I'm close to being done hooking Jack but stopped to take pictures of progress to look with a different eye on the computer. It's getting down to the nitty gritty here and I'm uncomfortable picking colors for the border. I've thought of breaking up the border with a hit and miss in part of it, but not sure I can make it work since hit and miss isn't as easy as you'd think. Here is what I've done so far and this is with a flash.
This picture is without a flash and more natural to what it really looks like in person.
So now I'm wondering what to do to fill those other spots. Seems there is a need for a red at the upper left side but still not sure about the hit and miss toward the bottom that I started.
Tomorrow I'll work more on binding Westmoreland Ponies so I can finally post a finished rug of that and think about Jack. Yet I must say this JACK has been fun to hook.
The last couple evenings here have been wonderful with lower humidity, lower temps almost October like. Lemme tell you that I could live in 12 months of October weather.
Thanks for dropping by and enjoy your evening.
NEWBIES just reading, please feel free to drop me a line to ask questions. Don't know that I'll have the perfect answer because I have my own 'go to' people when I need answers. But we all started as newbies and you are now lesser a hooker than I am.
NOTE:
The above Jack pattern was a free pattern insert in the Sept/Oct 1997 issue of Rug Hooking magazine.
WOOLIE HUGS.
Saundra
The other day I commented about keeping records of rugs we hook by hooking date and initials in the rug, making labels, taking photos, etc. One of my followers (thank you Kat) said she also kept a paper trail of her rugs and was surprised to learn she had hooked 70. Oh boy did that give me the incentive to find out just how many I'd hooked.
Unfortunately there were rugs I hooked which were never photographed. And then there were some pictures put of a diskette which I can no longer use on my computer. Some older hooked pieces were on a CD which I was able to transfer to a flash drive today. Sadly it still remains there are no pictures of some.
So, did the next best think and looked thru my house, the ones I have for sale, as well as the ones I display. But then went thru my records of what I sold and struggled to remember those which I'd given as gifts.
Now, what constitutes a RUG? Does a mat classify as a rug? If so, those were included in my numbers. Much to my surprise I came up with a total of 84 rugs and mats that I've hooked since 2001. In addition I've hooked 35 purses and most of those have sold. I still have a few left but still think that is a remarkable amount of hooking.
While searching thru photos it was also fun to see the rugs I'd forgotten that I'd hooked or penny rugs made since they sold. And while looking thru the Cd's found this Penny Rug I made and sold. It was a design by Fredericksburg Rugs and think it was called Circles and Stars.
And also hooked a Penny Rug Purse which sold; wow, this was early in my beginning hooking years too so surprised I found the photo and had forgotten I'd hooked it. It was fun thumbing thru photo history of my hooking and will continue logging the information forward. I'd expect there are still projects made but the visual info lost.
Perhaps this will inspire each of you to keep a paper or photo trail of your pieces. Thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
I've still more to hook on Jack as you can see and have border color decisions to make. I'm thinking of putting some green in the bottom right corner to offset the green star and green trim on hat. In case you didn't noticed, I changed the hat stripe and if you scroll down to a previous post you will see what was there in the beginning.
There are two stars needing color and was thinking about red for the star in the background but the values will be too close for comfort. So perhaps it will be the eye color of the grey green. Uh, but that is too close for the moon and left corner colors. EEK!
And was so dang frustrated when I came to the realization that the distance on the left of Jack to the border was more narrow than the right side. Almost considered pulling it out. But ya know what? Just as I was about to pull the border line out decided against it.
Here's why I decided against it. Barb Carroll owns a design called Kinderhook Basket which I hooked in one of her classes. Look at the design of this wonderful antique rug which hangs on Barb's wall. The picture was taken from upstairs, thus the angle. Notice how the hooker ran out of room; so she made her border the same but the flowers encroached into the border. Ya gotta love it. Well, I'm gonna love my Jack with his imperfections. Besides, don't some men have imperfections?
This is the version of Kinderhook Basket which I hooked in Barb's class and proudly hangs on the wall behind me where I am right now.
