Kingwood Hook-In

Last Saturday was the annual North Central Ohio Rug Show and Hook-In at Kingwood Center put on by Katie Allman of Kidl'-de-Divey Woolens. The theme was retro 60s Christmas and Santa showed up, lol! Kimberlee put our names on the naughty list when we signed in so I got a candy lump of coal from Santa. Next year I'm signing us in at the door, ha ha!

I got a few pictures of the event, but check out Lauren from Rugs n Pugs , Alice from A Day in the Life, and Katie's blog for more great pictures of the event and the rugs on display.

Kingwood Center has a beautiful garden, so I'm told......for the second year in a row I never even wandered around! It was beautiful weather, but I wasn't feeling too great. I never even hooked a single loop while there!

I bought a few things....a lovely 'rug hooker' spoon necklace from Lauren, a pattern from Donna at Crows on the Ledge....but I am kicking myself for not buying wool from Heavens to Betsy! Seriously, I was obviously not feeling well to skip that! She has some of the most beautiful off the bolt wool for dyeing or using as-is, and her price can't be beat. My husband even told me to make sure I got something I wanted, but after the necklace and pattern I was feeling a little guilty and thought I should cut myself off. Boy is he a lucky guy or what! : ) 

Here are some of the photos I took of the event. I did not take pictures of the tags to go along with the rugs this time. Again, was just not feeling myself.

There were two hookers in the spotlight this time: Grace, whose last name escapes me, and Linda Cook. I see Linda at all of the local hook-ins, including the get-togethers at Pine Tree Gift Shoppe in Hartville, Ohio. She is an old neighbor of my bestie Kimberlee who is my hookin' sidekick.

 

This chicken (or is it a rooster?) had such character. The tail feathers were hooked a little higher.

 

And this rooster is just all kinds of fabulous with his long loops for tail feathers.

Here are the friendship rugs. Each person chose the theme for their rug. It was then passed on to different members of the group (the Wadsworth Library group) to hook a square based on the theme.

 

My absolute favorite belongs to Teri Hedrick...the quilt blocks!

 

More fun rugs on display. Love the different take on the chickens from four different hookers!

 

The photo does not do this rug justice. Beautiful variations in color for the sunflowers!

  This was in the vendor's room. We utilize two different rooms across a courtyard from each other. It's just a short walk and for the two years I've gone the weather has been wonderful. There were even a few ladies hooking in the courtyard as there are benches, tables, and small trees to provide shade.

Santa showed up!

Heavens to Besty!

Lauren's (Rugs n Pugs) beautiful spoon necklaces! I'm the proud owner of one. :)

Kris Miller from Spruce Ridge in the background.

What's the next local hook-in for us Ohio folks?

Fort Laurens Rug Crafters Hook In
September 21, 2013
10:00-4:00 
Otterbein United Methodist Church
6025 Shepler Church Road
Navarre, OH

I'm hoping there is still room as I keep forgetting to mail in my registration. Maybe I will see you there. : )

~michelle

New Threads, Local Shop

Hi all. Yep, I rolled off the face of the earth again. I never really leave blogland, just my blog. : )


I hope everyone is safe, dry, and warm. We got a bit of the storm Monday evening and Tuesday all of the local schools were closed, mainly due to the wind. I think it got to be about 50 mph, but that is nothing compared to what the coast got. My heart aches for everyone who lost their homes and unfortunately those who have lost a family member.

I haven't been doing much crafting lately. I finished a punch needle ornament for a swap that Amy of Bumble Bee Lane coordinated.

