Getting Things Done, but NOT Fun stuff ~

I've been busy finishing a few things for vending, but nary a loop pulled on the class rug 😟  I hope to finally get back to it . . . soon.

More sunflowers that will be door prizes at the Crooked River hook in this September.  They still need some snippet stuffing and attachment to the bedspring.  Just a fun fact.  The guild is based on the west side of Cleveland.  The Cuyahoga River runs through Cleveland and is known as the crooked river.

A couple more pumpkins on antique coverlet pieces.

And a few snowmen.

Snippet bowls made from old 45 RPM records.  So easy.  Do a google search to find out how to make them.

Remember this song?

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Piddly Stuff ~

Since I will be vending at that "non hooking" show in October, I am trying to make things that I hope will sell.  Here are sunflowers on a bedspring that I have made.  Picture was taken on a gloomy day so the color - as usual - is lousy.

I've started some small hearts to set in a bedspring.  Hopefully they will go quickly.

I finally got my antique adaptation on linen for my upcoming Kris Miller class.  Will share soon.  It was a real bear and took me many hours.  Not perfect but it will do.  And to think Saundra does this often.  No thank you!

I decided to go "play" today at the antique mall.  I bought a few Easter things I did not need 😁  Not antique but vintage.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Around the Yard ~

This is my favorite time of year in the flower gardens.  The spring bulbs are long faded, but so much else is in bloom.  

I was given this old funnel and DSO pounded out most of the dings and found some chain to hang it.  Hopefully the mini petunias (million bells?) will bloom again soon.

Nary a loop has been pulled on my camp rug in many days.  I did get these sunflowers finished and taken to the antique shop.  The $$ will come in most handy for my upcoming 3 day class with Sally Kalin.

I finished one more sunflower today (I am plenty tired of them!!!) to give to a fellow hooker who gave me MANY bedsprings.  I will see her tomorrow at the hook in where I am vending.  It is very small but such a delightful day.  Simply top notch.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

How Did I Ever Find Time to Work?

I know many retired people ask themselves that same question 😁 As usual I seem to be meeting myself coming and going and feel as if I am not accomplishing half what I need to be.  Rug Week at Sauder Village is about two and a half months away and I have not made a dent in what I'd like to take to vend.  I have never vended for so many days nor where such crowds are expected.  I have no idea what/how much I need to make.  Even this far out, I am stressing myself out and occasionally losing sleep.

I have finished a few more sunflowers that will be taken to an antique shop.  They still need to be attached to a bedspring . . . of which I have none.  On Friday's agenda is heading to a friend's who has an old mattress we will take apart and hopefully have the type of bedsprings I need.

I have also made a little progress on my camp rug . . . very little.

Of course yard work is in full swing.  The flower beds are in need of attention, but look pretty darn good at the moment.  Irises are blooming, but some that I moved last fall have no buds.  I think I may have planted the rhizomes too deep.  Darn.  Here are a few that are blooming.

Midge season has arrived which makes yardwork difficult.  They are a sign of a healthy Lake Erie . . . and a precursor to chihuahu-sized spiders😒 Midges look like mosquitos, though they do not bite.  They live in the greenery by the thousands (millions?) and swarm when disturbed.  If you don't keep your mouth closed and continually exhale, you are ingesting them or breathing them in.  Not a pleasant way to do yardwork.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

And the Pile Grows ~

I am referring to the binding pile.  On one hand, it is a good thing because it means I am getting things done.  On the other . . . UGH!  

Ole Jack.  I have not even started the prep to bind this big 'un.

The binding on these mats is at least started.

Nothing yet . . . 

Lots of sunflowers to finish.

And FINALLY ~ The Poser is hooked.  I am happy at the way it turned out but Cathy Stephan of Red Barn Rugs gets all the credit.  I started this in a class with her last June.  It was her excellent guidance and color plan.  I had hesitated starting the flowers.  She told me I was not allowed to leave class until one was started 😁.  Great advice.

Ernestine had a birthday ~ #10.  She is looking good but her face/chin sure are getting grey.  Thankfully she is in excellent health.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Friyay ~

Well, if I was a working girl I would be so happy that today is Friday, but being retired (YEAH!) every day can be my Friday if I so choose.  I am so thankful to no longer be working.  There was an obituary in the paper the other day . . . a 67 year old woman, retired ONE MONTH, and she died unexpectedly.  I truly feel blessed as they say.  Last week I had a birthday.  I am still trying to figure out how I got to be this old, but hey, some people don't get to celebrate this milestone.

