The Audience In The Balcony

Apparently I have more "watchers" than just Mr. Frog.  Here is my little fan club that is sitting in the "balcony" of one of the goat shelters:

These are baby Barn Swallows!  I believe Momma has been teaching them to fly during the day.  In the evening they are all hunkered down in their nest.

They build really interesting nests out of mud and straw, then line the inside with feathers.  The nest gets reused from generation to generation.  I think this nest has been used for the past 3 years.  I am happy to have them around because they eat lots of bugs, like mosquitoes and flies....we have a smorgasbord of those around here!

A Few Rugs From Holland, Michigan

Here are a few snaps I took at the rug show that was held at Holland, Michigan during the Tomorrow's Heirlooms Rug School.

 Oh Glorious Day, hooked by Sally Beaton during Star of Texas (Tyler) rug camp, Kris Miller-teacher.  Design is adapted from Lori Brechlin folk art by Spruce Ridge Studios.

Didn't get the name of the maker.  There is a subtle message written backwards in the background around the fish.  I do remember someone telling me that Pris Butler was the teacher for this rug.

 Hooked by Jackie K.  Isn't this a fantastic rug?

 

Harry, hooked by Patti Aichler. Teacher and designer is Sally Kallin from Pine Island Primitives.

Hooked by Donna Gardella.  I believe this is a Lib Calloway pattern.  Love the background!

I think this was hooked by Donna Gardella too (please correct me if I'm wrong)!  Pattern is Jacob's Lion, designed by Cindi Gay and distributed by Spruce Ridge Studios.

Give Ye Thanks, adapted from Lori Brechlin folk art by Spruce Ridge Studios.  (Sorry, didn't get the name of the maker)

Designed and hooked by Lyle Drier of Wisconsin.  Her rugs are always exquisite and exceptional!

~~~

I'll show my students' rugs in the next post...stay tuned...and stay cool!

Who's Watching Me?

Have you ever had that funny feeling like you were being watched by a pair of eyes?  I had that same feeling while I was feeding the goats the other night.....

Mr. Froggy, quiet and safe in his little hole, kept his eyes on me while I walked back and forth with armloads of hay.

Little did he know that he sparked my imagination and inspired me to consider dyeing up some new wool colors...greens, golds, coppers, rich browns...and maybe a new rug hooking design???

A Special Little Treasure

I have felt a little like a rug hooking "gypsy" this summer, for as much traveling and hauling of my wares that I have done!  Sadly, I have not kept up on my blogging of all the special places I've been.  So this blog post is dedicated to the workshop I recently taught for the Buckeye Rug Hooking Guild.

True Confession:  I forgot my camera and was not able to take pictures of my class or their rugs, but let me assure you that every rug was a winner!  I was team-teaching with Wendy Miller of The Red Saltbox and I always have a wonderful time when I am with Wendy!  She is an equally wonderful teacher and some of her color plans would blow you away!  Just to prove I was there, you can follow this link to Rhonda's blog and there is a picture of me and Wendy!  We were in a beautiful ballroom and I'll bet that we totally exceeded the legal limit for the amount of wool that is allowed at a workshop (wink, wink)!

Anyway, the highlight of the week-end for me was the auction that the Guild put on.  I spotted a humble little rug on the table and recognized it immediately...and I was NOT going home without it...

I won this little treasure of a rug that was made in The Gambia (Africa) at the GOVI School for the Blind.  It is a charity that is headed up by my friend Heather Ritchie, from Reeth, UK.  I follow her newsletters about the GOVI school and have really longed to own one of the student's rugs.  And I thought that ownership would be nearly impossible until I spied that little treasure at the auction.  So now it resides here with me, and I hope to have my husband frame it soon so I can display it properly in my studio.

 

 Here is the precious little tag that is attached to the rug by a piece of string.  The maker's name, Lamin Colley, and his/her fingerprint...a special autograph since the maker was blind.

You can check out Heather's charity here:  Rug Aid

The happiest part of the story?  The Buckeye Guild agreed to donate my winning bid entirely to Heather's charity.  It's a win/win situation with a happy ending!

On The Road Again!

I'm hitting the road again to vend at a wonderful fiber show in picturesque Charlevoix, Michigan!  It's this week-end so make your plans now!

Saturday July 24th  10 am to 5 pm

Sunday July 25th 10 am to 4 pm

Fiber Arts Festival at Castle Farms

5052 M 66 North

Charlevoix, MI  49720

We set up a great booth last year and I am SO looking forward to being there again this year!  It was fun, fun, fun!!!  I have been feverishly preparing lots of goodies for the show.  And I'm so excited because I just got in the most WONDERFUL textured woolens (I'm washing them up right now), and I'll be bringing them along.  I'm not kidding, my heart skipped a couple of beats when I opened up the boxes!!!  I'm already color-planning in my head, thinking about using these gorgeous textures for my next project! 

This is the courtyard at Castle Farms.  The whole complex looks like Olde English stone buildings and yes, there is even part of it that looks like a castle.  A truly fascinating place to visit.  You can go to their website and get more information and see a few more pictures too.

http://www.castlefarms.com/

Be sure to scroll down toward the bottom of the page for the link that gives more information about the fiber show.

All the vendor booths are inside (air conditioned!) and the courtyard pictured above is used for the fashion show, demonstrations, and more.

If you come to the show and mention that you read about it on my blog, I'll give you 10% off of any one regular-priced item in my booth.

See you there!!!

Jackson! Jackson?

Meet Jackson....he is the newest member of the Miller/Spruce Ridge clan!  He is a 6 year old Yellow Lab that we adopted today from a rescue group.  Crazy, isn't it, that I have gotten a new dog so soon?!?!  It just sort of happened at the last minute....my son and I stopped by one of their "pet fairs"  yesterday and talked to Jackson's foster mother.  We hit it off right away and realized that Jackson had the personality we were looking for.  Ken and I went back today and brought Jackson home.  He has been a little clingy but the poor guy has been through a lot!  He spent the afternoon playing catch and then cooled off in my studio.  His tail was wagging the entire day.  I think I have a new rug hooking buddy.

