PATTERN on the FRAME & Other News

Upon reading Robin's blog post my comment to her was that I empathized with her issues.   You can read about that on her blog: Cranky Crow.  

Although it's been many months, years maybe, while perusing a selling site I saw an antique adaptation at a price which was fantastic.  I wouldn't have to sketch the original antique, do the line drawing, enlarge and draw on linen.  It was there for the taking.

This is a photo from the Kopp book of said lovely original Mary Comstock Bed Rug from which the pattern purchased was adapted...loosely adapted.  

It is true I draw most of my personal antique adaption rugs smaller than the original BUT I draw them exactly like the original antique.  Guess you could call me a purist in that respect vs. taking my own spin on what was already a perfect specimen of a rug.  

Caveat emptor~ that is Latin for 'buyer beware' (yeah Robin, I know you know).  Therefore ended up with a pattern which, had I done my 'due diligence' wouldn't have purchased but rather would have drawn it myself for a more accurate detailing.

I'm going to try and make the most of it and re-draw some elements as close to the original as possible.  But this is definitely a wake up call for me to always do my own antique adaptations.   And for those of you who want a true adaptation of an antique rug I'm your 'go to' gal.

In other news, you regular followers/readers know I've posted a number of Barbara E. Merry rugs on my blog.  She was a prolific hooker and her works were among the people I admire.  This morning I was notified that Barbara passed away early spring this year.  You can read her obituary HERE.

If I could find and afford to buy one of her rugs, this would be the one.  Barbara holding a horse rug she hooked.

Rest in Peace Barbara, and know that many of us rug hookers have admired your work and story for years.  Happy hooking in heaven and perhaps we'll meet up one day.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

BACK in the BAG

Mother with Fishbowl is going back in the bag and sit on the sidelines again.  This time probably longer than before.  At least I mustered up courage to re-hook the bulbous nose which bothered me.  And think I know what that issue was.  Here is the AFTER photo.

When starting the pattern in class I was determined to hook in #6 cut.  But with Cindy Irwin's guidance realized that was too large and reduced to #5 and lower where needed.  Some of the #6 was replaced but not all ~ not that section of the nose.  

Here is the BEFORE.  If you look carefully you may notice the difference.  Also I'd also tweaked the nostril which looked unnatural.

Now I'm out of steam, out of confidence on what to do with the fishbowl and curtain/background colors.   Hooking on this right now isn't fun so unless and until I feel a wool will work for those areas this will sit on the sidelines.   It's time to move on and put this aside until a future rug camp where Cindy or another teacher might be able to help me. 

Meanwhile I'm binding this beauty.  This is a one-of-a-kind design hooked by me on the fly (re-designing as I hooked) inspired by the beautiful over-dyed wool purchased from Cindy at rug camp.  Am so glad that wool tantalized me those days at camp because it is a beautiful color.

Tomorrow will be a new day for sure.  OH!!!!!  Unless it rains Monday the tree man will be here.  I've already sent them the photo of the last remaining logs and said I'd like to have that added to the job.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MULTI-TASKING

The last loop was pulled on this one-of-a-kind Monochromatic Floral last evening and steamed this morning.  This is the first rug I've ever hooked with the intentions of selling it.  The rug was fun to hook and it was designed as I hooked.   The inspiration was the color of Cindy's overdyed wool at camp ~ it kept nagging at me and just had to buy that wool and tackle that challenge.    

After steaming the rug I went outside to move a few more logs.  Remember this photo?  This photo was taken March 28th soon after my brother made a visit to saw down the toppled trees from the heavy snow storm.

If you are a regular reader you've seen the transformation in slow time.  But today after making a couple more trips dragging a log in each hand this is what the pile looks like.  The logs remaining are longer than 5' 5" and too heavy for me to carry alone.  So these will wait for the tree people or extra muscle.

Yesterday afternoon I went outside and noticed my male turtle was still in the area 24 hours later.  Although it does appear he had moved a little to the left, you can see the divot in the leaves just to the right where he'd been previously.  

However, a storm came thru with some areas near here getting golf ball and baseball size hail stones.  No hail stones here thankfully so after the storm passed (about 7 p.m.) I went out again and Mr. Turtle had left that area.  Don't know where he is but am sure he's about somewhere so will, as always, be cautious when cutting grass.

