~*Sharing Some Goodies*~

Hello Dear Friends! I've got a few goodies to share with you. Before I do though... let me just give you all a great shout out to say ~ you are all so welcome! Thank you for all the kindness & praise you have given to me... the freebies I offer you is minimal compared to the heart warming kindness from all of you. Please keep the finishes coming... because I do love to share them. :)

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I'm happy to report that my house rug is finished... and I'm just thrilled with it too! This is the largest rug I've hooked & I did struggle with it on my frame some... but was able to get it done. It is about 28 by 22 inches. That is probably an average size really, but I tend to work smaller.



If I remember correctly, this rug was started as a challenge proposed by Kelley for the Ebay group An American Primitive Gathering. Well, the deadline for the challenge was LONG ago... but at least I finally did get it finished. Now I need to get the studio done so I can display it there. The studio was my inspiration. It is painted barn red. The year '1857' was the year our small town of Americus, Kansas was founded.

Here is a close-up of the 'hickety~pickety' hooking. I can hook even... but chose to do it this way for this rug.



I finished the edges by whipping them with wool strips. As I was working, I whipped around a cotton, clothesline rope. This is kind of like my buddy, Sharon's, tutorial. However, I wasn't able to get to a store to pick up the cotton cording she used. When I spied the cotton clothesline at the dollar star, I just had to make~do with it. It is about the same diameter of rope & it is 100% cotton. Plus, I was able to get 50 feet for about $3!



One of these days I'll get a handle on wool dyeing & be able to dye up some of the gobs of wool yarn I have to the color I want/need. :) Until then, the wool strips work great!

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This past Saturday, Tony and I spent the day browsing through some local antique shops and had supper out. It was a wonderful date... and he spoiled me. (like he always does!) He bought me a few goodies... that I'm also going to put in the studio.

One was this white Ironstone bowl... maybe not pure Ironstone, but close enough. It fits perfectly in a reproduction wash stand that I have from my mother-in-law. I already have a large Ironstone pitcher to go with it. Remember, the studio won't have running water. I plan to actually USE this.



Here is the bottom of the bowl. I don't have an antique guide to look this up ... not that it matters, but maybe some of you know more about it. It is about 15 inches from rim to rim.



It has a lovely leaf design on the sides too...



The other purchase on Saturday was this...



I've always wanted one of these desks. This one was found at a store that was going out of business... making the price really good. It has been refinished quickly... but I'm a prim gal anyway & just LOVE it the way it is. The ink well hole doesn't show in the picture, but it is there. We don't have any room to set it in the house, so it is already sitting in the studio... where Ima Jean is inspecting it & loving it too.

As for the studio progress... we are still plugging away. Tony put all the sheet rock up in the main room & I've continued to scrap wallpaper from the other two rooms (walls and ceiling). We should be doing the patching & mudding shortly. YIPPEE!

Guess I should be getting back to work. Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty