...............a couple more things for today!

I know I already wrote this morning about the giveaway, but I'm sitting here right now, with the door to the studio open, listening to the peepers, while Mom is putting some kits together, and I'm putting off going in to make dinner so I thought I'd write again.  I just had to show you some things....

In case you didn't get my newsletter, here is a new design at www.theoldtatteredflag.com  "Here Kitty, Kitty"  is 18 x 45 and I designed it back in 2006 based on a stray we took in.

"Gary's Garden" is named for my Dad. Sentimental to us, I designed it 3 years ago and what use to make me sad, now makes me happy......fond memories of our good times in upstate NY and my Dad!  Mom only got it partially hooked before running out of the background.  She's going to have to pull it all out and start over again as we cannot get the wool anymore.

This is why I really wanted to write......Nancy came by today for some more wool and I love to show you the progress on her quilt block rug.  Absolutely beautiful!!!!!

.....and another one of Nancy's rugs.  I'm speechless, I love this guy!!! Look how she did the tail.  She couldn't remember the designers name.  If anyone knows please tell me as credit should be given!!  Nancy's a great hooker!

I just got a big box of floss in for my punch needle patterns which I will now be offering as kits.  If anyone has any questions about these, before I get a chance to get them on, let me know.....theoldtatteredflag@yahoo.com I will be overdyeing some of them where needed in my patterns.  It is Sullivan's thread and I prefer it as it doesn't have the sheen on it and does not tangle easily.  8.7 yds. per skein  .40 per skein

One more close up of Nancy's quilt rug.  She's using a mix of our Maple Sugar and Butter Wools in the background and the border is our Fall Blanket Stripes wool.

Ah.....spring!!

Theresa brought by some embroidered quilt blocks she's working on.....very cute!!  

Just a little corner in the studio where I put one of my faux tin signs that will soon be available on www.theoldtatteredflag.com

Everyone have a great weekend!!
Until next time......

Wool Bundle Giveaway.....and newsletter is going out today!

Just a quick little blurb today.....I'm sending out the newsletter so look for that in your inbox in a few minutes.  If you are not on our distro list and would like to be, send me an email at theoldtatteredflag@yahoo.com and request to be on our newsletter list.  It's features new designs, patterns, wool, recipes, crafts and other things.....

Also to enter our raffle for this nearly 2 pound bundle of great primitive woolens, email me with your name and say "WOOL BUNDLE".  The drawing will be April 5.  The bundle is a nice mix of some hand dyed, textures, herringbone, blends, a great addition to your wool stash......

I'm off to the accountant to do our taxes, ugh!!

Until next time.....

So much I wanna do, so little time...

It's a snowy day here in Missouri, I'm hoping it's the last one we have, after all, it is spring!!  I expected this weather up in NY, but not here.  Anyway though, I love a crappy Sunday, it makes me feel less guilty if I putter around the house doing mundane things in my pajamas.  

Right now I have my hands in so many different pots that I am getting a little overwhelmed.  Yesterday I woke up at 5 am and decided to get up because, the minute I have a creative thought sneak in my head, it's all over, I can't get back to sleep.  Plus, I had one son on the road driving to Myrtle Beach for spring break and the other one was flying out to head back to school.  It's tough being a mom sometimes!!  Much harder to be the Mom of older kids than younger ones.  At least the younger ones are under your roof and you know where they are most of the time.

Before he did leave though I made Jeremy his favorite breakfast, stuffed french toast with Strawberries!!  Yum!

Jeremy's breakfast

Mom finished up the third in my game board series "Backgammon".  She did a great job as usual, gosh I just love the colors we chose!! Next is the most daunting one, the Chinese checkers.  Lots of little "holes" to hook.  I know why she saved it for last.  

"Backgammon" Game Board   Great job Mom!!
Look for the pattern and kit soon on www.theoldtatteredflag.com 

In between all the smaller rugs, Mom is also plugging away on our "Christmas in New England" tree skirt.  At 52 inches round, and with lots of little subject matter, this one has taken awhile.  In fact, she has been a hooking demon lately so needs to take a break today as her right arm is bothering her.  She hooks with her left hand, but her right arm that holds the frame is the one bothering her.  This happens to me too, does it happen to you??  

"Christmas in New England" tree skirt progress

She did the snow with a hand dyed silver gray off white wool.  For the record (Kitty, you should be good with your two yards), she had 1 1/2 yards for herself and just ran out at the very end so will have to dye more.  

For the background she wants to use a hand dyed dark blue, for the night sky, so she threw about 5 yards of different wools in the dye pot.  Some as you can see, came out lighter than others.  She is going to re-dye, some more to be darker.  We both feel that although a mix of the blues would be great, since there is so much subject matter, the mix might make it too busy.  A soft mottle will be great though!