Finally today I cut linen and started drawing a pattern for someone but just had to take a break from it.  When an antique rug is photographed at an angle the dimensions are not equal.  It requires a lot of concentration to transfer it properly onto linen.  Tomorrow I'll continue to work on it but needed a break.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com  

LOOKING for the NEXT ONE

I spend a lot of time looking for antique rugs then again looking for something for me to hook between rug projects.  I'm on the search again and one is from my stash so wouldn't have to draw anything as it is ready to go ~ that would be the Mary Comstock rug.  The pattern I have is smaller measuring 20 x 26 so it would be an easy quick hook, me thinks.

The recently posted Deer interests me and you know how I love blotchy backgrounds and despite my hooking numerous deer over the years will always love hooking deer and horse rugs. 

Also this Stag and Doe antique rug is teasing me.  Love that little bit of color in the house and flower.

While perusing etsy for rug patterns I fell in love with Sheep's Cabin, a design by Terri Leamer of Winter Cottage Studio.  So those are in my vision of what to hook next.

OH, plus I've a log cabin design floating around my cranium which hasn't been put to paper yet.  However, I'm not ready to draw anything yet since I've two rugs to finish. 

On other news... today (Sunday) I went outside and saw this beautiful  turtle and wondered if it was a male looking for a mate or a female wanting to find a spot to lay her eggs.  

I've read turtles return to their original location every year.  Am happy some have survived to make it this size and return each year; I look for them.  While the turtle may not have been happy with me, I gently turned it over to find out its gender ~ it had a concave bottom which meant it was a male.  A few hours later I went to the back yard again he was close to the area where I found him.  So perhaps he has a date with a female and more turtles will return.

Okay, enough of the sex life of turtles.  I went outside to move some logs this morning about 10 a.m.   Here is a picture of my first trip to the back woods.

My second trip.  

By that time I was getting shaky and figured it must be close to lunch time so came into the house.  After water and rest had lunch and went back outside to make two more trips.  That's when I saw Mr. Turtle again in a slightly different spot and figured he had an eye out for a local gal.

There's still more logs to move and tomorrow is supposed to be thunderstorms.  But at least I got those few loads back in the area where the water normally builds up.  

Where is my TREE MAN?????  Whenever they get here I'll have the remaining logs ~ which are bigger and heavier removed by them.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Going For Broke

It's sink or swim since I'm solo on this project.  Thought I'd try a little more of the background (curtain) wool and see what the other piece of wool would like hooked as the fishbowl.

A couple things bothered me so made changes on my own with no one to consult with.  As mentioned in a previous post the shoulder had to be lowered and softened.  Was afraid to lower it another row of hooking because when the arm is extended it does raise the shoulder a tad but what I'd hooked previously was too high and too pointy.

The most important thing was the nostril, it showed up too dark so changed it to a lighter color.  The before is below.  And actually  my mother's nose wasn't that bulbous so might need to re-hook it to make mother the beautiful nose she had.

When the class with Cindy Irwin ended she told the class that if we needed her after class that we could email her.  As much as I'm tempted I don't want to impose on her so will just have to put on my big girl panties and go for broke on my own.

On a side note, a few years ago I was hesitant to take a class with Cindy because she's so well known for her very detailed, can I say anal?, (sorry Cindy, am sure you're laughing now) rug hooking projects.  But she also does wide cut and primitive quite well.  So don't hesitate taking a class with her, I've taken more than one class and loved them.

Will put the Monochromatic Floral back on the frame and finish it since it is so close to being done.  And then, and then, I'll be on  hunt for the next project.  I've a few patterns in my stash but not in the mood today to work on them.  One of those great patterns is a small size Mary Comstock which would be a lovely rug to hook if I can get in the mood for it.

Happy Saturday, happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MISC. CHIT CHAT

Recently I drew out a Domestic Zoo pattern for Denise and thought I'd post photos of various hookers' color choices, they're all lovely.  I'll start with the one I hooked and my colors were chosen to replicate those which were in the original antique.  FYI, the dimensions of this pattern are 22.5 X 66.

This next one was hooked by Jeni Nunnally.

Susan Traughber has hooked several Magdalena designs and hooked this Domestic Zoo as well.  I love that cat on the left!

Another rendition of Domestic Zoo was hooked by Karen Schoenrock.

A more colorful version was done by Joan Hirlinger Treis.

This Domestic Zoo below was hooked by Julie Jewell, notice she added a border around.

If I didn't show your rendition of the design, I'd love for you to send me a photo.  And thanks to those whose photos I've shared here.

In other news.....thankfully my kind neighbor came to my rescue again to see why my riding mower wouldn't move.  He looked  underneatg and noticed the drive belt was off.  

Then he said, "in a minute we'll know why it came off".  He removed the battery so he could get a visual of the pully.  Would you believe two gum balls were tangled up in the pully and that's what threw the belt off.  Was able to get the grass cut....finally.

Remember this massive pile?

The small stuff has been moved deep into the woods and all that remains are the logs.  Am planning to move some of the limbs/trunks which I can pick up when the drizzle stops and I've time.  It is still cloudy temps only reached 65 today and it drizzled on and off.

FYI ~ Jennie recently informed me that she finally figured out that she can comment on my posts from her laptop but not on her mobile devices.  So if you have had a problem commenting and wish to do so perhaps you should use your laptop or PC.

I'm still slowly pulling loops on the monochromatic floral but want to pull Mother and Fishbowl out and fix her shoulder....soon.  And very soon will be chomping at the bit to put something new on the frame.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

OLD RUGS

Recently found a few old rugs, one of which gave me a chuckle and that one will be further down in the post.  

Here is a quite busy hit and miss pictorial rug circa 1900 which was found in Lancaster, PA.  It measures 36 x 78 and from the estate of Laura Fisher.  I believe that would be the Laura Fisher of quilt and antiques fame.

The framed Cottage hooked rug was dated between 1850-1899 by the dealer.  The hooked piece is nice but personally don't find hooked rugs framed like this very appealing.  It looks out of place somehow ~ unnatural. 

Perhaps they thought it would preserve the hooking but that could have been accomplished without a gilded wooden frame.  Below is a close-up view of the back and the gold hooked part of the cottage.

Love this Stag hooked late 19th early 20th century.  It is a Canadian rug and no dimensions were provided.  Me loves those blotchy backgrounds!!!

Ram and Birds measures 24 x 38 and from the estate of Laura Fisher.

Here is the back of view of the rug.

Another rug from the estate of Laura Fisher is the Boy eating Watermelon which measures 26 x 40.  It was hooked around 1930.

I just may have posted this Farm Scene before but it is sweet and one day would like to hook it....maybe, lol.  It  measures 24 x 40 and said to be hooked around 1900.

Now for the rug listed on eBay which provoked the chuckle.  It was advertised as a Floral Folk Art rug listed as "reversible".    It was hooked between 1920-49 and measures 20.5 x 35.   This is the front.  

Here is the back and the hooker pulled her loops very closely so little of the foundation showed thru.  Ya gotta give the seller credit for pushing the envelope to get a sale.

I'm still plugging along with the Monochromatic Floral...slowly.

Have heard spring is here but I'm wearing a turtleneck and sweatshirt.  What gives?  I've got to have my back deck washed and sealed but the temps haven't been warm enough for consecutive days for me to do that.

Happy Hooking.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Happy Mother's Day

 ...to my followers and readers who are mothers.  My son dropped by and gave me a present he knew would be appreciated....vino 😁. 

The front of the card shows a glass which appears to be empty.

When the card is lifted up the glass fills with red wine.  The boy knows his mama.  And a happy Mother's Day to my dear mother in heaven.  

I've finished hooking the jacket and the highlighted area to define the arm but the upper shoulder looks a little weird to me.  Will ponder if I should pull it out and use some of the darker or just lower the shoulder curve.  The arm/shoulder area is not noticed at all in the original photo so I was guessing.

Mother with Fishbowl will be sitting on the sidelines again until I can find a wool to use for the background (curtain) and fishbowl.  

The photo just above shows what was originally selected.  The top wool is what was hooked in already next to the face but shows up differently in the uncut wool.  The plaid below that was going to be used for a faint design in the curtains and could be used for the fishbowl I think.  Heck , who knows, maybe what I've started hooking will begin to appeal to me more and more, lol.

This evening I'll work on the Monochromatic primitive floral as I know what to do with that one.  Meanwhile I'll be thinking about the next one to put on the frame.

It is still chilly, windy, dreary and wet for the 3rd day in a row.  Tonight I'm making a white bean soup with cabbage, carrots veggie broth and spices ~ that should take the chill out of me at least. 

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

HOOK'N and WHITTL'N

I did it, I retrieved the Mother and Fishbowl monochromatic design and is now on my frame.  When I put it aside there were a couple things disturbing me.  First was the need for more values; more of the darkest already established (value 8) and an undetermined darker value for mother's jacket (value 9).  And what had been decided for curtain (background) looked fine when the wool was placed next to the face but after hooking some wool it didn't look happy to me.

Now I'm ready to tackle the jacket and will worry about the curtain and fishbowl later.  That future issue might be what causes me to put the piece aside again.  Meanwhile, here she is after pulling a few loops today when not doing 'whittling'.

This is what she looked like before putting her aside.  The eye still bothered me so did make a slight change, not sure if you noticed.

FYI a change was made to one of the 'padula flowers'.  They don't look like any flower I've ever seen in real life but is a term used often by rug hookers when drawing floral patterns.

If you want to see what it looked like before and try to figure out which one I changed, just scroll down to my last post.  

Also I've continued to whittle wood a little at a time.  This morning I made 6 trips into the woods just before lunch.  It looks like the limbs to the left could easily be plucked out.....  

But remember as a kid when you played 'pick up sticks' and if you pull one which looks easy it makes the others crumble on each other?  With real trunks with limbs one little limb might be wedged between others which are weighted down by a heavier one.  Thus they don't pull out easily.  

This is what that pile used to look like after I'd made a few trips deep into the woods before thinking about taking a photo.  BTW, I don't like having  debris in the woods but since I live in a low area where rain water collects the wood normally rots.  Thankfully there isn't the normal spring pond YET where I've been dragging the wood.  I'm thankful the spring monsoon didn't happen so the man upstairs was looking out for me so I could pull the wood in the back.

Walking back to the house for lunch I saw the only pretty thing in my backyard at the moment ~ this iris.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

 

Redesigning as I Hook

Cannot believe it is May already as it doesn't feel like spring since the heat kicks in at night.  Well, except for the pollen. The pollen went from green dust, to worm looking droppings to the blob stuff.  But all of it makes me sneeze and makes a mess on the deck.  As in the past guess we will go from a little heat to full out A/C with the temperature change in just days.

This evening my plan is to try and tweak a couple of the supposed flowers to see if I like them better.  Plus will take a critical look at the design aspect of the floral to see what changes might make it more appealing.

If you look at the unhooked right side you'll notice extra leaves drawn in black Sharpie which were also drawn on the left side.  I didn't like all the leaves so changed it to the seeding stems.   Not sure what other design changes I'll make to the rug but it is definitely still "a work in progress".

You'll also notice specks of natural linen foundation showing between loops in the photo.  That's because some of overdyed wool bundle was thinner wool but believe once the rug is steamed it won't be visible.  

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Today's Rug Show

Are you ready to enjoy some oldies?  Just found this one for you feline lovers.  Three primitive cats circa 1870-1880 hooked with wool and cotton on burlap, it measures 14 x 36.  Quite artistic of the hooker (back then) to have a sitting cat in the middle of the other two.  

Here's a 7 Star puzzle piece looking rug.  It measures 26 x 40.5.

A hooked adaptation of a Clarence Gagnon winter scene in Quebec.

Another Canadian rug named Birds in Flight measures 46 x 61.5, no date given. 

Below is a view of the hooked waterfall.

And a view of the back corner.

I found the background interesting on this Dog and Flower rug.  The hooker alternated the blue and white colors she had in a ripple (or echo) effect to maximize her textiles to the fullest.  The rug measures 18.5 x 35.5 and was hooked late 19th or early 20th century.  

A tapestry or applique of a Farm Scene was dated 1920 by the auction house.  No dimensions were given.

Here is a hooked farm life scene measuring 38.5 x 76 and hooked early 20th century.

And finally there's a rug named Ginger after the horse I'm sure.  Again no dimensions or date.

So there you have the show until the next time.  At 10:20 a.m. it has warmed up outside to 56 degrees Fahrenheit so will go out and move limbs until my fingers start hurting.  I have Raynaud's and when my body gets chilled they hurt and turn white.  This developed as I've aged and doesn't affect my toes or ears as it may with some people.  Strangely enough even on a warm day if I hold something cold, even yogurt, in my hands I will need to put my hands under warm water.

Have yourself a lovely weekend and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com