Where do I even start.....?

I don't have to tell you that it's been awhile since I've written, do I?  I have so much to write about and tell you that I almost don't even  know where to start.  Prepare yourselves, this could be a long one....

After 25 years of being an Army wife and moving my business from one place to another we have finally "broken ground" on The Old Tattered Flag shop.  A few years ago I dabbled with a little gift shop in the back of our Stone house, but it was tiny and I could only half commit to it because I had two boys in high school and a husband who deployed every other year and there were "military wife" duties.  And, it wasn't Rug Hooking and textiles like I'm doing now, it was little primitive things.  But, now that hubby is retired from the Army we have finally dug in!!  We have a lot of room to expand in this house so we are renovating a very large mudroom in the back into a second kitchen/laundry room that will be used for Mom's dye kitchen.  She is so excited!!  That room is right next to my office.  From there, the next room over is the garage which we are turning into the shop.......

One side of the mudroom....

...another side of the mudroom....scary!!

The wiring and water are all set up, now to finish the walls, ceiling, flooring and then the fun part for me, the cosmetic work.  After that we start the garage!!

In the meantime Mom and I have been getting ready for the hook-in with Betsy Reed from Heavens to Betsy.  I have to say, she is just the nicest lady.  A lot of people in business can be a bit guarded about helping others in the business but she has always been very generous with her knowledge and has really given us a lot of good tips and information.  She put on a very nice hook-in and treated us very well.  Betsy if you are reading this, thank you very much and also to Eric and Erica (and Erica's husband too, who provided an excellent meal)

So, we have been preparing for the hook-in with a few new goodies......

Mom wanted to offer our "A Hooking We will Go" bag in another color.  This color will be available as a kit shortly on the website...

I had the urge to hook a couple weeks ago so gave this cute little Blue and Tan plaid table mat a try...

The pattern/kit is available on the website, click here: 

Blue and Tan Plaid Table Mat

I have been having a ball with "doodling" and have decided to start a new business venture.  Folk Doodles is a new up and coming business that will be run by my Son Josh.  We are developing a website and will soon be offering my doodles as t-shirts, notecards, prints and who knows what else.  Keep watching, this is exciting!!  In the meantime, watch for this Rug Hook Doodle t-shirt to be on the website within the week.

 ....as well as these cute doodle notecards.....

....back to the hook-in (wow, I'm all over the place in this one)....more preparation......

....

fabric to be measured, labeled and put together for hooking kits......

....more fabric to be measured and labeled for wool applique kits.....

....new woolens ready to go, these beauties have already been added to the WOOLENS page at the website...click here to see:  

Woolens Page

Wool of the month bags for February 2014

..watch for them this week on the website.....

It's always risky in upstate NY to plan anything.  We said yes to the "hook in" knowing that we could be traveling in a blinding snowstorm and sure enough, two days before us it hit.....thankfully it was over as we left....

So, with the trailer packed to the brim with wool, patterns, hooks and more and with the driveway and roads plowed, we headed out Friday morning.  We set up our display and were ready to go.....

....the hall before the hookers arrived....

.....our display.....

...these next photos are of the beautiful rugs that were being worked on....I was speechless at the artistry of these women.  You will see what I mean.... 

Is this awesome??  The woman hooking this was not at the table so I didn't get to ask her details about her work, but what an artist!

The woman hooking this chose not to be in the picture, but told us this was a picture of her niece.  The detail is impeccable!

....another rug hooked by the woman hooking her niece above...

.....meet Benita Raleigh of "Fancy Work Rug Barn".  Look at the neat way she hooked the front of the owl....

....we finally got to meet Ellen a longtime customer....she had just finished our "All Hallow's Eve" design and was working on our "Farm Friends".....it was so nice to meet you in person Ellen!!

I photographed this woman's rug a couple of years ago, it was another very large rug.  Here she is working on a very pretty floral.....just lovely!

...beautiful colors...... 

....breathtaking tones.......

Here's a beautiful floral that I wish I had taken a whole picture of.  She did a beautiful basket weave/check border....

This woman was hooking a Rug that was inspired from an Israeli design.  The purple shades are just beautiful.

The woman in the blue shirt (sorry I didn't get your name) was working on a beautiful rug using larger strips.  I just love the look of hooking with the larger strips.  I wish I had gotten a close up of her work....

Look at the size of this amazing runner.  Although it's not primitive it truly was amazing....and she was hooking with a #3!!!

This lady was a real card, very nice and look at the mermaid rug she is working on!!

Here's Eric with the wonderful Bolts of wool from Heaven's to Betsy.  Thanks to him for helping us unload and with the lighting for our display....

....and here's the hall after the hook in.  I just love this picture because if you notice the floor is covered with wool snippets, just like our floor at home....

...and of course never one to come home empty handed I did come home with one goody.  I think I have a coverlet addiction!!

I usually end my blogs with a funny picture of Baxter, but since he was not able to attend the hook-in with us I decided to share this one...........

(Mom loves her desserts)......she's going to kill me, LOL!!!

Keep watching, there are lots of good things to come here at

The Old Tattered Flag!!

Until next time.....