Little Yellow Chicks

Years ago when my kids were small I used to pull out all the stops when it came to decorating for the holidays - I've slowed W-A-Y down since then. This is the extent of my attempts at Easter this year - a small tablescape. About five years ago I switched from using Easter bunnies and now enjoy making and collecting little yellow chicks. I have a hooked rug and several chicks made in different mediums on display on my kitchen table - fun stuff. I did make a couple of chocolate rabbits out of painted muslin that I included in an old wooden bowl of mossy rocks.

Last week was my meeting with the Salt Lake rug group - Nancy has finished her little rug showing a house on a hill.

This is the cross stitch she made 20+ years ago that inspired the piece - can you see the similarities between them?

And now she's working on a fun little horse rug that was a free pattern in a recent issue of Rug Hooking Magazine that she has personalized with some of her own touches to make her own. Everyone else was working on the same projects that I shared last month so I didn't snap any pictures of them.

A couple weeks ago I won a giveaway on Anne's blog for a lighthouse ornament and I realized that I hadn't shared a picture of it yet - so here it is - it's hooked with yarn that she gets from her own sheep that graze right near the ocean - so the lighthouse has extra special significance. Thanks again Anne! I love it!

Lauren has received the little quilt that I made her so I can share a picture of it now. She's passionate about her pugs - and she's so generous - always giving away hooked rugs that she makes - so I decided she needed to be on the receiving end of a gift for once. This was a fun little project - I printed the picture on muslin and pieced a small border of squares to frame it. I think the finished size was about 10" x 12" or so.

A couple weeks ago I met with a group of friends and we had a tea party at Janet's house. She asked everyone to bring a vintage hat if they had one - and to wear a string of pearls. Each of us also brought some kind of finger food. We had cucumber sandwiches, eclairs, dipped strawberries, tiny muffins and apple tarts - all of it was delicious.  We also had our choice of 6-8 different kinds of herbal tea to drink. 

The table was set with some pretty dishes and a small square tablecloth that she bought on a recent trip to Sweden.

Here's a picture of us wearing our hats behind a display of all her vintage goodies.

After eating, we used the supplies on this tray - - - -

- - - to make these cute little wool felt charms. She had kits made up for each of us and we hand stitched them together - stuffed them - and embellished with beads. Each one measures about 1" tall.

She had this vintage baby quilt on display for the evening - one of many great ones she's purchased through the years.

I've been fighting a bad head cold for the last couple of weeks - the only good thing about being sick is realizing how healthy I usually am. Hope it's gone soon!