DebraHenkel

I Love December

2011-12-02T19:15:00.000-08:00

YAY!!! I love December!!! I love all the Christmas lights, the Manger scenes, the Santa's, the cooler weather, the feeling that I get when I'm working on a gift for someone special... I LOVE IT!!!
Today we had frost on the grass when I woke up. It was beautiful and made me excited for the snow that will surely come soon... Then I'll really have a pretty picture to post!!

Our lights are up outside, thanks to Case ;-) He does all that honey-do stuff without too much fuss. Am I lucky or what???? And now on to the decorating inside... by myself ;-(
Casey will help me get the lights on the trees but from then on, it's all on me. I miss having our girls and their families with us to do this. Nothing would make me happier than to see all of the trees decorated right at the grandkids eye level if you get my drift ;-) When our girls were little, our trees only had decorations at the 3-4 foot high level for years on end-- only as high as they could reach and it was ADORABLE!!

I joined a Seasonal Swap with my on-line rug hooking group and this is the mat I made for my "Winter" partner. It's 8" square and I hooked it in a size 8.5. The background is supposed to be a whiteout with snowflakes falling. The snowflakes are wound strips of white wool that I sewed in from the back of the canvas to secure them. They don't scream at you but you know they're there ;-)
This was a fun project. It went quick and I'm thinking I'd like to do one for me too so this will be my January quickie.
The next swap is a Spring theme and I'm thinking of doing a _ _ _ _ _ _ _. I can't tell because I don't want to give it away in case my new swap partner is reading this ;-0!!!
As for this little mat, I decided this would be a great "Beginner" class project. Since I plan to start teaching again after the first of the year, this little bird is going to come in handy ;-)

So, ok... on to my other projects-- Here is the progress on my ATHA rug. I did the house a while back. I did the windows first and now I don't like them. I'll assess it again when it's all done and see if I need to take them out and re-do or not. I really don't like "un-hooking"!!
As I was hooking this house I decided to leave a light on upstairs. This house reminds me of a house we lived in a while back and our bedroom was upstairs but on the opposite side. Since I had already made the upper left window black before I decided this represented our old house, the right window light is the one that's on instead now. Shhh... Only you and I will know that little secret. *wink

In this picture the windows show up pretty good actually, but when I look at it without a flash on it, they don't. Email me your opinion or leave a message for me on here. I'll take another consensus. You know how I love those feedback comments!! Really, I do. I listen and I learn ;-)))
BTW, I still need to name this one so keep those ideas coming ;-)

I've been busy in between the hooking and the punching, doing a little "Modern" quilting. Here are some of the fabrics that I'm working with... Oh, and don't worry, they won't be side by side like this. I haven't arranged them all how I want them yet. I've only cut pieces out of the fabrics I want to use. I haven't cut the solids out yet either. Looks like Sunday will be the day to start working on this project. I have a lot to work with so I think my projects are going to be FUN!!! And the pattern I've designed is E A S Y ! ! ! I hope the girls like their presents ;-)

And last, but not least, I also made "retreat" ironing boards for a couple of close friends that I like to get together and sew with. The boards are 2' X 2' and a fat quarter fits on them perfectly, so they aren't too big or too small. I have a couple of 4' X 2' boards that I use here at home and they really are fabulous to work on. You can also pin into them for applique` blocks or to actually block things with steam such as punch needle projects and finally, it's so incredible to block rugs with!!!) I don't know what I do without them-- finishing my work would be WAY harder, I know that ;-(

So, I'd love to hear all about what presents y'all are making. I am constantly amazed at how creative people are and I am inspired by so many of you ;-)

Christmas Blessings,
Debra <3

In Progress...

2011-11-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

I have the whole top half of this rug completed now-- YAY!!!!

I have not been able to work on this everyday like I thought I would. I had told myself, "a motif and 1/2 hour of background per day. I'd like to move on to the #7 and the tree on the left side next but as it turns out, I'm only able to get to this every few days so it's going to be more hit and miss, at least until after Christmas. I have to say that initially, I wasn't thrilled with the background colors but they have really grown on me and now I'm loving the different colors ;-)
I already am a "texture" person but don't usually do grey too much and rarely that color of green. The other really different thing about this rug is the style of hooking. The whole top half is hooked in straight vertical lines with the exception of a few places on the numbers and the tree branches but even some of each number is hooked in the straight vertical fashion. All of the bottom half background will go horizontal. Some of the motifs will be vertical (numbers), but the tree and the house will be horizontal too. I need to pull the two vertical rows of hooking that I've done so far on the house out so I can hook it horizontal instead. I know I won't like it vertical. So far, this is coming together nicely for me ;-)

What is taking me away from finishing that darn rug is, I'm busy working on Christmas pretties for my girls ;-) These aren't the "big" gifts so hopefully they're doable in the time I have left. I know I'm starting late but I do pretty well under pressure-- hahaha! Who am I kidding?!

