Emerald

 Are you seeing "Emerald Green"? It is popping up all over and it's the color of the year! 

"The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today's complex world.
This powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors."

I doubt I will be redecorating in Emerald right away...but I feel like the lucky to winner to have found this pretty pot at TJ Maxx!  There are some pretty shades of green wool in the studio and some green projects simmering on the back burner.  My main focus this week is preparing to teach at Winterfest and preparing to take a midterm in Stats.

Stay warm!!

The Holidays!

I was a busy little elf in my studio and can finally share a few of the gifts I made.
In November I finished a Round Robin Christmas quilt that was started over three years ago and tucked away in box.  We really needed a quilt to read Christmas stories under and for sick ones to snuggle up in.  So glad I was able to finish it!

 (Show and share at our Quilt Guild Christmas Meeting)

 Quiet books for the grand kids.  A snowman that melts, shapes that snap, magnetic matching game, finger puppets in the barn, counting carrots, a beehive that zips, flowers to button, a chicken puzzle and a pocket for surprises in the back.  They were fun to work on...but took some time.  I thought I probably had a little more sewing time on my hands than my daughter and daughter-in-law do :)

I was so concerned that they wouldn't be finished...I took them along to my guild meeting and Diana helped me stuff the little carrots.

 Some fun little holiday decorations from this fun little book.  It is filled with simple projects to stitch.



























Hand stitched Journals out of an up-cycled wool sweater and leather skirt for Janell and Ben.  They were really fun to do and the project came out of this book Janell gave me for my birthday last year. One year I would love to have every gift I give be handmade.  How is that for a goal!!?

Well, things are slowly getting back to business as usual around here. We have had the pleasure of having some of our married kids visiting for several weeks.  We make a trip to airport on Wed. Hope you all had a sweet holiday season with your loved ones.

Anxious to get creating again......

Making A List...

 That snow sure lit a fire under me yesterday! And it didn't help that I spent a little time wandering around Anderson's looking at all the pretty Christmas decorations!  It is fast approaching and I know my time for creating gifts is going to have to be carefully carved out of my busy life! Sound familiar?  I have an Open Studio this coming Wednesday - November, 14th from 10-2.  You are welcome to come over and shop, browse, or bring a project and stitch for awhile!  Fill free to bring a lunch or I will be happy to share my pot of soup with you! I'd love to see what you are working on!

 We have Gift Certificates ready to go!

Happy Stitching everyone!

Guests in the Studio

Tuesday night the studio filled up with witches, sweet treats and lots of laughter!  The Sew and Sews had their monthly meeting here and they were a delight!  This group has been together for over 25 years and they know how to have a great time together.  It was fun to share my story with them and get know them a little bit better.

 Halloween...such a fun time of year!!

***

Yesterday I realized that I left some important info off the Pleated Pillow Pattern!  I am certainly learning it is very important to someone ELSE look over the direction BEFORE I print them off.

Please note the following as you may need to know how much fabric you need to buy AND the cutting sizes of the various pieces!!

You will need 1/2 yard of a linen type fabric that will hold a pleat well.

(I found a really nice piece at JoAnn's)

I decided to have you cut the back piece 22" x 12 1/2" for a little leeway-

You can trim it to match the front before you sew the two together.

Center Front - Cut one piece 12 1/2" x 15 1/2"

Side Fronts - Cut two pieces 3 1/2" x 12 1/2"

Pleated trim - Cut two pieces 4 1/2" x 36"

Piping - Cut two pieces 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" 

Back - Cut one piece 12 1/2" x 22"

Oh Ladies, I apologize for not being more accurate.  I made two mistakes with patterns for the Open House and I chalk it up to being out of town the week before and trying to cram too much into a few days.  I'm learning a lot and appreciate your patience and support.

Happy stitching!

And the winners are....

Our very scientific drawing was held at 9:00 pm.

From a green bowl came these names:

Congratulations to:

 Judy M. winning the wool

 Julie H. winning the velvet

"J" must have been the lucky letter this time!

Many thanks to all of you for your kind words.  I just love the wonderful

people I meet in the world of wool.  (And Judy and Julie, please email

me your addresses and I will get your prizes off to you in the mail!)

I am working on choosing a few open studio days each month.  I have had many people request a designated time they could stop in without an appointment.  I have also had requests to teach classes and I am happy to teach.  I just need a little direction as to what you would like to learn or do.  Don't hesitate to call or email me about an idea or project, class, technique, etc that you would like to learn.  On open studio days you are welcome to stop by and bring a project to work on, pack a lunch, do a little shopping....whatever makes you happy.  I love it when the studio is humming with happy noise and full of creative people!  I am in the process of setting up the calender in the tab above.  I will let you know when things are a little more finalized with info about class size, class fee, etc.  Any input is appreciated and thank you for your patience while I get this all sorted out.

