Who is Orange Sink?

My photo
Rice Lake, WI, United States
My home town is Rice Lake, a small town in northern Wisconsin. I own Red House Wool Studio~ an in-home wool and rug hooking business. I enjoy collecting and decorating with antiques and primitives. Orange Sink Blog is a journal of my interests and ramblings about life. Cathy Greschner

Email Me Here

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Heavy Heart for OKlahoma~~~ A few thoughts...




Even though it's very hard to watch and my heart  feels so heavy for the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado I feel it is important for me to see the devastation as well as the heart-warming stories of survivors and the brave first responders, so I watch in small increments.

My prayers are for strength and that the wonderful people of Moore and the state of Oklahoma receive abundant help.

People in our great country are very generous in times of disaster. We know there have been so many lately.... and it's a struggle for all of us to make ends meet.  I like to think that even a small donation when added to many other small donations becomes the huge gift that will help sustain our friends and help them rebuild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 We also have a few of our Hit & Miss Bundles left.  Not many, so if you are thinking of ordering I thought I'd give a heads up.

Thank-you to all of the readers who have ordered the bundles. They have been shipped so watch your mailboxes in the next day or two!
Thank-you for all your great comments on our new venture!  It means the world to hear your thoughts and receive your enthusiastic response!  It's encouraging to hear such nice comments!  


Prayers and Love!
Cathy









Let me tell you a little about our new bundles which we are offering exclusively right here on my Orange Sink blog.
We've color planned these bundles to include a little bit of textures, solids, hand-dyed and straight off the new bolts of wool here in the studio. The wool is all washed and ready for hooking or applique.  Each bundle is carefully hand picked with dark to light values represented.  There is approximately one-half yard of wool in each bundle.  There are 16 strips that measure 3 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches ( some may vary slightly due to the shrinkage after dyeing). 
We have a limited number of each bundle in these exact colors.  We plan to offer future bundles in different colors but when these bundles are gone.... well.... they're gone.
Our price for each bundle is ....  $32.00 plus $5.00 Shipping & Handling.
We want to make it easy to purchase so you can use the Buy Now button at the bottom of this post which takes you to PayPal.
If you want to order more than one bundle please email me Here 
   and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. I will need your zip code and how many bundles you are ordering.
You can email if you have further questions also.

Here's a close-up of the wool in each bundle.


 

The Bundles are ready to ship immediately upon payment.  Jill and I want to Thank-you for your continued support and following along with my blog!  We are thinking of ways to expand our business so our online friends can take advantage of what we offer our local customers here in the studio!
So check back soon!  We have good things in the making!!

Cathy G



To Purchase

One 16 piece "Hit & Miss Wool Blog Bundle
$32.00 plus $5.00 S&H in USA

(for friends in Canada and other countries please email me to purchase... thank-you!)


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Hit & Miss Bliss! Wool Bundles for Sale!




(Here is a Hit & Miss oval mat I hooked using hand-torn wide strips)


Happy Saturday!  It's a dreary rainy one here in Rice Lake but I'll tell you I am lovin' it!  We needed this rain sooooo badly!  I've been digging in the gardens the last few days and the dirt is powder dry!
My perennials are struggling to grow... but you should see them today.... laughing and carrying on so in the rain out in the gardens!  I think they've grown at least 3 inches today alone!!
But my blog post today is really about something new we have going on here in the Studio!
Around here we have always been a bit partial to the Hit and Miss style of hooking!
Oh yeah... they call it "hit and miss"  and it very well can be just that, but in most cases there is a little bit of planning that has to happen to achieve the right effect.  It mostly involves the light and dark values of the wool.   And the colors also have to somewhat go together.  I admit it can  be sort of a mystery sometimes as to what to use in a good Hit and Miss.
Study for a moment the photos of some of our rugs Jill and I have hooked using the Hit and Miss technique.



It makes a lovely border on a rug!



It can be incorporated into the design of a rug as in this circle and star design.


It looks great in geometric rugs!




And I used it when I hooked my spiral rug a while ago for the entire rug!


Those of us who have been hooking for a long time usually accumulate a good number of wool strips we like to call "worms" left over from our projects.  They can be used nicely for a Hit & Miss.
But if I can be bold and confess a little secret here.... I've been in the situation many times when hooking a Hit & Miss and found myself cutting into a larger piece of wool to get just the right color  to make the hit & miss more pleasing to the eye.
Tell me I'm not the only one!  (smile)
Jill and I have brain-stormed something we as long time hookers and color planners of rugs feel you may be interested in...
Something that new rug hookers may find useful and for those who want to add a little variety to their stashes.
And the wool appliquer's will love this too we think!

Introducing our new Hit & Miss Wool Blog Bundles.....






Let me tell you a little about our new bundles which we are offering exclusively right here on my Orange Sink blog.
We've color planned these bundles to include a little bit of textures, solids, hand-dyed and straight off the new bolts of wool here in the studio. The wool is all washed and ready for hooking or applique.  Each bundle is carefully hand picked with dark to light values represented.  There is approximately one-half yard of wool in each bundle.  There are 16 strips that measure 3 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches ( some may vary slightly due to the shrinkage after dyeing). 
We have a limited number of each bundle in these exact colors.  We plan to offer future bundles in different colors but when these bundles are gone.... well.... they're gone.
Our price for each bundle is ....  $32.00 plus $5.00 Shipping & Handling. 
Wool Bundles have sold out!  Thank-you!
We want to make it easy to purchase so you can use the Buy Now button at the bottom of this post which takes you to PayPal.
If you want to order more than one bundle please email me Here 
   and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. I will need your zip code and how many bundles you are ordering.
You can email if you have further questions also.

