Yes Virginia.... There is an Easter Bunny!

I just had to share the cheerful and wonderful color selection that Deb Tomsheck from Ohio is using to hook my Spring Bunny pattern!  A sight for sore eyes that see  nothing but piles of white here in northern WI!  It always amazes me to see someone else's wool picks for my designs!  I love the textured wools she's using for the bunny and how it brings that little carrot chomping critter to life!  

I look forward to seeing the finish on this fun and light-hearted rug!

Thank you Deb for sharing!

You can still purchase the paper pattern to hook your own Spring Bunny!  Look for the PayPal button in the upper left corner of my blog.   As always you can email me for my address to purchase the pattern with a check by snail mail.

Where there is colorful wool there is hope!

Let not a day go by without fondling a piece!

  

Cathy G

Still Time to Sign Up for Beginning Rug Hooking Class!

Max whispered in Smokey's ear "Don't worry... Mom doesn't mean it when she says she wishes all this snow would melt tomorrow..... it's so fun playing in it and watching Dad shovel snow off the roof!" 

Truth be told little doggies.... Mom DID mean it.... and you two were just lucky we had to postpone your grooming appointment yesterday because of the blasted storm!

My beginning rug hooking class at the technical college was postponed as well.... next Thursday we will try again.. Feb. 27th at 6:00 pm.  The high temp for the day is supposed to be minus 4.  Oh we can handle that ladies and gentleman!  After all it's northern WI!  We are tough little doggies here!!

So if you live here ( and are still sane enough to want to try your hand at rug hooking, call the school 800-243-9482 ext. 5410 and sign up!  There's still time!  

Bring your scissors and wear your long johns!!

Cathy G

New Spring Hooked Rug Design!

Thank you for all your fun comments on my last post!  A mug of glug to chug on a cold winter's day and a giggle or two helped lighten the mood around here considerably!  It's always the best hearing from my friends from all over the place!  And welcome to all of my new blog readers!  I see many have hopped on board lately to see what's going on around the Orange Sink residence!

Speaking of hopping....

How about a new hooked rug pattern to start hooking and dreaming a little of Spring!  That little rabbit I was hooking turned into this sweet oval design!  I LOVE an oval-shaped rug!  Something so sweet about it to hang or sit atop an oval shaped paper mache' box!  I love mine hanging on my old antique cupboard in the studio!   

The rug measures 11 by 15 inches.

The paper pattern is full sized ready for you to transfer to your own backing!

The cost is $9.75 and .50 for postage.  

Look for the PayPal button in the upper left corner of the blog!

As always if you don't use Paypal and would like to send a check please email me for my address!

I would love to hear your comments about this new design!  

Hubby spotted some rabbit tracks in our front yard ( which is covered with at least 2 1/2 feet of snow right now) where the rabbit came scampering up to the high snowbank and then jumped down onto the driveway.  The banks are at least 5 feet high on each side of the drive.  I am just happy to know the rabbits are making it through the severe winter here.  

I  dedicate this rug to their hardiness and the hope they bring for Spring that is sure to come!

Not soon enough little wabbit....... for you and for me!!

Cathy G

Rather than whine and cry about it....

January quite contrary!  Five days left to go!  I won't miss you... not one bit!

 A few days ago while shopping at Walmart with my Mom I grabbed an obnoxious cart that had wheels that kept turning to the left.  A normal person with brains would have turned back and found a different cart that pushed straight. But we're not talking normal here.... it was another freezing cold day with actual below 0 temps. I was worried about my lettuce freezing on the way home. And I'm like a mad woman on a mission in Walmart!   Nothing  normal here at all... nupe!!  I pushed that dang cart through the whole store with my Mom's groceries as well as mine weighing the thing down! It was like wrestling with a Sumo wrestler!  I kept feeling this twinge of pain in my right hip. No worry I thought.. 

A couple of days later......

Let's just say Ibuprofen and my comfy hooking chair have been my best friends of late.

I feel like the "Karate Kart" got the best of me! 

Rather than "whine and cry"  about it I have resorted to hooking up a little something hopeful and possibly pattern worthy to take my mind off my misery. 

It's in the prototype stage... with wool as well as design.  I need to hobble out to the studio and rifle through my wools to see what else may work for the background with that little brown  wabbit.

I may grab a carrot to nibble on.... 

Seriously... I know we are all on the same page with this wacky winter that wants to drive us all insane..  but since I'm already there won't you join me? 

Repeat after me..

Winter Winter we don't care...

we have wooly underwear

that we can tug or 

make a rug

and have a mug 

of ....??

help me out here...

a mug of......

Cathy G.

My Newest Rug Design~

I want to give a huge Thank-you! to all who purchased my "Merry Christmas" pattern!  Hopefully you had time to get it hooked before Christmas or perhaps you're working on it now!

In any event you will have a beautiful rug to display next year!  I was feeling kind of blue thinking about putting mine away after the Holidays.... so that is what partly inspired me to come up with my new design "Home Sweet Home."  One of my dear, sweet customers had mentioned to me that she would like a rug the same size and style of lettering as the "Merry Christmas" rug with the sentiment "Home Sweet Home."  So here it is!  

I chose antique-looking textured brown wools for the background.  I wanted red for the lettering... but as some of you seasoned rug hookers know, red has a way of blending in with brown if you stay with the same values   (lightness or darkness) of wools. Determined to have my red lettering I ended up taking a very thin strip of deep navy wool ( #3cut) and carefully hooked between the rows outlining each letter.  WALLA!  It worked! The letters are showing up better, and I think it made it look more like an antique sign which is exactly what I was after!

The runner is 8 by 25 inches. I added a couple of rows around the outside of mine, making it a little wider and longer. 

I love this rug no matter where I display it.... it would look sweet over a primitive shelf or how about on the wall over your bed in the bedroom.  It would make a lovely housewarming gift for some one too!  The ideas are endless!

You can hook your very own "Home Sweet Home" rug using the paper pattern I'm offering for sale right here on my blog.

Hop right up to the left hand corner and you will see the Paypal button.  As always if you want to send a check or Money Order just email me for my address. USA and Canada only please.... if you are in another country email me so I can ship with correct postage.

p.s. I plan to hook this rug again using only neutral colored wools...

wouldn't that be lovely?!!  

Thank-you for allowing me to offer my design!

And Thank-you for supporting me in my home-based business!!

Ahhhh!!  Home Sweet Home!!

Cathy G