WHERE DID MY DAY GO?

What a timely and perfect title to my blog.  And thanks to friend blogger Cathy of Acorn Hollow for providing the idea for my post since that was the title of her last post.  

This morning after breakfast I started drawing patterns.  Most were Dancing Rabbits patterns but there were three other designs ordered too.  Since I'm a one woman operation it's me cutting and serging the linen and drawing so only accomplished one pattern before lunch.  Then went back to draw more but quit just before 5 p.m. to watch The Five.  Then another order for rabbits came in so will finish drawing and ship the patterns tomorrow.

Here's what has been ordered.  What took most of my morning was drawing the Cottage and Apple Tree.  I had to really concentrate on the tree limbs and apple's as it is easy to get confused as to where the limb and the background were because of the location of the apples.

Five Dancing Rabbits patterns, some with border some without. 

One Ali Katz small (without the zig zag border ends).

And one Mache' Jacks.

Or at least that's all on the schedule so far.  In queue tomorrow will be to finish Ali Katz and draw the last order for Dancing Rabbits with border.  Wish I could be more creative in my blog post this evening but I feel brain dead and tired.  BUT!  Not too tired to pull some loops.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

 

MY PAST CAPE MAY RUGS

This is the second week of classes for Rugs By The Sea rug camp which I'm not attending this year.  In a previous post I showed rugs hooked with various teachers ending with the year 2011.  If you missed the post or want to revisit, you can see those rugs HERE.  

Now will continue with the rug hooked in 2012 with Bev Conway.  I'd wanted to hook this pattern for a while and was happy to finally have it on a frame with wonderful Bev Conway as the teacher.  The pattern name is Wee Folk, a design by Vermont Folk Art Rugs.

In 2013 I took a class with Diane Stoffel and hooked my departed girl Shadow.  That was a stressful 5 days because I'd dyed enough wool for my girl but her head was drawn larger than real life and ran out of wool.  So we went looking thru other teacher's wool to find something suitable.  Diane is a wonderful teacher and artist for sure.  But was a lesson to me to take fun things to class as rug camps are supposed to be fun.  I love my girl Shadow and see her every day to remind me of her wonderful spirit.  She was hooked in #8. 

My rug design named Ali Katz was hooked in 2014.  Since Ali Strebel was my teacher that seemed like a perfect name for my rug. 

The following year (2015) was fun hooking a design named Nantucket Broom Ride in a class with Kris Miller.  Every time I look at this rug I'm reminded of the wonderful class with Kris and following communications with departed friend Barb Carroll.

Guess you could call me a 'groupie' because the next year 2016 I was in a class with...uh, you guessed, it Kris Miller!  I hooked another Lori Brechlin design called Do Goode, Be Nice.  And used a skeleton key instead of hooking it.

In 2017 I had my first class with Cammie Bruce.  She had a short class on 'primitive' rugs which blew my mind.  Was so glad she had that class as it changed my attitude since there are so many variables which decide primitive. Anyway, I'm getting away from the subject of rugs hooked at Cape May..... My pattern was a design by Bev Conway called On the Loose. 

I feel the need to explain the next rug hooked 2018.  I'd been given a design by a friend designed by Nola Heidbreder called Golden in the Garden.  I wanted to change the dog to my Rottweiler Ben and didn't have an idea on color planning other than the dog.  Before camp  I hooked Ben to have that part out of the way.  It was unfair to Lucille but I knew what colors Ben was and needed help with color planning the rest of the rug.  

BTW my drawing of him was way out of proportion and look forward to having another class with Lucille in the future with a proper primitive rug.

To put my beautiful boy in better perspective here is a profile I drew and hooked him from a photo in #8 and #8.5 later at home.

OMG, 2019 class with Kris Miller was a hoot.  Even more fun and fond memories than years before.  In that class I hooked Oh Glorious Day.  If you'd like to get all the behind the scenes about that class you can find it HERE.

Rug Camp was cancelled 2020 due to Covid but I hooked 17 rugs and mats that year.  Won't bore you with those photos here but if you followed me you would have seen them.

Last year, 2021, I was in Bev Conway's class where I hooked Stacked Birds, a Margaret Shaw design.

Wherever you are hope all your loops are perfect.  Happy Hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Throw Back Thursday

This is going back to a 2009 class with Gail Dufresne.  In advance of the class I told her to please pull me out of my comfort zone ~ you all know what that is by now.  That would be dark earthy colors and antique adaptations.

I was very uncomfortable using bright colors and that color scheme wasn't anywhere in my home in 2009.  So with input and ideas from Gail and the group I drew and hooked this rug which I named The Great Escape.

Since this wouldn't fit anywhere in my home it was sold at an Artisans show one year.

Here is a picture of Gail Dufresne, me in the middle and Gail's sister Yvonne Wood.

Gail is an excellent and patient teacher who gives her 'peeps' her all,  Yvonne also an excellent hooker.  One important thing I learned in the class is stay true to yourself and hook what makes you happy. Try tho I may to hook colors outside my crayola box, it is awkward and not as much fun.

Regarding the previous comment about bright colors being nowhere in my home, there is this rug which I hooked 2014 and is in front of my garden  bathtub.  

Now that the crispy grass weeds have had a drink of water a day or so ago it is time to cut it once again.

Saundra

LOST and FOUND

A few years ago my computer with WIN07 crashed and along with it went pictures on the hard drive.  Sadly I didn't think ahead so not all my rug photos were saved to a flash drive.  Recently when starting to recreate my list of hooked rugs (also lost in the crash) was unable to find a particular original design I named "Great Escape".

That is until yesterday.  Out of the blue I receive a phone call from a gal I met over 10 years ago while visiting Cape May rug camp.  Caran wanted to know if I was attending camp this year and if so which week. Long story short....she said thru a photo of a fish rug she had on her iPad she was able to track me down.  

Say WHAT??????  Did it have a purple fish in it?  She said it did and sent me the photo.  Who'da thunk it!  Here is the lost picture of the rug ~ it is found again and safely saved to a flash drive.  Below is a photo in bright sunlight on  my deck.

Below is a photo of Great Escape in subdued lighting without a flash on my back porch. 

Here is a photo of the rug in bright sunlight on my deck.  As the colors are not something I could live with in my home sold the rug at an art fair at a beach resort.   

Oddly enough several years later I am to design and hook another rug with bright colors which does live in my house.  The one below I named Ali Katz.

It is fun to see the Great Escape again and it brings back fond memories of the class with Gail DuFresne.  Thanks Caran, for the phone call and hope you enjoy Cape May whichever week you visit.

My heart goes out to all those living in Texas.

Saundra 

Hooked Projects I've Done Since Cape May 2014

Each year when it is time to gather up all the rugs for the Cape May rug show I've hooked during the year, I start with my class project for the previous year at Cape May.  Last September my class was with Ali Strebel and Ali Katz was the rug on my frame.

Naturally there was an interim project for me to work on until Ali got to me but for the life of me cannot remember what that was.  Oh, that may have been the Man Cave Rug and would have taken just background wool to hook .....maybe.  Anyway, it was finished in time for the show and thankfully way ahead of time for Christmas

These won't be in order as they were hooked by any means, but do keep a running list during the year and list them each time one is finished. Here is Harvey's Magdalena with a flash and a photo without.

Another Magdalena design called Olde Ducks.  Not a flattering picture it was taken on the back deck in natural lighting.

A Woolley Fox design called Hannah's Hen and residing on my school marm's desk.

I designed this Magdalena style crow in a small size and contimplated making it into a pillow to join the pillow below but decided to keep this as a mat instead.

Below is a design by Betsy Reed which I made into a pillow.  I used Betsy's technique for the edge trim.

This year also did two antique adaptations.  One was a small runner I named Cherries and Candy Stripes and wanted for my harvest table.  It is quite smaller than the original antique but oh how I loved the dirty stripe border.

The other antique adaptation is Chum and I believe it was originally hooked by the same woman who hooked Ned.  I contemplated hooking regular dog paws on him but Barb thought the original whimsy of the toes or toenails should be included.  I'm glad I listened to her and this rug was a favorite of Kris Millers in the show.  Oh, Chum is bigger than Mr. Cotton tail so I must have really reduced the size.

As I mentioned, they are not in order....Mr. Cotton Tail was hooked in time for Easter this year and is a design by Brenda Gervais.

A small project was in my future once again and I hooked two of these Black Kitten mats which were an antique adaptation.  Hooked one for me and one for a friend which will be a Christmas gift.

Hester was a free pattern insert in a fall issue of Primitve Quilts and Projects and was a design by Lori Brechlin.

Just in time for Cape May I'd finished Hobo Joe, a design by Lucille Festa.  Instead of making him a cut out decided to hook the whole piece.  Lucille thought he looked great. 

Although you've seen all of these along the year as I was working on them, you can see them all together now.  Not many big pieces but smalls are fun too.

Have a good Monday evening everyone and Happy Columbus Day to you all.

Saundra

Beading Technique on Ali Katz

I'm sure you've all heard the term 'beading' as used in rug hooking.  I briefly mentioned the term when hooking Duluth Pumpkin by Maria Barton a few months ago.  I'm also doing the beading technique on the edge of the Ali Katz rug. 

For those of you who don't know, BEADING is a hooking technique using two different colors of wool BUT hooking down the same row.  You would alternate colors and if you knit you know how to alternate colors of yarn between your fingers.....same idea but using wool strips.

Here is a close up of the front top left corner where you can see there is still more to be hooked on the rug...sigh.  I decided to do a sorta hit and miss of the colors used on the katz themselves around the exterior row yet keeping the dark color constant. 

This is a picture of the back.  Notice that I kept the dark colored wool on the same side and against the outside at all times.  That is because when I whip the edge with dark wool yarn it will blend in well and not compete with colors inside.  Besides, had I not been cautious to keep the wool from twisting there would be cross overs and not a very pretty bottom.

And true, it is not advised to do the beading technique for a rug going on the floor since that area would have the most pressure and wear out sooner.  This rug is going to be in a very low traffic area where the edges will hardly ever be walked on.  Anyway, it IS going on my floor. I'll do the wool whipped edge but won't put a cotton binding on it, in the event the wool ever wears thin it will be easy enough to re-hook that exterior row ~ no problem.

Well I've a little over two weeks before I leave for my next rug camp so think this one will be all hooked by then....maybe not bound, but hooked at least.

Have a great evening.

Saundra