A Giveaway of Heavens to Betsy Wools - but be quick!

http://alice-folkartprimitives.blogspot.com/  Hop on over to Alice Frazier's blog and leave a comment telling why you like being a Hooker, to be in the running for 1.5 yards of the new Summer Assortment of wools. 1/2 yard of 9 different great wools!  I particularily like Jinx and need to get some for a cat rug I'll be hooking for Halloween. On these sweltering Houston Days, I'd rather be thinking about pumpkins, and black cats than sweating and skeeeters! I'm adding Alice's blog to my blog roll at the right. If you haven't been reading her blog, you'll be able to easily link there from mine.

Before we know it, the 4th of July will be here. If I don't get back to blog before then, have a happy and safe 4th and God watch over our Armed Service men and women and their families. God bless America and you!

Jam Jar Jubilee and a Whole Lotta Pickles

This post is a bit overdue, but not too late yet. The giant pickle jars I love to use for scrap and using up my dye solution in a technique I call Jam Jar Dyeing are in the store now. Got mine at Walmart and in all honesty, they may be there year round. Have always found them in the summer, so that is when I think to look for them. This year, instead of being a special display near the grocery aisles, they were actually on the pickle aisle. Look toward the lower shelves.

This one was a bargain! At under $3.00, it was the least expensive. But even at just under $5.00 Vlasik had the same sized jar in dill spears. We are blessed to have an old fridge in our garage, and mostly keep sodas, adult beverages, and defrosting turkeys in October or November. ;)

Here is a link to the description of how I do Jam Jar Dyeing.   This summer, I've finally gotten a big dye pot, so that I'll be able to just use one burner for strip dyeing. April DeConick mentioned to me, that she thought that heating the jar would make the color less likely to fade. So my second burner will be used one of two ways. Dyeing some 1/2 or 1 yard pieces, or heating up that jam jar...

Here are some of my jars cooling on the outside baker's rack we use for herbs. This picture was taken last summer when I got to my palette purple which I call Wine Cup because the shades do remind me so of those  spring wild flowers along the sides of the road.

With summer entertaining in full swing, now is a great time to buy an 80 oz jar of pickles. If you can keep it in a "backup fridge" you can put a smaller sized pickle jar in your kitchen fridge and refill it as needed from the big jar. Before you know it, you'll have a jam jar of your own. Least wise if you eat pickles almost every day...like we do. My dh's mom home canned some of the best pickles you could ever imagine. So the guy likes pickles on the side of almost any sandwich we eat. (Me too!)

The last day of School (and the first day of Summer Vacation!)

If you are one of my Facebook Friends, you may have already read about the moment of joy I saw today. It was only a few minutes after school let out for the summer at the middle school near our home. The first thing I saw was four  middle school boys leaping like gazelles along the green belt. If not for having reveled in nearly the same way (without their athletic ability) it might have made me wonder what was happening.  But, as a teacher, I saw that joyous moment acted out before my eyes many many times, and felt that joy myself, once all the paperwork was completely finished, bulletin boards cleaned off, books and supplies packed away....

My best memory of the beginning of summer vacation happened on my last day at my first TX school. I was leaving for another building that was opening in the fall, so that meant everything that was mine must go in the trash or the back of my car. Just as the door clicked behind me for the last time, I heard in the near distance, the delightful tune of an ice cream truck. If you saw it in a movie, you might think it was an unbelievable coincidence. But such miracles surround us, if we just allow them in.

I've got lots to write about in the next few days. Finished the last of my 12 colors(Red Orange) and absolutely love the way it turned out. I'll be calling that family of shades Crawfish Boil.  Which allowed me to finish my color wheel project, except for the binding and whipping. Which really must be done to take a picture for the pattern envelope.

Our challenge rug for the June Hookin, is nearly finished and I'll be showing a pic of it real soon too. Can't find the wool for finishing it...hate to use black, but that may be exactly what it turns out to be.

Hope your summer is as enjoyable as can be hoped for!