GRANDE FINALE

We've all completed our Granny Donaldson projects which was started January 15th.  Denise sent her photo this afternoon and she had a whopping 24 critters to hook plus the people and tree.   Count them, I counted them probably 10 times and would come up often with 23 critters and sometimes 24.  So I wrote 24 and I'm sticking to it, lol.

Below is Betsy's adaptation where she moved around motifs, put the tree off to the side instead of the middle, added a cat and a heart.  Love it Betsy.

Elaine finished her version of a Granny Cow blanket a couple days ago and she drew hers free hand by looking at the photo on her tablet.

Kim chose to hook Karen Kahle's adaptation of a Granny cow blanket called Simple Gifts.

Below is Lauren's completed Granny rug and she enjoyed this more than the textile challenge we had last year, eh Lauren 😁

Sheila drew her own stylized version of a Granny design also, you rock gals.

And finally mine; the only creative thing I did to mine was change the camel to a horse and I still like Denise's horse better.

So there you have a grande finale show of rugs we've been working on during the hook-along.  So this door is officially closed and it was a fun project.

Rain to begin this afternoon and the March winds have arrived with a vengeance.  I already have a yard full of tree tops to clean up and may end up with some more before the end of tomorrow.  

I saw a tree which was hollowed out at the bottom and pray it doesn't fall across the driveway onto my house.  Am going to call and have it removed but suspect all tree companies are still cleaning up jobs from the two previous snow storms we had.

Happy Hooking and watch for tomorrow afternoon's blog post.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

One Month Ago....

....January 15th, was the official beginning of the Granny hook-along.  There were 7 of us who participated and we are nearing the end of this fun group project.

Elaine just finished hooking her adaptation which she drew free style by hand using elements from Granny's designs.  The tree is wonderful with the mix of yarn colors, so is the background with that mix of green.  Great job Elaine and so happy you joined in.

Denise only has a little of background left so no doubt she'll be finished soon.  Denise started with a light background color and changed her mind to use a color similar to that Granny used in an original cow blanket foundation.  Must admit I'm smitten with that horse Denise.

This has been a fun group event but we're not quite done until all rugs are hooked.  But remember, "When One Door Closes Another One Opens".  The same can be said for 'hook-alongs'.  It really will be happening soon ~ promise.  But this door isn't quite closed.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com 

Hop on A Hook-Along

Both Betsy (Heavens to Betsy) and Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) have finished their Granny cow blanket rug.  I posted my finish already and there are still 4 of us remaining so stay tuned to see what the other gals have accomplished.  I know life gets in the way and this wasn't supposed to be a speed race anyway, so you still have something to look forward to in a future post.

Here's Betsy's finish ~ she picked her favorite motifs from Granny's blankets and added her own to make the design hers with the memory of Granny still there.

Lauren is also finished and love her choice of colors also.   After seeing these two rugs makes me rethink how I'd hook it the next time as I like both of these better than mine.  

If you look thru the comments on the previous blog post Betsy asked what the next challenge or hook-along would be.  While I don't have any plans and know several followers had indicated they'd join in the next one, am wondering if anyone has a suggestion.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Almost Finished??

Could that be true?  Are we nearing the end of the Granny Donaldson hook-along?  From the recent photos received it appears that way.

Sheila has made great progress despite her changes and looks like she will soon be finished. 

By now Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) is probably already done with her Granny adaptation as she took a break to finish Ole Jack and only had the background to finish.

Here's mine and yeah all my loops are pulled and officially done but must confess that seeing everyone else's choices of colors really humbled me.  

There are six of us in this hook-along, or at least those I know of, wonder how many joined in on the side lines?  If anyone out there decided to join in on your own but was too timid to commit.  I'd really love to share your work.  Remember...I was a newbie once also and you should be proud of your work.

Am excited to share the updates of the other gals as soon as they share a photo with me.  Happy Saturday and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Misc. Chit Chat

Found a few antique rugs on the internet which interested me, will share those, also a couple rugs I've hooked and a couple Granny updates too.  So it will be a diverse post.  

First with some antique rugs ~ Basket of Flowers was hooked early 20th century measuring 27 x 35.

I like the design and if I hooked it would make the hit and miss border at an angle like Vintage Hearts which I hooked below,  

or Posies and Stars antique adaptation I hooked except with a few less red wool strips in the border.

A Canadian hooked rug named Thistle measures 23 x 38.  This is the front and at first I thought the flower on the left was faded.

But when looking at the back it was obvious a different color than red was used.  Note also the rug was self-bound by folding over the burlap foundation and hooked thru all layers.

Hooked mid 20th century the Love Birds rug would make a great Valentine themed rug and even wedding rug for a family member.

A Boy and Girl playing with their dog.  Appears the boy is wearing a sailor suit, it measures 17 x 32.5 and was hooked early 20th century.

Now for a couple Granny Hook-along updates ~ Betsy (Heavens to Betsy) sent an update and cannot believe she has accomplished this much with having a business and hooking on another rug with friends each week.  Hers is so much more interesting than mine; she has added wings to the birds, different values in the dresses, cat and interesting choice of wool for the basket.  But guess I shouldn't be surprised at her talent as she IS a rug hooking teacher for goodness sake. 

