Betsy Class and Hearts and Swags Pillow Update

I'd hoped to have my pillow completed by tonight but sadly it isn't.  Yet I did manage to get my trim attached.  This was a technique that Betsy Reed showed us in her class this past November and it was instant love at first sight. 

Below is a pattern Betsy offers.  Notice how she made it look so old with the primitive stitched trim around the perimeter of the rug?  And the unevenness of the sides?  Yeah, I'm sure some of you don't care for it but to me it was wonderfully primitive as if the rug (or pillow) was in need of repair and....'she used what she had and did the best she could'.  This is the first piece that caught my eye, mostly because of the trim.

Below is a photo of the left bottom side for a close up.  Betsy went to the trouble of make the wobbly uneven sides just for that antique look.

Yeah, I'm sure some of you don't care for the look but to me it was very primitive and something I wanted to do.  Okay, for my pillow didn't want the uneven sides but did like the trim vs. a fancy wool covered cord edge. 

 

Betsy said to cut (rip) black (or whatever color you want) cotton fabric in 2 - 2 1/2" wide strips.  First she said wash to remove sizing, bleeding and shrinking.  Then it is put into a bath of brown dye to tone it down and give it age.  Next the strips are tossed into the dryer , once dry then rolled into a ball.  Yup, you read it here.....remove the knotted cotton strips and they achieve their natural wrinkles all wrapped into the cotton ball to be used later as a binding edge.

 

I started at the bottom of the pillow and left a tail at the opening. It doesn't show it well but the bottom left corner is just above the 5th whipped stitch.  All four corners need to be stitched nicely to have a well shaped pillow.  OH, forgot to mention that thread I'm using is crochet cotton which I've coffee/black walnut dyed to give it age. 

Here is what the side of the pillow looks like and the flash is making the thread look lighter than it is.

I've still the pillow stuffing part to do, hopefully tomorrow.  So there is more to this pillow project.  If anyone has questions that I haven't addressed to this point, please write me at saundra125@comcast.net and I'll post next time. 

 

Have a great evening, try to stay warm and toasty!

 

Saundra

 

 





Making Some Headway

Yippee, I've pulled the last loop and steamed the antique Hearts and Swags piece.  Have even gone so far as to clean up all the wool strips from this project and put them away.  Thought I'd post a picture of it after being steamed and before being made into a pillow since the shape of a pillow will distort the look of the design.  This is a picture without a flash.  I love the look of the curl from the hand torn.  But not all wool used was hand torn as sometimes I wanted a thinner row of a color.

 While the steamed piece is resting I'm determined to finish binding Long Island Farm and get it hung.  I really want to start hooking another project but must get some of these pieces completely done.... meaning the binding.  Having 3 hooked items hanging in the balance to be bound is wearing me down. 

When I get ready to make Hearts and Swags into a pillow I'll do a tutorial of sorts.  Obviously my will power won't hold out and somewhere after having one bound and hung I'll start that new project.  Then will bounce between that new project (secret right now in case I change my mind on design), binding Shadow and making the pillow.

Have a great evening.  Yikes, just 3 days and it will be Christmas. 

Saundra

Antique Hearts and Swags

It's been a few days since I've given you an update on my progress on this piece.... uh, because there hasn't been much progress lately.  I've been busy helping my grandson with a project at school, which I promise to bore you with later.

This is the pillow 'wanna be' and measures 20x20.  I'm looking forward to leaning back on it where I sit to hook.  I'm using a variety of hand torn from 1" to 1/2" and some previously cut strips from my stash in smaller widths for certain areas.

And this is what the original antique rug looked like.   Provenance is New York 1875 and original dimensions were 34 x 41 according to the auction house.  Oh my but what I wouldn't give to make mine look like this beauty!!!!!!

The antique rug was much larger but I reduced it to two different sizes and chose to hook the 20 x 20 as a pillow. 

 

I'm still slowly working on binding two other rugs but other projects have intervened so will just take one day at a time.  But once they are done will have a celebration and show-n-tell.

 

Have a great evening everyone.  Life is Good!!  And oh my do I love those tee shirts to wear and spread the word.  For some this is a tough time so a <smile> just might make a difference.

 

Saundra