Snowbirds Return to Second Tuesday Hook-In!

Nancy is not one of the snowbirds... but then neither am I!  LOL!  We only dream about heading south for the winter and returning home to northern Wisconsin in the Spring!  Today we welcomed our "snowbird" friends back to our monthly gathering here at Red House Wool Studio! More on them in a minute.  First you must feast your eyes on this marvelous finish by Nancy for her wool and velvet applique piece ( pattern by Rebekah Smith)! She attached it to an old wooden shelf given to her years ago by her mother! She painted the shelf with chalk paint to compliment the colors in her appliqué! Very well done Nancy... I love the creativity and the repurposing of an old piece!  Nancy tells us there used to be a mirror in the opening where she mounted the appliqué piece and a door that covered the little cubby space.  Quite the transformation of this old shaving mirror don't you think! 

We also welcomed a new face to our group today!  Meet Eileen! She's working on a beautiful kitty hooked piece that will be stuffed when finished!  It is a project I have to learn more about from the Wool Street Journal.  Isn't her hooking and use of color just great! Eileen has been hooking for 3 or more years and can't get enough!  I sure am glad she found us here in the north woods!  She is such a sweet lady and may have felt a bit timid meeting us wild hookers for the first time!  But I think she had a great time and we welcome her back next month!

Any body recognize this darling "Snowbird"?  LOL! It's BETSY!  Joining us again for the summer and working on a fun, colorful rug that I didn't get time to find out who the designer was! Betsy when you read this maybe leave a comment about the design for our readers! It's as if she brought all that Florida sunshine right back with her! Welcome back dear lady!

And Betsy's SIL who's name is Betsy is back too! ( below)  A "Snowbird" as well but if I heard correctly may be staying longer than the summer!  Wouldn't that be MAHvelous!!  

And... oh my... you won't believe this fun sheep rug she is working on! It's her design based on a photo!  She's cutting a piece of beautiful artisan dyed spot dyed wool ( of which I didn't get a photo of and could kick myself) and using it to hook the background. It's going to be a gorgeous background!  She plans to proddy hook the sheep's body and you can see one  she's already done!  This will be a fun one to watch as she progresses!  It's sooooo good to have both of our Betsy girls back in town!! 

Had to share a recent find that our second Betsy was able to snap up at an antique shop.... a wonderful vintage rug hooked with nylons!  In great shape and get this.... for only 12.00!   The colors have faded to that wonderful old softness I love in antique rugs!  What a buy!  Thank you for sharing it Betsy... it sure looked good on my old worn wood floors!  

Sharon our gal who survived a ruptured appendics last month and surgery is now doing great!  She looks younger than ever without those appendics doesn't she!!  And look at her going to town on a her latest rug, a design by Emma Lou Lais!  Wonderful  and classic.  Love the weeping willows! 

And it's VERY large!  We LOVE big rugs here don't we ladies!  Seems like everyone's working on a big rug except me!  LOL!

A  close-up of the house... using a big #10 cut I believe makes the hooking go so much faster!  Sharon is an expert with the wider cuts and does it with ease!  What a beauty this rug will be!! 

Celeste is not a "Snowbird"!  We won't let her go to Florida or any other place! LOL!  She is the most outstanding wool appliquer and rug hooker and always brings her latest creations to show and tell!

Her "Broken Arrow Alpaca" rug is hooked for neighbors who have Alpaca's and of course she used the wool yarn and roving from their animals to  hook into this piece!  I just LOVE those eyebrows!  What a wonderful gift Celeste!  And did you see her latest wool appliqué... a pattern by Buttermilk Basin!  It was started in the class she took when Stacy West attended our quilt show here in April!  Nice nice work!  

Remember Lorena and Saundra?!  Well they have returned as well from travels and winters in Fla. Hooking flowers and bringing more of that sunshine and warm spirit to the studio we welcome them back! I didn't get much of a chance to talk with them today... but I'm sure we'll see more of them this summer! I NEED to hear all the latest happenings in the hooking world down south!  

                                                           Every one concentrating so hard and waiting for lunch to be served!  How did I NOT  get a picture of all the goodies everyone brought to share.... let me say there was rhubarb in some of the baked things!!  And Gluten Free peanut butter cookies to die for... I could eat them... as I'm now living a Grain Free life... more on that in the future! Don't forget Celeste... I NEED that recipe!!

Wow.... look at the sweet rug MYA is almost done with!  A pattern by The Old Tattered Flag that she has adapted for a wedding gift for a young couple in her family! She's added the family name and date on the bottom to personalize it! 

Fun, lighthearted colors will be perfect for this couple she tells me! Mya has been hooking for such a short time and was lucky enough some friends of hers were able to snatch a townsend cutter second hand!  Almost unheard of to find one used!  But now she will be able to cut wool and hook to her hearts content!   Congrats on that cutter Mya!  It's every rug hookers dream to own one!!

A close-up of Mya's rug!  Great hooking and wonderful colors!

So there you have it! Some of the things going on here in the studio!  Did you happen to notice my new header photo?  Well... it's a sneak peek of a new design I've been working on!  Don't fall over!

I plan to release it as a paper pattern.... it's a bit larger than all my patterns I've released to date so need to work on the specifics a bit more!  

So stay tuned for a better look of the entire pattern!  I do like it myself! Quite an accomplish for me and long overdue!

Blessings!

Cathy G