For the past couple of days I have been working on getting my Stars and Flowers gigantic pattern on monks cloth.  I am going to do the wool applique pattern in antique blues as I mentioned before, and had thought I'd have mom hook it in the same colors, but have since changed my mind.  I think I'm going to have her hook it with an Antique Black background with the greenery a nice vintage green and for the flowers and buds, red and gold.  I think the red, gold and green will really pop from the Antique Black and it will be stunning.  So, my next step is to cut out the wool pieces for the applique and get to stitching. Mom says she wants to really put some thought into this before she starts hooking it, but the funny thing is, when I give her a new design, she's like a kid and just can't wait to "play" with it.  I'm betting she starts hooking it before the end of the week...

"Stars and Flowers" Hooked Rug pattern   ~ 50 x 62 inches

1/4 yd. Carpetbag purses

I am also in the process of developing a pattern for Carpetbag purses.  The body of the purse will use a 1/4 yd piece of wool.  In the pattern I will offer the templates for all four of the seasonal bags you see above with instructions on how to put them together.  So fun!!

So, as you can see, we are working on lots of fun things.  I'll keep you posted on the progress of them and let you know when patterns are available on the website. Have a great Sunday everyone!!

Until next time....

Spring? Oh Spring?? Where are you??

I know that compared to upstate NY, where we lived last year, this is only a smattering of snow, but....really!!??  Enough already!!  The birds have been out, chirping loudly as if to say the same thing!!  Spring?  What spring??

Funny, very funny!

If it were December, this might be pretty!!

 I am so excited to show you my next big design, and I do mean big!!  I've had it in my head for some time.  I have always loved Baltimore Album Quilts and wanted to do a wool applique one and hooked rug, so, take a look at the first steps.  I knew I wanted the subject to be stars and greenery with a few delicate flowers and my color scheme is going to some fabrics I showed you a while ago, a grungy tan background with vintage green, antique blue and old white.  I can't wait to get started appliqueing it and I plan to get it on monks cloth for Mom today.  It will be 52 x 60 inches, a labor of love but a true masterpiece for anyone who decides to tackle it.  I will be pencil coloring it today and keep showing you the progress on it both in hooked and appliqued versions.  Oh heck, I'll make it available for punching too!!

A big undertaking!

This one below is a small wall quilt I am making for myself.  I am really NOT a quilter but am pleased with how it is coming out.  Next comes the batting and backing!

In comparison.....a small undertaking....

In our never ending quest for organization we finally finished "The BOOK".  It will always be known as "the BOOK" and we will know what that means.  Every design is on a single page with the size, price for pattern, price for kit, wool colors and required amounts and so on.....

It feels so good to get this done!!  We have 103 designs...

The BOOK!

Where women create.....well, ok, at least where Carol creates.  I don't do a lot of sewing, instead hand it to her and I think she likes that because there are two things I'm bad at, plants and sewing machines.  I HATE when the bobbin runs out and you can hear me shreik!!  I just thought I'd snap a few pictures of where I can find Mom most of the time...

The sewing room

More sewing room....Mom is about to finished her Antique Horse rug.  I just bought her that cork roll at Hobby Lobby. I'm sure it won't take long before it's filled with scraps, ideas, and patterns.  It was a great deal and great idea for a sewing room, 14 x 96 inches, 14.99, but I had a 40% off coupon.  Good deal!

Whenever we go to Hobby Lobby or Joann's I can always find Mom in the fabric section looking at patterns and she is always looking at the shirt or purse patterns.  Take a look at her stash, and the thing is, they are all very similar.  I always joke, "yea, you must need that because I think that sleeve is a couple inches longer than that other pattern you have"  We all have our addictions don't we?  I guess a pattern addiction isn't a bad thing, eh? 

Oh, I'm sure I don't have that shirt or purse pattern!!

Well, I'm off to the mundane of cleaning house and paying bills so I can do the fun.  Which project to start with??  I didn't even show you my new purse design, 1/4 yd. carpetbag purses, one for each season will come in the pattern....you'll have to check back to see them....

.....Until next time......

Some beautiful quilts by Nancy, great dyed shirts and an Evening out....Nan

It's been strange here, business is a little slow this week, which is fine, because we are really trying to catch up on the never ending organizing, and trying to get some finished items made for the website.  We did have some local ladies visit the studio three days this week.  Nancy stopped by and showed up some of her handiwork.  My gosh, she is just so talented.  

Nancy's Be-Attitude quilt, man, this is just impeccable!!  I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the designer.  If anyone knows, let me know!

A beautiful blue work baby quilt made by Nancy!  

Oh and she has started the blocks on her hooked quilt rug that I showed earlier!!