~~~

The name "Jackson" brings back a funny little story....

 ~~~

Several years ago, I was going to teach a rug hooking workshop in Mississippi.  I arrived at Detroit Metro Airport for my flight and the ticket counters were mobbed with travelers.  I patiently waited in a long line and finally reached the kiosk at Northwest Airlines to check my bags.  All the agents were really  busy so I did as much as I could on their check-in computer, and then had to wait patiently again for the computer to spit out my paperwork so an agent could weigh and tag my suitcase.  A woman behind the counter called out:

"Jackson!"

No one stepped forward.

"JACKSON!!"

I looked around...where was this Mr. or Mrs. Jackson person who wasn't responding?

"JACKSON!!!!" 

I realized that the agent was looking right at me with a stern look on her face...

I pointed to myself...."I'm Miller"

"YES....WELL, ARE YOU GOING TO JACKSON ??!!!"

oH dEAR!  Yes, I was ..... going to Jackson Mississippi....eeeps!

I sheepishly handed over my suitcase while wishing that I could melt into the floor.....I think I mumbled something about not traveling much on them big ole' air-o-planes.....

Manistee Rug School

Here is a group picture of my class in Manistee:

 A really terrific bunch of gals...we all had so much fun!

I definitely won the prize for bringing the most wool!

~~~~

During my stay in Manistee, I was also very lucky to be able to visit the studio of Evelyn Sorenson.  She is a 95 year old fiber artist who creates the most beautiful tapestries that you have ever seen.  She works them in her own special technique; the backgrounds are loosely woven mohair yarns and the embellishments are embroidered on the woven yarns with more mohair.  Most of the tapestries are quite large.  I'm sure you will agree that they are absolutely incredible (Buckle your seat belt, I took lots of pictures):

