All Work and No Play

It's been such a long time since I posted!  I have been working on a couple of really big projects at work and have been putting in long hours, leaving very little time and energy for getting anything creative done!  I did take a small break to spend a few days at Paducah, shopping (I actually didn't buy that much, but had a great time looking) and taking a Sashiko class from Pepper Cory.  The class was wonderful!  I'm not sure if I will ever use the technique but it was incredibly fun to learn the history and give it a try.

I would highly recommend taking a class from Pepper.  She was a fantastic teacher!

We also had the opportunity to attend a little get-together with Lisa Bonjean of Primitive Gatherings at a cute little barbecue "boutique" in downtown Paducah.  Lisa shared her tips and tricks for wool appliqué and answered questions from the audience. The highlight of the night was a sneak peek at the 2014 summer BOW.  It is gorgeous!  It just posted this week and I'm already signed up.  I can't wait!

Lisa gave everyone who attended a great little pin cushion kit and also drew names for door prizes.  I was lucky enough to win one - a great kit and pattern for a table topper.  I finished stitching my pin cushion tonight.  I still need to fill it, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's a fun little souvenir from the event.

The day after returning home from Paducah we attended Hook-in St. Louis.  I actually managed to finish my Wool Club challenge piece on time (not counting the label...). I am not thrilled with how it turned out - it is okay, but not my favorite rug.  Thankfully it was a small piece and didn't take all that long to do.  

The hook-in was a lot of fun and I did a great job of restraining myself... until the end. Red Barn Rugs had a couple of rugs I absolutely loved - one that is fairly reasonable in size and the other is ridiculously huge. I resisted temptation until the last hour of the hook-in...then went to look again and she didn't have either of the patterns. I should have taken that as a sign and walked away...but in an incredibly weak moment told her to send them to me.  I am not sure what I was thinking - that big one will take me five years to hook!  I can only hope that she will lose that piece of paper with my information...