Here are my blocks so far-- they won't be set this way and they don't all go together but this gives you an idea of what I'm working with-- really simple stuff ;-)
Some of the blocks I can already see aren't working good together so there's some re-do's in there but that's ok. I did one all the way through already though so I know about any changes that I need to make on the others. Also, it gave me an idea about how much time it will take to complete them and it turns out I can do all three in an afternoon so it's all good ;-) I LOVE FAST AND EASY!!!

This past Sunday I went to my Rug Guild meeting, The Colonial Rug Hookers of Northern Virginia. One of my friends in the guild purchased one of my canvases (Friendship's Offering) at a recent meeting and she's completed it already except for the binding and some additional embellishments she is adding. She's adding fuzzy yarn on the wings and will be adding bugle beads to the heart and flowers-- I LOVE how she's doing it!!! Boo, thank you for such a beautiful interpretation!!!

Woo Hoo!!!
It's past my bedtime...

Blessings,
Debra <3

Checking In--

2011-11-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Fall is going quickly and soon ALL of the leaves on our little baby tree will be gone. I love the colors on it ;-) This is our first full year with our little baby and so I'm going to keep taking pictures as she "grows".
All of those straggly branches are from growth just this spring and summer!!

This week I am catching up on UFO's -- on my plate currently is a punch needle project that is a miniature of my "Bless Our Home" rug. While I started out doing rugs that were like my Quilt and Punch Needle designs, I decided that I am also going to do Punch Needle patterns from my Hooked Rug designs. I think some of my Rug patterns would also make nice quilt designs. I like that "full spectrum" concept ;-)

I just have the edge details to go-- YAY!! What do you think so far? I am going to LOVE this one!!!

I have a couple more in the staging area for Punch Needle-- they are going to be fabulous-o!! In my head they look AWESOME!!! One of them I'm dying to do in Wool ;-)

Here is the next update on my class rug project from ATHA-- I haven't gotten much done since the last photo ("Found Treasure" blog post), maybe about 8 sq. in., but it is coming along. I got stalled on a background wool, i.e., I ran out!!
So I've been on a quest for more that is similar and I may have found it so hopefully not too much longer on this one. I really need to get this one out of my way ;-))

Christmas is coming...
That means I also need to finish framing three cross-stitch panels that I did for each of my daughters a couple of years ago. They should have had these Christmas before LAST!!! I am SOOOOOOOOO slow sometimes... In my defense (do I REALLY have one???!!!), I am easily distracted and sometimes a bit of a perfectionist (there, I said it, but don't tell anybody...)
If I don't feel like a project is as good as it should be, I keep going at it, re-doing it sometimes, until I feel it's just right for me ;-) I think they are now and can finally give them to the girls this year.

These are very personal cross-stitcheries-- each one has special characters that are unique to each daughter. I truly enjoyed working on these, fondly remembering times shared, special moments, and so much love as I worked on them. I hope they "get it"-- that it truly is a piece of my heart for each one of them...

Ashley's--

Lauren's-- hers is still on the stretcher bars-- I need to stitch one more motif on hers... it was something she said and I didn't write it down but it was perfect so my little pea-brain really needs to get to work remembering what the precious morsel was ;-)

Jordan's--

Blessings,

Debra <3

Hope Valley

2011-11-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

After my quilt retreat last week I decided to finally tackle this quilt that has been on my "really big" living room floor since June!!! Where does the time go? Thankfully, we haven't been home much these past few months and rarely go into that room so it hasn't been an issue.
So, this week I sewed the long strips together, and then last night and this morning, I finally put the borders on. It now measures 96" X 99" and this quilt top is D-O-N-E DONE!!!

I actually started the quilt last fall in a Denyse Schmidt workshop that I took in San Antonio with my youngest daughter, Jordan. I used some of Denyse's fabrics in my blocks and she signed the "Hope Valley" strip. It looks great here but it's upside down on the quilt. The block just looked better that way. You know how that goes ;-)

Now I need to hit up one of my long-armer friends so I can get it pinned on their machine. I've decided to hand quilt this one with a long stitch. In my head it looks great!! We'll have to see how it goes in reality ;-)

This makes two BIG quilts on my plate-- thankfully no deadline on this one ;-)

And now my living room is back to normal... until Christmas!!!!

I'd better start being "good"... hehehe

Blessings,
Debra <3

Little Cabin In the Woods...