Somehow this week just disappeared (like most weeks) and I have been doing a little of this and a little of that.  We did have a nice day or two so a little more yard work has been accomplished.  The 10 day forecast is not too promising.

I am finally back to hooking on The Poser, an antique adaptation started in a class with Cathy Stephan last June.  I haven't decided if I like the light wool I am using around the chicken.  Sometimes it looks way too light (like in this picture).  Other times not so much.  It is actually four different grey-ish wools.

I am also working on some sunflowers that will be attached to old bedsprings.  A couple of them will go to my hooking guild as table favors for our hook in.

A fall design I am working on.  The border lines are not wonky like they look in the picture 😁  This is a very old free pattern from the Wool Cupboard and can be found here.

Finally . . . the dreaded binding.  Dancing Bunnies is first in the queue to be bound.  Ole Jack . . . well, who know when I will get to that.

I hope all is well in your little corner of the world.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Next Up ~

There are so many "next ups" that my head is spinning 😁  Of course binding needs to be started.   That will be a long, slow process at the rate I bind.

I was asked to do a little class at one of the hooking groups I belong to on how I make my sunflowers that get attached to a bedspring. That is scheduled for the beginning of April so I have been working on a little handout so people know what supplies are needed and I am hooking a few sunflowers so they can see the various steps.

Crooked River Rug Hookers, an ATHA guild, is having a hook in.  Since it is always in the fall, it is dubbed Hooktoberfest, even though this year it is in September.  Members are being asked to hook small mats that will be door prizes and the sooner they can be turned in, the better.  I designed a little fall mat that Heidi our webmaster dubbed "Goodnight Pumpkin".  You can access the free pattern here along with a few other freebies.  The larger pumpkin will be hooked with hand torn strips and finished in the shape of a pumpkin.

Then that darn Saundra along with "Heavens to Betsy" Betsy is already planning the next hook-along.  It is supposed to be even easier to hook than Granny and of course I have a problem saying no.

As for a larger hooking project, I hope to soon get back to The Poser, a rug I started in June with Cathy Stephan of Red Barn Rugs.  I don't think I have pulled more than a dozen loops on it since then.  Hopefully I have kept all the wool together and not borrowed any of it for other projects (which I have been know to do 😖).

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Professional Procrastinator ~

That be me!  I am leaving for the weekend tomorrow at 7 am for "Stitching in Millersburg".  A first time gathering with about twenty or so cross stitchers, applique-ers (is that a word?), hookers, etc.  Saturday there is vending at the Millersburg Hotel.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I am still trying to finish things I hope to sell.

Hooked mats are all bound and labeled.

Sunflowers.

A few pincushions from antique coverlet pieces.  I had hoped to make a few more . . . but I am running out of time.

Fun little applique pumpkins on antique coverlets.  

I still need to finish a couple more.

As to what I will be "stitching"???  I haven't had time to gather up any stitching projects, so I will be working on The Poser, the hooked rug I started in a Cathy Stephan class back in June that I haven't worked on since.  I sure do need a class in time management.  AND . . . I need to think about packing!!!

No time to post any more Sauder rugs, so that will have to wait until my return.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren    

Am I Just Cheap?

I wear a St. Peregrine medal 24/7.  The jump ring that came with it was really flimsy and the medal would occasionally fall off the chain.  (I actually lost one that way and DSO gifted me another . . . only to months later find the original.)  Anyway, I digress.  So, I finally decided to head to the local jeweler to have them replace the jump ring.  (I have jump rings, but the diameter is too large to fit on the medal.)  I asked what the charge would be and I was told "minimal" and they would also look at the clasp.  Well, I pick it up and the charge is $15.00 plus tax.  I don't call that minimal!!!  When I questioned her, she replied that she doesn't know of anyone who would have done it for less.  (Plus they never looked at the clasp!)  If that is a minimum charge, be upfront and tell the customer, but I was told the cost would be minimal.  I was NOT a happy camper and will never return to that store.  Lesson learned . . . ask what minimal really is.

I am still trying to get a few things finished for vending next week.  It is not a hook in so I hope I am not making things in vain.  I price my things less than the $100 - $125 a square foot, but I don't have much luck in selling things.  Here are a few of the finishes so far.

I did not do the patchwork back on the hand torn pumpkins like I have in the past.  I just used the same wool to bind them.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren