1st Game board and some other goodies!

Game board #1 ~ Checkerboard hooked rug
1st in a series of 4

One more picture from our visit up North, snowy Mt. Mansfield......brrrrrr!!!

Future designs in the works, see the other three game board patterns that will be coming soon!

Caprese Salad...yum!

I wasn't going to show you the 1st Game Board until all four were done, but I just can't help myself.  What a fabulous job Mom did hooking it.  If you look in picture #3 you can see the  other 3 that will follow.  I asked that she hook them all in the same colors of red, white and blue with a nice soft brown for the "wood" detailing.  I love the colors they are so vintage looking.  Each game board pattern is 22 inches square and will be available very soon on the website.    www.theoldtatteredflag.com as well as the other designs you see in picture #3.  The other game boards will be parcheesi, Chinese checkers and backgammon.

I also wanted to show one more picture from the frozen tundra from our weekend.  It was cold, but man, that looks bad doesn't it??

Lastly, on our last night in Boston I had this great salad and wanted to try to making it at home.  I spread some pesto sauce on the bottom of the plate, then topped with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, then lightly drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of basil.  It is so good!!!

Keep checking back, we have lots of other goodies to share with you in the next weeks....

Until next time.....

Been out of town

I haven't had a chance to write in a few day as we just got back from up north. We left Friday morning and flew to Boston, spent the night with my mother in law then drove up through Vermont to Plattsburgh state to move our youngest in to college. He had been attending a small college in Boston but realized it was not for him so decided to transfer. I really miss the Northeast but.....holy crap was it cold. It was nice though to see the mountains of Vermont and the fun streets of Boston. On our way back to Boston we met with my sister and her family for dinner. It was a great evening.....3 hours and....ahem....several drinks later we still didn't cover every subject. Speaking of my sister, check out her blog, www.folkforallseasons.blogspot.com to see a couple of Santa's she has made for the Super Bowl sale at a local antique store in her town. She does a fantastic Santa holding a list with all the family members names. This guy is a great gift idea for grandparents or anyone for that matter.
Anyway, I digress, after a night in Vermont we continued on, stopped at my husbands alma mater, Norwich university, then onto the Cabot cheese store in Queechee (this is the best cheese, came home with three bricks, sage, tomato basil, and smoky bacon), then headed down to Lebanon, NH and had lunch at Lui Luis, a great Italian place. We then continued on to Boston and the Fannuel hall/Quincy market area. There was a snow storm so as you can see by my photos it was a ghost town, in fact, it was downright eerie. After a night stay in Boston we headed back to Missouri. Phew, it was a whirlwind trip, one though that convinced my husband and I that even though the Northeast can be freezing in January or February, the character and quaintness of the area makes up for it. I'm a Vermonter and he's from Massachusetts, and we know this is where we need to be. So, we hope to be back there very soon.
So, I am now back to work and already sent out a few orders today and drew a new Easter pattern, it's very cute, keep watching for it, and while I was gone Mom got most of my first game board hooked rugs done. There will be a series of four, all done in the same colors and OMG it is beautiful. I should have a picture on tomorrow.
So, that's what we've been up to. Hope this all finds you surviving this crazy weather we are having.
Until next time.......

Check out my sister's blog

Hi everyone, I told you a couple months ago that my sister was going to focus on her folk art Santa's full time now. She has just started a blog which will showcase her art. Check it out;
www.folkforallseasons.blogspot.com

"Homestead" is done!!

"Homestead" designed by Julie Thomas, hooked by Carol DeCoteau

Mom finished hooking "Homestead" today.  Isn't it beautiful??  The Pattern is available at www.theoldtatteredflag.com  Kit will be available soon.  

We've been super busy this week putting together orders due to our sale (10% off all woolens and patterns/kits) so haven't had much to to write.  I decided to take the day off today and do what I really love, which is designing.  I am currently working on about 8 new designs which I can't wait to show you, so check back.  

Until next time.....

Sale started at www.theoldtatteredflag.com

I decided to start the sale today. 10% off all wools, patterns and kits for one week. Happy New Year!

Lots of new things.....

There is a lot to show you today, we've been very busy!! Yesterday I finished the hooked Crow purse.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I decided to just hook the front and use a beautiful "tapestry" like fabric I had for the back.  I did my favorite "twisted wool" edge to hide the seams and the strap is a long piece of linen stripe wool.  This will hang at the hip.  The pattern and kit are both available right now in our "Rug Hooking" section.  www.theoldtatteredflag.com

Hooked Crow purse

Hooked Crow Purse ~ Back

We've been wanting to give you more options for our hand dyed wools and are happy to say we've finally got it.  Most of our lighter hand dyeds will now be available with options for your fabric.  If you want an interesting background mix 2 or 3 different wools of the same color.  See below how the same color, our bronze gold, was used but over 4 different wools; a solid, a texture, a check/plaid, and a stripe.  These are gorgeous and it gives you more choices!! 

Fabric options ~ you can now choose which wool you would like your hand dyed wools on.  Ex. solid, texture, check/plaid, or stripe.  This is a great way to give your rugs depth, mix the wools for a great look.