It's hard to pick a favorite but I think the last one might be the one I like the best.  Which is your favorite?

~~~

A heartfelt thanks to all of you who wrote such warm and touching words of sympathy about Nokie.  I still expect to see her when I look out the window.  She will always be in my heart.

So Much to Say!

I have been traveling and teaching a great deal over the past month or so!  I have so much to say and haven't had much time to do it.

However, this blog post is dedicated to my gentle girl, Nokie, who passed away peacefully (and unexpectedly) in her sleep on the morning of Sunday June 20th.  She was 12 years old and lived way beyond her life expectancy for a Great Pyrenees. I know we gave her the best life possible and she was happy here doing her "guardian" chores.  Her best friends were the goats, sheep and the rug hookers who visited or took classes.  We all miss you Big Doggie.

Passionate About Peonies

My favorite flower of all time is the beautiful, frilly peony.  They're so light and soft and just smell sooo darn good!  I love this time of year! 

We have lots and lots of  large peony bushes in our yard...they were here when we moved in over 20 years ago and I'm sure they were growing here for a while before that.  There are several varieties of double and single peonies and different colors as well.  It's so sad that they don't last very long once they open.  The recent rain storms have beat most of the blooms to the ground but I was able to rescue a few and enjoy them in the house.

They almost remind me of whipped icing flowers on a cake and look good enough to eat...LOL!  I must be hungry!

~~~

Long ago when my brother got married, the church would not let us throw rice, so I brought a bag of peony petals and we threw those instead!

Rugs from Star Of Texas-Tyler Part 2

Enjoy more rugs from my students at Star of Texas-Tyler rug camp!

Cindy Goolsby is hooking this Country Stitches adaptation.  She changed the animal to her dog.  Her colors are so vibrant and the green plaid background is superb!

Judy Glenn wanted to hook in old primitive colors for her Colchester Vase.  The lighting wasn't very good when I took this picture but trust me...the colors were old and primitive and gorgeous!

Rosalind Sellers is working on Majolica, a Karen Kahle design.  Great job, especially on the background and those squiggly lines!

Paula Fenter has been hooking less than one year and has hooked at least 5 rugs already!  The Tyler rug camp was her first time at camp.  She's hooking

Conquest of Queen Anne (Cindi Gay design).  Paula's hooking is beautiful and this will be a big beautiful rug!

This is Judy Collins' rug.  I love the red house and the happy flowers growing in the yard.

Sally Beaton came all the way from Sarnia, Ontario Canada to attend the Tyler Rug Camp.  Sally is a fun gal and it shows in her hooking!  This is 

Oh Glorious Day, a Lori Brechlin adaptation.

Claire Mills was hooking Checkered Jardiniere, one of my designs.  She was trying all kinds of different techniques.  I love her purple proddy flower!  It's stunning up against the butterscotch urn.

And here is Teena Mills' rug...graceful fraktur birds and a tulip.  Tina used a very special piece of wool (two sided with an incredible design woven into it) for the birds' wings.

~~~

I am extremely proud of my whole class for their hard work and creativity!

Rugs from Star Of Texas-Tyler Part 1

Here are some of my student's rugs from Star of Texas-Tyler

 Martha Marshall was hooking My Country, a Spruce Ridge adaptation from Lori Brechlin's folk art.  She did a great job with his face!  I love the mustard house too.

Ann Sherrow was working on Indian Peace Rug.  She's on her way to creating a wonderful rug....

 This is Emma's Garden, hooked by Laurie Hannan.  Isn't her proddy flower wonderful?  Laurie got a lot of hooking done at camp!

Linda Long also got a lot of hooking done during the three days of camp!  These are her versions of Trick Or Treat and Smell My Feet, another Spruce Ridge adaptation of Lori Brechlin's folk art.  I love these two patterns because you can dress up your little characters any way you wish...Linda chose fashionable stripes!

  Lynda Pagan was hooking Lady Liberty.  This is turning out to be a beautiful rug!  This design is another adaptation from Lori Brechlin's art work.

 Annie's Flower Power  (Cindy Gay design) is being hooked by Peggy Bloom.  She is using soft golds and coral pinks.  Her flowers are absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see the completed rug! 

~~~

There are still more rugs to show...they will be in the next post...stay tuned!