Skip To My Ewe

Saturday, May 21, 2011

What I’m loving……at the moment

This bedroom! I can’t even say how much I’ve studied this….

the really busy quilt as the base,

with a more simple graphic quilt folded up at the end of the bed,

simple sheets and a mix of solid, graphic and busy pillows at the top

……am I over analyzing this?

I can’t help myself!

The art of Leigh Viner.

I love how she combines what looks like simple pencil drawing

with the realistic eyes and mouth and then

the digital flower…..

amazing!

Egg chairs…..I think

they would be great to snuggle into

and read a good book!

Sally Cummings Shisler

Dreama Tolle Perry

Elizabeth Fraser

Paintings with big bold chunky strokes…..

I think this will be my next experiment with rug hooking

….to try and replicate this look in a rug.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Really?

Now I’m a little freaked that I’ve made such a “to-do” over my new technique that I’ve been working on that you’re going to be looking at this and going…

“Really?”

“You got us all excited about THIS?!”

“Really?”

Okay, well, here it is……

The series of garden rugs that I’ve been working on have areas of flowers and leaves that stick out beyond the normal border of the rug.

Once this was hooked and I was thinking of hanging it, I was wondering how I was going to get it to hang without having the flower and leaf parts just “flopping”.

I took my rugs to “Pelican Gallery” here in Springfield, MO and talked to the owner, Dan, about the best way to hang the rugs. He came up with the idea of the wire.

Genius actually….he had me use a small gauge wire and twist it to a double thickness to make it stronger…..this way you get a strong wire, but due to the smaller gauge, it is still easy to bend to the shape of the flowers or leaves. He suggested stainless steel or galvanized steel, so that the wire would not rust. He then had me attach it with fishing wire….I used a 12 pound test weight fishing line that Kenny had here at the house.

He also suggested bringing the wire more towards the center of the rug, to give the “sticky-outy” parts more stability once the rug is hung.

So now I have all of the flowers and leaves wired on all 3 garden rugs. This weekend I will be returning to “Pelican Gallery” to work on the hanging mechanism. I’ll post more on that process once it gets under way.

Dan approaches everything from an archival point of view, so he is very interesting to talk to about hanging textiles….I’m learning a lot!

Monday, May 16, 2011

New technique?

I’ve used the pliers to help me twist the wire to make it a bit stronger and shape it. I’m also using some fishing line and a needle……..I should have the “reveal” tomorrow.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Bits and pieces

Why would I have out wire, snips and pliers to work on a rug? Stay tuned…..

Kenny got a great new fern this past week…..I think it’s called a “compacta fern”. I think it looks charming sitting in the birdbath, so neat and round.

One of the poppies from the garden, got to show off in all it’s glory inside the house this week.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sweet and Spicy

Wednesday night’s supper

Marinate chicken breast in teriyaki sauce, then grill it to a nice golden brown. When it’s just about finished, throw some fresh pineapple on the grill and cook until caramelized.

Add some pickled jalapenos for heat and slap it between a bun! (I used a ciabatta bun…..a little too hearty for such a big sandwich…next time I’d choose a softer bun)

Left-overs? Chop up the chicken and pineapple and toss it into a salad!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Reader questions

Odd, just this week I’ve had a few questions from readers…..odd, because that doesn’t happen very often.

However, I LIKE it and I’m always willing to share.

One reader asked about my slate floor. She saw that I had slate in my kitchen and wondered how it transitioned into the hardwoods in my dining room…….

here are pictures of that……

There is a bit of trim that makes the transition between the height of the slate and the hardwoods…..here is a close-up

The slate is “earth gouged” slate….it’s rough on both sides and I think it was a b*tch to lay….but, it’s down and I love it! It’s really not as cold as you would think it might be….perhaps because it’s a natural product.

I had another person on Facebook ask about a close-up of the “pea-pods” on my runner……no, they are redbud tree pods, but I know they look like pea pods. I got the wools for the peapods from Searsport Rug Hooking when I was on vacation in Florida….thanks Julie and Chris!

Some of the pods look like this, with just two colors of wool.

….and then some have more than the 2 colors of wool…..what can I say….I get bored when I hook!

Here is the progress I’ve made so far….I swear, one day last weekend I hooked and hooked and hooked…..

Here’s a close-up of the area where I have a little bit of everything hooked in next to each other…

I went by the library last night and I swear that going in there is just the most wonderful thing! I got a few new books to read….

Tonight I’m making a sandwich from the ”Big Book of Food”….it’s basically grilled chicken that's been marinated in teriyaki sauce along with grilled pineapple and jalapenos (it’s supposed to be on a whole wheat bun, but I went to Breadsmith and they had these wonderful garlic and rosemary ciabatta rolls (not whole wheat, but the girl at the counter got me with the free sample….to die for!) If it turns out pretty I’ll take a pictures for you!

Nigella’s cookbook has a recipe for a Maple Pecan Bundt Cake that looks sinfully delicious

as well as some African drumsticks….drumsticks with ground ginger and apricot jam as well as other ingredients….making my mouth water just thinking about it!

My co-worker is making one of the recipes out of Bethenny Frankel’s book tonight….grilled pork chops with grilled nectarines and then I think you sprinkle bleu cheese over that…….okay, on that note, I’m going to head out and fire up the grill!