Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Rainy Day Farmhouse ~

I love the rain ~

the way is sounds, feels and smells…
the way it washes clean everything and 
charges the air around me.

I love to be in the farmhouse when it rains too.
{Iggy likes to sleep in when we have falling weather ~}
but he doesn't like the thunder as much as I do.


hi Ig

it's a good day to read or stitch...
 I just got three of my favorite magazines yesterday,
Where Women Create
PRIMS
and the new publication 
Prairie by Country Sampler


I haven't had a chance to really look through these yet,
...but I will make time to after the open house

I love watching the rain through my old wavy farmhouse windows too ~
the way the drops make tiny trails down the panes…


out our bedroom window looking into our beloved woods ~ our narcissus is blooming 



sewing room window

... a friendly crow outside poking through the sodden dirt
~ looking for juicy worms & grubs ~


mr. rook

 another little visitor to the backyard feeder ~
a male indigo bunting:


oh! handsome boy!!


Hoping your day is spent enjoying your surroundings ~
keeping those in the more violent storm-zones in our thoughts….


* Blessed be *
 Lori

Monday, April 28, 2014

a little more painting ~

yesterday I created a few more things for the open house saturday ~
some of my original watercolors in my hand-painted frames:


six large & six smaller works

 I tried a new technique on my frames that I think really look old & faded…
like attic condition almost ~ almost stenciled looking, but entirely hand-painted ~



houses, birds, flowers and angels

have a beautiful monday my friends!


* Blessed be * 
Lori

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Playing with wools :)


I spent the entire morning cutting wool 
...into fat 1/4's and fat 1/2's for the open house ~

beautiful, as-is wools from Rebecca Erb :)


stacks and stacks


snipping, ripping & tearing ~
wool dust up my nose…
every time I blow my nose I create a masterpiece in my tissue!!!
(eeewww….sorry about that!)


sorting, tagging and folding

 I have these to finish 
then 
start on the next batch ~


falling off the table!

 and piled up on this one ~


no hookin' today, but playing with wool anyway :)

friends Robin & Sharon stopped in the shop for a visit today with me too ~

~ Robin brought in her rug-in-progress
and of course it is of her namesake ~


beautiful!

 I love the way Robin hooks ~ very primitive & textural :)
she color planned this one beautifully 

...she's almost finished with it too, 
and then will begin hooking the Peacock design that I told you about previously.
(I'll share snaps of her progress)



Sharon came in and wanted help in designing a new rug ~
she wanted to hook a saltbox house, with a cat included in the design.
So we drew it up and now she is one happy hooker!

Well, my friends, I am off to make some supper for us ~ 
….not sure what to have, something light ~ or maybe pizza!

Have a beautiful evening 

* Blessed be * 
Lori

Happy Saturday ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~
just wanted to wish you all a beautiful weekend!


* Blessed be *
 Lori

Friday, April 25, 2014

NEW Paper Rug Hooking Patterns and "ROUNDED SHOULDERS"

So while I was at Virginia Rug Fest a couple of weekends ago,
I was watching some fellow hookers hook their rugs with bent-shank hooks…
I was fascinated by how they used them and tried to use one myself.

I simply cannot.

so, I will stick with what I use ~
... so I can get different effects from my loops.

my '1863 Sheep' rug 
is a perfect example of one of my rugs 
hooked in a way that I love ~

1863 Sheep ©Notforgotten Farm


if you look closely, you'll see that my loops have what I call 'rounded shoulders'

it's a look that mimics older, early rugs ~ 
rugs that were crudely hooked with hooks fashioned from old utensils, nails, et….

I also hand cut all of my strips, so they are never too 'commercial' looking for my rugs…
they may start out at 1/4" wide 
then
end up being closer to 3/4" wide

but that's ok with me…


close up of my loops with 'rounded shoulders'

 I achieve the 'rounded shoulder' look by using a wide strip of wool,
and hooking it through my linen with a small hook.
(the girls at Rug Fest were amazed at the tiny little hook I was using!!)

so here is an example:

green strip of wool is approx 1/4 inch wide

 for this post, I'm using my medium-coarse Miller pencil hook ~

...when I pull my loop through the backing,
I don't "birth" the entire loop up through…
meaning: 
I don't intentionally try to pull the complete loop up through to form a 'straight shouldered' loop ~ instead I pull my loop until it just about pops through the wool, 
this keeps the edges or what I call 
'shoulders' of my loops kind of rolled or turned under ~


sorry about the blur, I was taking pics with my right hand hand hooking with my left ~ although I am right handed!


 you can see in the pic below that I'm pointing to a row 
that I have hooked by completely pulling up the loop, or what I call 'birthing' your loop…
the edges of the loops are straight, or not curled under…
but then I will make rounded shoulder loops to fill in the rest of the way.



showing 'straight shouldered' loops



showing 'rounded shoulder' loops

... can you see the difference?
(i hope!)


here's a good shot of those rounded shouldered loops!
not tightly packed in, but just not pulled up through all the way…
looks like rows of corn kernels to me!

 So, there you have it ~
I'm hoping to shoot a video demo of this technique soon for you to actually see the difference ~

and
the 1863 Sheep PAPER pattern
and the Sunday Dinner PAPER patterns are now available in my


1863 Sheep


Sunday Dinner

Lots of work to do around here before the open house on May 3rd ~
the shop will be CLOSED on May 2nd to get the shop ready for the big day…
(of course there will be NO hook in on open house day!)

Have a beautifully creative day my friends!

