Have A Heart For Haiti

I have finished hooking my little mat (about 12" x 10") for "Have A Heart For Haiti."  It still needs binding, and haven't decided on that yet.  The icon for this auction, which will be in June, is over to the right.  If you are interested in participating with this project, just click on that for details.  Now, finally, I'm going to begin making a rug for my kitchen.  This has only been on my mind since I very first started to rug hook.  I keep getting side-tracked with other projects.  I'm sure you know how that goes........

Deanne Fitzpatrick Blog Giveway!

I received my package from Deanne Fitzpatrick's blog giveaway.  If you read a previous post, you may remember that this particular giveaway required you to respond to one or more of Deanne's diary entries.  I have so enjoyed following her diary and the thoughtful entries and responses by other bloggers.  Well....when I first opened the package, I thought "Wow, Deanne sent me a karaoke machine!".  Well, of course I knew that wasn't really the goods, so I started to dig.

To my delight.....I found a basket packed full of treasures!  I'll just show you a few of the items....

Blank cards with talented hookers designs as playing cards.

Books to read during my convalescences.

A hoodie with a Deanne Fitzpatrick design on the back.

Wool......oh goody!!!!!

I received many more items from Deanne's stash, and have displayed them here before you.  What a great blog giveaway, not to mention a thoughtful and creative way to encourage bloggers to write their thoughts and connect with others.

Houses for Haiti and Recuperation

These cute little "Houses for Haiti" are magnets and were made by students of my dear friend Ann, art teacher extraordinaire.  She is selling these at several shops in our town, and so far has raised over $400!  Ann came over to keep me company yesterday with mocha latte and pumpkin bread.  I'm doing really well so far, and all the credit goes to my talented surgeon, sweet husband Jim, and many years of thousands of downward dogs (yoga pose).  I'm just so excited, have a shoe on today, but will need to get it off after this post to ice and elevate.

What have I been doing?

Well.......I've been reading, drawing, and crocheting mostly.  I've had to re-teach myself how to crochet.  Kind of winging it by making this granny square coverlet.  It's hard to follow the tutorial on-line with my foot propped up, so gave that up and just dove in.  Keeps these antsy hands busy!  My need to hook has really taken over though.  I've been spending time pouring over books of wonderful rugs and mats by some of my favorite rug artists.  I have also been doing some sketching.  I think I'm going to start hooking a small mat of something simple, perhaps a cute little old wing-backed chair I bought from Leolas a few years ago.  It's right in my line of vision during foot elevation.  I think it may be time to set up a still life at the dining room table and move me, my sketchbook, and my foot in there......


Thanks to you blog pals who have posted your kind words of support, and also to friends who have called and dropped by with food and good conversation (Cyndi and Claire, who will probably never read this...but got in person hugs, what pals and wonderful cooks!).  I still have about three more weeks that I will be mostly home-bound.  Oh dear, this may be one giant granny square coverlet!

Granny Squares, Giveaways, and Surgery.....Oh Dear

I did it!  My first multi-colored crocheted granny square, as I promised in the previous post.  Yes....it does appear a little lumpy, and if you look close, you'll probably find more than a few mistakes...but it's my first and I just love it!  I'm going to make gobs in that three color combo for a coverlet on our bed.  The bed has an old faded lavender chenille spread, and I think this is just what it needs to give it some zip.

I got up this morning to the most lovely surprise.  I've been responding to the journal entries of  Deanne Fitzpatrick, a rug hooker whose work has inspired me for some time.  Deanne had a give-away that was a little different than most I've seen on blogs.  She wrote very thought provoking journal entries daily.  People were encouraged to respond to these, and as a result their names were put in a pot for the winnings, which I believe is a basket of goodies from Deanne's studio.  Well, I just got so into checking in daily because these posts really made me think.  We discussed art, life, food (recipes....yum), generosity, and many other topics.  She is going to continue this project, so you may want to pop in and do a little writing.  I plan on continuing because it became more than a drawing for me, it made me write which is something I plan on doing more of......which leads me to.....

This will be my last post for maybe a month.  I am having a very inconvenient, but needed foot surgery tomorrow which will keep me off my feet for the most part of a month.  Even though I won't be posting, I'll be sure to check in with friends to see what's going on.  I plan on using this forced time of reclusion to do lots of writing, sketching (used to do this all the time, but life got in the way), crocheting, reading, and watching movies.  Sounds terrible doesn't it?  Actually, I'm glad to get this procedure taken care of because it has caused me a lot of pain over the past year.

So, even if you don't hear much from me for awhile, I'll be checking in with you.  As soon as I get my basket from Deanne, I'll be posting pictures of my winnings.  Please check into her site.  Her work is wonderful, and the journal entries are well worth taking the time to at least think about, even if you don't feel a need to respond.

Bye, Bye
Dulcy

Willow, Rugs, and Scarves!

Willow loves to be wherever the camera action is!  Here she is modeling how exquisite she looks lounging on my newly hooked rose rug.  She especially likes to be seen on this rug because it's bound in a pretty sage ribbon, and the colors set off her winter coat.

Above, Willow is snugly wrapped in my most recent fiber challenge.  I have so enjoyed the lovely photographs of crochet work I've seen lately on blogs, and especially on Flicker!  So....dug out my hook and thought I'd dive right in.  Well....I sort of forgot how to crochet!  Thank goodness for all the wonderful video tutorials on line.  I found a pattern for this lacy scarf that's very easy. In fact, it's called the Easy Lacy Shells Pattern Scarf.  My scarf success prompted me to pick out three yummy yarn colors, which I'll show you when I have my first granny square crocheted!

