'A Lady'

I have a 'secret' board on Pinterest that I collect my favorite things- vintage images that inspire me. Many of them come from boards of historical attire or old vintage dolls. I love seeing the detail that those dresses had to them- and the beautiful colors- creams, pinks, deep maroons, blues of every shade, greens and golds. Dresses embellished with lace, ribbon and even flowers!

This is going to be a small rug made of three dresses. I imagine these dresses could all belong to the same woman. At least, right now, I see one dress being for everyday- working in the field, possibly tending to her animals or gathering lavender! This dress that you see might be for a tea or going to town- maybe shopping. And the third dress, I see her wearing to a formal event- hoping for a dance with the man dear to her heart.

This is so fun! What possibilities might there be
to 'dress up' the one who wears these dresses?

'Bonnets'

I just came back from a weekend with my best friend. It is starting to become a yearly trip we take together- visiting her mother and family. I enjoy very much visiting with her 82 year old mother- "Mother Hensheid" as I have nick-named her. I love to hear her tell me stories about raising her children and it is so encouraging to me to hear the stories of her children's lives through her eyes. My best friend is her youngest at 50 years of age and so it is very enjoyable to hear of times of sorrow that turned to joy for her over the years.

As we worked- her with her embroidered pillowcase of roses and me with my hooking, I listened and soaked in every word. I treasure 'Mother Hensheid's' life, her family and her story. If there is anything that I have gleaned from her, it is that 'the story is not over until the story is over' told in her gentle and sweet way.

'Bonnets' is a pattern I designed that I hope you can make a fun adventure- a bit of playing 'dress up' for the girl in your heart. I have drawn out the pattern so that you can hook the ruffles or create pleats that you sew on as I did. What colors would you choose? Do you have some old buttons you want to add?

I started hooking this pattern in salmons and browns but changed my mind midway through and decided to go with colors that are tried and true loved! Blues and browns. Please do no not hesitate to contact me with any questions at all.

Fancy Needlework and Vintage Heart Hand Spun Wool

Used with the permission of Wendy Piersall of Vintage Fan Girl. She has both a blog and an Etsy shop that I adore!!

"She watched and taught the girls that sang at their embroidery frames while the great silk flowers grew from their needles." - Louise Jordon Miln, The Feast of Lanterns

Months ago, I saved this image to a private board I have on Pinterest. I fell in love the moment I saw it. Many nights I have sat with my lap-top open to this image as I play with my pencil and paper. I just absolutely love the whole idea of a sweet little girl- and the flowers!! put onto the side of this spool. 

As I have shared, I have a design that will be in the very next issue of Primitive Quilts. Daily, I have to pinch myself. I am nervous, exited, worried, happy- all at once. I keep remembering how I would get before a high school dance many years ago. I would be so exited but sooooo nervous. My mother would be so glad when it was all over because pre-dance, I would get the silly giggles and accidentally  break things in my sheer anticipation. Well, I don't have the giggles but I admit I am nervous. It has been in my mind to create a design with quilters and stitchers and embroiderers in mind as I know that that is what Primitive Quilts is made up of. So when I saw this little spool........

my mind started moving

and wondering how to make it special for ladies that love to stitch.

'Fancy Needlework'

I am admitting right now that I don't sew. I admire women that do. If I could, I would make dolls. I would give them personalities and little dresses. I would create each one individually but I cannot. So, I think that is why I enjoy giving life to the 'girls' in my rugs- there are dresses to think about and bonnets or hair- where is she? What is she doing? This girl with needle in hand is in her garden and she is inspired by the beautiful blooms and buzzing bees as she takes them captive with her needle and thread!

I also want to share with you photographs that my spinner, Deb Taylor, sent me a couple weeks ago. I understand that some of you may be spinners yourself and these photographs may be 'nothing new' but to me, someone who admires women who can and do spin, these pictures were great!! This is an order I placed with Deb- 10 50 yard skeins of what she and I call 'Vintage Heart Hand Spun.' She has dyed it, and created the variation that I LOVE using for my sheep and now am offering in my Etsy store. I admit, I am pretty picky and Deb is awesome!! 

Vintage Heart Primitives

https://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageHeartPrims?ref=si_shop

If you are interested in seeing what else Deb has to offer, here is the link to her Etsy store.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/NapaValleyFiber

This will create more sheep!

Bees and Rosebuds

"Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew, especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Fawn, 1859

I have had a little sketch in my sketchbook that has developed over the weeks. There is a bit of a surprise that I have for you- something you may not be suspecting- it is what surrounds this industrious young woman. Weeks ago, I came upon an old vintage image- one I will share when this is all finished. It was all I needed to set the wheels in my mind moving - even into the night as colors and imagery kept me from sleep. In the morning, I would look upon my sketch again as I woke up with my morning coffee.