I'm sure all the readers would enjoy seeing different color choices. Yeah, I'm taking a chance they'd like yours more than mine, but so what. I love seeing how different hookers choose colors for the same design. It gets the juices flowing. Thanks for dropping by for a visit, sorry you couldn't stay long enough for an ice tea, water or glass of wine. Would love to hear your ideas of color options and if any of you have started hooking this pattern from the Rug Hooking Magazine insert I'd LOVE for you to share and I'll post your progress on my blog too. Just send me a picture to saundra125@comcast.net. Have a great evening, stay cool.
Saundra
Received my wool today from Heavens to Betsy. She is having a wool remnant sale and of course I just couldn't resist at those prices. It is always wonderful to have bits and pieces of different wool to try without having to buy even as little as half yard. This is what came in the mail and dumped out before washing. In the package was some wool I already purchased and are tried and true favorites so it is nice to have more of those. But also received some wool which hasn't been previously purchased and I KNOW I'd like more of.
This is what my wool looked like after washing. Hey some pieces look like they will work wonderfully in my Jack rug on the frame now. There were autumn colors, dark background, light background, some colors I envisioned flowers, snow, well let's just say it was a kaleidoscope frenzy in my mind.
And some wool will be great pieces to toss in a pot when I want to dye and need different wool using the same recipe. OH, I've some great snow for a winter rug which won't be over dyed, but that natural white piece you see on top will go in the pot but not the two wools below.
OH!!!!, the top wool to the far left........ Evelyn said when she replicated Magdalena Briner's rug Domestic Zoo there was one leaf which had an off white and random red showing up and she couldn't find wool like it anywhere. Since she knew I was hooking the rug, in the mail one day came a piece of that wool. Evelyn said she found it at a hook-in and it was a gift for me to use for my Domestic Zoo. If you look at my Domestic Zoo picture at the top of the blog perhaps you'll see that leaf.
Betsy sends out flyers quarterly and the samples give you an idea of what the wool will look like. Contact Heavens to Betsy if you wish to order the quarterly samples or take advantage of the remnant sale before all the remnants are gone.
Tomorrow I'll post a picture of my Jack. I've pulled some wool out and replaced..... might eventually pull more wool but also might just keep on going on to see if what I'm doing will work. Sure wish I'd taken pictures before pulling and replacing so it would be easier to see which was best. Oh well.
Finally got the tall grass cut before the heat and humidity AND rain come back.
Thanks for dropping by, enjoy your Saturday evening.
Saundra
In other words some on the binding of a rug, some on the hooking of a Jack and going forward on the Jack.
As you can see in this picture the very same wonderful variegated yarn which was used to whip the edges of the Oh Deer (a previous blog post) is the same yarn being used to bind Westmoreland Ponies. Look how great the colors blend with the last row hooked. You can see the skein of yarn above my hand.
And here is what has been hooked on the Jack design so far. This was the free pattern insert in an older issue of Rug Hooking magazine written about in a previous post and was a design by Barb Carroll.
In FULL DISCLOSURE..... the lines are drawn on the straight of grain. The design looks a little funky in the picture at the bottom right side but believe me it is straight.
Naturally since I'm a color plan by the seat of my pants sorta girl decided to pull out some wool to see what I want to go where. Hey, I figure it is fall/Halloween so there has to be some green in there somewhere. Since there is a bright to the top right corner figure there needs to be some balance to the bottom left so pulled out some wool to take a picture and evaluate my options.
There are three stars in the design, not that I need all three or that I can't add more but am working within the confines of the design. Well, except for the nose shape which I changed to the more traditional.
Now I'll sleep on it, look at the pictures again and meanwhile will use this time to continue whipping the edge of the cotton binding to my rug.
Today's lower temps and lower humidity in Delaware was a blessed relief. I managed to get the grass cut in Ben's playground done today with the push mower (riding mower can't go thru the gate).
Enjoy the evening for you working folks (I used to be one), just remember that TGTIF (thank GOD tomorrow is Friday).
Thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
Yesterday on my blog mentioned making labels for the last few of my rugs ~ a girl has to start somewhere, right? Well I did it for the Magdalena rugs but nothing else.
