TAKING a LOOK SEE

Today I decided to not spend the hour plus whipping the edge of my previously hooked rug.  Instead chose to hook more on my present project to decide color choices for the leaves.  Seems more clear when seeing it on the monitor.  So here goes....

Well hells bells.  Seems it is the background which stood out like a sore thumb to me.  The original antique background I struggled with how to hook it as I loved that blotchy gold part but already did that with Cottage and Apple Tree. Here is the original deer antique below.

I'd decided to not do the gold again but do a different color from the rest of the lower part of the rug.  However I don't like what I've hooked for the top background at all, just too dark too red.  

Don't fret, this is not a 'put it in the bag' moment.  Am still in love with this design and I'll have to choose different colors for that part of the background.  Ya know, this is how those damn wooly worms multiply as I've a lot of that background color already cut.  

So guess that hour plus of whipping the edge of Cottage is about to happen this evening after all.  Who knows what my rug will look like next time you see it.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

RUGS of OLD

As I did some reverse hooking on Deer and Blue House won't give you an update on that today, besides a picture was snuck in on my previous post.  Instead will post a few antique rugs.  One which is simple in design but very nice in my humble opinion is Circles and Stripes.  It measures 30 x 52, dated 1920 and sold for $6,500.

Named Homestead with Apple Tree by the auction house and said to be hooked 19th century.  Along the border are lambs tongue motifs with flowers interspersed.  It measures 38 x 51.

A wonderful Geometric.  Notice that even tho there are different colors used throughout there is a rhythm or consistency with the little squares of red in every other row which brings the rug together and makes the eye move throughout the whole rug.  It measures 24 x 36 but no date was provided.

This next rug makes my eyes crossed and hurts my head, one would think it was hooked by a person on hallucinogens.  But it is really 4 way Pots of Flowers. 

Dated 1891 Stag and Swan measures 27 x 38.5.  Am guessing the feathered critters are peacocks.

A Fish mat from the Peter Brames collection collection measures 18 x 19.  It was hooked late 19th century and sold for $1,700.  I'd say that was a hefty sum for that size primitive design.

It's a little blurry but still cute as the dickens...Colorful border and cat with green eyes.  No date and no dimensions.

Okay, back to pulling some loops on the deer.  Mary is still in hiding and hasn't seen the light of day since being put away.  

Keep on hooking to stay calm, am sure better days will be ahead.

Bk, you inquired about Cottage and Apple Tree wondering who offered it.  I draw the pattern and you can click on the link below my name at the end of this post to check out the patterns, size and cost.  If you wanted a different size I can do that for you as well.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

NAMING and LABELING RUGS

When to use these words:  antique adaptation, inspired by or my design?  I'll give you a few examples.  The first photo of a small mat was inspired by the style of Magdalena Briner Eby and named it Crow Magdalena Style.

The following rug named "Gossip" was designed by Bill Laraway and my friend hooked the feathered friends as Bill designed it.

I wasn't so enthusiastic about hooking the feathered non-bird motifs (turkey, rooster, swan, owl) so I took creative license to draw my own birds.

I cannot claim this to be my design just because I changed and redrew a few things.  This is how my label reads; yeah hard to read but I included a photo of the original design by Bill Laraway.

Another good example is the design by Nola Heidbreder named Golden in the Garden and here is a photo of the original linen.

Again I didn't want to hook the Golden I wanted to hook a Rottweiler to represent my boy Ben.  Tho my drawn perspective and hooking of the head isn't a very good representation of my handsome boy, I know who it is.  

Okay, so you're thinking that because these patterns were drawn by someone else that's why I give credit to them?  So what if I draw a pattern on my own linen?  Dear departed Barb Carroll authored a book with several free to draw patterns.

In that book is a design named July Cabin and here is the original photo from the book.  You can see there are flags on the trees instead of leaves.

I drew my version with leaves, added more stars, lowered the smoke at a different angle to reduce the height of the rug and eliminated the cat on the roof.  Yet I still cannot call this my design ~ it is still Barb Carroll's July Cabin and labeled as such.

