Outside My Comfort Zone ~ Day 1

IMHO, Ali Strebel is the queen of hooking with alternative fibers using many different techniques.  She never just hooks a rug with pulled loops like I do.  Here she is demonstrating needle felting dots on top of an area that is hooked.

With Ali's guidance and encouragement, I am determined to try different things in my little mat.  The top rim of my basket has been appliqued.  The stem is a technique called caterpillar shirring and the berries are fabric bundle shirring.  Whew!  She is challenging me!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Sunday Snippets ~

Yesterday I vended at a small hook in.  Hooker Susanne hosts it annually, generally about 35 of mostly the same people every year.  Always a top notch affair.  I came home with a couple yards of wool (surprised😁?) and a bit of cash in my pocket so it was a good day.  No pictures to share.

Many of you hookers will be familiar with Ali Strebel.  I have a 3 day class with her this week.  She is a lot of fun, but our hooking styles are worlds apart.  She hooks with lots of alternative items and incorporates quillies, couching, needle felting, etc. in her pieces.  I am a just a wool hooker who pulls loops.  It will definitely be a learning experience for me.  I purchased this small 12" x 15" pattern from her a few months ago.

I have been binding Askew and am probably more than 50% done.  I will be happy when that is finally finished.

I am also back to hooking my camp rug.  I have been outlining all the motifs with my background wool.  For now I am going to leave that bright blue in, but will try coffee staining it later and if that doesn't help, will reverse hook it.  Even though I took the rug outside to try to get a decent color representation, it just isn't right 😡

Enjoy your Sunday.  A gorgeous day here on Ohio's north coast.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Technology is NOT my Friend ~

Tonight I am NOT doing a happy dance.  I have so many pictures I wanted to share of my yard, but I have been fighting with my computer for the last hour and a half and it will not let me upload the pictures to the blog.  I give up 😡

Random pictures in no particular order.

This is kind of creepy!  Found two of them in the flower bed today.  I think they are half of a walnut shell.

I recently bought this old kerosene lamp planted with a couple hen and chicks.  I hung it in the tree knowing I would probably bang my head . . . and yup, I did . . .  and probably said more than a few bad words.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Doing a Happy Dance ~

Askew is finally finished . . . at least the hooking part.  I had my doubts it would ever be done.  It is 29" x 45" ~ really big for me.  Not my largest, but close.  This was a "worm buster" project.  Except for "darks", which I ran low on and had to cut, it was hooked entirely with already cut worms or narrow pieces of wool.  It made a dent in the worms, but by no means have I run out.  As any hooker will tell you, they multiply while we sleep.

Hopefully now I will have time to work on my camp rug 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Camp Rug ~

HA!  Absolutely nothing to show on my camp rug.  Nary a loop has been pulled since I returned home.

Yard work is never ending.  Darn yardboy never shows up 😡

The handtorn pumpkin is bound.  It is a donation mat.

The binding on Scaredy Cat.  This was gifted to a friend for her birthday.  I whipped it using size 8 1/2 strips which I found difficult.  However, I love the look!

I hooked 2 little eagles and now they need binding.  At just over 10" in diameter, they both will be donated to the guilds I belong to.  Hopefully they are the last of my mats for donation.

No progress on Mr. Jingles.  Close, but as the say, no cigar.

Still working on Askew and am anxious to have this hooked but dreading the binding!!!  I am so close.  I knew not to set it aside and work on my camp rug because it would probably be a very long time before I got back to it.  I am just so bored with it!!!

Cedar Lakes is just beautiful in the spring.  Here are a few pictures I took in my wanderings.

My artsy fartsy shot 

Log cabin seen through the covered bridge

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Memorial Day ~

Memorial Day, which was founded as Decoration Day in 1868, is an occasion to remember those who lost their lives while serving the United States of America.

Honorable Memorial Day quotes ~

• "May we never forget that freedom isn't free"
• "In memory of many, in memory of all"
• "We don't know them all, but we owe them all"
• "Never forget, ever honor"
• "Fallen, but not forgotten"

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,

AND LET PERPETAUL LIGHT

SHINE UPON THEM.

May God bless our soldiers.

May God bless America, this Land that I love.

Lauren

Rug Show at Cedar Lakes ~ Part 2

I didn't get pictures of all the rugs in the show, but here are some more.

Just a sampling of the rugs being hooked in the classroom next door.

This rug just makes me smile 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren