade ice cream, Trinko's for brats, and Sweet Sailing in Bayfield for her favorite salt water taffy.  We had a fine dining experience at an architectural wonder of a restaurant called Wild Rice. The food was more beautiful than the building and even more delicious.  There were walks on the beach, and trips to Ehler's store, and long tennis matches between uncles and cousins. Some of Pete's siblings, nieces and one nephew joined us for part of the weekend.  When we weren't baking pies and cleaning out the shed and rug hooking (that would be me), We enjoyed gazing at the stars by big bonfires, reminiscing about the family home that was sold this year after his parents moved into assisted living.




                



We went en masse to visit Pete's mom and dad -- 98 and 95 respectively -- about five hours south of the cabin -- a long ride.  We woke up early that day to pick raspberries and blueberries to bring to them.  Grandpa loves his raspberries.  Along the way we stopped to check out the new sugar bush operation Pete and his brothers started in March, then it was on to Country Sausage in Phillips so Clara could load up on her favorite beef jerky to take camping.   We had a great visit at the rehab center Grandpa calls home right now and feasted on berries.  Pete's mother declared Josh "darling," and Clara was happy he had passed the "grandma test."

It was a full and happy week, with a very long drive on either end of it.  I was glad to get home to our old dog and our comfy bed and my messy studio.  It's time to start thinking about the shows coming up this fall.  Sadly, the days are already noticeably shorter.  While I don't want to wish time away, I am looking forward to cooler days and the colors of fall.  Pumpkins, anyone?