Let's Visit a "Jewell"

...that would be Jul from California who still considers herself somewhat of a 'newbie' even tho she has hooked around 10 rugs so far. Unfortunately she couldn't give me pictures of her early rugs as they are remodeling their home and couldn't get to the rugs.

Jul says she is completely self-taught with one hook, no cutter and learning as she goes. Where she lives there isn't much to offer in a craft department if you don't scrap book.  She buys wool on line and pre-drawn patterns on whatever foundation cloth the pattern is drawn on. As there is no way for her to see how others hook she purchased a few already hooked rugs.  That way she could see what they looked like in person to have a way to guide her.

She is drawn to primitive black and reds with a cranberry rich red being her 'go to' color.  Since there are no supply resources nearby, she is still learning about types of foundation.  So for Jul and other newbies, here is a link to my source of foundation cloth ~ Dorr Mill Store.  

My choice of backing (foundation) is the natural primitive linen because of the durability and the acceptance of my wide strips.  Bleached foundation weakens the fibers.  I don't care to hook on monks cloth because the hook always seems to find itself between those tiny fibers no matter how hard I try to zero in the center hole.

Here is a rug Jul just finished and told me to not look too closely. In all honesty, I think she did a great job.  No way I had the courage to choose a large project like this when first starting.  

Jul went on to say she is just learning to hem {bind} a rug and got a wee bit frustrated but even that didn't discourage her.  She joined Cindi Gay's on-line class but because of work and house remodeling doesn't have the time to spend on the class time.

Jul uses hand torn strips, then learned she could tear the wool and use scissors to cut those pieces in half.  BTW, I LOVE the look of hand torn and the way the loops curl after they are hooked.  Now I WISH that your rug could be seen up close just for that curling effect.

She recently purchased a rug pattern from me, another long runner to hook~ Domestic Zoo.  Wow, she doesn't seem to be intimidated by rug size so we definitely have a fervent hooker amongst us.

So Jul, I'm hoping once Domestic Zoo is hooked you'll send me a picture to brag about your great work.  

And thanks so much for participating in this endeavor of getting to know each other ~ I know you are a little leery of being acknowledged and gave you the opportunity to back out or to be anonymous.  So thank you for your trust.  Believe me, each of us have been where you are; all of you can read my story which was posted in 2014 about my first rug camp.

Happy Hooking everyone.

Saundra