On a side note, I have to say that I love and ADORE the rug-hooking pattern that was featured in Primitive Quilts Spring issue- Tonya Robey of Mad Hen Primitives. Sooooooo......I am hooking it a bit at a time- one lambs-tongue at a time- using scraps of past projects- what do you know? Tonya Robey's pattern includes a cute little lady- my favorite! I am trying to decide if I will hang it or allow it on a floor- I do know one thing- I love the design!!

My 'Needle Work' project should not take long to finish and I think you will be quite surprised when you see the whole thing!

God bless you!

Here's My Heart!

"Here's My Heart!"

I love this little rug. At first glance, you may see a little girl- probably smelling of sunshine and a kitten- offering her mother her heart.

"Mom! Look what I made for you!"

 But then again, it could be her mother that has handed her own heart to her sweet daughter!

"Sweetheart! I hand you my my heart, my life, my sorrow, my joys-everything I have! It's yours! There is nothing you can do that would lessen my love for you! You are my world!"

A Kindred Spirit

It seems that either I am at a stand-still with everything I want to do or I have so much I do not know where to start. Right now, I am trying to finish up my 'Wool-Inn'. Also, I have mentioned in the recent past that I have a 'berry picker' design. Well, I have it- I have just been so stumped color wise. I have decided that I will simply start hooking it- beginning with areas I feel confident color wise and then go from there bit by bit.

Then as you can see in my first picture, I depleted any fun money I had and I bought this little rug. I have been drooling over it for a couple of years but I now own it. It came out of an old log cabin in Northern Kentucky- when I look at it, my mind starts asking questions about the woman that hooked this? A kindred spirit, for sure.I want to recreate this gem. However, I want to add onto it though- a log cabin. 

Last summer, I found a pile of wool that I had long forgotten about. What was intriguing though was that I had left it and when I came back to it it looked 'ruined.' I wanted to see how it looked hooked though and hey! at least that batch of abandoned wool looked old and worn. I put that in my mental file of important things to remember as I knew that someday I would want to recreate an old rug. If I had known on that day that it would be this little rug, I would have been squealing with delight.

Lastly, I have been working late into the evenings on my 'Wool Inn.' This is one of those rugs that as you hook, you are not sure if it is looking OK- and then you finish the edge, and add an eye to the bird and sheep. And add an old bell- it's beautiful- one of my very favorite and appropriate to celebrate my one year anniversary as "Vintage Heart" as this little design was my first. I had no idea- no clue- that in the near future I would be making patterns and selling them. Not one clue! 

Vintage Heart's One Year Anniversary

I have told this story before but many of you do not know it. A couple of years ago, for our 25th wedding anniversary my husband surprised me with 365 pounds of wool! It started with an E-bay auction. I spotted an auction for a closet of wool- textures, solids, hand-dyeds- it was all there. A lady in Missouri who had injured her hand and could no longer hook was auctioning off her wool collection. There was one catch- it was a 'pick up' only! I am in Idaho. I considered driving to get it...for about a minute....but I did, indeed, lose a lot of sleep thinking how that that wool would help me make my dream come true- a home business. No sleep for me as I thought on all I could do with those precious pieces that had collected by a sweet older lady in Missouri.
 The morning of the auction it still did not have one single bid. The starting price was $500. Before I left that day, a mysterious bidder appeared. In a jealous exitement, I wondered who she was. Lucky! Lucky! Lucky! Where was she going to put it all? What were her plans for it? I wondered if a group of friends had bid together.
 Oh well, it was a nice thought.
 That evening as my husband and I sat and talked over the days events, I mentioned that that wool had sold. He tried very hard to play innocent. "What wool is that? Are you talking about that piece you were looking at last night?"

Twenty five years of marriage.

I knew that look in his eye!

"You bought it! No, Neil! I am serious! You bought it!!"

"Happy Anniversary," was all he said.

He had arranged with the shipping and receiving department at work to send UPS to the home of the 'retired' rug hooker to pick up 16 large boxes weighing in at 365 pounds of every color, and texture that I could imagine. While we waiting for it's arrival, he built me floor to ceiling shelves in our bedroom. 

So this rug you see, was the first design I came up with when I received my wool. The purples in the lavender sprigs- I was in purple heaven. The reds. The little blue bird. I used a chocolaty background that today I order as 'Espresso' from Double M Sheep and Wool. It's my staple color.

So this particular design is very dear to me as it signifies a starting point to me- the first design. As the months went by and I had other rugs on Ebay, I kept getting asked if I would offer patterns. Never crossed my mind. Eventually during the year, I drew out 'The Woolery' in a pattern and my very first pattern sale happened one year ago, January 26.  In April, Primitive Quilts will be putting out their Summer issue which one of my designs will be featured in. This all started with a 'a few boxes' of wool. 

Neil's name proposal to go with the wool.