Mom comes down from her room every morning and says "Wow, that homestead rug is big!!"  I think she expected to have it done in her normal 3-4 days.  It is a large design but oh so fabulous.  She has chosen to do the background with our new Dark Cornfield.  We have had cornfield for quite some time, but she decided to double the batch for a grungier look.  If you look back at my older blogs you can see that she used the light cornfield in the background of the Family Tree rug, with the dark cornfield on the outer border.  What a great primitive look!

"The Homestead" in progress......beautiful!!

I Love, love, love this!!!  I wanted to do my own purse pattern so of course it had to be done with my favorite symbol.  

"Our Flag" available as a pattern or kit!
www.theoldtatteredflag.com

"Our Flag" ~ close up edging

Mom's been very busy dyeing!!!  See all our great new wools.  www.theoldtatteredflag.com 

"Marbles" available at www.theoldtatteredflag.com as well as 25 other new wools

I have to tell you that the "Hell's Joke" workout beat me.  I could do it as the soreness wore off, but a couple years ago I had to have injections in my knees as I was told I had arthritis.  Well, apparently the workout is not good for the knees, so I had to stop.  But, I am continuing with my 30 minutes on the elyptical, everyday.  I found this great idea on pinterest and gave it a try.  Mix together a can of fruity diet soda, with some fresh fruit and ice for a 0 Weight Watchers points treat.  It is really good!!  

0 point slush

Yum!!

So, that's it for now.  Watch for our newsletter later today and then our 10% off sale starting Thursday!  All wool and patterns/kits will be on sale.

www.theoldtatteredflag.com

Until next time......

Couple new things added to www.theoldtatteredflag.com

"Antique Horse" pattern small 17 x 23 $30

"Crow pocket/purse" punch needle pattern $16 

Vintage colors, my new favorite

Just a quick little note today.  I wanted to let you know that I added the small Antique Horse hooking pattern and the Crow pocket for punch needle to the website today.  Visit www.theoldtatteredflag.com to see them.  The Crow pocket will also be available for rug hooking in the next day or two.  I just finished hooking it and I LOVE IT!!  

I wanted to show you our vintage colors again as they are just fabulous and would be great for those primitive springtime projects. 

Better get back to work, so much to do, so little time....

Until next time....

"Hell's joke" workout and my buddy!

My work buddy!

Ok, Annette, I'm writing on my blog again.  I told Mom I can't possibly think of anything to write everyday, but then sometime presents itself.  

I told you yesterday how I was doing this new workout in my quest to lose my "12 Cookies of Christmas" pounds.  So, today the pain is even worse.  But, it's located in one area, my quads (that's the front of your thigh's right?).  I cannot tell you the pain involved in going up or down a step and let's just say a trip to the bathroom is not fun either, too much??  So, today, it is near 70 here, we thought we'd take the dogs for a walk and I thought, what a good way to "loosen" up before the "hell's joke" workout.  Well, all was well until.................the squirrel.  I had Max and Baxter on the leash, although they are not little dogs, are quite muscular.  I was dragged, hobbling along, trying to keep up and, not fall on the muddy path.  Mom was laughing hysterically!  A thought occurred to me..................why didn't I just let go?  

So, I did get day three in of the "hell's joke" workout after the "leisurely" walk and the only thing that keeps me going is 1. I'm the most stubborn person in the world and it will not beat me and 2.  I did sense that it was a little easier today.  Here's the "hell's joke" workout (and that's my name for it)

1. 100 crunches

2. 90 jumping jacks

3. 80 lunges

4. 70 squats

5. 60 seconds running in place

6. 50 second plank 

7. 40 jumping jacks

8. 30 squats

9. 20 high knee lifts

10. 10 push ups

It's all bad, not going to lie to you!  I am not in shape, but I can walk for a bit and do my elyptical for a 30 minute stretch but this workout forces you to use muscles you haven't seen in years.  You are suppose to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks.  Frankly I don't believe them, but, what can it hurt.......besides my quads!!

So, I thought I'd share a picture of my buddy.  Baxter loves to go to work with me everyday.  All I have to say is "let's go to the shop" and he's ready.  His spot is right on top of the couch.  I don't have any new stuff to show you, but, right now we are working on getting the 5 new designs hooked up, I am also hooking the Crow pocket purse and another flag purse that will be available in patterns.  We got in 8 new wools today and Mom has been dyeing up a storm so keep checking back to see all the new stuff.  Next week we will be having a January Funk Sale.  10% off all patterns, kits and wool.  You can really save some money so think about what you "need".

That's it for now.  I hope I brought a smile to your face describing my little leisurely walk...

Until next time....

Nancy's rugs and hey, I'm in pain!!!

