Three Years Ago

That was a very productive year hooking 14 pieces; but then several were small mats.  Hannah's Hen is the first on the list.  It is a design by Woolley Fox.  Shown below on my antique school master's desk.

Antique adaptation of a Magdalena design is known as Harvey's Magdalena which hangs on a wall in this room.

A crow design by Heavens to Betsy I made into a pillow. 

Right after finishing the pillow decided it might be fun to have another crow pillow so designed a Magdalena inspired crow which ended up hanging in my kitchen instead.

An antique cat rug inspired this small piece ~ the edge is finished with the Betsy Reed technique.

The rug below is an antique adaptation and was color planned by Barb Carroll.  And yes, the antique rug showed the dog having claw like toes.  I didn't know whether to hook the dog with regular paws or toes.  Barb suggested I hook it like the antique.

Another antique adaptation which I LOVE is one I named Cherries and Candy Stripes.  It has my favorite blotchy background.

Mr. Cotton Tail is a design by Brenda Gervais.

The rug below was an Out of Hand Rug Hookers challenge which I named Puppy Love.

That year I finally decided to hook a pattern from my stash ~ actually it was a kit purchased years prior from Tonya Robey who once owned Mad Hen.  The first photo is with a flash.

What a difference.... the photo below is without a flash now taken on my back porch.  One shows an orangy red and the one below a blue red.  Neither red is how it actually looks in person.

That year I did 3 fall/Halloween themed pieces.  First was Hester, a design by Lori Brechlin which was a pattern offered in Primitive Quilts and Projects.

Also Hobo Joe, a design by Lucille Festa.  She showed her sample as a cut out but I chose to hook a mat for the table.  You can see I used the same green over-dyed wool for both.

And at a Cape May rug camp with Kris Miller, I hooked this wonderful pattern by Lori Brechlin called Nantucket Broom Ride.  We three gals did a good collective job, didn't we Kris and Lori?  

Actually, there was one more contributor to the success of this beauty.  That was my dear friend Barb Carroll who came to my rescue when I had a cellulitis bacterial infection.   Sweet Barb sent a few purple choices, red for hair and green for the flowing scarf.  Yup, that did it!  Thanks for the 'get well' package dear friend.

And last but not least, this was the year I designed a rug for my son's addition to his home.....his "Man Cave" rug.

Happy humid Sunday folks.  But at least it isn't raining.  

Yesterday I mentioned to someone I was going to cut grass before the humidity set in today.  She wrote back asking if the water had subsided enough to cut the grass.  The first photo inside the fenced yard shows still a puddle of water but surrounding that is mucky mud.

It is hard to see, but just beyond the fence the water has receded but beyond those trees and my clothes line is full of water and tons of mosquitoes. 

In the picture below you can more easily see the water and the shine into the woods of the sunlight's reflection on the water.

Was able to walk in this area just beyond my garage side without getting my feet wet, but to show the water level I opened up the in-ground propane tank and you can see water.  There are leaves floating around in there but was afraid to stick my hand in to remove them for fear of damaging a wire, gear, etc.

So yeah, still have lots of water here unfortunately.

Saundra

Some Old Rugs

Below is a nice welcome mat with hearts in all the corners and nice neutral hit and miss border.

Two dogs reclining with a light neutral geometric style background to make it more interesting in appearance and probably more interesting for the person to hook.

Below is a Barbara Merry snow scene and while it may not be real old Barbara is well known.

The auction house said the Welcome rug with cat and dog was hooked in the 1800's.  It is mounted but you can see loose loops at the edge along the black framing.

Below is an early 20th century hooked rug of horses, flowers and pennies.

And here is the backside view for the actual colors before fading or soiling.

Now, on a more folky style of rug but still worthy of viewing IMHO are these next two rugs.  I recently saw this cottage hooked piece on an auction web site and it was immediately endearing to me.

Reason it was so endearing is because it reminded me of a rug at Barb Carroll's former Guest House for rug hookers.  In May 2016 Barb asked me if I'd noticed the newly purchased piece handing on the wall in the bathroom.  Well of course I had and took a picture of it.  Here is that rug.

 

Barb's rug reminds me of a Gnome's cottage and when seeing the one above Barb's was immediately reminded.  Now....... okay you creative folks.  Look at Barb's Gnome cottage rug and let me know if you see a hidden image.

On another note, I do believe I've found my way with the "Have you any Wool" rug.  Will try to hook more so that I can attempt to catch up with Kelley's loops.  

S

Taking A Critical Look

I have flip flopped between 3 projects over the last few weeks and decided to concentrate on just one to get it finished.  The "Have You Any Wool" is a pattern offered by Woolley Fox and put it on hold because of the border.  Sure thought my color planning would work out perfectly but suddenly became undecided.

Looking at the pattern saw the sheep as a skein of yarn so chose to hook the sheep like that. Was totally happy how the sheep turned out so my plan worked even though I know a tail of a sheep is longer than hooked. 

The border is my problem.  Actually am happy with the dark part of the plaid as the border but wasn't sure what to do with the leaves and pennies (flowers).