Ah, you're thinking because these are modern day designers that's why I can't take credit, right?  So what about antique rugs whether a purchased pattern or you draw it yourself?  When I draw an antique design I usually name it how the auction house described it.  Or if the designer is known, such as a Magdalena design, I give her credit on my label and on my blog.  My last two Magdalena rugs were Magdalena's Rooster, Duck and Horse....

..and Magdalena's Bird Dog.  Both of which I've given Magdalena credit for the design and say it is 'an antique adaptation'.  I'd show you the labels but the rugs are on the wall.

However I do have a photo of other labels I'd made so you can see what they say.  Notice on the Mighty Whale and Posies and Stars I indicate they are antique adaptations but designer unknown.

When I hook antique designs I am not trying to pass them off as antiques but rather an adaptation of an antique and indicate that on the label.  With Deer and Blue House rug if I were to remove the antlers of the buck I still cannot in good conscience say it was my design.  It was a design by someone else even if I don't know that person's name and even tho it was originally hooked 1920.  Therefore a label for this rug will indicate it is an antique adaptation and NOT designed by me.  I may have drawn it and offer as a pattern, but is not my design.

See how I snuck in an updated photo of my present project?  I almost changed the color of the antlers but decided to keep how it started.  Before moving to another motif I'd like to get one row of dark around the buck and the thin light outline completed.  Am going to change the blades of grass colors below him too.

Happily hooking inside today as it is another hot as hades day outside.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Antique Rug Show Time

I've made a little headway on whipping the edge of Cottage and Apple Tree and pulled more loops on Deer and Blue house but figure you'd rather see some old rugs instead an update of the same ol' same ol'.   

Don't have a date on the Brown Dog rug but do have measurements of 23 x 45.    

A view of the back where you can see how the hole in the bottom of the rug was camouflaged, not repaired.  Also you can see the original colors which had faded.

It may be a simple rug with 31 Primitive Stars but I'm really liking it!!  Could be a 'plus one' to have on the side lines ~ oh, that's right I've the Comstock rug.  It was said to be circa 1900 by Pook and Pook.

Next is Doves with flower basket hooked 19th century and located in Pennsylvania.  It measures 27 x 41.  

The rug looks in very good shape and you'd never know it had been repaired unless you flip it over.

Look at this gorgeous E.S. Frost Eagle circa 1870.  This beauty measures 35 x 63.5.

This free style rug is so endearing and wonder if it was a story rug made by Ruth Schumm late 19th century.  Or if a sailor made it for his love Ruth Schumm while at sea?  It measures 23.5 x 33.  But couldn't be made by a sailor for his woman Ruth, otherwise why the hell a skunk would be in the middle of the design??  Antique rugs sure do give me thought.

Happy Friday to you worker bees who are now probably enjoying your choice of libation.  And happy hooking to you folks who, like me, can't stand the heat and humidity of the outside so staying inside to hook.  

Oh wait, not all of us are happy hookers, right Lauren?  You poor gal is one of those worker bees still on the clock.  Hope you are freed soon of that ball and chain and your reward is lots of moola to bring home from Sauder. 

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

TIME TO SHOW WHAT'S ON MY FRAME

It's really anti-climatic at this point because not much has been hooked.  Yet isn't that always the complaint from me and Lauren (Rugs and Pugs)?  Seems we never accomplish as much as we'd hoped.  And sadly that is even more true for Lauren now because I don't think she has pulled a loop in weeks/month since she is preparing for vending at Sauder.

On my frame is Deer and Blue House, an antique adaptation which I drew measuring 21 x 30.  I'm hooking with mostly #9 with some #8.5 and a few #8.

The overdyed wool being used for the buck was an older natural wool purchase from Dorr and it is rough to pull thru the linen, even the #8 cut.  It must have been a coat weight wool, but have my Hartman hooks with the big shank to forge thru the linen to make it work.

In case you're wondering, I do the dashes and dots on the pattern where there's a change in value in the background.  I do it for me as well as customers in case they want to show the gradation in background color.  I usually ask the customer and sometimes the person wants to hook an all solid background and 'do their own thing' which is absolutely understandable.  Just want to give the option.