* Blessed be *
 Lori

Thursday, April 24, 2014

My out-door studio ~ part II


I finished my paintings, and while waiting for them to dry
I took a little more advantage of the beautiful day we had here yesterday…
I donned my shorts, tank top & flip flops,
grabbed by hook, wool, scissors and frame and set up for a little hook-y plain'!


i need a new chair ~ but hey, it works...

 behind where i was sitting you can see our barn & coops…below -
they were called the chicken coops at one time, 
 ~ but they have housed everything in between ~
from ducks, to peacocks, to chickens…
...then baby opossums and now 
kittens!


my little spot of heaven

...for me, simple is best, so I just pile wools in a basket…
then I pick from there what to hook with ~ nothing is ever really 'planned'
and somehow things always seem to come out ok ~


playing

 the grass has gotten SO green ~ 
and I love how it looks against this purple wool:


beautiful colors


...while working out here in my 'studio'
lot of visitors and neighbors come by for a spell ~
(or two!)

our roosters usually come to investigate my wool-worms dropped to the ground while hooking…
but never out-stay their visit.

rooster-butt

 I usually get a shout-out from Pinocchio from across the way ~
he lets me know of his approval or disapproval of my color choices...


hello big boy!
 and if Nocchi is volunteering criticisms, 
...then Daisy chimes-in too ~


sweet Daisy
 Of course, I am EASILY distracted by our new family of fur-buckets…
who now reside in the opossum-hut 
(a.k.a. one of the chicken coops)

this coop is SNAKE-proof.
so I know they are safe and sound while they grow, play and enjoy the outdoors ~

here they are:

"Boogie Sugar-Britches" (a.k.a. 'Shug')
 Shug is SOOOOooooo tiny ~ 
she weighs an ounce I swear and is mostly fluff…

mini-kitten
and here are my handsome boyfriends ~

"Mickey" (l) and "Tiggy" (r)

 their innocent eyes have cleared up and are turning colors now ~ 
...I'm hoping they will all have Minew's color ~
a haunting gold/green…


'Shug' beating up her big brother 'Mickey'

~ Minew still favors little 'Tiggy'
and he really milks it! (pun intended)
these two are inseparable.

Speaking of milking it, they are almost weaned now,
but they ambush Momma whenever they get a chance ~ 
...Minew is just over a year old too, so she's a small kitty-girl
with a delicate frame ~ but don't get me wrong, she is a certified snake killer!!

she killed a 4 foot black snake when we first spotted her here on our property ~
you GO girl!


head-butting is a favorite past time

they have all wriggled their way into our hearts ~
ESPECIALLY Peter's huge heart ~

...at the end of a long day of work, you will find him in there with them,
each one getting his or her share of his love ~
((wonderful medicine for the blood-pressure))


sweet 

and I almost missed this photo (below) while going through them all:
thought you'd get a chuckle from it!


PHOTO-BOMB!!!!!


Hoping you all have a wonderful day my friends,
...get outside and enjoy the weather & nature…
oh, and hug a kitten if you can :)

* Blessed be * 
Lori

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

In my "STUDIO"


it is a BEAUTIFUL day here today at the farm ~
so I am working outside in my 'studio'
(a.k.a. picnic table under a black walnut tree)

I have set up my paints and brushes, 
canvases are primed and ready to go ~


paint something


 Peter bought the wire paint rack for me 
...and at first I hated it but now I love it...
(of course)

he also made the wood block to hold my brushes.
very handy indeed.


ready, set….paint!

 here is my view ~
I get to see the kittens playing, the chickens scratching 
and the donkeys grazing from my vantage point…


make-do studio


hello!

I have a bunch of them finished now…
ready for the open house here on the 3rd ~


my folk art

... under the table,
at my feet…
a sleeping giant lies ~


good boy

 maybe I'll paint a couple more and include him?
:)

off to work

Have a beautiful day my friends~

* Blessed be *
 Lori

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

New friends, Old Friends & Hooking...

a box arrived by post yesterday ~
(the box I've been waiting for…)

inside were two new little friends,
(from a dear old friend…)

I thought I heard singing from inside the box -
small, faint voices ~ singing something about far-away places and forests…

I hurriedly opened the box and out scurried these two:

'Natty Rat'
&
'Tilda Shrew'


Natty with her water-gourd

 being the bigger of the two,
Natty hopped out first,
even though Tilda was packaged carefully on top of her ~

Natty bounced onto the scrubbed-top table and gave me a wide smile :)
then she reached into the box to help out her little fiend…


sweet little girl ~


"Tilda Shrew"
(below)

Tilda with her tiny nest & egg

 Tilda climbed onto the table and stretched, 
 ~ being in the box was probably cramped and tight
fresh air and sunshine was what they both needed :)


hello Tilda
 These little friends will live happily here now at Notforgotten Farm ~
we are thrilled to have them be a part of the farmhouse 
~ and so very thankful for the talented hands & imagination of Miss Stacey Mead 

in other news, I think I have pulled a muscle in my chest.
seriously! from HOOKING!
I recently purchased some new BURLAP LINEN for the shop, and have been trying it out ~ it hooks like butter, and as you know I've been working on 'things' for the open house `

here are two pockets that I'll be finishing today ~
Tulip & Scissors

Tulip pocket                           Scissors pocket


~ the wool used for the tulip pocket is all as-si from Rebecca Erb,
the wool for the scissors pocket is hand dyed from Mary Henck…


need to choose the backing, lining & strap fabrics now


maybe I'll recycle some old denim jeans…
Hmmm….or an old quilt?


love these colors...


I'll show the finishes to you later on this evening or tomorrow ~


love tulips, have I mentioned that before? LOL

ALMOST finished with that Winter punch needle project for Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine ~ 
May 1st deadline is coming up FAST!

Have a wonderful day my friends! enjoy this weather before the rains come :)


* Blessed be *
 Lori