My Studio

Hey everyone....I have been meaning to take photos of my studio to show you where I work....but I was waiting until it was clean. I finally decided that we all might be too old to open our computers any more if I waited that long, so I shot some quick pictures this morning...:)))

This is the back wall of my room....I use the tall counter as my cutting counter and the antique cupboard to the left is all full of wool....Above it is one of my favorite things. When Sally and Alice of Kindred Spirits left their shop, they sold some of their originals. This is "Sweet Annie" and I LOVE it!!!!

Do you see the overflowing box of wool on the side of the counter?. I am busy cutting a new project and since I am sure I will need them again.....why put it all away...:) (Is that rationalization or what?!)

The old cupboard sitting on the counter has buttons and ribbon, etc in it for my dolls....and the old metal stand is from a hardware store and holds rusty tin stuff.

The projects thrown over the old wooden folding chairs are ones I am working on right now ...I am planning a new book (Crazy at Home)and busily sewing away.... I hope to have it out this fall. (I figure if I keep on telling people this, that it will happen)


Here is another look at the room...You can see my fat quarter cubby to the side of my sewing table. I do all my sewing on my Featherweight! The cupboard on the wall holds folded fabric...

....and here is more of that wall....The quilt is one of my retired blocks of the month...."The Sounds of Time"...underneath it is an old shoe rack with loads of bits and pieces I use on dolls...

...a closer shot of the fabric cupboard.....

....on the opposite wall from the fabric there used to be a closet...We took off the doors and I have filled it with antique shoe racks that hold all my patterns....The shopping basket and bucket have doll hair for past and future dolls....

I hope you enjoyed the mini tour.of my studio...Now I think I better go up there and get some work done!

Hope you have a good day of stitching today....Jo Ann

LET IT SNOW!!!

Several months ago I took these shots of Diane Jones' work on her Wool Crazy....She is in one of my ongoing classes. With some of you sweltering in the summer heat and humidity, I thought that a little snow would be welcome....:))) Don't you love how she added the snow to the roofs and all of her snowflakes? Even her finishing on the joins gives that feeling of ice.

...and here it is in conjunction with some of her other appliques. As you can see she has made this a Christmas/winter block....

I hope you have been following along on the Wool Crazy Sew Along. So many people have been posting lately and sharing their starts and progress. It is such fun to see them all. I was going to post Julie Heinen's wonderful round crazy, but Brenda added before I got a chance....Be sure to check it out!

CRAZY WOOL ROUND ROBIN PINCUSHION

I have finally finished my wool crazy pincushion! I had decided to use it as a top to a paper mache box....and stuff it so it would be a cushion too. When we started I didn't have the box in my hot little hands yet, so I faked the size of the top by looking at the dimensions on the order sheet....(not always a good idea)..... After much agonizing and discreet trimming..:))) here it is!

This shot is taken from the top....and the next a little closer up....Whoops my wool sign is sticking straight up in the air....(Roseann added these as a surprise for all of us)

Here it is sitting on it's side with the wool sign down now....:)))) I just distressed the bottom....I had planned on putting wool on the bottom, but the lid wouldn't go on....slight problem....This is what happens when you fly by the seat of your pants! Oh well...luckily I like primitive things!

...and here is a look at it from the side....still with some wet spray...:) I just couldn't wait to show you how it looks!

I want to thank Roseann (who came up with the idea); Pat (who organized us) and Brenda (who had so much enthusiam) for all of their work on my wool crazy. I love it and know that it will be come a favorite in my studio. Thank you....Thank you....Thank you.....

I love the box so much that I am going to design a few more....(maybe you'll see them soon in a new book I am planning:))) (My theory is if I tell enough people that I am working on a new book it will force me to do it!)

Happy Wednesday....I hope it is a good stitching day for you.....

A very special Wool Crazy

Last week at one of my on-going Wool Crazy classes Jan Gartland handed me this little package.....Some of you may recognize the paper...It is a scan of one of the color photo pages in my book!!!
Here I took a photo of it opened up.....I would have never thought to make paper like this..
.....and if this isn't clever enough, just look at what was inside....

It is a mini wool crazy!!!! It measures 4"x41/2". It is truly amazing. I LOVE it!!!! She used teeny tiny stitches and added some needlefelting too. It is a work of art. I am so excited to have it....and I wanted you all to see it too.

How are your Wool Crazies coming along???? It is such fun to see everyone's. Post yours on the Sew Along blog...or e-mail them to me, and I will post them on my blog.

Happy Friday....Hope you all are having a wonderful day....Jo Ann

HAPPY 4th of July

I thought that I would say Happy Fourth with two of my designs that I taught this year at the Loft....On Monday I taught 2 classes of this little stitchery quilt...."Signs of Summer". Kind of puts you in that "red, white and blue" mood...:)
........and in early June I taught this table runner...."Flag Crazy"....if you look really closely you can see the crazy patch background under the flag and stars...

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday and eat way too many hamburgers and hot dogs and laze around in the sun all day long!

Have fun celebrating!!!!!

Camp Loft

For the second year in a row, The Country Loft set aside a week for Summer Camp......Here is Kathy (my sister) hanging our Camp Loft banner.....We wanted to welcome all the campers from the moment they walked in.....

.....and here is a second banner on our back porch.....

Here is Kathy again welcoming all of the 15 campers that came to Camp Kit Day....and what a fun time they had. Kathy made them each a necklace (unfortunately none were photographed...but trust me they are CUTE small pockets on a cord to keep all of their prize tickets in throughout the week!)

...and here are some of the campers hard at work making covered boxes....Then they each got a great lunch after the class....and then onto the next fun project.....

.....Peggy is showing off her box and her tomatoes and she is all ready to make her spoolies.......Way too much fun in one day....At least one of the campers stayed on that night for a Wimpy All-Nighter that lasted until 11....Talk about stamina....:)))

....and next week has lots more fun to come....Wish all of you could join us.

Happy Summer to everyone!

Wool Crazy in FRANCE!

I just had to share this with all of you! When I opened my e-mail this evening, I found a message from my friend, Marie. She has just finished teaching at a three day retreat in France.

As you can see one of her all day sessions was on Wool Crazy. I was so excited!!!!! I knew that she was going to teach it....but now it is a reality. If you'd like to see more, visit her blog http://lessecretsdemarie.blogspot.com/ You will be green with envy when you see where they stayed during this retreat!

Well, this has inspired me....I am off to stitch....Jo Ann