I had some white shirts in my closet that I wanted Mom to experiment with.  I like tie dye, but it tends to really be too bold for me, so I asked her to try dyeing my shirts.  Well, they came out beautiful.  I showed them with the straw hat because I think they will just be so comfy and pretty with some white pants and sandals this summer.....

Dyed Cotton Shirt!

Dyed Tshirt!

and my favorite....a dyed linen shirt!

There are quite a few foreign officers stationed here at Fort Leonard Wood and this past Friday they hosted a dinner to show their appreciation to their American counterparts.  I HATE having my picture taken, so this is a big thing to be showing you our picture.  First, I have to explain the hair.  I am trying to grow out my layers, and....the water here does things to my hair that have never been seen before.  I look like I'm right out of the eighties, but oh well, I thought it was a good lead photo in to tell you about the wonderful evening.  I also want to tell you that I was not the only one with my camera photographing the food.  It was a wonderful evening, probably one of the best formal events we've been to in 25 years.  The foreign officers really know how to throw a party!!

An evening out for Mike and Julie......he didn't want me to use this picture because his bow tie is crooked, but, it's the one I like the best, except for that 80's hair I have going on.

Wow, look at that happy face, you'd think he doesn't like getting all gussied up!

I have been doing cycle one of the 17 day diet for about 2 weeks and have managed to drop 14 lbs, (thankfully the dress zipped right up) so I headed into this evening with a lot of apprehension about the 5 Course meal.  Gosh darn it, I tried to be good, but my reasoning was that it would have been rude not to eat, right?? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

The menu and a little treat for later!  

First Course ~ a pastry horn filled with greens with a sweet dressing, pate and brie!  It was delicious!

Second Course ~ Mango sorbet served in an illuminated ice sculpture...

Hmmm, this is neat, how can I get it home??

Third Course ~ Beef Wellington with side of seasoned veggies...

Fourth Course ~ Sugared pastry cone filled with vanilla mousse with fresh fruit on the side...I forgot to snap a picture of it before I dug in...You can't even imagine how good this was.  I did force myself to only eat half though!!

Fifth Course ~ Assortment of cheeses with crackers and Port Wine.. 

It seems silly to say this, but because I was really blowing the diet out of the water I brought home these for Mom, which is really saying a lot because this is my favorite chocolate....

The MP Table. The British officer at the end was our host, a very nice young officer!!

It was a great night!!

Until next time......

A little of this and a little of that....

It is really beautiful and sunny outside, probably close to 60 degrees.  Isn't it something how your attitude and mood improve with the weather?  I just love hearing the birds chirping outside and the peepers at night.  Spring is here in Missouri, I love it!  

Mom and I went to St. Louis yesterday to engage in a bit of retail therapy.  We succeeded!  We left Hobby Lobby with a cart full then headed to the mall.  There is no mall here in Rolla.......................the horror!!  So we have to drive to St. Louis to support our habit.  I'm not a big mall person, but really, no mall?  Sometimes you just need to SHOP!

So, with that, we've still been busy so here are a few things that have been happening over the past few days!!

Mom finished my "Antique Horse" pattern.  How beautiful!!  The background is our Old Green Blanket wool.  It really looks like an old rug, all the wools are nice and faded.

By the way, we still have the small sheep snippet holder left if anyone wants it.  It will be listed on the website and available to everyone, not just my bloggers very shortly, so get it now!!   

Faux tin signs I'm working on.  I posted these on facebook and got a lot of very nice comments.  From afar they look great, but close up I am still not happy with them so am going to tweak them some more.  They will then of course be available at www.theoldtatteredflag.com
If you have one you want special made, just let me know!

I think the "faux" tin looks cheap so am going to redo the lettering!  I've figured out a trick that will make them look real!!

I've shown you this all finished.  "Easter Delivery" pattern and kit are available at www.theoldtatteredflag.com
I hadn't shown you the yarn edging Mom did.  I love yarn and cord edgings the best.  If you want to see a video on hooked rug edgings, visit our youtube channel.  Click on the link below:
The Old Tattered Flag Youtube Channel

Close up of the yarn edging.  Love it, very professional edging!

Oh my goodness, look at Nancy's next project.  It is 52 x 60 and is designed by Patti at Saltbox Primitive Woolens.  

This is going to be visually stunning!

Color planning!

Nancy wanted a fall color scheme, I think these wools will do the trick!!  She got that amazing spot dyed piece I showed the other day on the blog!

Wow!! Teresa cut each square by hand!!  It is a queen size quilt!

Amazing!

Oh yea, here's another project Nancy is working on.  This one is designed by Barb Carrol.  I LOVE IT!!  Those great wools came from www.theoldtatteredflag.com  who says I'm not a self promoter.....


Until next time!!