This time I just used Microsoft Word program instead of Photo Shop which was used to make the Magdalena rug labels. Now I wish I'd downloaded the Photo Shop program on this computer and used that instead (had the program downloaded on my old computer). It came out okay but a tad small and with Photo Shop I could add a fancy border. Here's what I made.
And here they are trimmed. A little small and not much to turn over the edges and stitch so I used pinking shears to cut to retard raveling.
Here is what the Magdalena labels looked like using the Photo Shop Program and you can see it has a border and more room for trimming; that plus the fact I only did 4 labels per sheet. Initially I thought it would be a smart idea to make a template and just fill in the information which would be different for each of the Magdalena rugs.....like size, name, date, etc.
In retrospect I should have just saved the printing of the labels until all four had been hooked and the appropriate information typed on the label document before printing out. It would have given a nicer aesthetic to the label than you can see here. Perhaps one day I'll have a do-over and replace them with better labels.
Now, you're wondering....'so tell me how you made them?" There are many ways to make labels I'm sure. I do know you can purchase sheets at fabric stores and they may even be better than what I do because I'm always afraid of jamming up my printer.
I used muslin which had been soaked in Bubble Jet purchased at Dharma Trading but may be sold elsewhere. Then let the fabric dry and iron out the wrinkles in the fabric. Next I cut a piece of waxed freezer paper the same as regular paper 8 1/2" x 11" and trimmed the treated muslin on the straight of grain then ironed the fabric onto the waxed side of the freezer paper with a DRY iron.
Then it is breath holding time as you press the PRINT button on your printer and hope it doesn't jam. Of course you will need to learn which side up it requires for the fabric to go on your particular printer. On mine the fabric side was down.
So, I know there are people out there who have made labels which look much more professional than mine. If there is anyone out there who would like to share or blog about it, please let me know so I can do a better job on the next go around. Or, heck, if you have a blog put the info there and give me your link.
Thanks for dropping by and reading my dribble. Stay cool and remember for you working folks (I'm retired ya know), enjoy hump day.
Saundra
Since this project was recently started I've not much to show, so it does classify as a sneak peek. And again, my enlargement size measures 14 x 19 and is from the free JACK pattern insert in the September/October 1997 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine. It was designed by Barb Carroll.
Another reason there isn't a whole lot accomplished is because of a little prep work for binding Westmoreland Ponies plus getting ready to make some rug labels for my rugs. So far I've only gathered the information for maybe 8 rugs and will start with those.
Early in my hooking figured the date and my initials hooked into the rug was documentation enough of a record for me. But after chatting with my friend Joan (a/k/a fishgirl) decided that I'd been remiss. Joan is so organized that she numbers, documents and makes labels for every one of her hooked rugs. Joan is one prolific hooker so I'd really like to know if she ever sleeps.
I've often wondered just how many rugs I've hooked and have been asked that question by people. My normal reply is, "a few dozen". Heck, I have over a dozen displayed in my home on the walls, floor, table top, chairs, chests, have sold some, given some away and have some which are rolled up and hoping for a sale one day. So think it is about time for me to start listing my rugs on a document. I take pictures of all my rugs but some pictures may have been on the disks and not transferred to a CD or flash drive so many pictures of hooked pieces are missing I'm sure.
Out of curiosity I would love to hear if you keep a record of your hooked rugs in both picture form and documented? In the event you don't wish to post a comment I have put a POLL at the top of the blog post for your convenience. The info will be interesting to me and am sure others will find the numbers interesting as well.
Thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
Westmoreland Ponies probably has only about 1 more hour of hooking left and then the binding. So decided it was time to get another project ready to go on my frame since there is still 2 months to go before a Cape May project is due.
Next on the frame is JACK, a free pattern insert from the September/October 1997 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine and designed by Barb Carroll. This is the cover of the issue.
There is only a single pumpkin pattern in the issue for the Jack, Jack, Jack design you see depicted in the centerfold below. While the article provides insight into color planning all three Jacks, I intend to hook just the one. Must admit tho that I do like the cat at the bottom left of the design.
