Happy New Year!

Well - here we are - made it thru the first week of January!

It is going to be a real busy month for me. One week from today we start our long awaited rug camp Off the Ocean here in Jacksonville Florida. Lots of my friends including my mom are attending the camp this year. I am soooooo excited because I am starting a bed rug. It is a commercial design but new on the market. It was designed by Joyce Krueger from Texas and is called Essne's bed rug. If I can locate any info for Joyce I plan to contact her and ask what her inspiration was for this beauty. My teacher is Dianne Kelly of the Woolen Cottage in Hiram Ohio. I had Dianne some years ago at Castle in the Clouds in Lookout Mountain Tenn and altho' I have not yet finished the rug she color planned for me it is one of my very favorites. One day I will learn how to upload photos on this blog and then my descriptions will be more meaningful. Anyway - I am so excited - the bed rug is 45 X 56 so that is quite large - my largest rug to date. The backround is a dark chocolate brown so if I decide to put it on the floor in the future I won't have any inhibition about that.

Right on the heels of Ocean I will make my annual pilgrimage to Sebring Fl for another rug camp. This time I will be doing my first oriental style rug with a dear friend and director of Off the Ocean rug camp - Judy Colley from Wyoming Michigan. Her daugher Katie lives in Jacksonville and is a dear friend also. The three of us always go to Sebring after Ocean - it is a nice way for Judy to relax and wind down after the rigors of Ocean. This year will be a little more taxing as she is teaching at Sebring. Telemark is the oriental I will be doing. It is smallish for an oriental - about 24 X 48 and the color plan is gorgeous. I chose a dark eggplant color for the backround and Judy did a wonderful job incorporating my beloved colonial colors in this rug. Two big scrolls are the focal point of this rug. I am happy to be able to learn from Judy - she is a master colorist in my opinion and has over 30 years of rug hooking experience. She has the coveted cover of Celebrations rug hooking magazine this year. I am really looking forward to being in Judy's class.

This sunday my sampler guild is meeting at the Azalea House. Always a great time to get together with my friends who love samplers. A lot of them are dual members of the rug hooking guild also. I am not sure what sampler I will stitch on Sunday - I have started 3 new HUGE samplers over the recent holidays. The French Alphabet Sampler is my New Years weekend start. It was especially personalized for me and includes names and initials of my ancestors. Working this beauty on 36ct cream Edinborough using Gloriana CHerry Tart silk. It is a lovely muted mix of pinks and creams ranging from deep pink to pale pink and cream to deep tan. It really gives an antique - victorian feel to the stitching. Progress is slow working on a 1/2 yrd piece of linen in hand.

My Christmas weekend start was Mouline Rouge by Long Dog. It has been in my *really want to do* pile for about 2 years. I have had Gloriana Elizabethan Green stashed for this for about that long. I finally have selected a complimentary linen that really looks great with the silk. 35ct R&R Sheeps Straw is the color.

Better wrap this up. My goal for this blog is to learn how to upload photos. A fellow sampler guild member has a blog here and I'm sure she can help me get it accomplished. What would we do without friends???? Cherish them - I sure do!