Saturday, May 29, 2010

Rughooking Camp

Well, Ginger and I made to camp and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!! I was going to post each evening on the things we did, but it just didn't happen.  So I will try and tell you all about it now.

We met Maria Barton, our teacher for the week,  on Sunday evening. She was supposed to get there at 10:30am but did not arrive until after 10pm. You know how the airlines are...delays, missed connections, etc., but she finally did arrive.

First day of class...color planning the rug picked to hook. Numbers were drawn and each student spent time with Maria picking wools for the rugs. I was #11. My turn came and Maria helped me pick colors for my rug.  I spent the rest of the day, hooking and unhooking...just couldn't seem to get the effect I wanted from the rug. Finally did click and here is a picture of my rug in progress.

I was not as fast as my friend, Ginger, who finished 2 rugs and started 2 more during the rughooking camp.

Tuesday was more rughooking and visiting and shopping. Class is over at 3:30pm each day and we headed to the quilt shop, Nimble Thimble. Great selection of hand dyed and as is wool and books. Wonderful quilting fabric also.

Ginger looking for new books to buy.

After shopping at the quilt store we went to Dairy Queen, our favorite place for ice cream, since we don't have them in Oklahoma anymore. Of course, we did eat a hamburger before having a large dipped cone.
 
Jo and Ginger walking into Dairy Queen.

Wednesday was spent hooking on our rugs and then in the afternoon shopping for wool from the other teachers. 

It was also the rug show. What an amazing group of ladies at the camp and the rugs were amazing.  Here are pictures of some of the rugs:

For Betty,  Maggie Bonanomi's rug.



Well, guess I better get back outside and help with yard work. Watch for more rugs and the last day of camp.  Stay cool and enjoy your weekend.
Happy Memorial Day!!!!!

Blessings....patijane


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Happenings!!!!

Lots of things have been happening. Where to begin......
Since the last post, Nick finished finals in DC and came last weekend( May 15)to visit before going to Lima, Peru for a 10-week internship.  We had a family get-together and cook-out on Sunday, May 16.  There was lots of good food and family time.
Nick and Grandma Fletcher

Nick and Aunt Sharon
He went back to DC on Tuesday, May 18 and left for Lima, Peru on Monday, May 24. He will be back home in OKC on August 14 to see his new niece. Heads back to DC on August 18 for one more year of school. He will graduate in May 2011 with his Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Foreign Service. 

I finished piecing my blocks from the hand applique class I took. Here are the last three blocks. Hope to get them stitched soon.

Rest of the week was spent packing for the Star of Texas Rug Camp in Tyler, Texas. Ginger and I left on Sunday, May 23 for Tyler, Texas.  The car was packed to the brim. I don't think we left anything behind....lol
We arrived on Sunday afternoon, ready to unpack our rughooking supplies and get busy rughooking. We met Jo, a friend on AAPG ebay group.  

Lots of great teachers and wool all around the huge room. 


I am taking the class with Maria Barton of Star Rug Company.  Each student spent time with Maria color planning a rug to hook during the camp.  Ginger is doing the "Little Drummer Boy".


Well it is late, late and I better get some rest so I can work on my rug. Will post more pics tomorrow.  

Blessings......patijane

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Counting Our Blessings!

What a day we had yesterday! Tornado season is finally here!!! The weathermen had started prepping us on Sunday evening about the dry line coming in and something about a supercell. He said definitely needed to be prepared for violent weather.  Well he was right.

I finished my exercise workout around 4pm and headed home. Called Jeff to see what the weather was going to do..it was still sunny and only a few clouds, but it was pretty sticky outside. I wanted to stop at the grocery store before heading home. He said it was all north of us and no worries.  Well, was he ever wrong. My friend, Ginger, called me to see if I was watching the weather. Told her I was driving home from exercise and she told me there was a storm coming from the southwest and I needed to get home. Called Jeff back and he turned on the TV and saw what the weather was doing. By the time I got within a mile of home, the wind picked up and it started raining big drops. Made it home just before the hail started. It was marble-size..not too big.


It started raining harder..the sirens start going off..the weatherman says tornado at Yukon(about 10 miles west of us). So we go outside to see...to make the story short..it never came our way...just rained and hailed. But it was still scary because you couldn't really see anything for the rain. It finally moved on east.

Ashlee lives in Moore, OK (where the May 3, 1999 tornadoes hit). I called to check on her and she said it had finally quit raining and hailing. Well, the hail at her house was the size of softballs she said. Jeff and I waited about 30 minutes and then headed to her house to check for damage.  As we drove down the street to her house, you could see roofs with holes, cars with windows out, huge dents all over the cars.  There were holes in Ashlee's front yard and I couldn't figure out what she had been digging for. Well, it was where the hail hit and when I went to look at one, there was still hail in the hole. Most of the holes were about 4 1/2 inches in diameter.  I took some pictures of what was left of the hail. The storm had been over for about 1 1/2 hours, yet the hail was still pretty  big.  Looked like snowballs.
Damage to the car next door to Ashlee. Lots more damage to it than I had taken pictures of.
Jeff got on Ashlee's roof and checked for holes. None were found, but lots of dents. Looks like one hail hit the gutter and made a big hole.


So we feel very lucky! There are lots of people here that lost their homes and loved ones. Please say a prayer that they will get thru all this destruction.

On to a brighter subject...today I received another birthday present from a friend in my AAPG ebay group.  Debbie made me the sweetest prim crow stitchery.  The quilt pattern is going to be at the top of my list of things to do this year. 

Well, so that's it for now. We are under another tornado watch this evening, but most of the weather is north of us right now.

I have homework for my next applique class on Saturday,  so guess I better get busy on Block #2.

Blessings to everyone and have a great rest of the week....patijane

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all!!!!

I am having a great Mother's Day and hope everyone else is doing the same.  Breakfast this morning with Jeff(husband) and then off on another drive to wherever we end up.  Actually, we just headed north down one of the main thoroughfares in OKC until it turned to gravel and then headed east. I forgot to pick up my camera before we left, so no pictures )-:  Saw lots of green pastures, farm ponds, cows, horses, birds, and large, large houses.  It was a very relaxing drive and enjoyed the countryside sites.  We arrived back home around 12:30pm to visit with Ashlee and Dominic for Mother's Day. Around 3pm headed to my Mom's house to visit with her.  Got back home around 5:30pm. Jeff had a meeting to go to and I am home now,  checking emails, blogs and enjoying "me" time.

Last Thursday (May 6) was my birthday.  I have never really thought about how old I was until this year.  I turned 58 and that sounds old when you say it. However, I have always thought of age as being just a state of mind, so even though it sounds old, in my mind I am not old, 35 years or so...lol.  Anyway, I had a great birthday day. I did things I wanted to do...painted the nursery room at Ashlee's home, for my new granddaughter, who will arrive around July 15.  Light pink is the color. Again did not have my camera so no pictures. When we get it all finished I will post pictures.  Birthday dinner was Mexican food(my favorite) with friends. It was a great birthday.

I received some very special gifts from An American Primitive Gathering, the ebay group I belong to.  Chris sent me these wonderful goodies.


She does awesome needlepunch and cross stitch work and I feel very privileged to have received some of her pieces.  Her ebay ID is mysticalprimitives. If you get a chance, go look at her listings. 

Kathy sent me some beautiful pieces of wool, along with a hooked flower pin that is gorgeous.  Some wonderful colors of DMC floss and a "primitives" shelf sitter.

I will be going to rughooking camp in a couple of weeks, so Jeff said he would just give me money to spend on rughooking patterns, wool, wool, and more wool.  I said that sounds great to me. Never can have too many patterns or too much wool.

Friday was my hand applique class. I have appliqued before, but decided I wanted to take a class to learn some new tricks and shortcuts. I enjoyed the class immensely. Will be doing 4 blocks out of "Baltimore Basics" by Mimi Dietrich. Here is the first block I have ready to start stitching.
Now, I am more of a primitive type person-reproduction fabrics, muted colors-but sometimes you have to get out of your box and try something new.  The fabrics I used are batiks.  I will probably just do the 4 blocks and make a wallhanging or put each block in a picture frame.  I did learn some new techniques that I can use in my primitive quilts and stitcheries.

What a busy week ahead! Rughooking on Tuesday. Serger class on Wednesday. Sewing Club on Thursday. Monday and Friday morning work at the office and then afternoon exercise workout. Hope to find some garden time also this week. Still need to plant some flowers. The weather has been so strange. Today it is actually pretty cool. Supposed to rain this evening. It has been overcast all day and it does look like it's getting a little dark in the west, so maybe it will rain. Could use it. Garden is starting to look  a little dry.

Well guess I better get back to my stitching. Would like to finish the first block so I can start on the second one.  I will try and post each block as I finish it.

Wishing everyone a blessed week. Give someone a big hug. Always keep smiling.

Blessings....patijane

Monday, May 3, 2010

What an enjoyable....

weekend I spent with family and friends.  Saturday was spent with Jeff(my husband).  First, we went to the Savage Quilter to buy fabric for the baby bedding I have volunteered to make. They were having an end of the bolt sale..40% off if you bought the whole bolt. Ashlee had found some bedding she liked on this website, sweetpeachesbedding and asked me if I could make it. So as any mother would do, I said of course. Never made anything like this before, but am going to try.  Will post the results at a later time.  After the quilt shop, we stopped at the Kolache Kitchen for breakfast and headed to El Reno for the Burger Day Festival.
The day is spent cooking an onion-fried hamburger that weighs about 750lbs.  We walked around and admired the cars in the car show, looked at crafts, and listened to a couple of bands playing.

 We hit the road again around 1pm, heading south.  We took the scenic roads.... you know, the old 2-lane highways that go thru the towns. Everything is nice and green and it was a very nice drive. We ended up in Chickasha, OK and ate a late lunch at Jake's Barbeque.  The barbeque was delicious; the servings were huge; and we brought enough home for two more meals. We headed home and spent the evening with family.
Sunday was Ashlee's baby shower given by her best friend, Lisa.
 Ashlee, and baby-to-be, Emma, received a lot of nice things, especially clothing. This baby will have plenty of clothes to wear for awhile. She even received a baby wipe warmer. I had never seen one, and surely didn't have one of those when I had my children. Ashlee's  Aunt Louise, got it for her. She had used one for her granddaughter and said it was the best thing ever.
I didn't get a picture of the last gift Ashlee received. Her Aunt Sharon made her the most beautiful wooden rocking horse. She painted it white and decorated it with pinks and black, like the crib bedding. It was gorgeous. I will take a picture and post it later.  Well that was my weekend...lots of fun and family time.  What could be better than that!!!!!!

Week ahead will be a busy one.  I have some work to do at the office for a couple of days. My one indulgence(besides buying wool and rughooking patterns), a pedicure, on Tuesday. My birthday is Thursday and I'm going to celebrate with a margarita and Mexican food..yum.  On Friday, I am taking a hand applique class, learning Baltimore Basics, at the Savage Quilter. I'm excited about the class. I have two applique quilts I want to do in the future so this class will give me the confidence to tackle them.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead. Enjoy the warm days and beautiful sunshine.  Tell someone you love them and always wear a smile. 

Blessings......patijane