Two Loves

Sis and I made a jaunt to Champlain, NY to pick up a bolt of wool to overdye and some other as is wools from Rebecca (Wool Studios). Going to be spending the weekend dyeing up some beautiful colours. Liam also got a new organic dog bed - wish I had a bed like that to curl up in! Love Border Mail Services. So easy considering the company I ordered the bed from would not ship into Canada. I've used the service 3 times now and I save loads of $$$ shipping to NY rather than into Canada.

Some coral, a lovely green blue which I would not have chosen a couple of years ago, a plaid to tie them together and some green that I was lacking in my stash. Funny how your tastes change. I used to quilt for 20 years but left it when I discovered rug hooking. I could see the progression of my tastes in that medium where when I first started I loved the Hoffman florals and the batiks. I usually passed by the reproduction fabrics. Towards the end of my quilting I had completely flipped and was collecting all the reproduction fabrics - a good thing too as they fit in nicely with my passion for primitives, rug hooking and needlework smalls. 

A nice bolt of wool from Rebecca that I think will overdye beautifully. I love to have texture in my dyeing, because I am always scouring the shelves and throwing in at least 1/4 yard of 5-6 different wools besides a plain one. Off to the dye pots. Have a great weekend....

Happy Confederation Day!

I am a day early but tomorrow is a busy day - July 1st. Driving my brother and his family to the airport as they are winging away to Crete, Greece for a month. Lucky devils!

It's been busy here in the Black household..besides planning some reno jobs for the house I have a show in November that I have to prepare for now in order to have everything ready for then. I am almost finished my cat rug and that has turned out quite nice - hmmmm I may have to keep that one. Also working on some cross stitch patterns that need to be ready and published under my other name "Island Cottage Needlearts" which are available wholesale from Kelmscott Designs.

Finally got the shed all built and what do you know it is already stacked with boxes of supplies. I need a warehouse - just kidding. I just need to seriously divest myself of STUFF I will never use.

Fully Wooly has some new pattern books available from Notforgotten Farm. You can see them on my Facebook page and I have ordered some new cross stitch patterns that will be available mid July on the new website.

You know how you have a great plan and have everything set out and then something just happens to whack it out of place. I was hoping to have the newly redesigned website up and running last weekend but unfortunately my mom took a serious tumble and the priority has been her care. I am happy to say that she is pretty resilient for an 81 year old woman and has strong European stock that has allowed her to bounce back quicker than I thought. So it will get launched, I promise, sometime within the next couple of weeks with some new wool bundles using my hand dyes and some wonderful Rebecca Erb AS IS wools.

So I am off to get the dye pots going and we'll be talking. thanks Joni 

AWOL in Maine

                                            sunrise at the ocean

Hi

I have been absent for awhile - how time flies. I was immersed in Farmville and have now found my way out of the initial onslaught of being on the farm and making sure I did not miss anything, LOL
Also been busy with my new website design which will be launched in June. There were so many details to learn, uploading and re-organizing the site that it has taken longer than I thought.

Right now I am in Maine for a week by the ocean - one of my favourite places. Provides all kinds of inspiration and lo and behold what was waiting for me but a box of sumptious woolens by Rebecca Erb. Enough to inspire me for sure!

I have been working on some cross stitch after finally getting a pair of magnifying eyeglasses. I ordered some X6 and was so disappointed - i needed to hold the piece 3 inches from my nose - yikes. settled on x2.25. Why i am taking up cross stitch again at this time in life is beyond me.

 I do design for a publisher who loved my punch needle and wanted me to convert to xstitch so that has kept me busy the past 6 months.

Stacy Nash pattern

The project I am working on right now is a Stacy Nash pattern only available through a club done by he Country Sampler. I love this piece - not sure if I will sell it or not.

So here is my view from my window in my Maine retreat. Getting lots of reading done and knitting a sock or two. What more can one say when we have a  view like this.

and a  storm coming in tonight - g'nite...Joni