VINTAGE RUG SHOW

There are several more recently found rugs on my flash drive to share.  A reclining deer said to be hooked late19th century early 20th.  Dimensions are 22 x 36.

The auction house listed this as a "recumbent dog" but is it a dog or cat?  Measures 37 x 56 and from a Maryland collector. 

Hettie was hooked early 20th century but no dimensions were provided.

I wonder if it was that rug which inspired Barb Carroll to design this rug I hooked in 2013 named Henny Penny.  Me thinks it was 😉.

This next one reminds me of the test pattern on the television back in the day before programming was 24 hours.  Anyone here remember those days?   Hooked on burlap late 19th or early 20th century using fabric.

Dated 1889 I'm thinking this may have been a wedding rug.  I see motifs like hearts, birds, eagle, anchor, cross, scissors, and horseshoes for good luck.

This lovely cat with bowl of flowers measures 57 x 76.  It sold for $1,650 and said to be hooked between 1900-1925.

'Tis a nasty rainy day in Delaware so have been reverse hooking and rehooking a few triangles.  Perhaps now that I've decided where I'm going on this rug (thanks to my helpful blogger friends) perhaps I'll make headway now.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

CHANGING of the RUGS

You're familiar with the term 'changing of the guards' but at my house it is changing of the rugs.  This morning I changed out the rug on the harvest table and placed this on.  This one has a bit of a story behind it.  

I first fell in love with Westmoreland Ponies, a Barb Carroll design,  while at her rug camp in Ligonier.  And so I had to buy the pattern and buy wool for it while I was there.  Below if the one I saw in the Woolley Fox Cabin.

Brought the new next project home and posted about progress on my blog.  One of my followers/readers informed me they hooked it and did I know it was a free pattern insert in a 2010 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine?  HUH???  I paid for a pattern I could easily  have drawn out  myself 😀😄😂 ~ well the laugh was on me.  But at least hooking could start sooner at home by having the pattern already drawn.

Another rug change in the kitchen to the right of the table is Henny Penny, another Barb Carroll design.  BTW, the Queen tin cup was a gift from my sweet DIL.  Shortly after she and my son started dating I knew she would be a keeper, she had a great sense of humor so told her..."you may be a Princess but I will always be Queen".  We have joked with one another over the years about that.  One birthday I gave her a plastic tiara and Princesses are born in May tee shirt.

Guess I'd better run my errands before it rains AGAIN this afternoon and tomorrow.  When oh when will this water dry up which continues to stay as a moat around my property?

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com  

Making Rug Labels

Jackie, a loyal follower of mine suggested I do a tutorial on making rug labels.  But before I get to that wanted to let Jackie know that I tried to respond to your message but you ARE one of those unfortunate people who has that dreaded "no-reply" blogger.  To learn how to correct it so you don't miss any giveaways or personal help when asking for it, do a google search or scroll thru my old posts to see how to correct it.  It is easy to do.

Anyway, there are a couple ways to make rug labels and I've done it two ways now.  The first way was to cut freezer paper 8 1/2 x 11 to and a piece of muslin ripped on the straight of grain across and down to fit that sheet of paper. 

If you want the muslin a little tea stained I'd do that to a larger piece to allow for shrinkage and then rip/cut to fit the freezer paper.  Then you iron the slippery side of the freezer paper to the fabric using a hot dry iron. 

The label for the the McCue Eagle was done using the technique described above.  Since I was planning to hook several of Magdalena Briner's designs wanted to provide adequate information on the back so did a form and hand wrote the information in after each was hooked.  As you can see below it isn't as nice since the ink pen ran and the writing isn't as structured as the print.

If you look at the label above closely you will see that I also indicated the original size of Magdalena's Eagle and the size of mine.  Wanted to show the year the original is to have been hooked as well as the year I hooked mine.  Since all that information was available to me, thanks to the long and tedius research of my friend Evelyn Lawrence, I felt it should be on my label.

So now the more current rug labels I've done; you saw one on the back of The Cat's Meow in a recent post.  Here is a label I just attached to the back of a previously hooked Henny Penny design by Woolley Fox. Notice that mild green in the background ?  The name of it is Irish Eyes and was purchased from Betsy.  I LOVE that wool and am using it in the Pot of Flowers that I'm presently working on (flower buds, leaf, thin row around flowers) and it was used in the duck on Magdalena's Farm rug.  It is a 'must have' wool in my estimation.  Not sure if she has any left but if not and it is ever re-milled, make sure you get some.  Now she'll shiver if she doesn't have any in stock and she gets e-mails. 

