FOUND A NEW NEEDLEWORK SHOP

Yesterday morning, I ventured to Fenton Michigan to a needlework shop, "Stitch'N Things". It is about an hour drive from my house, but boy oh boy...do they have the stuff!! Everything from fancy scissors, silk threads, charts, and a wide choice of linens.

I have had such an ordeal stitching on linen, that it really takes the joy out of stitching....my eyes just arent that good to see every other little hole! And I refuse to wear one of those magnifying thingies around my neck..cross stitching shouldn't be that difficult! So....I was able to find hand dyed 18 ct and 14 ct linen...it is beautiful! I can't wait to start stitching on it. I told the owner that I had never used silk thread to stitch and she handed me a hank of silk thread and told me to start stitching with it...she claimed after 4 stitches I would be hooked!! It was awfully nice of her, since this hank of silk was priced $7! Just what I need....another way to spend even more money on beautiful thread!

And now for an update on my Maggie B. rug...I am still hooking almost nightly on it. I ripped out some of the old green wool and rehooked with the new wool I had purchased last week. It is a big rug....but I sure didn't make my deadline to have it finished by the end of this month...oh well....I'm shooting for March at the rate I'm going!! I'll post pictures this week, after I've made a little more progress..have a great week everyone!

PROGRESS AND NEW WOOL

Just a small amount of progress on my rug this week. I had such a busy week at work..never got home before 8:3pm on one single night. UGH!! I hate weeks like that...I am hoping this week will be better. I am a bit under the weather today..must have caught a bug yesterday...can't seem to get out of bed without feeling nauseated. I did start on the "blue" flower last evening.
I finally received my beautiful green hand-dyed wool that I purchased from ebayer: double-m_sheep_and_wool. She has really nice wool offerings and she usually has two or three pieces, in the same dye bath, but different textures. I can't wait to use it. I think it is a better choice for my leaves in the pattern. I hadn't been to the second hand store in a couple of months, but yesterday, I went on a whim looking for wool. I found two really, lovely Pendleton skirts and of course, both 100% wool. I love the soft green plaid and think it will look great in a nice spring patterned rug. Now...the lavender plaid...I'm not so sure. I could probably overdye it..but I think I'll felt it for now and see how it turns out. I bought each piece for 90 cents. Quite a beautiful find!

ONE THING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO........

....and that's go to the beauty salon when you are tired, anxious, overworked, and buzzed on caffeine. I went last night to my wonderfully talented hairstylist and told her just to cut my hair...SHORT! I handed her a small picture of a hairstyle that I had been thinking about for a couple of months. She kept asking me..."Are you sure you want to go this short? The sides are really short. It will be cut to the top of your ears....are you sure, Bobbie???????" Yep...cut it....besides....it will grow back, right?? Cute haircut..but to be quite honest...my face is too fat to have short hair... I look like Chris Farley..only with dark hair! I knew it looked bad when I came home, and my husband took one look at me and then quickly ran...not walked...but RAN into the other room. He still hasn't said a word about my hair! I think he is afraid that if he looks at me too long, he'll break into uncontrollable hysteria! This is a picture of the style...and telling you that this gal, in the picture below...is not me...that's an understatement! Oh how I wish!


I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to style it a bit better than I did...after all, I went out and spent a fortune on body boosts, gels, something called the "Manipulator"...so wish me luck!

HOOKING & STITCHING AWAY

Well, I have been hooking away on my Maggie B rug and it is going along very very smoothly...except...I didn't have the right color or "value" of green for three of the leaves, so that kind of threw me for a loop...no pun intended! You know...when you are hooking along and then you take a step back and notice that the colors aren't exactly right?? That's what happened the other evening. So, I was able to order some "grass green" wool from a seller in the PRGHW group on Ebay. I am hoping to get it this weekend. I always seem to have trouble when it comes to green..I don't know why. It's just a very difficult color for me to choose.




I started a new cross stitch pattern from LHN...."Colonial Needle Works". It's an older pattern, but one I have loved. I am stitching it on 32 ct linen, in a beautiful pale blue. I am using Gentle Art floss and my old wooden embroidery hoop. I have never stitched on anything smalled than 28ct...so this will be a challenge...my eyes just aren't what they used to be!



I was so happy to find the Spring edition of one of the best magazines "Sampler and Antique Needlework". I love this magazine and look forward to every issue. It is full of early samplers, charts, and history.

1ST GOAL OF THE YEAR....

I am starting a new rug...a pattern by one of my favorite designers, Maggie Bonanomi. It's a rather large rug, measuring 20" by 40". I have never hooked one quite this big, but I thought it would be perfect for my kitchen wall. I only have one wall in my kitchen, the other ones have cupboards, and it's always a decorating dilema for me. In the picture above, are the wools chosen to use. Thankfully, I already had the colors in my ever growing wool stash. I am setting a goal to have this one done by the end of month...hmm...we'll see, but I am starting it this afternoon and am going to hook like a maniac!!

JEFF'S ARTICLE

My youngest son, Jeff, participated in a symposium last spring pertaining to "Revolutionary Detroit". He is a full time history student at Wayne State University and in addition to his other classes, this was quite an undertaking. The project took the entire semester which involved graduate and undergrad students. Jeff's article was one of the articles selected to be published in this book "Revolutionary Detroit". We are so excited for him not to mention proud, but in addition...the local newspaper caught wind of his accomplishment and did a really nice story on him and the book. Way to go Jeff! We are all so proud..can you tell??

NEEDLEWORK PROJECTS FOR 2010

These are a few of the needlework projects I am planning on making this year. One, of course, is a beautiful design, from Beehive Needleworks. I had planned on having this one done by this Christmas, but of course, time ran out! The other pattern is by Notforgotten Farms, Lori Brechlin. I have looked at this pattern online several times, but the cross stitch shop near my home actually had a copy so I finally bought it. I don't know why I procrastinate when shopping for cross stitch pattern....I know I am going to buy them sooner or later any way! I also purchased this "Book of Days" journal from R&R. It was on the sale table for $3, and although it is from 1999 (yikes!) I bought it anyway...it has some nice little motif patterns. Then last but not least, is one of my FAVORITE magazines....Sampler and Antique Needlework. So many good articles...well, those are on my "to-do" list...but first I have to make 5 more baby samplers!!

Rug in Progress...

My daughter-in-law, Sara, purchased two beautiful hooked rug patterns from the Star Rug Company, Maria Barton, for my birthday. This rug "Tulip Fraktur" is a simple, but very beautiful rug pattern. I am using only three colors. My favorite blues, beige (or dirty snow), and army green. I have the perfect spot to hang it when I am finished. I am using a #8.5 cut which makes hooking projects go much faster!