The Greatest Show on Earth

OMG! Rugs and wool and hookers…OH MY!
I think I took over 150 pictures from the Lenexa Hook-In yesterday…..I’m going to spread these out over the next week as I have time to post so I may post a few times a day.
I got to the hook-in around 9:15 and didn’t sit down until 12:30 to hook. I have no idea how many people showed up this year, but it was a LOT!  Waaay more than I had ever seen in attendance before. Old vendors, new vendors….if you left empty handed it wasn’t because there wasn’t a lot to choose from.
Okay, here goes…..I’m starting off with pictures from the rug show.  If you happen to know who designed or hooked the patterns please feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll go back and edit my blogging as you leave your comments.

I've added a new "e-mail me" over on my side bar if you can't get the comment section to work for you.

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to all of the people who stopped me to say hi and that they enjoyed reading my blog….really, that means the world to me!
I’m starting off with this rug….it makes me think of all of the hurriedness of all the hookers….going from booth to booth…trying to snatch up the “best stuff” before it was snatched up by some other lucky hooker!

(Pattern: “No Cause for Alarm” by Fritz Mitnick, available from Charco/House of Price, hooked by: Paulette Enerson of River Rock Wool)

(I have no information on this rug)

(Pattern: “Victory Ride”, Designer: Nola Heidbreder, hooked by: Andrea Alice?)

(Pattern: “Raven, Raven”, Designer: Skip To My Ewe, hooked by: Andrea Allen.)

(Pattern: "Potwin Place", designer: Judy Cripps at Rustic Rugs, hooked by: Terri Stauffer)

(I have no information on this rug)

( I have no information on this rug)

( I have no information on this rug….I think the design is from Polly Minick or Need’l Love)

(Pattern: "Tennis Anyone?", Designer: Emma Lou's Primitives, hooked by: Elinor Barrett)


( Pattern: "Brush Your Teeth", designer: Nola Heidbreder, hooked by: ?)

(I have no information on this rug)

( Pattern: "Montague and Friends", designer: Nola Heidbreder, hooked by:?)

(I have no information on this rug)

Detail shot

("Home with the Horses" - designed by Sally Kallin of Pine Island Primitives.)
I’m also going to try and show a few pics from some of the vendors over the next few days as well.
Vendor: Townsend Industries
Cutters, frames, dye books….excellent service!


Check back tomorrow for more!

Winding down

I’ve pranced all over Lenexa and Kansas City today in 3-inch heel boots.

Now that I’m home I’m going to kick them off and wind down….will start posting pictures of the BEST hook-in around on Sunday!

(artwork from Mark Schwartz)

Keyed up

It’s 11:10pm and here I sit reading blogs and now writing.  I have to get up at 5am and be headed to Lenexa, KS at 6am in the morning to the big hook-in…….of course after a grueling day at work and then dog walking and having Kenny’s birthday celebration I’m too keyed up to sleep.  Don’t you just hate that when you are so excited about something coming up and you NEED to rest, but you can’t because you’re SOOO looking forward to something?!

…….Unisom?

I think tonight is the night for it.

Get ready, I’ll have TONS of pictures to share when I get back!

“In Dreams - Klimt and Me" by k Madison Moore

What I know for sure…..

Sometimes you have to throw “color theory” out the window and just hook what you know.

Last night I sat down to hook on the garden rug and started working on the background….I thought I would make part of it look like sky….I thought maybe the bright flowers against a drab background would be striking.

What I wasn’t thinking about was that if you have a super-bright sunny yellow sunshine……your sky is NOT going to be drab…..I’ll be doing some “reverse” hooking tonight and hooking what I KNOW….skies are not drab when it’s sunny out!

What do you know for sure?

Gardening

This is the boucle wool that I talked about HERE. I’m using a bit of it in the garden rug, but I think it will make great moss in a future rug.  This is from a vintage coat that I found at a thrift store years ago…..I have quite a bit of it….that’s a good thing!

Sunday, we went to Kenny’s parents for an early birthday celebration where she made her famous pig-pickin’ cake…..Kenny’s favorite.  She usually makes it as a layer cake, but she said it always leans, so this year she just made a 1 layer cake….still tastes the same…..DELICIOUS! Of course Kenny got his candles blown out before I could snap the pictures.

Here is the recipe from the internet…..Kenny’s mom doesn’t put pecans on hers, but I think it would be good either way!  It’s best if it sits in the fridge at least overnight.

Pig Pickin’ Cake

Yield: Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1  (18.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1/3  cup  water
• 1/3  cup  vegetable oil
• 3  large eggs
• 1  (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1  (15-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1  (3.4-ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1  (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/2  cup  chopped pecans
• Garnish: chopped pecans

Preparation

Beat first 4 ingredients in a large bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in oranges. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 8-inch round cakepans. (Layers will be thin.)

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove layers from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.

Stir together crushed pineapple and next 3 ingredients. Spread pineapple mixture evenly between layers and on top of cake. Chill cake 3 to 4 hours. Garnish, if desired. Store cake in refrigerator.

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Afterwards, we went by the “Lawn and Garden Show” at the fairgrounds…..it was packed! It was a really rainy day, I guess that’s why it was so busy….people are itching to get out and garden once warm weather hits.

I loved this piece created by a local artist….I didn’t realize it was for sale.

This year there were a lot of beautiful displays from vendors.

As well as seeds, trees, plants and farm and lawn equipment for sale.

Did we leave empty handed? Of course not! Kenny found an evergreen he just had to have…..of course it’s one of those wonderful chartreuse colors that I love! It rode up front with me in the truck.

After seeing all of the inspiration at the garden show, it made me want to come home and work a bit on my garden rug.  I’ve started working a bit on the background….adding elements of sun, sky and earth.

Working the dark earthy colors behind the dark purple flower bud has been a problem, but I decided to add a deep orange around it to make it pop a bit more.

Have a great day! I’m headed off to wrap birthday packages!

Playing around

I’ve been playing around a little bit with my blog….trying to use a new format where I can share bigger pictures with you….then you can see more detail without having to click on each picture to make it bigger.
I’ve also made the font bigger and bolder for easier reading against the background that is pretty, but a little busy.
Bigger font you say?
Yes, I just went to the eye doctor last week, and while I don’t have to have prescription glasses, I do need to upgrade to stronger readers…..will do that today.
Yesterday, the weather was beautiful…..by beautiful I mean it got up to around 50 degrees….warm enough to eat lunch out on the back deck.
Here are a few garden pictures.
I love the chartreuse colors against the olive colors in these evergreens….I saw this color scheme in a magazine a while back…they called it “absinthe and olive”.

A wonderful mossy rock….I’m using an olive boucle wool in the garden rug I’m working on right now….it reminds me of this moss.

Here are some of the pictures that I really love….these ivy vines on a tree….what a great design….I see this as a large rug, but with the vines running the other way…..Here are a few pictures I’ve played with.



I love this next picture……I can’t believe I was able to capture this without it being blurry.

Finding beauty in the “everyday”.

This is another idea for a runner.

I’m not sure what these are called….they grow on the side of one of our trees….I guess they are some sort of fungus or lichen.

Emerging daffodils…..such promise!

The only thing flowering in the yard…..these sweet snowdrops.


So what do you think of the new format and the bigger pictures.....love it, hate it? Let me know.
P.S. Thanks Jacque for chiming in on the background....I think you're right....it WAS too busy, now it's very calm.....too boring?