2011-11-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

This little cabin in the woods was my "home" this past weekend with two other girlfriends. It was SO perfect!!! Not too far away, clean, secluded, cozy, accessible to local quilt shops (45 min.), and restaurants ;-)
The three of us were like little bees-- BUSY!!! I loved it!! We were so focused. Well, ok, they were. They got a ton of sewing done. I managed to finish ONE block. Oy. Oh wait, I finished two blocks ;-) There, I'm not a total loser!

We got there on Thursday morning-- an early start ;-)
The cabin was so inviting and we immediately got the cars unloaded and our sewing tables all set up and ready to go. Diane and Debbie are SO organized!!

These first photos are from Debbie's project. She was making a queen size quilt (one completed block and a book photo below) for her father-in-law for his Christmas present but has now been moved to his birthday present. Since his birthday is December 26, it's a day that went uncelebrated for years when he was younger so to help make up for lost time, Debbie is hard at work on this perfect and precious gift.
This photo shows her "re-cut" pieces ;-o!! And if I could make that "O" bigger, I would!!
I say "re-cut" because the day before, she had all over 1000 pieces cut and laid out to be packed up for the retreat. She and Gary have no children at home but they do have two BIG dogs, one of whom has a naughty streak... In her defense, she is a rescue dog who was VERY abused and now has some "issues" of which Gary and Debbie are very sympathetic to. They are GREAT doggie parents ;-)

Anywho, the dog-sitter left the door to that "off limits to the dogs" room open by accident and when Debbie got home from work, the pieces were all chewed up and messed on... YES-- MESSED ON!!!
She had to throw EVERYTHING AWAY AND START OVER!!! ;-(( BAD BAD DOG!!! ;-)
It took about 8 hours to cut it all out AGAIN-- aaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!
Diane and I helped her out a little bit and by midnight, she was sewing ;-)

Debbie is extremely precise in everything she has her hand in and her quilts always turn out SO perfect and beautiful!! She has a high-stress job and I greatly admire her anyway aside from quilting but even more so after realizing what a gimoungous sense of humor she had ;-))) If it were me, that dog would not be breathing... ok-- just kidding, but he would be in BIG trouble I tell you!!!

Diane, who also is extremely organized and equally precise, had all of her projects cut out and ready to go in zip-lock bags. Each bag had it's own project in it. I can aspire to that ;-)

She had her individual blocks completed and was using the retreat to sew them all together into wall hangings. She started her own CPA firm this past year and was mainly working on seasonal wall hangings for her new office.
Her first project was a block swap that she did with 12 quilters that participated from the quilt guild we are all members of-- Hayfield Country Quilters. She had a Sandy Gervais panel (I am a huge "Sandy" fan!!) and all of her swap blocks were made from fabrics from the same famiy-- it turned out ADORABLE!!!

She went on to complete a couple of other really cute wall hangings made from panels (one of them by Sandy Gervais), both of which she purchased for .99 on eBay!!! Now, that's a shopper for you!! hahaha!!! She's really busy all the time with work so the visual I have of her bidding on eBay for quilting stuff in her few free minutes, just cracks me up!!! She's a great quilter and apparently one frugal CPA!!!

She also added a border to a wall hanging that she had sewn together a while back. I really loved this one!!!

As for me, I started out by finishing Debbie's swap block. I have only had it for the last 1.5 years hidden on my design wall by layers of other things... ;-0!!! All this time, I thought I had completed her block and was home free... I am such a slug!!
Her swap blocks were all blue and yellow Cival War prints. Mine was the only block she didn't have...

My one other accomplishment was block #3 of a large 9-patch quilt I started a really long time ago.
It has a center block (the wreath block with the center star), the corners are all one block (the pomegranate and stars block), and finally the N S E and W (North, South, East, and West) heart blocks are done!!! YAY!!! Actually, there is really only one corner block and one NSEW block completed but it has taken me this long to finish designing the blocks so they all work well together. I didn't have fabric with me to do the birds but you get the idea, right? ;-)
My work is laid out for me finishing this quilt now-- 3 more pomegranate blocks to do and 3 more heart blocks to do, then borders to figure out. It's always something, right? ;-))
BTW, each of these blocks measures 27" square. This is going to be another big quilt for me.
I haven't done a really big quilt in a long time so I'm excited about this one ;-)))

One more thing about these blocks-- Diane graciously "donated" the fabric for the Pomegranate blocks. I ran out of fabric to make all the blocks the same, so now the Wreath has one fabric, the Pomegranate's have another fabric, and the Heart blocks have another. I love "scrappy" anyway so this was golden!!! The borders will have all three fabrics in them so it will pull together beautifully ;-)

While at the retreat we did take a road trip and have a couple of nights out for dinner. This red tree was in a gully on the side of the road at a traffic light we were stopped at. The beautiful red leaves against the rough, gnarly branches with the gold field in the distance stood out to me. Those leaves were almost electric they were so bright!