Horribly hot and humid here so time outside is limited.  My local wonderful weatherman said we will lose one hour this month as now we lose 2 minutes per day in daylight.  And it isn't even 'fall back' time change yet.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

LET ME INTRODUCE.....

...Louisa Creed of York, United Kingdom.  Sadly I'd never heard of her before stumbling upon one of her rugs on Pinterest.  So as I investigated further decided to make a file on her rugs.  She is such a prolific modern day rug hooker that I'd need volumes to hold all her rug photos, I've only saved a few.   

Believe it or not Louisa uses thrift shop finds and favors stretchy knits.  Hard to believe she is able to achieve such detail and color variations with clothing.  You can read  more about her HERE.    

The first few photos will especially please Robin and Kelley.   The first rug is titled Rosie in the Airing Cupboard and was Louisa's first design after teaching  herself to hook.  Rosie in the Airing Cupboard measures 34 x 44.

Rosie and her cousins, uncles, etc. have been exhibited in countless venues.  This one is Rosie's Aunts and measures 34  x  34.

 Titled In Search of Shrimp measuring 34 x 39.

This is  Ambrose, another relative of Rosie measuring  35 x 40.

Horace measures 36 x 48.

From cats to Grazing Sheep,  36 x 48.

Trees in Winter hooked 2002 measuring 32 x 34.

Lavender Fields of Provence, 28 x 38 hooked 2008.

Stonehenge, 36 x 40.

And last for this showing is Two Greek Widows, 31 x 36 hooked 2007.

You can see her extraordinary talent, detail and designing ability.  Not sure when, but I plan to hook something one day using stretch fabrics.  You can be sure my work won't have the detail and perspective of distance she has achieved in her work.  I've so many more of her rugs saved but will show you at another time.

Happy hooking and cannot believe it is already August 1st.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

 

Cottage and Apple Tree

It's finished all but the whipped edge and I'm working on that task a little at a time.  There are only few things I have a two-step process on; one is doing that pre-binding stitching all the way around the design even before pulling the first loop.  And the other is rolling the foundation forward and running a basting stitch all the way around before whipping.  Oh, and I love those little clips;  they're very handy and they come in different sizes.   Purchased mine from Minnesota Fabrics but am pretty sure you could order them from Amazon.

Yeah, Robin I can hear you mumbling something like....'no wonder you hate binding you're doing it twice'.  But I find it easier to control the edge.

Although this design and the colors were out of my box it was a most enjoyable piece to hook.  The dimensions are 22 x30 and hooked mostly with #8.5 with a few #8 and the thin outlines were inherited narrow cut strips which I'm glad I saved.  Amazing how many times I've gone to that bag in search of certain colors.  However last year at Cape May I gave a bunch of strips to a friend in colors I do not like and she used them in a purse she was hooking.

Lovely day here today with less humidity, thank goodness.  Think I'll even walk to the mailbox instead of riding my bike.  Happy Saturday.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Time To RANT !

At least I managed to get a few loops hooked in before pulling some out and high frustration level of needing to rant.  Will show comparisons so you can understand my frustration better.  Here is a photo of the original Mary Comstock rug which is featured in the Kopp book.   Look down the center of the design ~ at the top is a bloom with a grid, the next gold/beige motif is where that bloom and leaves go into.  Below that the right and left stems join into the center of the bottom motif with a grid.

I've already redrawn and hooked my revisions of some leaves.  So compare the antique to the drawing below. 

On the pattern there is the top bloom but no middle motif drawn, only bulbous leaves.  So I drew and started to hook a middle motif.  Then realized if I did would have to eliminate two leaves, one on each side on the stems.  

The drawing with black Sharpie from the person who redesigned a good rug also didn't draw the right and left stems going into the middle of the bottom motif.  So in red Sharpie I redirected it.  That's when I knew this had to go back in the bag.  Perhaps the pattern and wool will have a longer wait out of my sight than the last pause.  

Yes the pattern is smaller.  I've reduced the size of patterns for myself before but still follow the original lines of the design.  Okay, time for me to get happier and work on my new project...drawn by me!!!!!!!!  And drawn smaller but like the antique not my vision of how I believe it should be.  Why change a perfect design?

Okay, happy hooking...that's about to happen for me as soon as I walk away from the computer.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MOVE'N ON

The Mary Comstock rug is back on the frame for a short period of time as that's about all my patience will be able to take.  You see in order to make it look more similar to the antique I'm re-drawing some many of the elements and it gets frustrating navigating the various lines even having used different colored Sharpies.

Never will I ever buy an antique adaptation from someone else again even if it is on sale.  I personally like the antique adaptation to look exactly like the original antique.  Whereas some people might like to make it their version.  So for that reason I'll draw my own.

Cottage and Apple Tree is all hooked and will show you photos later but want to use some walnut solution to tone down and dirty up some areas on it first.  I'll show you a before and after staining.  

My new pattern (antique adaptation) has been drawn but still need to do the pre-binding stitching around the perimeter while there are no loops pulled.  Much easier to navigate around a sewing machine before than after it is hooked.

It poured rain early this morning, the water soaked up like the ground was a sponge, that's how dry it was.  Pleasant Wednesday to you and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

I'M DY'N HERE

Even tho it is hot and humid outside thought I'd dye up a little wool for my next project.  No you didn't miss seeing what that next project is because I haven't shown you yet.  There are a few more loops to pull on Cottage and Apple Tree and before starting the next one will force myself to pull Mary out of hiding and pull a few loops on that.  Which might be very few loops me thinks.  But have no fear you'll find out soon enough what will be on the frame next.

As luck would have it there was still a little mixture of "Midnight Run" from Tonya Robey's dye book and also some mixture left of "Olde Patina" from the Beautiful Wool dye book.  Used less tablespoons of Olde Patina as I didn't want this as dark as I've done before.

The rug in the foreground is an antique adaptation and one I hooked of an Early Farm Scene back in 2019.

Diane recently sent me a photo of a rug I drew for her named "Rainbow Petals".  So want to share it with you as it looks wonderful.  It is also an antique adaptation.  

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

THIS, THAT and THE OTHER THING

Yesterday morning I noticed something small moving on my driveway at a good clip and had to go investigate with my camera.  Normally I don't show my feet in a photo (particularly my ugly toes) but wanted to give a sense of size to this little critter.  It was a totally different turtle than the other two posted this summer.  And  it's a GIRL!  Isn't she sweet?  Wonder if she was born here and where she was going?

Me thinks I need a Turtle Crossing sign in my yard.

You've seen the TORTOISE and now the HARE.  This one is an adult and wonder if another litter of babies will be forthcoming.  Gestation is only 4 to 5 weeks.  Was careful to get a photo from inside the house and slowly opened the door to capture this poor photo.

No sooner did I snap the photo and it darted off to find safety of the unruly forsythia bush.  That is the rabbit standing alert.

Later in the afternoon as this area was under a thunderstorm warning I  turned off the TV and computer after printing out the pages below.  Someone ordered a pattern and was in the process of taping it together when at 4:50 the power went out.  Thanks to the boy scout motto of 'be prepared' had batteries ready to go for backup lights.  Figured power would be back on in an hour at the latest.

It became obvious after 2 hours I'd better get the candles and my other battery back up light ready too.  So guess who had dinner by candle light ~ and no one to share the ambiance with?  Had no way to heat up this precooked meal so it was still cool.  But hey, I've eaten cold chicken, uncooked cold carrots so it was palatable and the cabernet made up for anything negative.  Thank goodness it was left over and already cooked.

And my dinner plus vino with flash this time.

Power was out over 5 hours; I'd gone to bed earlier and the house was quite warm.  So turned the bedroom ceiling fan on so it would wake me up when power came back.  Yeah, woke me up after 10 pm so got up to reset the clocks and turn off any lights in the house which I'd forgotten were on before power went out.

That was my exciting yesterday.  Despite having no power I continued to hook on the Cottage with limited visibility.  This will be interesting to see my choices of wool under those circumstances ~ and similar to those women of yesteryear.  And don't plan to replace any wool loops from yesterday evening with poor light just because of the sisterhood of past rug hookers.

Happy hooking, stitching, knitting or whatever makes you happy.

Saundra
www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com