Seems I boxed myself into a corner with limited color choices for leaf colors.  So guys and gals who visit my blog I thank you for taking the time to visit and comment.  Nothing fake about  me, I tell it like it is and show my true self.  

I love hooking rugs but struggle with color planning like the rest of you....or perhaps some of you.  If only I'd taken this to a class with Barb Carroll she would have fixed my problem in a nano second.

Have a great evening everyone.   

Saundra

Rug Show Time

It has been a while since having a rug show on my blog and figure it is about time for my readers to see something a little different than the same ol' same ol'.

Above is landscape with black folk and their critters, rug was hooked mid 20th century.

Above are two bunnies, butterfly and flora from Manchester, NH. No date given.

Love the blue cat above and that blotchy background makes my heart skip a beat.  No provenance at all was provided for this beauty.

I have always wanted to hook an antique rug with neutral colors and this just might be my target.  I love doves and am not longer afraid of scrolls.  Heck, those scrolls are easy peasy tho.

As previously mentioned on my blog, Barb Carroll took the fear of hooking scrolls from me when she mentored me with this rug.  Yeah, you regular readers have seen this one before but it is my love and hangs over the mantle of my fireplace.  (p.s. I offer this pattern for sale).

Speaking of scrolls, below is an antique rug which was recorded as "American School of of Folk Art Floral" and from an estate of Woodbury, CT.

Below is a close up.

Enjoy your evening everyone.  I know Jo Wick and her group are enjoying themselves their second day of camp with the magnificent Barb Carroll.  If you would like to take a class with her you can reach here HERE.

Saundra

Olde Hearts

Have I been away so long you forgot what I am hooking?  In case you don't remember, I'm hooking Olde Hearts, an antique adaptation which was purchased from Woolley Fox.  

In the picture above already see at least one spot which will be replaced as soon as I get off the computer.  Am still wondering about the top very center in the V and wonder if I should use the same herringbone which appears in three striped sections and that same lighter color in the hearts.  Will keep it in for now but definitely will remove the darker oval in the 'whats it' on the left side.

Am now smiling as I'm using the term "whats it" which my friend Barb Carroll used last year at camp.  She refers to motifs which are unable to be described by any other name as a 'whats it'. That motif isn't a tree, isn't a flower... its a 'whats it'.  Thinking of you Barb and looking forward to seeing you in May.

I've cropped the border as that will be hooked last.  Normally I hook the border along with the rest of the rug but not this time.  Hope you have a great evening, have enjoyed the last three days of rain for the farmers and my weeds but now am ready for sunshine tomorrow.

Saundra

Day One with Barb and Friends

 Previous camps with Barb there had been 5 of us friends.  Then sadly Char became a Snowbird and we haven't seen her since; we communicate via email but isn't the same as spending camp time together.

So to pick up the slack and fill a spot was the wee bit of a woman Joanne Henderson.  Here she is getting her new rug color planned by Barb.  Joanne is a lot of fun and quite a powerhouse in all the great ways.

Below and to the left is Shari and to the right is our other friend Mary. Shari generously shared her illness with us and learned that Mary got sick after getting home too.  You can see my seat was a direct airborne shot across from Shari.  Was working on my grandson's rug until time to get my new rug color planned.

In blue (below) is Deb, a true friend who was the navigator across the Allegheny mountains and a great roomie at rug camps. 

The Three chicken rug below is an antique adaptation which Shari was hooking before getting her camp rug color planned.

Deb was working on a Magdalena animal purse by Woolley Fox but forgot to take a picture of it.  Joanne was hooking a Granny Donaldson humongous rug, below.  It is so big that I couldn't get the whole rug in a photo.

Just love this primitive hit and miss hooked mat made by Barb and plans are for me to do a hit and miss again too.

Will share more tomorrow.  Going to hook and drink lots of water and get thru these next couple days of illness.

Oh, I am looking for more of this wool; it must be a really old piece because Barb doesn't recall seeing it; and Betsy said it wasn't theirs. If anyone has this wool and would like to sell me some, please contact me ~ any amount would do as I'm using it for part of a border.

Saundra

Honies....I'm Home

Could be that I'll just fall asleep at the computer posting this update on my travels.  Actually, this one will be a quickie just to give you a teaser. Besides, my #!&# iPad, even using the proper app for a blog wouldn't allow me to post a picture while I was gone.  

Anyway, in an attempt to send a blog from Barb's I'd  mentioned she recently finished hooking her design "Brave Hunter".  Barb had previously hooked it and offered it as a donation, raffle or some such and she loved it so decided to hook it again.  

In person this rug looks OLD.  These are NOT the colors you would see if holding the rug in your hands.  Don't know if it is my camera, computer or what; but trust me when I say that everything is darker and old looking.

Anyone who had gone to a Barbara Carroll rug camp at her home knows how special it is.  There is the individual attention, the personal connection and of course spending the nights in the wonderfully decorated cottages.  As delightful as it was it sure is exhausting having fun.

Saundra