We were on our way to the quilt shops ;-) One in Madison and the other in Charlottesville.
I had more fun than I'm allowed in each... that's just between us though-- shhhhhh... *wink

These two antique quilts were on the walls of the Madison shop. I wish I had taken a photo of the shop itself. It was in an old church on the main street of the old part of town. How cool was that?! ;-)

The shop in Charlottesville had this beautiful basket quilt in the window. I LOVE basket quilts!!!
I couldn't get a photo without the glare from the glass so I apologize for the poor quality of this photo but it truly was "sweetness".

I have been wanting to do a basket quilt so maybe this is a sign that it's time ;-)

Blessings,
Debra <3

11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

My father, R.C., was in the Air Force.
My Uncle Lupe, Uncle Randy, and Uncle Abel, were all in the Army.
My Uncle Gilbert was in the Marines.
My Uncle Rudy was in the Navy.
My cousin Eddie was in the Air Force.
My husband, Casey, was in the Air Force.
My father-in-law Paul,was in the Air Force.
My sister-in-law Paula, was in the Air Force.
My brother-in-law David was in the Army.
My other brother-in-law David, was in the Air Force.
My son-in-law Juan, is currently in the Army.

I guess you could say I come from a military family ;-) and I have ALWAYS been proud of their service.

On Veteran's Day, I thank them all for their service with the utmost respect.

Debra <3

Happy Face

2011-11-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ok. I can't wipe the grin off of my face... ;-)))

I received an email tonight from Judy Long who is the editor for the ATHA (Association of Traditional Rughooking Artists) magazine. She was writing to ask my permission to use one of my rugs in an ad for ATHA in another publication, Early American Life.

My "Bless Our Home" was the rug selected and it will be the background for the ad in the magazine ;-) I am SO honored and excited that my rug was one of three chosen to represent ATHA!!!

It looks like it may run in the February issue of the magazine. As you can see, the actual rug is distorted a little bit to fit the 1/3 page ad space but it still shows up pretty well!!!! I am going to have to make sure I get a few copies of that magazine!!!

I said "YES"!!!! Can you tell? ;-)

Woo Hoo!!!

Debra <3

Found Treasure!!

2011-11-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Color me HAPPY!! Why? Because today while putting my toys away (i.e. stuffing!!), I found some long, lost treasure ;-) -- a cigar box that contained several hooks-- one that I have been heartsick for misplacing and had searched EVERYWHERE for it before I went to ATHA. It was my first "fun" hook that I bought. It is a straight pencil type hook that is stained blue in a sort of "barber shop" design. You can see it a little bit underneath the other hooks in the middle of the photo. I looked for one like it at ATHA but I didn't see any at the vendor booths.

They had hooks-- just not that hook ;-)

The box also contained some tools that I have since replaced-- bent needles for rug binding, clips for holding my binding in place, a couple pairs of bent scissors, and a set of the "expensive" punch needles-- just SO SO happy to have it ALL back!!! Thank you St. Anthony!!

I apparently "stuffed" it in a LB Corn Basket that I have behind the sofa in our family room. It has a lid on it and Casey keeps his magazines on top of it. I had totally forgotten that I had ever put anything inside the basket!! I usually don't put anything IN the baskets with lids because I know I will forget and never see the items again unless... like today, I was looking for a place to stuff baggies of "wool worms" that I didn't want to lose track of when the basket all of a sudden seemed like the ideal place. The irony.

Anywho, I put the magazines aside, lifted the lid, and OO LA LA!!!

Along with THE cigar box, there were also two baggies of English paper piecing 60° diamonds with lots of diamonds finished and ready to sew together. Oh YAY!!! I love piecing these little things and I carry around a baggie of scraps and templates with me all the time so when I have down time at Dr. appts., airplanes, riding in the car, etc., I can pull these out and whip them up pretty quick. I have a ton of scraps and this is a great use for them. There are probably about 100 of them here ;-)

But the very best part of finding things in that basket is the fact that there were also 5 punch needle projects that I finished punching while visiting our oldest daughter Ashley, who lives in Basel, Switzerland, over a year ago!!! I have desperately been looking for one of these punch needle designs for months!!! I knew I'd finished it. I just didn't know what I did with it ;-0

It's a Halloween witch that I named "Broomhilda" and it's a pretty large piece for punch needle, maybe 5" X 7" or so.

I didn't remember bringing her home and thought I had lost her forever. In fact, I thought it was "permanently borrowed" from my suitcase (because my bag had been inspected)... I am relieved to know I was WRONG this time ;-)

I usually work from a sketch except this time I drew the design directly onto the fabric and started punching it. I never even took a picture of it. That was dumb. A lesson I have since learned ;-/

I wish I had found this punch needle piece this last summer when I was trying to remember what she looked like so I could "recreate" her for Halloween. I missed her really bad...

This is just her face ;-) She's smiling and I am too!! I can't tell you how happy I am to have found her.

The other large punch needle pattern that I found is from my "Little Book of Treasures" and this is a little booklet that I did of 8 sketches and then an extra one on the cover, making it 9 designs.

There aren't any borders or anything on the designs-- they really are just small sketches that you can use in the size they are or enlarge them for a rug mat or larger wall rug, then add your own borders and/or finishing details. It's a cute little booklet and I plan to do more so this is just Volume 1.

The other three punch needle pieces are from a future "Little Book of Buttons, Volume 2" booklet that I haven't completed yet ;-) You can see "The Little Book of Buttons Volume 1" on the Handmaiden Designs web site on the Punch Needle page.

I will get the new photos up on the web site hopefully by the end of next week. My web gurus are a couple of college friends and my work takes a back seat to their studies ;-)

They do a GREAT job though, so I'm ok with it. Matt and Steven are GREAT!!

Also, this will be my last blog post for a few days. I am going on a "mini" quilt retreat this weekend with a couple of girlfriends. We are going to a cabin in VA at a lake and I understand it's a little bit remote so it should be fun and hopefully we will all get a lot done!! I need that kind of time-- no phone, no interruptions, just "girl-time" -- you get the idea ;-)

I'm taking one project for each-- quilting, hooking, and punching.

This is the hooking project. It's the class project from my Jayne Hester ATHA classs. This is what I have done so far. Not a lot but I hope to finish it before I start another one. I decided I will do one motif a day and then 1/2 hour of background hooking a day till it's done.

BTW, I'm a s l o w hooker...

It's not my design but would still like to name it when I finish it. Any suggestions? I love it when I get a consensus for names ;-)

I will post a picture of both my quilt project and my punch needle project when I get back-- it will be something for you to look forward to ;-)))

Until next time-- Blessings,

Debra <3

Warm Welcome

2011-10-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happened to me yesterday while I was at Sam's getting new tires put on my car.

I was walking around the store looking for what I couldn't live without-- usually books or food. (Don't judge me.) ;-)

So I went directly to the book section first. I didn't see anything on my "have to read it now" list, turned around and found magazines on a portable shelf, like an end-cap.

I noticed there were two quilt magazines so I picked one up and it was in plastic. I liked the cover so I put that one in my basket. I went for the other one, noticing it was the Better Homes and Garden Quilt Sampler "Shop Hop" Issue.

I always look at magazines from back to front-- don't ask, I just do ;-)

I was having a hard time finding out the shops featured so then I went to the "Table of Contents" page. I noticed a shop with a familiar name, Prairie Stitches.

When I went to their page, there "IT"was ;-0!! My quilt pattern "Warm Welcome" was front and center on the main page!!! I had no idea this was coming out so maybe you can understand my squealing in the middle of the Sam's book aisle ;-)))))

Needless to say, that magazine ended up in my basket too and I never even made it to the food section.

If you would like to comment on the pattern or purchase the pattern, please contact Prairie Stitches. I know I can sell you the pattern from my site but I prefer to support the shop on this one.

I have had lots of my shops featured in BHG Quilt Sampler previous issues but this is the first time once of my patterns has made the shop photo pages. I am truly grateful they included my pattern on their main page!!!! Is that AWESOME or what?????

I'm still on cloud nine!!! I love everybody!!!

Debra <3

1500 Hookers (part 2)

2011-10-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is a gateway that had the most beautiful flowers peeking out from behind it. It was across the street from Diana Kerns home in Baltimore.
I met Diana at a rug guild meeting and she graciously invited me to stay in her home on my way to the ATHA meeting in Lancaster last week.
Another rug hooker was also staying with Diana that night-- Phyllis Lindblade from Michigan.
Both are on my "Yahooker" group on-line but I had never met Phyllis before. We had so much fun that night playing Mah Jongg into the almost wee hours ;-)
Diana doesn't actually live in the house across the street from these beautiful flowers anymore but she still owns the home.

Here are the other photos from the rug show.
This particular batch of photos was from a group of rugs that are replicas of some antique rugs by Magdalena Briner Eby. I loved the simple designs of these rugs with the "hit-and-miss" backgrounds that added so much texture to them yet they really were subtle in their "loudness"-- they almost blend in, leaving the animals still as the focal point. Here is the placard that accompanied these rugs.

And then, the rugs...

That's it for the rug show!! I hope you enjoyed it-- it's the next best thing to being there and seeing it first-hand. I wish I had thought to take pictures of ALL the rugs-- there were others that I am remembering that were stunning...

Oh well...

Debra <3

1500 Hookers

2011-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I was fortunate to attend the ATHA (Association of Traditional Hooking Artists) Biennial. It was in Lancaster, PA-- one of my all time favorite places to go ;-)
It was my first rug hooking convention, my first major rug show, and my first time to take a rug hooking class. The two ladies on either side of me are ((L) Gail DuFresne and (R) Cynthia Norwood.
They are giants in the rug hooking community. I took an all day teacher training class from them and I learned that teaching rug hooking isn't a lot different than teaching quilting or punch needle. The medium is slightly different but I approached it in much the same way as the other two and these two ladies validated my perception so I think it's going to work out fine ;-)))
They were a fun team and were perfect for this class. They shared everything rug hooking from A to Z and even brought in a few other teachers who also had good insight and amazingly, none of them said the same thing so it was a win-win-win-win-win!!!! YAY!!!

I met up with so many internet friends so I was able to put faces to names and even managed to make some new friends as well. The rug hooking community is still relatively small and the talent in this small pool of artists who offered their work for display was exceptional to say the least. The rugs in the show were some of the best examples of textile art I have ever seen.
I am going to post a few of the rugs from the show... ok, a lot. hahaha!
They were all so amazing-- these photos don't do them justice.
My favorites of course were the primitive ones-- what can I say? I love love love the purposeful art over the decorative and fine art but can still appreciate the latter.
You might even recognize a couple of mine in the mix ;-)

This first photo was one of 4 of the same design. All four were different but this one was my favorite.

Here are the others--

The larger rug in this photo has been a favorite of mine for a long time. How lucky it was that my two entries were in such good company ;-)

The next two pictures are close-ups of my entries that were also designed and hooked by me.
This rug is "Bless Our Home" and it was my 3rd hooked rug made a year and a half ago. It's still one of my favorites ;-)

This is my rug that was featured on the July 2011 cover of the Wool Street Journal magazine ;-)
I named it "Friendship's Offering".
It is the May angel from a calendar series I did as a "Block-of-the-Month" quilt collection. You can see the entire quilt calendar collection on my Handmaiden Designs website. I am now doing them as hooked wall rugs with a few design changes due to the fact that sometimes the quilt details don't translate so well to hooking. So far the April, May, June, and July hooked angels are done. Only 8 more to go ;-0!!
I am also continuing the collection into Punch Needle patterns, again with a few design changes but this time, to keep it interesting ;-)

This ottoman was done by one of my new friends, Linda (I can't remember her last name now but it will come to me and I'll make the correction then).

She purchased this ottoman from Lazy Boy I think is what she said and then recovered it with a hooked rug. This is one of those pictures that truly doesn't show how fabulous the item was... but take my word for it-- AMAZING!!!

My roommate at the convention was Allie Barchi who I met a year ago at a Brandywine, PA hook-in. This is one of her entries in the show. There are so many things I love about this rug-- color, style, subject, etc., and her hooking was beautiful to boot!

This is a chair that someone hooked the back, the seat, and the arms!!! It was stunning.

The note on the seat is explaining to please not touch as it was broken en route to the show and unstable. I sure hope it can be fixed.

I loved the colors in this rug and especially because the design was primitive and whimsical to me.
Karen Kahle is one of my favorite rug designers and I think this might be one of her designs.

This rug in progress was a true highlight. I first met Judy at a Mason-Dixon Guild meeting in July of this year. She is delightful and her rugs were breathtaking. She has done mostly African animals and she works in a fine cut and is a low hooker. Her rugs looked and felt like it would as if you actually touched the animal and petted it. Her style of hooking isn't anything I would ever do myself but it literally brought tears to my eyes to see this again. The first time I saw it, she had three of the eyes done. She is going very steadily and for her work I have no words to express how beautiful and amazing it truly is. These eyes are lifelike with soul. The designer of the rug is Lenny Feenan. Please take a look at his site (this particular rug is under the "Eye See You" tab) to see how this rug evolved and the canvas Judy started with. (I looked for a website for Judy and couldn't find one but I did see that some of her work is on Lenny's site) ;-) If you click on the photo, it gets bigger ;-)

Here are more photos from the rug show... I'll post these and more in a later blog post. ENJOY!!!
(PS-- I can tell my photography skills are seriously lacking as I look at these photos ;-0!!)

Is this the most fun and majestic bird?! Love the crown!!

I LOVED this ottoman!!! There were about 3 or 4 of these in the show and I actually was taken with all of them ;-)

I have got to do one of these!!!!

This is a baby giraffe against it's mother. You can see the fold of skin on the mother's leg to the right of the baby's neck at the bottom right of the rug.
I don't know if this is one of Judy's rugs or someone else doing this same canvas-- still beautiful work!!! ;-)

Someone else also did some eyes ;-)

The poppies on the rug below, I am realizing are gorgeous!!! I wish I had taken a photo of that entire rug as well ;-(
Instead, I was focusing on Lincoln's Inaugural address. Oy...
I am a HUGE Lincoln fan and I was impressed that someone would hook the entire text of his Inaugural address. WOW!
Since first writing this post, I have learned that a sort of "watermark" of Lincoln is actually hooked in behind the text of his speech. That makes this rug even MORE amazing!!!
If you look closely, you'll see it. It's right in the center. ;-)

How could I ignore a flying Americana fish?!

That's all for this post--

Blessings,
Debra <3

With Faith-- Imagine, Dream, Believe

2011-10-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Breast Cancer. Any kind of cancer... It's a bad, bad thing.

This block is from my "With Faith" quilt that I made for Breast Cancer Awareness. It still speaks to me everyday about how precious life is and how we need to do all we can to be a positive force in the lives of those who are touched by this robber of life.

I IMAGINE how beautiful life will be when this disease is eradicated from our world. I DREAM of when that day will come. I BELIEVE with all my heart that it will happen.

I still have the little green wheel barrow in my back yard. I always keep flowers in it although, here in VA it's hard through the winter months. The flowers are a symbol of life and renewal. I plant them for the friends I have that continue to fight their cancer and also serve as a reminder of those precious friends and extended family members that I have lost.

All the blocks in this quilt are some of my favorite blocks. Most are "old school", i.e. "traditional" blocks and I especially love the smaller versions of these blocks. I like to carry little baggies of scraps with me when I travel along with a few templates. Hand-piecing these little blocks relaxes me and then you never know where they will end up Ü

Those of you who know me well, know my favorite color is red. This month, my favorite color is pink.

With faith,

Debra <3

Fall is here!!

2011-10-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well, after spending a few days in Hawaii we are back to N. VA enjoying this really cool weather. I don't know that I've been without a sweater or sweatshirt since I got back. Forget the time zone change-- it was way easier to deal with than the climate change!! hahaha!
We had a very nice and comfortable room on the 7th floor of the Hale Koa facing the beach. It was PERFECT!!! This is the view from our room-- the beach is just beyond the courtyard-- our little corner of paradise ;-)

My new tan is fading fast (I'm sorry to say)... and I'm missing everything "beachy". It truly was a dream vacation which would not be a complete dream without a little needlework to go with ;-)

I kept busy by starting and finishing a couple of punch needle projects. They are small enough to travel with-- everything fits in a baggie with the exception of the gripper frame. I'll get those pictures posted on my website as soon as I can as well as the finished "Temptation" picture. I finished it just before we left and it is definitely my new favorite!!!

Temptation

Pippa's Pumpkins
This is my newest punch needle pattern just in time for Fall-- I haven't uploaded a photo of the finished pattern but it is done and ready to go!!
I think Pippa needs to be done as a rug too-- what do you think?

This is my soon-to-be newest punch needle Unnamed, as of yet... Gina, where are you? ;-)

I have also reworked a previous booklet-- My Little Book of Treasures.

This booklet contains 8 little sketches to be used for punch needle or enlarged for Hooking or for a quilt applique'. The cover can also be used as a design, actually making the booklet 9 sketches-- a great value ;-)

I also need to start thinking about quilting!!!! I've not done any in SO long... I've missed it but really needed to reach my rug goal before I could quilt again.

Spring Market is in Kansas City in May 2012 so I have my work cut out for me for the next few months.

I have a beautiful palette in my brain that I really want to work with...

Blessings to all till next time ;-)

I need to go and deal with my ceiling leak now... Superman should be home soon ;-)))

Debra <3

Where did August go???

2011-09-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

OMG!!
I can't believe August is over and we are in September and almost mid-way through for that fact!!! Where did the time go? I always seem to be running to catch up. I'm so far behind, I think I'm first!!! hahahaha!
I hope everyone is well, have been keeping busy, and have been enjoying the last of their summer days.
Pretty soon the air will turn crisp (my favorite time of year!!), and we'll be back to cooking inside more often instead of everyday on the grill, although we do grill a lot in the snow (yes, we do that!!), watching football, getting all cozy by the fire, and sleeping under lots of quilts Ü
I'm totally looking forward to ALL of that!

I do have some information for y'all though-- I have an unusually busy week coming up so I need to push the shipping on all orders received this week back until after 23 September. I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone.
I promise to be as quick as I can be getting everything out and I thank you for your patience Ü
You can still contact me by email:
DebraHenkel

from my website:
Handmaiden Designs

or by leaving me a message here on the blog:
DebraHenkel

Happy end-of-summer to all!!
I hope to have some new things to show on my site after the 23rd!!

Blessings to all!!
Debra <3

In Remembrance

2011-09-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today is tough. Every year, for the last 10 years, this day has been tough.
I live in the N. VA/metro DC area-- about 15 minutes or so from the Pentagon. I moved here in the summer of 2000 from Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas (HOME Ü), and had been living here for about 7 months on September 11, 2001.
The biggest thing I noticed when I moved here was, how noisy and crowded it was.
That morning when I kissed Casey goodbye, I didn't pay much attention to when he said his meeting at the Pentagon was-- that day or the next. He had meetings there all the time so it wasn't any different from any other day.

That morning, I was already watching the news when the coverage of the first plane hitting the WTC was announced. On such a clear day, it seemed wrong. What idiot wouldn't fly around that huge building?! Little did we know that our national nightmare was just beginning.
My daughter Ashley was at home with me and we watched the news as the second airplane hit the other WTC tower.
Being a military wife, my radar immediately went up. We went down to the basement and started watching the news down there and I started trying to call Casey. No answer.
I started to panic a little bit at that point. I knew the next hit would be somewhere close. NYC wasn't going to be the only target if we were truly under attack. I was trying to remember what Casey had told me about a meeting at the Pentagon-- was it that day or the next? I didn't know. What I did know was that I needed to hear him and know he was ok and not at the Pentagon.

Soon, Ash and I both felt a concussion from the floor. I knew we'd been hit then but didn't know where. Then they announced a plane had hit the Pentagon. I got hysterical at that point.
Casey was able to get through on a phone about 1/2 hour later to let me know he was at Bolling AFB and was ok and he was going to try to get home.

Our family was one of the lucky ones. We were all safe and ok.
Not so for so many others.
That night we watched and waited as car after car left the "slug line" in our development. We knew those families would be ok too.
A few cars stayed parked in the line for days and those were people who never made it home that day or ever again.
And then, for the next week or so, DC, N. VA, and my neighborhood were eerily quiet. No traffic, no trains, and the only planes we heard in the sky were those of the jets that were keeping a vigil on the Capitol. There were no jet liners to listen to and look up at as they made their way on final to Dulles. Just quiet. Only after we recovered from the shock of that day, did we all start trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and adjust to the new "normal".
I went to church, held my family closer, told them I loved them more often, let my friends know how grateful I was for their friendship, basically everything you do when something so precious is taken from you but you're still alive only now you have a gaping hole in your heart.
We were all hurting and needed each other so badly.

I will never forget that day-- I remember it like it was yesterday.
I drive by that slug line almost every day. If I leave my house, I drive by that line. There hasn't been once that I haven't thought about or said a prayer for those who didn't make it back to their cars that day.

I was a 100% patriotic American before 9-11. What happened that day made me even more so.
I love my country. I support all those who honor and defend her. I constantly pray for those who go into harm's way to protect me and my family. I know the sacrifice they make and I never forget the price they pay to keep us free.
My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to those families that lost someone that day. I know that void can't possibly be filled but I still hope your pain eases as time goes by.
My heart, my thanks, and my prayers go out to those who defended us before that day and to those who defend us now in response to that day.
Saying "Thank you" just doesn't seem like enough-- please know I mean it with my whole heart...
May God bless you all.

Temptation Rug

2011-08-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm STILL working on this one!!! Geez... I'm stuck on flower colors ;-( I desperately wanted this done in time to go to Sauder and it's still on my living room floor.
I have laid out some potential flower colors-- what do y'all think? I am SO ready to have this done! I think it may be my new favorite Ü

Last Friday, my friend Michele stopped by to show me her just completed "Angel Sampler" rug. I totally loved her color way and the pastels she bought from from Alice Strebel -- it just looks SO SO sweet Ü
It's giving me some ideas for the rug I have planned for 3 down the way. The next two are already sort of planned and the pastels won't work with either of them, so the 3rd one from now will be a really fun one to work on-- woo hoo, I can't wait!!
Thank you Michele for hooking my pattern-- you did a GREAT job!!!!

And last but not least, guess where I have orders coming in from???!!!

I know other designers do this all the time but for me, being new at this, I wanted to share my excitement in shipping a rug pattern order to Australia!!! WOO HOO!!! Thank you Wool Street Journal (Bonnie Smith) for helping to make this happen for me!!!
Of course, P Sherman at 42 Wallaby Way isn't the true destination-- I just had to use this address from one of my favorite movies to give a hint of where my business is headed!!
Some days I totally relate to Dora... Ü
Good thing or bad thing?

Have a beautiful day today!!
Debra <3