Friday, August 30, 2013

Fun Week With A Hook In

 My week started off getting out the pattern from Mitchell, he purchased it, for me, in the Yellowknife NWT for Mother's Day & brought it with him in May. He does travel north a lot & always goes to a quilt shop to find something unique for me.  I'd take this 'Night Call' pattern out & have a look at it & want to do it but had no batiks here. So I ordered what was needed from Connecting Threads & got real antsy to do it once the fabric arrived.
Here's the pattern that has to be transferred by tracing it onto Heat & Bond.

Here are the fabric choices, it's hard to know what you've chosen on an website picture.
This is for the pillow pattern, all traced out.
Now here it is all cut out, I had three scissors to tackle this


This is the wallhanging pattern, oh my it's large.


The cutting is more difficult on a larger piece & boy it took sometime to do this. Luckily the afternoon was sunny & pleasant inside the sunporch, away from those hungry mosquitoes.
Boris settled in on the loveseat with his blanket...
With a stretch & snooze, I listen to him snore as I carefully cut out my pattern.
Tommy had his afternoon snooze on the rattan loveseat, one of his favorite spots.
Bose opted for the sun on her, as she stretched out on the woven mat by the door.
I think she looks great for a 16 yr old cat but my heart goes out to her as I watch her laboured walk due to her arthritis. It reminds me of what I use to say "We are all temporarily able." then age sets into our joints. Bose has never moved around as much as she has at the cottage, I think she likes it her. And as my Grandma Haynes use to say "Use it or lost it Duck". Her pet name for me, Duck?

Well it's all cutout now, quiet the job & the designer stressed to take your time, it took all afternoon!

All put together now & it's ready for quilting. I'm going to buttonhole stitch it down & try my hand at meandering the background, to make the center pop out more.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for a very fun Thursday with the Miramichi Rug Hookers as we have a 'Hook In' at the cottage.
The weather was cool, windy, & wet. It really felt like a autumn day, that didn't stop anyone from having a great time!
Everyone came in with food for our potluck lunch, which was wonderful!
So much food, thirteen different dishes of salads, desserts, buns & even a home made lasagna which warmed the kitchen, making it a cozy place to be! 
 
Laughter filled all the rooms that housed these hookers.

The sun-porch did not offer a sunny place but it was the place to be with the view.
Boris warmed right up to Margaret, those two were together nearly the whole day!
It could be that Margaret was in one of Boris's snooze chairs. lol
As everyone settled in after eating such a feast, the creative mode took over...
And talk & laughter was in every corner...

Some worked on their projects whilst others socialized.

Tommy the cat, getting a few good pats from Shelia as she talks with Marva as she knits.
Shelia does have a way with pets...& people. :-)
Katie helped me set up my hooking frame that her talented husband had made. It's going to be great for the big rugs that I'll be working on, now & in the future.
Margaret's cat pattern from Boston is coming along nicely & now that Boris has his blanket he takes to sleeping & just listening to the chatter of all these women. lol
Katie is working a piece she is creating from a photograph of yesteryear. She's so gifted in this technique & is so mythological in her choices, making her work sensational!
Cozy & comfortable, these two spent the day together. I was moving around too much for Boris to be with me with my stepping on him.
Mary Beth is doing beautiful embroidery & thinks she too wants to be a hooker. I think, with her meeting such a wonderful bunch, she's hooked! lol
June enjoyed her day by the water as she lived by the water before.  With coats done up, she & Fran went for a walk in the blustery wind to the waters edge. Boris joined them too but soon he returned to the warmth & comfort of being with Margaret & resumed his afternoon sleep.
Janice does such lovely work & never uses a frame for her work.
And this is a big piece to hook. Beautiful work Janice!
Eleanor enjoyed the company as she sat contented to be among all the conversation & laughter.
Shelia is such a delight to be around, I really get a good laugh when she's around.
 She & Katie hold up a Welcome mat that she's making for her daughters porch wall.
They were auditioning butterflies to give it texture & interest, very effective! The colours imitate the variety & happiness of the maker. :-)


Edith is working on a piece I may give a try, it reminds me of something the group of seven my have painted.
She also has a stained glass swan hanger on the go too! Busy woman Edith!
Zena & Ursula give a listen to the conversation of the moment.
This is Ursula's first hooked piece & it's stunning. Feminine & delicate, much like the maker. :-)
Zena was happy just to take in the day.
This is Zena's work, very neat with precision  & sweet like the maker. :-)

Marva had 'this much knitting done'.
I don't know how Marva can follow a pattern & chat too! When I knit with pattern I have to be alone. Multitasker that Marva!

This is sugar bush vintage piece, that Fran knows the history to of the woman that started it. Fran took out all the work that was done & is now redoing it, she's done a lot on it this month. Now put it down so I can take your picture!
Thank you Fran, she's a hard one to get a photo of. lol
And this is my new piece that I'll be working on. I'm going to do a blending of wool & wool fabric to it. I've already started adding more to it, a pineapple, a sun, a moon, & some stars. After working on the Stoneware Horse, I found my interest is held by working things, not large backgrounds of one colour. It's a primitive styling so anything goes!

During June's walk, she picked these Tansy's for the lunch table.

How thoughtful of you June! I just love the way they look like yellow shank buttons.
Well that was my week & now the long weekend is upon us. I'm going to quilt together the 'Night Call' & do some hooking on the 'Cat on the Roof' rug this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you too, have a wonderful 'last long weekend' of the summer! Where does time go?!

Did you know that 'In just two days from now, tomorrow will be yesterday.'?

Enjoy your weekend!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Myers Day Camp

Every August Myer's United Church hosts a Day Camp for the local children. Each year Jean organizes a theme for the day, this year was 'The Fruits Of The Spirit'. Heather, Louisanne, Ivan, & myself helped Jean get this day underway as there was 16 assorted aged children to organize. Jean is a retired school teacher & keeps us organized, she had a itinerary written out for the day 9am-3pm. Ivan started the day with songs, he did several sing songs with everyone & even taught sign language to Jesus Loves Me!

Then the Fruits of the Spirit began. In the isles, paper was placed to have a worry free craft time...


 
 Heather talking with her group as they waited.

 Brookelynn, Anna, Katherine were in my group & waited patiently for 'the fruits' to begin.

Fruit was handed out, nine different fruits to represent the nine different spirits that we should posses.
Jean told the children if all these were used - there would be no more bullying.

1 - JOY - kiwi
2 - LOVE - grapes
3 - FAITHFULNESS - peaches
4 - PATIENCE - grapes
5 - KINDNESS -pineapple
6 - PEACE - blueberries
7 - SELF CONTROL - strawberries
8 - GOODNESS - green grapes
9 - GENTLENESS - orange

 Here are 'the beasts' that we made...
                                      Fruits Of The Spirit, eyes & mouth are raisins.
 The kids then could then eat their creations as their morning snack.
 After lunch the craft was then a banner/necklace with the 'fruits of the spirit' theme continuing.
 Craft tables were set up in the aisle
 Ivan & Jean give the craft instruction on stringing their necklace/banner
 Heather & Louisanne having a quiet moment...
 While the aisle filled with the creative activity.
 Voila! here it is the finished.

 And worn!

 Hard at work & finished ones too, to be admired!

Now some quiet time...
 The adults are the only ones standing as Ivan talked to them as they had a lie down in the pews & floor. Look at the paper in the aisle, it was a busy time! lol

Then a sing song & ice cream cones to finish the day!


 What a fun day had by all in Hardwicke! Next week they'll all be back to school & the routine of the school year begins again. God bless them all.