This is the product I used to make these last labels.

I

I purchased this at Hancock Fabrics but am sure other fabric or craft stores would have a similar product.  This is NOT a shiny or rubbery product but a muslin and just what you want.

So this is what I do to design the information on my piece of paper:

~OPEN a new document in Windows Word
~ make MARGINS the narrowest so there's more room for the labels.
~INSERT "Table" and I used two across and 4 down per sheet of paper.
~TYPE your information using the font you desire and info you desire
~COPY and PASTE a picture of your choosing.

I will fill out one square with information and then copy and paste the info into the other 7 blocks.  If the 8 labels runs over onto a second page then I know that I've to reduce the font size or reduce the size of the picture (if there is one).  And, sadly am normally behind in labeling my rugs so that I know the name and information for all 8 rugs.  That way I use up the whole sheet and don't waste the product.

Oh, and I save that into a document so that when I'm ready to label the next 8 rugs all I have to do is change the name and the information.  Also be sure to leave adequate space above and below each label for cutting and stitching.

What you will need to do is test to see which side the fabric enters the printer.  You will notice that I made a note and wrote it on the package so next time I know to place the fabric side down so the printing is on the proper side and doesn't gunk up my printer.  It was much better using this product than ironing on the freezer paper to cotton.  But that was a cheaper way to go.

After printing out the fabric I waited for it to dry and just for safety sake I took a plain sheet of paper and placed it against the printed side of the fabric and ironed it with a hot dry iron.  Since I wanted to stain the fabric I wanted to be sure the ink wouldn't run.  Thankfully something worked because it didn't run when I dipped the labels in coffee.  Now, I DID cut my labels while they were attached to the paper to make it easier and make for a straighter cut. 

Hopefully I've explained everything well enough for you.  And feel free to write me with questions but just remember, if you are a NO-REPLY blogger you'll never receive my e-mail.

Have a great evening everyone.  And please be kind to one another; as the old saying goes.... "you can catch more flies with sugar...."  Besides, it makes me happier to be nice.

Saundra

 

Long Island Farm Binding

This will be my final posting on the binding of Long Island Farm (design by Lucille Festa) even tho I'm only 1/4 of the way finished....but at least one side is done.  This is what it looks like since the final loops were pulled.  If you recall I'd considered having the fence on the left look as tho it was going down the back of the hill.  Well I tried it and didn't like it so pulled out the loops and made it more symmetrical.

Someone did comment about the mitered corners being done neatly.  One secret is having the pointed corner sheared off as shown here. 

Next you fold down the corner like this.

Then fold the two sides inward until they meet in the center.  After which you pin and stitch.  You would basically do the same thing with the binding tape.

This is what the edge looks like with the variegated colored yarn which covers the very edge of the backing and the colors work well with the colors used in the rug.

I'm doing an update because I had a request to see the back of the rug with the binding.  Since Long Island Farm isn't completely bound I will show a portion of the one side which is at least whipped with the yarn but still isn't stitched down on the inside portion of the binding tape.  Here is that picture.

But here is a picture of the back of a rug "Henny Penny" by Woolley Fox, which is completely bound.  By the way, that design is on sale half off (check specials) until they are sold.  By the way, this little mat was rolled up so that is why you see wrinkles in the binding tape.  Since I have it for sale it doesn't get used and keep them rolled up.  But perhaps they need to come out of hiding and displayed on my chests or harvest table once in a while to get aired out.  I just LOVE Henny Penny!

Glenda has asked if I would write more about different cutters and frames since she doesn't live near other hookers or know of any shop where she might otherwise be informed.  I'll probably do one post on cutters and the next day talk about frames.  Thanks to all who have questions because this is how I know what you have an interest in.

 

Have a great evening everyone; and please be kind to one another.  This is the season which finds people's patience level being tested.  If standing in a long line, take a deep breath and maybe even crack a joke which might get a chuckle from someone and even neutralize situation.

 

Saundra

Hooked Projects since Last September

Cape May rug camp is less than two weeks away and wanted to start gathering the rugs hooked during the last 12 months for their rug show.  And was quite surprised at the number I'm taking for the show this year.  Yes, some are mats, some small rugs and others a little bigger. 

