~ Virginia Rug Fest ~

 ~ Hello Friends & Folk! ~

and Happy Sunday to you all...

we have returned from our trip to Richmond VA for the

annual Virginia RugFest put on by the Shockoe Slip Rug Hookers

We stared the day by teaching a crash course in punch needle to these loverly ladies ~

{ hi ladies! }

The vendor booths were set up in the foyer of the 

Virginia Museum of History & Culture ~

here is our booth below;

 

here is Searsport Rug Hooking booth ~

 

beautiful baskets {below} by Diane Pearce

{of course on came home with me, and Joan as well}

 

wild colorful wools from Mary's Wool Garden ~

{picked up a couple of pieces}

 

drool-worthy woolens from sweetfolks at The Wool Studio ~ 

{yep got some of those too}

the raffle tables were FULL of treasures!

 

this year's Challenge Rugs were based on Children's Art Drawings ~

how adorable are these??

❤

here is Kathy from Checkmate Farm and her gorgeous yarns for rug punch ~

 

 and

this year we were honored to have my sweet friend Michele Micarelli as guest speaker ~

www.michelemicarelli.com

Michele and I lived not far from each other in CT, 

and she was the person who helped me fall in love with rug hooking ~

 {hello to you beautiful Michele! was SO good to see you again!}

xoxoxox

Thanks to the Shockeslip Rug Hookers for another fun event!

and thank you to all who took my class and shopped in our booth ~

hope to see you next year!

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Working on Wool Witch ~

Good Morning 

Friends & Folk!

and a happy sunny & bright Thursday to you all ~

all of our snow from yesterday's storm has melted {thankfully}

and I can see my little daffodils in our back woods once again.

 I think I'll pick some for the kitchen ~ to help keep the 'Springing' going on here...

 

 I recently shared my watercolor painting of my little sheep-riding Wool Witch:

she is the impetus for a new rug hooking and punch needle design 

that I'm beginning to work on today ~

aren't they sweet?

what is it with me and the color purple?

I adore it in every shade, but the 'dustier' the better...

my birthstone is amethyst, so perhaps that's what started my love for the color early on...

heck, even my plants are purple!

do you see that basketful of wool?

I purchased it at the Woolwrights hook in this past saturday

{not the basket, that's mine, but the wooooools!}

those fabulous wools came from 

Jan Cole ~ The Wool'n Gardener

 

having to simplify my initial rendering {watercolor} to be able to better hook it, 

I came up with the final draft below, to which I added florals and wording...

and you see those purples in there that will become her dress of course!

I be sharing progress on the hooking part as soon as I can ~

not feeling well still from this rotten cold I have,

but am on the mend.

{and I thank you all for your kind well-wishes}

 

I am happy to say that we will be carrying The Wool'n Gardener's 

primitive hand dyed wools in our shop!!

along with as-is and textured off the bolt wools 

from The Wool Studio  

and Heaven's to Betsy 

 

Shop News:

Folks you are not going to believe how different our little farm shop looks!!!!

Peter & Chris have been working on it for weeks now ~

new paint on the walls, floor and trim...

new lighting, new shelving ~ a whole new look!

we are going lighter, brighter and more farmhouse-y with our look ~

airy & breezy with a bit of chippy white sprinkled in...

and although we haven't added on to the shop, there seems to be so much more room now

 for classes and friends to gather for our Creative Saturdays & 1st Monday Nights!

we will be carrying our patterns and supplies for Rug Hooking, Punch Needle and Cross Stitch

along with a few other favorite designers' patterns as well.

and, fresh new cotton fabrics for your finishing and/or projects ~

oh!

We will have wonderful candles and jewelry for you too!

as soon as it is presentable enough, I will be sharing photos with you...

we are so excited for the refreshing change and hope you will love it too ~ 

Have a *SPARKLING* day everyone!!

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Inspiration from the Farm ~

Joan & I have been hooking our large-cut jarrahdale pumpkins

{well, they are torn strips actually...ok, torn & hand-cut.}

Our 1-inch-plus strips were torn first,  then cut in half, 

so I really don't even know what width they are

...just all different!

I drew them out for us on linen, they are approx. 15" across. 

Joan's is almost all hooked and I'll see hers Saturday when she comes out to the shop.

this is mine, all hooked and ready to be 'finish-finished' ~ below.

not sure if it will be a pillow, or mounted onto board, or.....who knows.

~ we'll see.

After seeing one being hooked at the Sauder show last month, 

this was our inspiration:

 

I chose beautiful wools from The Wool Studio 

{thank you Rebecca and family!} 

you can see the textures in the photo here ~

 

I save pumpkin stems each year for projects such as this ~

I chose this one, and Joan has her choice from my stash...

 

 

we'll show them to you side-by-side soon, after they are completely finished :)

Next, I want to hook a 3 dimensional pumpkin...like a round one.

I'll have to figure that one out ~ but I think I can ;) 

&

 here are a few gorgeous photos from my Pinterest boards

to perhaps inspire you to hook a pumpkin too!

enjoy...

 

Wishing you all a wonderful late-Summer day 

filled with Nature's inspiration and profound creativity!

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Drawing Inspiration ~

So I'm already thinking of my next rug to design & hook.

can you tell what my inspiration is?

here's a hint...

the Crow Knows!

Here are a few rugs that have taken up residence in my pea-brain lately...

 ((( all photos below have been 'borrowed' from Pinterest and I may not have all information )))

Magdelina Briener

not sure who' this is but it's cute.

again, not sure of designer/maker but love it.

by Saundra of Woodland junction

by Saundra of Woodland Junction

love their eyes....maker/designer unknown to me.

wool applique, but the concept is beautiful.

this one is wonderful ~ love their blue feet!

Rainy day today... loverly to stay home and hook.

on to the FINISH of hooking When Pigs Fly 

& start on some-kind of sketching for a crow rug.

Joan & I are also challenging each other to hook a Jarrahdale Pumpkin 

using hand torn strips with beautiful wools purchased from Rebecca Erb

...we saw one being hooked at the Sauder show by sweet Sondra Ives

 {designed by the talented Alice LaMar Fraizer}and have been smitten with it ever since! ~ 

I will draw up my own wonky version of a large pumpkin for us and we will start on our pompions 

{French for pumpkins lol} after our show here on the 16th, so stay tuned for our escapades!

⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷

Keeping the entire USA in our thoughts and prayers

....for no more rain, no more fire.

and no more hate.

☮

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Elda's Flowers Pattern Now Available ~

 Good Morning friends & Folk ~

after a six hour battle with Etsy last evening,

we are happy to say that the pattern for Elda's Flowers is now available for you

to purchase as PDF/Digital pattern, Paper Pattern or Pattern already Drawn on Linen for you!

here is a link to all of our unique rug hooking patterns, where you can also find Elda's Flowers ~

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/notforgottenfarm?section_id=11321089

There is a quandary to the primary background wool that I used in the rug that I hooked....

I am doing my best to find the source for you!

 as soon as I locate the source {if I can} I'll let you know ~ 

in the meantime,

I can suggest similar color/texture wools for the background from two great sources:

The Wool Studio 

{www.thewoolstudio.com}

I suggest: "Woodland Magic", Caribbean Teal", or "Mystical Mermaid"

Heavens to Betsy 

{ http://www.heavens-to-betsy.com }

I suggest: "Cleo", "Alley-cat Stripe", or "Painted Turtle"

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori