Wednesday, May 31, 2023

OLD RUG SHOW

Probably my favorite thing to do other than hook is looking at vintage rugs.  And I've collected a few more since my last post.  Cannot remember where I found this early hooked rug with two cabins, apple tree and dog but it is sweet.  No dimensions or date were provided either.
A lovely simple floral basket without date or dimensions I've had on my flash drive since 2022.  I sometimes hold rugs for a while in the event it shows up again with more info.
A recent find is a folk art farm rug dated around 1930.  It measures 36 x 36.
A close up of the whale weathervane.
No date provided but this landscape below is a smallish 12 x 18.  It is  hooked but looks like a water color painting.  If it isn't an antique and someone knows who hooked it please let me know, it is wonderful.
Another recent find is the folk art collage that includes hooking, stitching and applique.  No date or dimensions were provided.
Here is a closer view.
Cats dated between 1868 -1933.
Dog rug with 4 cats measuring 39 x 45 circa 1870.
A close up of top right corner.
I never heard of an Eider duck before and when I googled for info learned they are in the northern coastline regions.  Was hooked early 20th century and measures 20 x 36.

Hen and Rooster hooked early 20th century, 27 x 36.
Below is a closeup view of the back and you can see the plaid textile used to hook the top part of the background.  Am surprised it is in such good shape since the burlap is so loosely woven, old and probably brittle.
Another Nancy Gertrude Scott rug named Home Sweet Home.  It measures 29 x 46.
That's todays rug show.  And in old news, am still having email issues with Outlook.  BUT, I was in contact with the company from whom the software was purchased and they have been trying to help me.  They even sent me the product key for a newer version which didn't work either. 

In new news, I now have my contacts, can send and receive emails in a format which I'm familiar with.  Thanks for the help of the company and their patience with me my new version of Outlook is working.  Happy camper I am!!!

UPDATE:  well that happy dance was short lived.  Went thru all steps, showed it was saved, sent messages from it and then it stopped working and couldn't even find it in computer apps list.  Just can't deal with that crap again today so will hook and deal with the S#!t tomorrow.

NEWER UPDATE:  Yesterday afternoon I did a search for a newer driver for Outlook 2019 on WIN10, ran a Microsoft update then restarted the computer.  After that Outlook seemed to work fine but wanted to wait and see how it was today.  Am happy to say Outlook seems to be working perfectly.  Hope it stays that way.

Saundra



Monday, May 29, 2023

OFF THE FRAME

Am wondering if it will stay off the frame as I'm a little frustrated with the wool colors right now.  Could be the frustration is just a runoff of the days of frustration with technology.  More on that at the end of this post.

When working on antique adaptations usually there is both a photo of the original saved on my iPad but also printed paper copy to keep by my side.  My printer doesn't print true color as I see on the iPad.  After using the paper copy when it came time to hook that point ran upstairs to look for a lighter color similar to that on the paper copy.  But it looks out of place.  This is what has been hooked so far and you can see that yellow in the point to the right looks out of place.  
If I continue with the yellow this is how it would look
.  If I keep that I'll need to change color in the central flower to match the border.
If I pull out the yellow and go with the tan this is how it would appear.  So I'm at a crossroads....yellow or tan?  Think I'll take the afternoon off from hooking and bind more on the Horse rug.
In case you're wondering, this is the original antique for you to check out the colors so you can decide.  You'll see why I'm in a quandary.  However I will NOT buy more wool nor will I pull out dye pots, will make do with what I have.  Yet I'm leaning toward the softer duller color of the tan vs. the bright of yellow....what say you?
If I didn't have that rug to bind I'd probably be drawing out a small plus one.

OH, the technology frustration....my old Outlook mail server was expired so had to buy another, which ended up being Microsoft 365 Outlook.  Supposedly a more current version of Outlook.  Seems 365 shows constant ads and when I click on the "go ad free" link Microsoft indicates it will be $1.99 per month.  WTF?  If they can provide an ad free email why in the hell don't they just do that??  Am not biting and will probably be reduced to just use my Comcast site for email and screw Microsoft. If any of you out there has Microsoft 365 (which includes Outlook, One Note, etc.) do you receive ads on the side as well as the in box?
 
That wasn't the only issue with 365 ~ my contacts from the old version of Outlook did not sync into the new version tho I tried.  Which means it could be I've lost some of the email address of you who previously contacted me.  If you want me to put your email address in my xfinity contacts please E-MAIL ME so I'll have your address.

ALSO while I am able to send emails from the new 365 Outlook I cannot receive emails.  I HATE technology and don't know how to rectify the situation since I'm technically challenged.

Happy hooking, or in my case happy binding, lol.

Saundra

Sunday, May 28, 2023

MEMORIAL DAY

Let us not forget those brave men and women who served and gave their life so we may enjoy our freedom.  
And those loyal military K-9s as well.
God Bless America, the military and police who protect and serve every day.

Saundra

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Preview of the Center Motif

I have this love/HATE relationship with technology.  Today it was mostly hate but won't belabor it by going into details and getting my BP elevated again as it was with the Comcast interaction.  Miraculously I'm now able to receive and send emails ~ wonder if that has anything to do with my threatening to shut off the home phone, internet, email and mobile?  Ya think?

This is what little I've accomplished so far and I've been working on this for more days than Lauren has been working on hers yet she complains of not accomplishing much.  HA!  She travels 3 hours per day to and fro to camp but accomplished more than I have being at home all day.
Sadly I don't have the same colors that were in the original antique but am using what is in my stash and worms with colors which work together.  Yes I am cutting wool but trying to use what is in my worm bags first.

Am sure I'll still love it when I'm done but refuse to dye wool when there are already so many colors of wool here.  Besides, women before me had to 'make do or do without' and so shall I.

Think I'll begin hooking along the border and start the scalloped edge.  Hope I don't get dizzy, lol....guess y'all think I'm already dizzy, right?

Saundra



Tuesday, May 23, 2023

RECENTLY FOUND BEM and NGS RUGS

Barbara Merry was prolific hooker whose primitive style was thought to be antique.  I've posted several of her rugs on my blog and if you type her name in the search box they will come up.  I knew her name was Barbara E. Merry but didn't know until recently her middle name was Evelyn, or at least according to the antique auction site info.  

Farm scene with hay wagon, 32 x 39.5.
Here is her Farm Village measuring 35 x 43.
Men sapping trees.
This may have been an adaptation of her barn red home in Maine, a red house winter scene.  It measures 20 x 31.
In previous posts I've mentioned Barbara had a daughter named Nancy who also was a rug hooker.  About the same time finding Barbara's new ones I found these rugs for sale.  
For those of you who may not have read my previous posts, as a child Nancy remembers Jamaicans working on her parents' farm, thus the reason she hooks many black people as they were part of her daily life.   
Another of Nancy's earlier rugs and measures 16 x 34.
A row of houses with 2 chickens measuring 28 x 42.  You can see the camouflaged initials of NGS at the bottom right.
This rug below shows Nancy had honed her hooking skills and changed the signage from NGS to N Scott.  Farm children measuring 30 x 36.  
And yet another improved hooking style.  A farmer holding Pitchfork 31 x 37 from the estate of Laura Fisher, NY.
Hope you enjoy my vintage rug posts.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

Sunday, May 21, 2023

LOOKED and FOUND

That's right, I looked for the next one and found it.   Am sure you will recognize which antique rug it is from the post by clicking HERE
The bottom of the Snapdragon frame shows the yoke (ball harness) which prevents the frame from dropping straight down.  The frame came with the regular yoke we're all familiar with but I became frustrated when the frame would suddenly just drop unless the bolt was real tight.  So I contacted the woman from whom I purchased it and she said they had other folks complain and her husband developed this new style.  It works fine and am happy.  Unfortunately I don't see it on the web site for Snapdragon Frames replacement parts but perhaps you could inquire if interested.

As promised, here is a photo of the ice cream parlor table and chairs as I've dug it out from under the heaps of wool.   Guess those are plywood seats but the table top is marble.  
The vintage hooked chair pads I found at a thrift shop years ago.  There is one more chair but is at the vanity in the guest bath.   To the left is a quilt rack holding odd sizes of linen which have already been serged.  When I need/want to draw a small pattern I look there first.  There's another quilt rack which holds larger pieces of linen so when an order comes in that's the first place I look.  Lately I've been drawing my patterns larger than normal so go there to shop for me.
I've made headway in cleaning up the room but there's still more to do.  It just seems so overwhelming and regret letting it get to that state.  Sadly I can't promise it won't ever happen again 😞

Happy hooking.

Saundra
 

Friday, May 19, 2023

RUG HOOKING CHIT CHAT

The last loops on 1911 Horse were pulled and out of necessity with no new rug to hook (yet) have started the binding process.
The rug will be bound using cotton rug binding tape as I don't want an extra row of any color at the edge.  I want the thin dark areas to show as they are since that is how the antique was.  

Below is a fun rug I found on an auction site in 2022.  The info was that it measures 17 x 19 and said to be hooked between 1920-1949.  Am finally posting it now because of an article in the latest ATHA  June/July issue of ATHA Magazine. 

In that issue there is another cat rug Amy hooked with Nola Heidbreder adapted from a famous St. Louis artist Charles Houska.  So perhaps this rug below is an adaptation of his work as well. 
If you received the latest issue of ATHA check out page 59.
This is a preview of the articles in the issue.
I enjoy this magazine as much if not more than RHM.  
If you'd like to subscribe and see what other folks in your area are doing you can subscribe to ATHA HERE.

Nancy asked how I hid my ends.  Actually I've done 3 different ways and intended to do those on a piece of linen to show you.  But decided to take the easy way and provide you with a video by Cindy Gay, enjoy.

Hook on folks.

Saundra



Thursday, May 18, 2023

A BIT OF GOOD LUCK

I can now see the top of my ice cream parlor table but the clean up in the wool room isn't over yet.  Yesterday my sciatic nerve hurt so badly I couldn't work too long as the pain would shoot down the leg to my ankle when lifting the leg to climb on a footstool and to scale the steps up and down the stairs.  Hmm, that's not good luck, lol.

Have mentioned this before and this post is a perfect example of my thinking a glass half full rather than half empty.   I have bad sciatic nerve  pain but at least can see some progress in my wool room....

Also, on Monday I noticed the hot water heater had leaked water into the pan below ~ yeah, bad luck.  But luckily there was a pan underneath to collect that water.  The  bit of good luck is the warranty was for 6 years and I was just under that, so that saved me over $700!!  
Yes I still had the plumber to pay; did you know here they get $100/hr?  So that cost me $240 for parts and labor.  

Still don't have a pattern drawn for 'the next one' but at least I've been forced to start binding the 1911 Horse.  Guess that isn't such a bad thing to endure when there's no rug to hook...hmm another example of glass half full me thinks.

As I'm composing this post I'm awaiting the plumber (again) because I see droplets of water coming from a pvc pipe fitting above the tank.  Nothing much but want it addressed right away.  Just hoping this isn't the beginning of more shoes to drop ~ guess I just blew the concept that I'm a glass half full gal, lol.

Happy hooking, binding or whatever.

Saundra



Tuesday, May 16, 2023

BEFORE I BEGIN THE BEGUINE

The song "Begin the Beguine" was written by Cole Porter in 1935, recorded by Artie Shaw and became a musical hit in 1938.  A beguine is a popular and physically active dance in the islands of St. Lucia and Martinique which is similar to a rhumba.   

My 'beguine' may be a physical activity to clean up after my wool room neglect but it is not a dance to be enjoyed.  It's rather similar to the binding process which is most unpleasant in my opinion.   But before I can begin drawing my next rug project this is what must be cleaned up first.  

This is the mess I usually make while pulling wool for a new project and with each new rug and getting ready for camp.  If only I'd be diligent and put things back right away.  But you know some of that same wool is  needed to finish the rug so there it sits until the rug is done.

This first photo is after I'd already started folding and putting away some wool before deciding to take photos.  So when someone requests a pattern and my reply is, "will draw it as soon as I clean off the drawing/cutting table" this is what I'm referring to.
Another view of wool clutter, below you can see the two different paisley wool pieces purchased on FB which haven't made their way to the shelves yet either.
And more to the left just piled up on top of a container.  Believe it or not behind and under the rats nest below is an antique ice cream parlor table and chairs.  Am hoping next time I take a photo you'll be able to see it.
So one day soon you'll get to see what will go on my frame ~ when it's drawn.  But that will wait as there's a smidgen more to hook on the horse and a massive clean up of the wool room.  Until then, happy hooking.

Saundra

Sunday, May 14, 2023

RUG SHOW for MOTHER'S DAY

Here is a bouquet of flowers measuring 26 x 35 and hooked in the 1800's.  I often see flowers in baskets and bowls but don't recall any in a pitcher which makes this special.
Stars and Hearts dated 1911, the same year as the horse rug I'm hooking.
Home sweet home, and obviously the hooker was a gardener as you can see flowers outside surrounding the home and in the house at the windows.
The information on the horse rug was that it is yarn sewn and hooked from Nova Scotia circa 1850-1860.  Dimensions are 28 x 59.
Have had this photo of a tattered Jumbo the Elephant since 1921 so think it's about time I posted it even tho it may not be anyone's ideal rug.
An optical illusion ~ when you first look at this rug below do you see stars or blocks?
Sweet cat rug measuring 22 x 33, no date attributed.
A very primitively drawn and hooked dog with hit and miss border, 35 x 51.
Carriage House landscape measuring 17 x 27 and previously owned by Penny Marshall.
A very soiled hooked Clipper Ship measures 33 x 50 and hooked 19th century.  The Tall Ships visit Delaware beaches for tours every so often.  They are a sight to behold.
There ya have it for today's show and Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.  Enjoy your day.

Saundra