I had talked about using over-dyed floss in a previous post here and I found a local shop, Blueberry Hill Stitchery in Akron, Ohio, that sells Weeks Dye Works, Crescent Colours, and The Gentle Art. Alas, no Valdani there so I ordered a few balls from Snowflake Memories (check them out - free shipping on 3-strand floss!) in two different sizes to see which I liked the best since I've never worked with it - heck, I've never even seen it! I do believe over-dyed floss by any company is simply beautiful and worth every penny.... I just wish I had more pennies. : ) 

So about Blueberry Hill Stitchery shop....you would drive right by if you didn't know it was there. I sure did. It's not in a traditional shop location and I was quite surprised when I walked inside. Full of all of my favorite stitchers, many of whose blogs I follow! It was so neat to see so many familiar names. My goal was to check out the threads. Drawers and drawers. I had no plan and since it was nearing fall I figured I would get some autumn colors to maybe do some kind of a pumpkin. So I chose a few from each of the three companies and wiped the drool from my face. They are gorgeous! For about 20 minutes all you could hear in the shop was the sound of little drawers opening and closing, opening and closing, lol. I could not decide! : )  I behaved myself and walked out with only seven hanks (3 of one to do a pumpkin and 2 of another for the background, with absolutely no pattern in mind).

Aren't they just beautiful!

From L-R: Weeks Dye Works 2238 - Sweet Potato. Crescent Colours Polliwog and German Chocolate. The Gentle Art 7088 - Baked Clay.

 

 

And here are the balls from Valdani from Snowflake Memories.

Pearl Cotton Size 12  O 196, 3-strand O 532, 3-strand O 217

I also ordered 2 threaders for my Cameo punch from Snowflake Memories because making my own threaders didn't really work out too well, lol, but it got me through my crisis desire to punch. Do you get that way? I just *had* to punch and nothing could get in my way, lol. A little OCD maybe? Eh, guess there are worse things I could be doing, right?

If you use Valdani in your punching, what is your favorite thread weight? The pearl cotton is definitely a better "buy" I think as it comes in 100m where as the 3-strand is in 27m. I will have to punch something up and see which I like the best as I'm sure they will look a bit different when punched. I also love that I can buy 3-strand from Valdani as I absolutely go crazy trying to separate 6-strand floss. For a while I was punching with 6 strands, but got a little "cheap" I guess. I did find that I had to be careful not to leave any spaces when punching with only 3 strands. Maybe I better go back to 6. Hmm...so many decisions, so little crafting time.

This girl needs to get ready for work. I've rambled on about floss long enough.

Stay safe and warm my friends.

~michelle

Portage Trail Barn Sale

It's time for the Portage Trail Barn spring sale! I'm lucky to have Mary Beth living right down the street from me in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She has a sweet yard for her chickens, dogs, and boys to play in.

  


Her barn is packed full of handmade goodies from local artists and a few from out of town. She loves to create from items that would normally be thrown out. I went to her holiday sale in December and snagged a few goodies for Christmas presents.

Visit Portage Trail Barn's Facebook page for preview photos of this sale.

Here are a few shots from the holiday sale....

.....and a few from the previous fall sale.

                                                Spring Barn Sale- May 17-19
                                    Thursday 5p-8p
                                    Friday and Saturday 10a-3p

Look for the blue house with the sign out front.....

Then follow the signs on the fence to the barn!

Have fun shopping!

Berlin, Ohio, Hook-In...Part 2

The moment you have been waiting for....The Rug Show! So much talent in one room. Amazing! The lighting was great, but I only had my cell phone to take pictures. Here we go!

This was my favorite of the show. My husband swore it was a quilt when I showed him the picture. Unfortunately this was the first photo I took in the show and I forgot to take a photo of the label so I don't know the designer or hooker.

Hooked by Annelle Muller - Adapted from Maggie Bononami

Flag/Summer Hooked by Teri Hedrick - Designed by Donna Bennett/Crows on the Ledge

"Never Enough Wool" Hooked by Stacie Sidie - Designed by New Earth Design.
This is one of my favorites and hopefully someday I will hook it too.

"Isobel" Hooked and Designed by Karen Detrick.
Not my favorite colors, but I love sheep and swirls, so this is one of my favs too!
How the colors fade from dark to light throughout each swirl is so neat!

"Folk Art Rug" Hooked by Joy Troyer, designer unknown.
I loved this one too. Reminds me of a quilt.

"Flag" Hooked by Norma Wagner - Designed by Polly Minick

"All American Proddy Sheep" Hooked by Debra Pavlock - Designed by Alice Fraizer.
Such a fun rug! I've never seen a rug edged with proddy too.