This is what I drew on linen this morning. I enlarged the pattern by 250% which gives me a design measuring approximately 14 x 19, is a good size and should hook rather quickly.
When I draw a pattern for ME to hook I look thru the unused linen left over from pattern drawing to see what is doable. It makes no difference to me if it only has a 2" margin because I can sew on cotton fabric for that added foundation to go on my frame. Naturally when drawing a pattern to sell or for my clients there is more of a margin included. But hey, li'l ole me wants to utilize what I have..... waste not want not.
And since I won't make the border any bigger went ahead and did the prep work to make it easier when it comes time for binding it.
Have a great Sunday and thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
After my blog post about a hooking a memorial rug for Cape May decided to post an inquiry on the Rughookers group. I asked about what photo editing software would give me line drawing capabilities for free. Dear Ann said her techie son was there and suggested I download www.paint-net.soft32.com/free-download. My computer came with a Windows Paint program but the paint-net is different. This is the picture I chose of Shadow.
In that program under Effects I selected Artistic, and then pencil drawing. This is the result:
And here is what I've done so far but must admit I'm getting a little
skeptical about my ability to draw the eyes properly and for that matter feel insecure about hooking it from my drawing.
Right now think I'll put the memorial rug on hold and work on Westmoreland Ponies; besides Cape May isn't until September. It seems that my sharpie drawing is beginning to make my Shepherd mix dog look more like either a boxer or Pit Bull.
Anyway, thru my process I've been able to share the news out there for others who may wish to play with photographs to do a landscape or other photo editing. Thanks again to Ann and give thanks from me to your techie son.
Saundra
I'm get closer to being done despite the yard work for this almost 8 acres. No it is not a pristine, coiffed yard, it is all I can do to just keep the grass cut after all the rain, so not a lot of weed pulling, pruning and fluffing up.
I think Westmoreland Ponies is coming along well and nearing the end. In person the crown/crest appears darker, which is nice. It will be ready to show in Cape May this September along with the other rugs completed since last year's show.
Okay, so tooting my horn....... A week or so ago I received a nice inquiry from Mary Jane asking if I'd give permission for her to post a picture of my Domestic Zoo on her blog. Well hey, of course she had my permission. Mary Jane mentioned wanting to do some research on Magdalena Briner and wanted to show my rug and the availability of patterns.
Then I mentioned research on Magdalena had already been done by Evelyn Lawrence and was in a book co-authored with Kathy Wright. But believe me I was humbled and honored just being asked to be on the same blog by and with these women who I respect.
So for those of you who are new to hooking and love primitive, .....enjoy MaryJane's bog. http://www.maryjanesrugs.com/blog/1950172-magdalina/
Thanks Mary Jane for thinking my adaptation of Domestic Zoo worthy of being mentioned on your blog. And thanks to everyone who drops by. Have a great evening and stay cool.
Saundra
Cape May isn't until September but am in the planning stages of a design for class. My sweet Shadow departed July 8, 2011 and now think I'm ready to hook her. For some of you who have followed me for a while have already seen the profile of my departed Rotties hooked in a narrow cut and then a primitive wide I did of them right after. With my girl Shadow I'm going straight to the wide cut profile. Besides, I think she was that kinda girl anyway.... just like her mom.
So I've been looking thru some pictures of her and haven't made up my mind yet. Unfortunately she is not here to take more photos so I'm reduced to the ones I already have. Some are too small or too dark so it will require some photo adjustment program to get something good to draw from. However, here are some of my options.
This one seems to be the one with the most natural look in the eyes but the blasted picture is small and when enlarged it looks grainy and hard to determine the lines.
When speaking to Shadow she would twist and tilt her head as if she was intent on hearing every syllable and anticipating a task like, go to garage, go to feed fish, fill the bird feeders. And after hearing the sentence would lead the way. But when she tilted her head I would roar with laughter she was so dang cute. Not good photos but here are some I tried to capture. Unfortunately there is the eye flash back here.
Again the eye problem ~ both are cute pictures of her listening
There are also the profile pictures I have but not so sure they are very flattering. However, profile might be easier to hook than frontal.