Kim (My Field of Dreams) is making great progress on her background and will have the fun part of the border to do next.  By now she is probably already working on that border.

Betsy said she and a few other gals are hooking a Jane Stickle quilt design and told her I hooked one in 2011.  A group of us from Yahoo Rughookers bought the book "Dear Jane" to choose the quilt designs.  I chose patterns which I was sure could be hooked in no less than #8.

Below is how I designed my Jane Stickle rug.

Snow is almost all melted with the rain this evening and very mild temperatures it will probably be all gone tomorrow.  However just might end up with that recurring lake behind the house.

Better get to my hooking...ta ta.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Back to Granny's Place we Go

Yesterday Diane (Woolnwares) inquired where Denise and her update went.  So I forwarded that message to Denise and was sent a current photo.  Diane, you are a No-REPLY blogger so I was unable to reply to your comment on my blog, but thanks so much for following and particularly your comment.

Seems as tho Denise made some changes and like what she has done with the background color.  This is the current photo and would be Granny approved since it is similar to the color Granny used as the foundation for her cow blanket of this design.

Here's Denise's before the man and background color change.  

Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) has been busy hooking background and only has the flowers to work on but she hasn't decided what colors yet.  Decisions decisions, but for sure whatever she decides they will be fantastic!

Elaine has been busy hooking motifs and background too.  She mentioned hers is hooked with mostly yarn but the background is with wool strips.  Would love to see the true colors and the tree a little better but is difficult to see thru the fog on the lens, sun glare or whatever is happening to the photo.  

And now to my progress..... Like Lauren I struggled with color choices for the flowers too ~ should I hook all the same, hook different colors for each?   Here's my choice of flower colors which were different, Elaine also chose to hook her flowers differently and am looking forward to see what Lauren decides to do with her flowers. 

Stay tuned to see what we do next.  Aren't you sorry you didn't join us????  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

HOOK-ALONG UPDATE TIME

No update on mine this time as I've decided to pull a few more loops on Blue Bowl of Flowers to give participants' time to work on their Granny piece.   

Sheila decided to do a dark background and realized it would be too close in value with the purple dress so she reverse hooked it.  She said next time she'll choose her background color first.

This is a current photo with a new frock and a hooked chicken.

Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) decided Ole Jack needed some attention but did send me this photo to share.  

And am very pleased to have someone new join the group and am quite honored she would even consider playing in the wool with us.  Welcome Betsy (Heavens to Betsy).  She has been working steadily to have accomplished this much in just 2 days.  Her pattern measures 20 x 24 and did her own adaptation of a Granny Donaldson design.  Love the heart and that famous shaped antique cat.   Glad to have you Betsy.

Kim Is moving right along on her project too.  As I'd mentioned in my first post about starting this Granny hook-along, it was my belief that this was Karen's version of a Granny Donaldson design.

On the weather front thank goodness the weather folks called it wrong.  Had 8-10 inches rather than the 12-18 they predicted.  Now the sun is shining and melting the snow which will then freeze making driving unsafe at night.  Not to worry tho as I'll not be going anywhere.  

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

A Couple Hook-along Updates

Appears Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) has been burning the midnight oil as she has accomplished a lot on her Granny Donaldson rug.  Which means she must be done hooking her hearts.  

Here is my progress so far.  It was so tempting to just keep hooking the background down to the leaf but then that temptation could continue until the dang thing was done.   

Not sure if I'll continue to work on this tonight or pull loops on the Blue Bowl of Flowers.  But you know I'll be pulling loops for sure.  

Sounds as if there will be another major snow storm along the east coast again this weekend and I'm not done doing what I can to clean up the tree mess already here.  Monday and today I lopped off limbs and carried them back into the woods in hopes of making the trees less heavy so they can be hauled there also.  What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, right?  RIGHT??? 😐  What I cannot haul will require my asking a neighbor to chain saw into smaller pieces so I can haul them back there too.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Another Update

Yesterday afternoon Denise sent me a current photo of her Granny (Kate) Donaldson rug adaptation.  It appears she is going with a softer/neutral background color and am sure everyone will enjoy seeing the various  choices each of us decide. 

Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) is moving right along on her rug too.  How perfectly round those little faces are ~ Lauren and Denise have set the standard high.  Visit her blog to see the wonderful wool which made this tree and her comment on the child in the rug.

And now for my update.  As expected Lauren and Denise set the standard of perfect faces high and I didn't pass.  And, why can I not take a straight photo?  It always seems to be lower on the right side and the camera also has a delay so guess my waiting, holding my breath, etc. makes my arm slip down.

Honestly I did replace that orange leaf but the one above still looks too bright.  Perhaps I need to hook the leaf in the middle and see if it mellows out.  Here's the before.

It was frigid today and silly me decided to walk the mile (to and fro) to get the mail with the cold wind whipping.  Temperature was 28* F (-2 Celsius).  A little more snow predicted here but thankfully not as much as the 12" received previously.  But it is COLD.  I made a big pot of Minestrone soup yesterday so that and a salad will be my dinner.

Happy Friday and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com