Hope you are finding a little time to stitch!

Admiration

A few weeks ago I got a tip from a friend who called to tell me I just had to sneak away to see one of the homes in the Historical Home Show!  "She does that really cool thing you do with wool - you know not the crocheting, but whatever that other thing you do with the little tiny strips..."  Did she mean Rug Hooking? Well let's just say that I was so happy that I dropped everything for a minute to go have a look.

It was the home of Sharon Verdine and her artist husband, Ernie.  (I had just been admiring his work in the Gallery the day before so I was thrilled to get to meet him and see Sharon again!)  I had met Sharon at a rug hooking meeting last fall. WHAT TALENT!!

 

Their home is charming and I heard over and over again comments like, "This is my very favorite of all of the homes I have seen!"  "They have really put life back into this home not only decorating, but living the beautiful, simple, artistic life that once was so long ago." I couldn't agree more! It was exquisite, every square inch! When you first walked in, you were greeted with this cute little chicken rug.  Seeing that rug on the floor - I knew this woman was not only a very accomplished rug hooker - but prolific in her work. She makes rugs for not only the art, but for the utilitarian purpose they were intended for........once upon a time!  Sharon warmly visited with everyone...she is a gem!

 Charm around every corner...and the sweet light coming through the windows.  

It was magical.

Her hooked rugs and projects are right at home in every room. 

 Her studio had such a peaceful calm to to it.  

Her collection of antique pieces were very artfully displayed and warmly and lovingly used.

 I could move into this wonderful home quite easily and be very much at home here!

What a coincidence that I had just visited the newly opened Logan Fine Arts Gallery the day before and had been admiring Ernie's work there! I love his style and the rich color pallet he paints from. He has a blog here.  I "borrowed the photos of him painting from a fairly recent article about him  in the Herald Journal.  What a delight to meet him and see his studio. 

These two are certainly living the dream.  I am very happy for them and their content lifestyle.
Hopefully we can all follow our hearts!  Thanks for opening up your beautiful home to us, Verdines!!

:: :: :: 

 So on to a little business...
I want to thank everyone for their support in the Open House we held last Saturday.  It was such a beautiful day and so fun to see everyone.  Leslie was so generous in sharing her beautiful wool projects.  I sure love all of you lovely ladies!!  In order to promote this little blog, which will soon serve as a place of updates and class schedules - we are having a little contest!  

I realize that social media isn't everyone's thing - and some of us aren't as handy on the computer as others... but we (gently persuaded by my loving daughters...) have decided it is a fun and easy way to reach a lot of people and get updates out in a colorful way.  Like us on facebook or follow us on the blog.  Leave a comment about what you love about working with wool - hand stitching - your favorite project...etc, and we will have a drawing for two delightful prizes!

This contest will run for one week...Drawing will be held at 9 pm October 9th! 
(I'll post the winners Wednesday morning)

 Eighteen 6" x 8" pieces of yummy fall wool pieces ~ perfect for small projects and applique!

and

Three strips (8" x 16") of the gorgeous new hand dyed silk/rayon velvet!  Great to add into wool projects for beautiful shimmer and a pretty texture...not to mention the amazing silky hand it has!

 Also, if you purchased a pattern/kit for Stacked Jacks - you may have gotten one with out an important piece of the pattern.  A few were missing the page for the larger stacked jacks pillow pattern pieces.  I can that to you if you email me your address.  Sorry for the error and inconvenience. 

We had dye cut pieces for you to take home and create a cute little Pinterst-Inspired bookmark.  For your reference and inspiration...here is the photo we were inspired by.  Hope to see everyone soon!  we'd love to see what YOU have created!  Happy Stitching!

Fall Open House

Fall Open House....TOMORROW!

10:00 - 5:00 at the Studio

1015 East 100 North

435-755-5906

We have been busy bees getting everything ready and there never seems to be

enough time to do what you'd like to do - especially when you have been

slowed down with traveling and a cold!

But it is what is and we are excited to see everyone!

We have a few new patterns and lots of wool.  We also have

some beautiful pieces of hand dyed Silk/Rayon Velvet!

It is the perfect texture to add some real spark to your applique projects!

Hope you can stop by and help us eat some the goodies piling up on the counters!