kitty companiona

kitty companiona

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Finally....Something Worth Writing About

It's been a while since I updated. No sense writing about sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window at the vast whiteness, wearing a flannel nightie, listening to books on CD and hooking for hours at a time. Just too demoralizing!

Haven't even wanted to go out of the house lately.

But today I was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go to the Jane Halliwell Green workshop in Shepherdstown, West Va. Linda Keller of Grant Street Woolworks did the driving and Doris and I went along as copilots. And a fun day it was!

The purpose of the class was to use wide strips to do shading. We had some time before the class to socialize and meet and talk to Jane.


She made this huge grape rug using very wide strips. This technique gives you the realistic effect of fine hooking but in much less time.

She brought some lovely hand dyed wools for us to covet.

Several tables full of temptation!


We were each given a kit which we had selected beforehand. I chose a sunflower design with a color pallette of yellows blending into reds. I decided to use a 6 cut to get a more detailed shading effect. Many other people used pices that thay had torn into approx. 3/4 inch strips.

Everyone seems to be hard at work.


Doris is working on a sunflower with a color scheme very much like mine.
On the table is a magnolia pillow cover created by Jane.

I've only just begun! And now that I am at home, I may change a few things. Will have to play with it a little to see if I can improve some of the contrast.



I am so grateful to Doris for inviting Linda and I to attend this class! Thank you!!!
I had a wonderful time and can't wait to continue expanding on the techniques I learned.

Since I've been doing not one useful thing besides hooking, I've gotten a lot done on my album quilt rug. This is what it looked like at the beginning of the week. It is almost finished now!


I walked into the kitchen yesterday and noticed a LUMP under my hoop which was lying on the table. I took a peek underneath and there SURPRISE!!! was Deiter. Looks like he was ready to do some reverse hooking.


That's what I love about cats. We share the same interests!
Until next time, happy hooking!

9 comments:

  1. What a great day! Loved that table full of wool. I would have left there very poor. haha Make sure you post progress pics of your sunflower. Looks lovely so far.
    Kim

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  2. Oh Pat - looks like you had a wonderful day - Bet you came home full of inspiration - Love that pic of Deiter - he's too cute - your rug is absolutely beautiful!

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  3. Pat......I love your hooking!! Very nice. I used to hook rugs, until weaving took over my life. Your album quilt rug is stunning.
    Thanks for the birthday wishes, and right back at you!!!!
    We're not getting older, we are jut aging like fine wine.
    Happy Birthday.

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  4. Pat ~
    Glad you finally got out of the house and had some FUN!!! Lucky you. Please continue to post progress on your sunflower rug and I can't wait to see the completed (hopefully soon!) album quilt rug. It is STUNNING!
    Pug hugs :)
    Lauren

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  5. Hi Pat,
    What a great way to get out of the winter doldrums! That sunflower rug should be fun to work on now. Can you tell me what the size of the strips were in Jane's grape rug? I'm wondering if she hooks the whole thing in such wide strips? Can't wait to see some photos of your album quilt rug.......... are you jumping up and down for joy that it's done?! I owe you an email so hope to get a few minutes this week to catch up on correspondence! Nice post! Pat Dieter for me! Cathy G

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  6. Hey Pat,
    Sounds like it was a really fun day. That is a huge rug she brought to show with the grapes, wow! I can't wait to see your rugs in person. I can't imagine doing it with torn strips like some of them. Sounds fun though!
    Your quilt rug is so wonderful. Keep going, it's almost done! That has to feel great :). HOpe to see you soon....

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  7. I thought we had a great day yesterday. Check out my blog to see what you missed by not staying!!!!!

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  8. Pat, I just loved what you did with your hooked piece so far. I can't wait to see the quilt rug finnished, it is going to be a real beauty. Tell Dieter to keep his "paws" off!!!! Reverse hooking is my job!!! I had a lot of fun yesterday and I hope and pray you never have a rug that fades. Would love to get together again for some good laughs, I really miss that!

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  9. Wow, what a wonderful day. I love sunflowers and your's is great. I can't wait to see your quilt rug when its finished. Do you actually put them on the floor or do you hang yours on the wall?
    Cute kitty!!!! Great helper I'm sure.

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