Modeling is such grueling work, and now Willow tires.  She does look lovely in a rose colored scarf.  Fortunately, body image is not a problem for her as it can be with many models.  A pretty lacy scarf can hide a lot of Fancy Feasts!

MOXIE, MOXIE!

Tammy Burks, Sheri Demate, and I currently have a rug show hanging at the Moxie Theater in downtown Springfield. The Moxie is an independent movie theater that shows all the really good stuff you may not find at the chain theaters. Right now they are showing "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges (what's not to love?) who has won the Golden Globe award for his part as Bad Blake, and is also up for Best Actor as part of the Academy Awards. Excellent film! Bridges does all his own guitar work and singing, as well as a heart breaking portrayal of a down and out, alcoholic, country western singer. Well....enough about Jeff, and on to the real reason for this post.

The Moxie rotates local artwork on a monthly basis, and the three of us were lucky to be accepted to show during the month of February.

Tammy's pieces are the three to the left, and Sheri's are the five to the right. You may be familiar with some of their work from Skiptomyewe and Shabby Sheep. I simply LOVE everything these two lovely and talented friends do!

Larger view of the space.

My work. A little of this, a little of that. It's been fun planning the show, and luckily for us, my artist husband, Jim, hung everything. He's been showing photography and doing art shows for years, so his expertise was needed. Not to mention his toolbox and ability to stand on the top rung of a ladder! Kisses honey....

Garden Baby

If you happened to read Tammy's blog today, she mentioned that we spent some time yesterday brainstorming new directions to artistically take hooking. We both are interested in mixed media and collage type art, but consider ourselves to be hookers at heart. Today I played around with my wool and hook and came up with this little piece. The tiny, sweet porcelain doll was given to me by my friend Katie. The pearls are part of a dainty old bracelet I picked up at Leola's, and the frame is a cheap plastic one that my mother gold-leafed sometime back. I hooked a miniature garden scene and attached the doll and pearls. Fun to stretch and play around with something different!

This And That

Time to share, and yes, yes it's more roses.....I KNOW that you must think I'm completely obsessed, and to tell you the truth... I'm not, and actually quite tired of hooking roses. But, while hooking rose bags over the past few months, my mind has been seeing a pretty rose rug for somewhere in my home. I did take a break and hook my little yard scene in the previous post, and then started this rug. This will be in front of a faux fireplace piece that I've acquired. It's color is what I call a "dirty red". I'd show you a picture, but want to wait until it's in the house, dusted with finished rug in front. I currently have a chair that's being reupholstered to go with the rug and fireplace. It's a very old platform rocker that sat in the Flint, Michigan opera house (passed down in my mother's family). The fabric print is a wonderful combination of tiny palm trees and hibiscus flowers using the sage green, dirty red, a little peach, gold, and teal.

Next is a picture of things that inspire, motivate, and make me happy. This is a little spot on a table that I hook at. It may look familiar to you from other postings. There's a rug I did last year when I was all jazzed about the apple green and rose color combination. The kitty is a very old piece that was mom's. A few little books, old and new. My hooking tools....the corner of a pretty vintage Shawnee flower pot in that same luscious green with a few of my mother's Ukrainian eggs (she did the art). The brown glass bowl/vase was done by a glass artist friend that I got my hubby for Christmas. Behind is a painting done of our pond by my friend, and fabulous painter, Alisha.

Yesterday I took an outing to Leola's and made a few happy little purchases. Kristy was just unpacking a box that was full of darling Valentine and other misc. vintage postcards. All dating back around 1905 through 1930. I snapped up these four!

Enough of this and that....time for some badly need yoga and relaxation. Hope your weekend has been restful and happy.

Outside My Kitchen Window

This little mat is finally done (although, I do have some work to do on the back). I really don't know where it will go, but that's always a problem with me. I get an idea that has nothing to do with any special spot for it in my home, draw, start grabbing wool, and generally begin to create my work while making a huge mess that pretty much surrounds my working area until I'm done. But, my house is quite eclectic and there's usually a place for just about anything. I'm getting ready to draw off my next piece. It will be a larger rug that will have it's own spot, and actual color planning is involved! Oh.......a moment to explain my color choices on this piece and several of my other picture rugs. I start with an idea in my head of a place I'm fond of that I would like to create pictorially with wool. These spots, so far, are around my home. As for color, there's usually a piece of wool in my cupboard that just keeps calling me. In this case, it was the bright greens I used for the ground. Everything else revolves around that. I have a very hard time staying with softer primitive colors, but for my next rug I'm hoping to use a calmer color palette. We'll see what evolves..........

Redbuds and Ribbons!

Continuing work on this little piece. I used pink ribbon on the upper left tree. It really came out looking just like a redbud! I'm so happy because that is the tree you would see looking out my kitchen window. I just never know what kind of effect I will get when hooking materials other than wool. I realize that the background is a bit over powering, but love the drama of it. I keep going back and re-hooking areas and out-lining others so the blues don't completely take over.

Please Indulge

My husband's grandchildren were here all last week visiting. I know that's probably the last thing you would want to see, but please indulge me with this happy little post....

Princess Ava

Graham with new Christmas binoculars.

Poppa Jim with Graham heading out on the trail at the Nature Center.