And then here is my girl facing me when I had a hook-in here at the house in April 2011, just 3 months prior to her departure.
Thanks for listening to my thought process of what to design for Cape May in September. Hope you have a great evening and are staying cool; it is hot as hades here in Delaware.
Saundra
Many hookers are afraid to put their rugs on the floor and there are those rugs which shouldn't go on the floor. Frankly I think it gives the rugs character when they have been weathered.
Today I had to spend an hour at the dealership while the transmission computer module was installed in my van so decided to 'fix' the whipped edge of one of my floor rugs.
That rug would be Eat Crow designed by Ann Hallet and has been at my kitchen sink since 2003 - Yup, 10 years. And really the only side which needed repair was the right side since it is that side walked on more often to the areas in my kitchen used most. Surely you want to see, huh? Here is the before (taken without a flash) and the background was never green; notice how the wool whipped edge had separated and thinned on the right side?
And here is the after being repaired today..... and that background is the way it has always looked. How and why did the color change happen?? Not sure if it is the flash, time of day, lights on or off in the room where photo is taken? Anyway, I'm very happy this wonderful crow is ready to see more years. Maybe not in front of my kitchen sink because after the show in Cape May think Oh Deer will replace this guy for a while.
Here are other rugs on my floor. This one was also hooked in 2003 and has been at the front door since finishing it. In all honesty this one was hooked before Eat Crow and was my very first ever rug camp rug. I'd only planned to attend ONE rug camp because of the cost and wanted to learn wide cut shading and have a rug at my front door ~ an all in one class. But then I was HOOKED!!!!!
That first rug camp rug picture taken today which has been there also 10 years. It is a Charco design #1105 Heritage. This rug has many a foot walked on it coming from snow, rain, etc. And this is how it looks today. Yes I need to vacuum and you can see how I would rather hook than clean. But you can also see it is OKAY to walk on rugs.
Well since rug camp was so much fun my attendance at rug camps increased. Here is yet another rug walked on often and once thru the living room into the kitchen you would walk on this delightful welcoming Flowers and Pineapple design by Bev Conway.
Oh yes and when you didn't think it would get any better (worse?) there is still another rug in my kitchen area. This is another Bev Conway design which I think is called Chickens on Eggs which I loved; but envisioned chickens on hay. So we made creative changes and she guided me thru that process at camp.
Now you can see rugs really are durable on the floor. Wool rugs are especially resilient hooked on a proper foundation. My preference for foundation is LINEN. Since I hook with a wide cut the natural primitive linen is what suits me best.
Should you newbies have a question please feel free to write and ask a question. Just remember that I was a newbie once and while I may not know all the answers, it is probably a problem I've had a few times myself. I'm definitely NOT a know-it-all. I'm here if you need help.
Have a great evening and thanks for visiting.
Saundra
Even tho yard work and sitting at the dealership has taken a bite out of my hooking time, this is where I am on Westmoreland Ponies.
Today's yard work only involved using the push mower in Ben's backyard playground and around the base of some hard to get areas with the riding mower; so there is still the majority of grass to be cut left yet. But not today as the heat just got to be too much.
Tomorrow I'll sit another hour at the dealership, (oh, add 35 minutes driving time each way), there will be hooking time lost there too. While I don't have a rug to bind, my plans are to re-whip the worn edges of Eat Crow, I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.
Will have my grandson in the afternoon after picking him up from soccer camp at the local school. I'll have that sweet young man in the afternoons all week so his parents can put food on the table. It is a joy to have that 9 year old in my company. When I was 9 am sure that I wasn't the conversationalist my grandson is.
Have a great evening and stay cool....and as always, thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
What a better way is there to spend 2 hours sitting at a car dealership than using that time to bind a rug? I hate binding rugs and if money grew on trees I'd hire someone to do it for me. But it didn't seem all that boring at the time and even seemed like fun compared to sitting and watching Price is Right and the other game shows on their TV. So Henny Penny is bound and I'm caught up..... for now.
The dimensions of the small Henny Penny was 15 x 20 (it comes in 2 sizes) but I took a little creative license and extended some of the elements to make it a bit bigger. So mine now measures 15 x 23. This was a fun, fun design to hook and can be found on Barb's Keeping the Past Alive page.
It was hooked in #8 and #8.5 wool strips. The majority of the background is Irish Eyes sold by Heavens to Betsy. Now, when you go check out her web site to see pictures of the wool, what you see on her site is NOT what that wonderful wool looks like in person. It shows up as bright but it is a soft and mild green which is a little darker on one side and lighter on the other so makes a nice background.
And there were blobs of this n' that hooked as part of the background to attempt making it look old and give the appearance that 'she used what she had'.
Monday I need to go back to the dealership and have a part installed on my van, seems the computer is bad and that is why I'm having hard downshifts in my transmission. In February the transmission computer module was reset but am having problems again, thus a new computer. Since it is doubtful Westmoreland Ponies will be ready for binding by then perhaps I'll take the Eat Crow rug and re-whip the edges.
Have a great evening and thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
Back again with an update on Westmoreland Ponies. In a previous post upon beginning the rug mentioned it was designed by Barb Carroll of Woolley Fox. So I wrote to Barb asking about it's name. Barb said she chose some of her favorite elements from antique rugs (scrolls, leaves and hearts), she likes the horse form and lives in Westmoreland County. So there you have it.
You will see some new fresh loops pulled but also some RE-hooking. I temporarily changed the outline color on the bottom right leaf (previous post) to see if I liked the darker outline. But it seemed to be a bit much to the eye with the light/dark contrast. Also changed the right saddle color from the other light green (from an over dyed brown/orange) to the same wool as the saddle on the left, EXCEPT I chose the textured part which had more blue than red. So now both saddles have the same intensity (thank you Lynne, yes using your name in vain again).
So now just have to 'keep on going on' until this rug is finished. Thursday I will be spending at least an hour or longer at the car dealership to have a transmission problem dealt with on my van, so I'll use that time to finish binding Henny Penny. Next task will be to bind Westmoreland Ponies when it is done.
Have a great week folks. Seems that just after having two weeks of rain and a couple days of good weather, this area is about to have the rest of the week in rain again. At least I was able to cut my grass on Saturday during the break. Meanwhile the mosquito population is rising again.
Saundra
Ever wonder how many times you can reverse hook an area before the primitive linen weakens? I have wondered but so far haven't re-hooked an area more than twice so hopefully I'll not find out on this rug either. I have re-hooked the bridle and saddle on the right and not sure that color wool is suitable since it blends too well with the background. Perhaps I should just use the same wool as the saddle on the left as there may be enough to do so. Hmm, in this picture it doesn't look too bad.... maybe?
You will also noticed that one leaf at the bottom was re-hooked using the same brown/red as in the crown. I think I like it vs. the blue and particularly since the crown/crest is hooked using that wool, so the other one will probably be re-hooked as well.
And, am also thinking about ripping out the last hooked row of the bottom and larger heart and outlining it with the same brown/red and replace that herringbone which is presently outlining the heart. Since Henny Penny isn't quite bound think I'll take a break from Westmoreland Ponies while I ponder how to go forward. That way I can get more done on Henny Penny's completion.
Would like feedback, and Lynne, if you're reading I'd particularly be interested in your thoughts. Have a great weekend everyone and stay cool.
Saundra
Color planning a rug has never been my strong suit; there are colors which I like and definitely know it when certain colors just don't jive together. But as for pulling colors together to make a great rug and not just an 'okay' rug, my skills are lacking in that area.
Today I chose some wool for the crown/crest and am thinking about mixing these two textures you see together. I didn't want a bright red so have chosen a red/brown texture and a dark texture which has brown, red and orange. But before I start hooking it might see what else could work and might take another picture just so I can see it on the monitor.
In Barb's hooked version of the rug she had chosen two different colors for the saddles so figured I'd do the same but didn't want one of mine to be a pink/purple wool. So thinking the saddles should be different in my rug too, chose a more orange texture that you see in the photo above.
A hooker friend suggested that perhaps both saddles and bridles should be a green. So pulled out a couple different greens to see if I want to pull out the saddle and bridle on the right and replace with one of these wools. And now I see it does provide a triangle for the eye to follow so that idea does have merit. There is this green texture which is similar but different wool than the leaves on the bottom and different than the saddle on the left. Louise, must admit it is softer on the eye, thanks.
There is also this over dyed texture below but feel this is too bright compared to the other saddle and leaves. And frankly believe the green on both saddles is better and makes the eye glide around the rug but my choice would be the wool above.
Would welcome everyone's thoughts on the saddle colors and frankly would enjoy your ideas on the crown/crest color ideas. Thanks for dropping by.
Saundra
Amazing how fast a month goes by as it seems only a week ago that I posted the June stitchery pieces I did. As mentioned previously, all 12 months were made during the year 1997 for the anticipation of moving into our newly built home which continues to be my residence today.
This series of stitcheries I cannot remember where I purchased them or who the designer was, sorry. p.s. Christine has since written me to say this is a series by I DONE MY BEST stitchery; THANKS Christine. But do remember being so excited to move onto the next month each time one was done. Funny that you can't see the stitches of the Angel's hair yet you can pick up the wayward thread on the top right side of the stitchery...go figure. That I never even noticed before taking the picture.
And this design is one of 12 which was designed by Jan Patek of Indygo Junction. They were also fun to do and have even more quilt applique' patterns by her which could easily be made into a hooked piece. Hmmmm, dang that is what I think my next project just might be once Westmoreland Ponies is done..... unless I decide to take a hard right hand turn. I've definitely been known to change my mind mid thought.
And this one I forget the designer's name as well, sorry. But I'm thinking it was probably in a craft magazine somewhere.
Sadly I have not made any into a quilt, a pillow or wall hanging. I do, however, place one on a table behind my sofa for me and visitors to enjoy as they enter the living room.
If anyone should know the designers of the stitchery or the star quilted piece, please feel free to comment and I'll update the blog.
Have a happy and safe July 4th tomorrow and weekend everyone.
Saundra
Have finally put this beauty to bed, so to speak. It has been completely bound using Barb's technique in her book Secrets of Primitive Hooked Rugs and is placed in my kitchen in front of my sink.
Yes, you read that right.... in front of my kitchen sink. First, I'm careful but IF I were to spill something on it I'd immediately take care of that problem. Besides, the wool has already been washed, right? So soap and water can't hurt it. Oh Deer will replace the Eat Crow rug which was hooked in 2003 and needs to have the edges whipped again.
Now there is still the Henny Penny (oh man do I adore that one too), it needs to be steamed, trimmed and bound. But I'm still excited hooking Westmoreland Ponies so will work on that for a while longer.
And there is yet another thunder storm underway as I type and MORE RAIN!!!!!!!!!!! so will finish this and get off the computer.
Have a great evening.
Saundra
I've had a request from a blogger/hooker friend to see the wool I'm using for the background of Westmoreland Ponies. But first, an update on the rug ~ not a whole lot more hooked but will bore you with another picture anyway.
Here is the background wool ~ First one is from a dye job I did on a texture using my favorite High Meadow Green recipe. Second column on top is a grey/green I purchased from Kris Miller bottom wool is something I had from somewhere. Third column are two wools purchased from Barb for the project but not enough to do the whole background because I figured I had additional here close enough to do the rest of the job....just wanted that as a 'go to' color. And the fourth column is a wool that I purchased in 2010 from Rebecca Erb called either Tea Green or Green Tea.
All of these wools are close enough in the grey/green color to work well together, yet give a little variance and indicate movement in the background. I think I've got a wool for the crown or dome over the horses. However, my Oh Deer must get out of my face and my living space so plan to finish binding it tonight. That would leave one more rug to be bound which hasn't even been steamed..... Henny Penny.
Can you believe it is July? Already? And I'm so SICK of rain I could spit. There is a pond behind my yard and into the woods and the mosquito's are multiplying faster than rabbits but Mosquito Control can't come spray because it has rained every day for the last week and will continue thru this week.
Have a great evening everyone. Now to make a salad to go with my homemade lima bean soup and finish binding Oh Deer.
Saundra