I had a nice chat with the New York ladies today.  They are still gathering every two weeks to hook and that makes me happy.  They call us to talk on speaker phone, or, if we are lucky we chat through skype.  It's nice to see what everyone is working on, but, they've informed me that we are not there to light a fire under their "butts" so they are working slower than normal.  We'll have to do something about that.  They also told me that I need to blog everyday.  I told them that I am really quite a boring person so sorry, there just isn't anything to talk about everyday.  I will say though that I have become even more lax here than I was in NY.  I told myself that when I got here I was going to get into a better routine, well, I still am sometimes in my pajamas at 3pm drawing patterns. There's nothing wrong with that right??  I'm lucky to be able to work from home in my pj's!!!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  
As I write today I am sitting here in pain.......self inflicted!!  I am back on weight watchers and decided to do this wonderful workout routine I saw on pinterest.  It says if you do it everyday for 2 weeks you will lose 10 pounds.  Hey, I'll give anything a try.  Well, I was proud of myself, I was able to finish it...............but, when I walked out to my studio shortly after I nearly fell down the stairs as my legs had turned into noodles.  Today the noodles are gone, but there is intense pain.  The worst thing is I haven't done the workout yet but am heading in after I write to do the damn thing.  I WILL NOT GIVE UP!!!  
Nancy stopped in today to pick up her next project.  She finished her "Farm Friends" rug and is now color planning a wonderful star quilt and then is going to hook Polly Minick's 4th of July parade.  That's a huge rug but I can't wait to see it done.  I have shown you some of her work below.  
I made this cute little pin cushion for Mom for Christmas.  It took three little pieces of wool, some stuffing, some embroidery thread and something neat to mount it on, I used this vintage looking gold flower pot, then finished it off with vintage pins, safety pins and a vintage looking pair of scissors.  Mom loved it, but when I mentioned the other day the pin cushion that I made for her she look quizzical.  She didn't know I made it, thought I had bought it.  Gee, thanks Mom!!
Lastly, I just wanted to show you our new packaging for our kits.  I've been told it's like getting a gift.  I sure would like to receive one!!!  
Until next time.....

Nancy finished our "Farm Friends" pattern, she made the cow look just like one on their farm.  Nice job Nancy!!

Nancy binds her rugs with wool strips, just love the look, so nice and primitive!!

Another rug by Nancy, sorry I do not know the designer...

Here's a little, well, it's not so little pin cushion I made Mom for Christmas..

New packaging for our kits!!

Candles, Rugs and Mom in a headband!! What??

I always get these wonderful ideas, then when I'm in the middle of them I think, "who the hell thought of this".  That was "the 12 Cookies of Christmas".  I thoroughly enjoyed the comments from you all and knowing that we were passing our recipes along, but if I saw one more cookie, I was going to kill someone.  I could have just posted some random picture of the cookie, but NO, we had to bake and eat all of them!!  So, when New Years came around and I was faced with making a dessert for the meal I took the easy way out.  Thanks to Wal Mart for my favorite dessert, pecan pie, which I had one piece of and then promptly threw it away because I'm now back on weight watchers.  "The 12 Cookies of Christmas" helped me to put on 6 pounds over the holidays.  Oh well!!

No more baking for New Years day, thanks Wal-Mart...


Mom is going to kill me for this one, but I just had to show you our evening of a very fun game called "Headbandz".  You have to guess what you are by asking yes or no questions.  Sounds easy but it's not and just love the look!!

What a face!!!  Headbandz is THE game!!

I'm so happy to finally offer the best candle there is out there.  Trust me!  Both pretty and even better smelling I have 4 scents at the website, www.theoldtatteredflag.com in our Odds-n-Ends section.  You won't be disappointed if you get one, there are limited quantities.

Americana Vintage Candles now available!!

Our Booth at Bear Ridge Antiques

......booth again....

Dee, a very nice lady, has offered us a larger space at her antique store so we spent yesterday filling it up. Hopefully we can bring rug hooking to more ladies in this part of Missouri!!

I saved the best for last, Mom has finished hooking her first of the five rug patterns I presented her for Christmas.  This one was specifically for her as I put her and my Dad on the top branches and myself and my brothers and sisters on the lower branches.  The hearts represent our spouses/significant others and children and the tiny heart coming off a heart (under Joseph) is his daughters daughter.  The background of the tree is our cornfield and the outer border is a darker version of cornfield.  Just beautiful!!

"Our Family Tree" hooked rug pattern now available!
Just stunning!

 I do have to say that 2013 is really starting off with a bang.  On Jan. 1 we received news that the furnace in our NY home was not working, then my phone died and last night I got a crack in my windshield.  Well, they say things happen in threes so I hope that's it for now......fingers crossed.

Until next time.....

Two ideas for the butter molds

Butter Mold Chair pads ~ Light Version

Braided Table Mat

About a year and a half ago I designed a set of chair pads inspired from some antique butter molds.  They have been tremendously popular.  Well, to my surprise my Mother hooked me a set for my Birthday back in October.  This time she went with a lighter version, a tan background.  It's amazing to see the same design but with the color difference isn't it?

Also wanted to show you a neat Christmas gift she gave to me.  She made this cute little braided table rug with the selvage ends from pieces of wool.  How cute.  Honestly, we don't throw any wool scraps away.  We stuff pillows with out wool snippets.  It gives them a denser feel.  

For the butter mold patterns/kits, visit www.theoldtatteredflag.com

Until next time.....