Here is a different view of the Proddy Sheep so you can see the different textures. Debra even hooked the sheep's head a little higher and with a fun textured wool to give more dimension. Love the bell!

Hooked by Nancy Roshon.
Sorry about the weird blur across the bottom. The only label on this rug was the hooker's name.
I know I've seen this rug before so if you know the designer please let me know so that I can give them credit.

"Acorn" Hooked by Shari Stout - Designer not listed

"Three Flowers" Hooked by Julie McCoy - Designed by Primitive Grace

"Five Sheep" Hooked by Dianne Wright - Designed by Melody Hoops

"Pomegranates" Hooked by Dianne Wright - Designed by Edith O'Neil

Weren't the rugs beautiful?!?! I didn't take photos of all of them. I wasn't sure how I was going to remember all of the names and didn't want to write them all down as that would take me forever, so I snapped a photo of the rug and then took a close-up of the label with enough of the rug showing so that I could make sure to know which label went with it, though the name of the pattern helps too. So that's my tip for you the next time you are at a rug show. : )

The featured artist was Sibyl Osicka. She does fine cut work. Her rugs almost look like paintings! We are at different ends of the rug hooking spectrum (I love primitive), but I can admire the talent that's for sure!

I have a few more pictures to show you tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the rugs. : )

~Michelle

Berlin, Ohio, Hook-In....Part 1

Yay! I went to my first large hook-in event Saturday, April 21st. It was so much fun! I went with my friend Kimberlee who I met at the local library hook-in that is held once a month. We have been hooking, dyeing, and thrift store shopping ever since we met. : )  I also got to meet online friend Alice Fraizer from Folk Art Primitives. The day flew by so fast that we didn't get to say much more than "hello" to each other, but it was nice meeting face-to-face.

So this happens to everyone, right?

The night before (yes, super procrastinator here) I was trying to get a simple flag pattern drawn out so I would have something to work on. Nope, haven't finished that darn cardinal rug and it's giving me fits so I decided to start something new. Made sense to me. : )  The minute I put the linen down the animals think they have a new place to sleep. Seriously?

Okay, on to the hook-in!

There were six vendors there: Mad Hen Primitives, The Shepherd's Wool, Spruce Ridge Studios, Perennial Blessings, Crows on the Ledge, and The Rug Bug. I believe 11 were on the list to come, but the weather hasn't been great and I know things happen. I bought my favorite magazine (Primitive Quilts and Projects) from Mad Hen Primitives, I have two patterns on my wish list from Crows on the Ledge, and bought some dyes to play with and wool for my flag project from Spruce Ridge. Boy did the money go fast! I did come home with some because while my husband was very sweet and gave me money to spend, I just couldn't spend it all. I'm a saver, he is a spender. : )

Mad Hen Primitives

Spruce Ridge Studios




Crows on the Ledge. Don't tell Kimberlee that she is in the corner of this pic!

I can't remember whose booth is here in the front, but the other side was Marlene Troyer's booth. She had some adorable kitties stitched that I so wanted to take home with me. I passed this time, but I know where to find her! She works at Country Craft Cupboard.



The Shepherd's Wool. Beautiful wools!



The Rug Bug. Have you ever seen so much wool?!?

Here was my view of the room. There were about 115 hookers in attendance.


This is Deb. She had on the cutest pin! She said that her father is a wood turner so he made mini rug hooks for her and then she embroidered her name onto wool to make a penny rug. Some of the ladies at her table had them on as well. I wish I would've gotten her phone number. So cute!

Deb and her cute pin.

 This is my hooking buddy Kimberlee : )  She always wears a cute apron with a sheep pin to keep her clothes lint-free while hooking. Gotta be stylish that girl.

Kimberlee

The event was held from 10-3 and then we went shopping in Berlin after. The event technically was held in Walnut Creek, just down the road, but who is really checking. : )

Okay that's it for Part 1. I will post photos from the Rug Show Room tomorrow.

~Michelle