Here's a close-up of the wool in each bundle.


 

The Bundles are ready to ship immediately upon payment.  Jill and I want to Thank-you for your continued support and following along with my blog!  We are thinking of ways to expand our business so our online friends can take advantage of what we offer our local customers here in the studio!
So check back soon!  We have good things in the making!!

Cathy G




Thursday, May 16, 2013

Saturday, May 11, 2013

A SIMPLY Primitive Shop Tour... Come along!



Yesterday Dave and I went for a short drive to my friend Vicki's primitive shop!  Remember Vicki was one of my beginning rug hooking students in my last class... she has started on her next hooking project and is hooking "The Flower Pot," my latest design.  Her hooking is fabulous as is her sweet primitive shop which you are about to see! 

Vicki calls her shop Simply


So come along now.... we have a LOT to see!


The entrance is a wonderful old covered porch with a tin ceiling!  The ceilings in the shop are all old salvaged tin as well
So many primitive goodies on that porch!   Took me awhile to even get in the door!


















This neat primitive birdhouse really caught my eye!





One of the sweetest things in the shop of course is the proprietor herself! Vicki waits on a customer who was loading up the goodies!  The laughter and good energy abound here!  The walls radiate with home sweet home and primitive comfy  coziness!






There is just the right blend of old and worn with  hand made like this simple and sweet little pillow. I love the stitched saying.



There's a majestic metal and wooden angel...




and a very primitive angel with wonderful quilted wings!



Old galvanized tubs full of flowers and ....



Shelves full of homespuns, linens and old quilts!



Even Betsy Ross is perched on a shelf quietly stitching her flag!  





There is a whole lot of great primitive flags and buntings to choose from!  Dave bought me one of the outdoor buntings for the front deck for Mother's Day!  I am a dog mother of two furry boys don't forget!  :-)



There are Mothers who I'm sure can identify with the saying in this neat piece with the sweet old photo! 





You can never leave a place without a peek into the washroom!  Just a peek... there's more stuff to see outside!!




Like this WONDERFUL old painted wheelbarrow!!   Want!!!




And these adorable little pigs who appeared to have just flown in and landed with their little blue and red wings!   The gardens are whimsical and charming even though they are waiting  the first little blooms with our late Spring here in northern WI! 




This huge old slowly spinning metal wind turbine sits in the yard and makes your blood pressure come down a notch or two as you gaze upon it!  Vicki's hubby owns a salvage yard and brings her the most awesome things she turns into yard art and goodies for her shop!  Now that's a match made in heaven!
So if you live in or are traveling to this neck of the woods.... about 3 miles north of Trego on a hill on Highway 53 you'll find one of our state's little treasures of a shop named simply...


SIMPLY





Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Cathy G










Sunday, May 5, 2013

Chain Saw Buzz and a Pink Eyed Bird.




A silent...  for the moment.... chain saw waits on a stump.  I can hear chain saws buzzing in the distance as neighbors clean up their  yards from this last Spring snow storm which dumped 17 inches of snow on Rice Lake and surrounding communities. 






You can barely see that old primitive birdhouse in this photo that was taken last Thursday in the midst of the storm.





Dave and Smokey are making good progress picking up branches.  The sad thing is now we can really see the neighbors house because the big native pines  lost a lot of their branches.



Dogs are funny.  Max surveys the activity while choosing to sit in the snow.  Hmmm .. maybe it feels better than sitting on a wet patch of green grass.... ??   
I'm hoping in a couple of days the whole lawn will be green grass again!   
Yesterday while fighting a sinus headache and battling a sore throat I played around in the studio.





I think I've mentioned before that I've collected vintage fabrics over the years.  These scraps were once a quilt and the calicos are the really old ones.  They are soft and thin and fun to look at the old designs.  I have often thought of using bits of them in some type of project.
Well yesterday I sewed together this little notebook cover using a combination of new calico fabric, a few bits of the old fabric and of course some wool.
I was inspired by a design in the book  A Bird In Hand by Renee Plains. 






So after working out some kinks and struggling a bit with the applique I think it turned out okay. I like the tiny dusty pink button I used for the bird's eye.  A bird with a pink eye?  Well... if you would've told  me a week ago that we'd get 17 inches of snow in May I wouldn't have believed that either!  LOL!
You only have to imagine it these days and it will probably come true!

Thank-you all for your kindness and sweet comments on my last post after the storm.
It's so nice to know I have good friends out there looking after me! 

Cathy G 






Friday, May 3, 2013

Digging Out!







I'm writing this post today in utter disbelief that last weekend was so beautiful here I uncovered my strawberry plants and raked the yard.  These are photos I took yesterday.  By eight A.M. Dave had the step ladder out shoveling snow off the roof of my studio.  The wet heavy snow has been very destructive to the trees.  Power lines were downed but we never lost our power thank heavens.
The sound of huge branches cracking in the backyard echoed throughout the day.
There will be lots of clean-up.









I'm trying my best to remain positive.  The girls from my last class came over last night and everyone finished up their little mats.
I've been hooking on American Floral.
In due time the sun will melt... the grass will green.
After all.... the lawn mower is tuned up.
The chainsaw will have to be next!

Hugs!!
Cathy G