A Gift To Myself

Look what was in my mail today.  Yippee, a rug purchased on eBay.  I LOVE crows and have hooked several which I display.  Red and gold against black is very striking, so it had to be mine.  The hooking is perfect.  This was a design by quilter Barb Kemp who has passed, felt it fitting she get credit for the design.

Hey, ya notice the gold, red and black theme going here??  Told ya I loved gold black and red.

Now I need to make a decision on the border of Ned.  The bold gold above was my initial choice.  

Then looking on the shelf wondered if this gold would be better. Would love to hear your thoughts because now I'm confused.  I look at the darker gold and think that is it.  Then wonder if it is over powering the horse.  Me thinks me needs to sleep on it tonight and look again tomorrow.  Meanwhile I'll hook background.

OH!!!  A hooker friend of mine had cataract surgery on one eye two weeks ago.  She told me it was unbelievable how she sees color now because the colors were distorted before and now more true.  Tomorrow she is having her other eye surgery.  And an artist friend of mine had previously told me the same thing.  He said the colors were way different after surgery than what he saw before.

Hmmm, which makes me wonder what the hell I'm seeing and no wonder why my eyes are confused.  Do know that I qualify for surgery for the cataract in my left eye, am just hesitating doing that.  

Dear Colleen, Lillalotta and Elaine, I'd love to personally respond to your kind comments to me but you are all "NO-REPLY Bloggers".   There is a way to fix that; all you have to do is GOOGLE "How to Fix NO-REPLY Bloggers".  Meanwhile, just know that if I don't send you a personal message answering your questions that is the reason why.

Have a good evening.  It is steamy hot and humid here.  My plans for yard work the rest of the week is over.  Not submitting myself to such torture and possible health issues.  Hmm, sounds like another day of couch potato hooking.

Saundra

Time for a Giveaway

Since I'm working on a fall themed project I'm sure many of you are doing the same or will be soon.  And if you are a quilter you are in luck as I've this pattern to giveaway.  It is a pattern by Four Corners and all instructions are there including the uncut pattern sheet.

As you can see from this picture below, I've done some of the work for you and the pieces are even ironed onto light weight fusible web so they are ready to be ironed onto your fabric of choice.

I made the one larger single quilt piece but didn't complete the one with four scarecrow designs.  This picture below is very washed out as the picture was taken in the sunlight a few years ago.  I can't take a new picture since I've given the quilt piece away.  But the colors really were nicer and not dull brown as it appears in this photo.

A name will be chosen on Monday morning.  So here are my rules:

~Must be a FOLLOWER
~USA residents only (sorry my dear Canadian neighbors)
~NO-REPLY Bloggers will automatically be eliminated

So you don't think you have a No Reply blogger issue?  Even if you have an e-mail address you could still be a NO-REPLY blogger.  Even if you have your own blog you may not know you have that dreaded "No-Reply" blogger issue.  To find out if you do and how to fix it click HERE.

Good luck and just leave me a comment saying you are interested in the Giveaway.

Saundra

A Little About A Lot

First, as promised, here is an update on the Magdalena Farm rug which was started with Barb Carroll on May 18th.  Wow, hard to believe that much has been accomplished in just a month and I hooked the Duluth Pumpkin too.  That might be an all time record for me even; Magdalena's Farm measures a comfortable (for me) 24 x 38, so it isn't a mat.  Well, guess it could be called a mat by some hooker's standards but not to me.

And it just registered to me that I had not taken the time to do my 'pre-binding' stitching all the way around.  So now I'm left with having to manipulate this heavy rug as I do 3 rows of stitching all the way around the 4 sides.  What was I thinking? 

Obviously I wasn't thinking at all and the pattern had been in my possession for well over a month so there's no excuse for me.  Needless to say I'm really dreading binding this one for that reason.  Having osteo-arthritis in my hands doesn't help when having to manipulate a heavy rug.  Oh well, I'll get the job done because Cape May is coming in September and it will be ready for the show then.

Frankly, I had neglected to do the pre-stitching on Duluth Pumpkin too but that is a smallish piece and that was taken care of today.  First I drew a line down the ditch just 1" away from the last row of hooking all the way around.  You can see I trimmed off the corners so there will be less bulk when I do the mitre at the corners.

Next I did one row of straight stitch ON the drawn line, a second row of straight stitching just inside that first row, and then a zig zag stitch connecting the two rows of straight stitching to secure the edge.  This way there is much less chance of the edges fraying under the binding.

Then I trimmed away the very generous excess linen that Maria Barton provided on this piece. 

Since The Cat's Meow still isn't completely bound this will join 'the land of limbo' a shameful club that I am a member of.

And another topic I'd like to discuss is my sadness that I'm unable to reply to those kind and interested hookers who have questions.  I click 'reply' to send a note only to find they are a NO-REPLY BLOGGER. 

No one thinks they are a no reply blogger since they joined BLOGGER, they have an e-mail and receive e-mails from friends and relatives constantly.  Not the same thing and you could STILL be a "No-Reply Blogger".

Recently there was a fairly new hooker who had a question about my pre-binding around The Cat's Meow rug.  I clicked the 'reply' tab but it showed she was a NO-REPLY BLOGGER.  Hopefully she will read this post and click on the link HERE which will once again explain to all how to fix the problem. 

She probably thinks that I'm stuck up, don't have the time for newbies or don't want to share.  Those who know me know that is not me at all.  I love to share and would do so in a reply if it was possible.  So, for the heck of it, click on the link above to see if you too are a no reply blogger.  You might have to scroll down a tad to see the large print information, but it is there.

Have a great evening everyone and hope you are staying cool.  The 'feel as' temperatures in Delaware were over 100 degrees today and the next two days will be hotter.

God Bless those of you who were in the path of the twin tornadoes in Nebraska.  My heart goes out to you.

Saundra

NO-REPLY Blogger Fix

Are you a NO-REPLY Blogger? 

But first, some eye candy.  This is a rug hooked by Polly Minick and is an antique adaptation.

Back to the No-Reply blogger issue.  You may think your e-mail address is listed and all is fine but during my last giveaway someone learned they really were a No-REPLY.  Here is what you can do to ensure that people can contact you via e-mail so you don't miss out on any giveaways.

I would like to thank Diana for allowing me to copy and paste from her blog http://anyonecandecorate.blogspot.com.  Diane did all the work for me, thank you Diana.

So here is an easy 5 step tutorial on how to fix it so people can reply to you and you don't miss out on future giveaways... 

And that's it.  But be sure you click the "Save Profile".  Two of you gals who commented that you wanted to be part of the Polly Minick giveaway really ARE No-Reply even tho you think you aren't. 

 

So if you want to be part of the giveaway double check and correct because a lucky winner will be picked sometime tomorrow.  Again, the rules are:

     1~ be a follower

     2~ must NOT be a No-Reply blogger.

 

Good luck and for those just now reading, this is the giveaway:

Saundra