If it was a contest of 'most hooked rugs' it would be easy enough to figure out the total square footage of my accomplishments and compare to another person, but I'm not concerned since I don't think size matters.  Frankly I feel guilty that I've not been dusting and vacuuming enough but rather am having fun hooking.

So first rug finished since last September is Ducks and Egg Nest which was the rug I was working on at Cape May last year until my teacher (Bev Conway) could get to  me.  This is an adaptation of an antique hooked in the late 19th century or very early 20th century in Canada.

And it was the Wee Folk (by Vermont Folk Art) as the rug chosen to hook in class, which is also done and will be in the show.

Now I'm not sure of the order here, but do know that the Karen Kahle inspired Spiral Chair Pad came soon after....

...as well as my design of Mother Hen which I wanted to offer as a pattern on my web site. 

Since I was on a roll for designing seems to me that since the holidays were soon coming up, the next on the frame was to hook and offer Holiday Ornaments.

Okay, if memory serves me think that Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art and I made a trade of patterns and I chose her Big Dog Hollow pattern to hook and it was loads of fun to hook.  A number of woollie worms were used up on this one as well.

Still being in the mood to offer more patterns to my offerings designed and hooked Red Bird of Pennsylvania which is an adaptation of an early rug located in ... you got it.....Pennsylvania.

Then in May went to Woolley Fox and hooked Barb's Oh Deer under the tutelage of that magnificent woman.

Somewhere in this mix of rug hooking wonderland I also hooked Barb's Henny Penny rug which I adore since it looks like an early work. 

Once returning from Woolley Fox and falling in love with Barb's Westmoreland Ponies, just knew it was on my list of very next rug to hook.  It's done and I love it. 

And let us not forget Jack which was a free pattern insert in an issue of Rug Hooking Magazine.  Funny story here is that someone saw me post a picture of my progress of this design on my blog.  He/she then wrote Barb asking if she'd see this and was concerned someone was stealing her design.  However, that was further from the truth as it was a free pattern insert in a Sept/Oct issue in a 1997 issue of RHM.    Must say I adore how this fellow came out.  I changed the nose from the pattern in the magazine to make it more to my liking.

Presently I'm working on Magdalena's Lollipop Bouquet and not sure if it will be finished in time for the show in Cape May or not...... time will tell.  Sorry there isn't an updated picture of it but will show you tomorrow.

Just listened to the local weather and seems like fall is coming soon.  Hopefully those hurricanes which happen this time of year will stay at bay until after Cape May rug camp.

Have a fantastic evening.

Done But NOT Bound

It's a good thing there is another rug design and wool ready to start just after these beauties.  Matter of fact even tho I hate binding rugs just might chill out and bind both of these before starting the next one.  

Here is the Oh Deer rug which was started at Woolley Fox  rug camp.  Truly it isn't this bright in person.  It is always marvelous hooking a rug at Woolley Fox and those rugs are always special to me since they are shared with a small group of my hooking friends and particularly with Miz Barb!!!!!

Actually, the Henny Penny was started before Woolley Fox but just finished it after the Oh Deer upon arriving home.  This is one photo setting I chose which makes the background look a bit tan.

Here is another picture which also doesn't show the true colors.  Oh well.  All you hookers know that pictures and monitors just don't show up properly.  Guess you guys will just have to go to Cape May rug camp first week to see these in person.

And I've my next project in the wings waiting for these two to be bound first.  You'll love my next project I'm sure. 

Hope you all had a great weekend and sleep well tonight for those of you who go to work in the morning. 

Thanks for dropping by and hope everyone enjoyed their Father's Day with dads, sons, and extended family members.

Saundra

No Power? No Problem.

Yesterday afternoon the terrible thunderstorm hit with massive winds and there were tornado warnings in the surrounding area.  Thankfully no tornadoes touched down but the whipping winds did snap off a few limbs and made the power go out about 5:30 p.m.  Then the storm passed, no rain, but also no power.  It was still daylight as the looming rain clouds passed but still too dark inside the house to hook.

I got out my candles, flashlights, batteries for the radio and had everything ready to go if the power didn't come back on before bedtime.  After all was set up remembered that I had my AC/DC portable OTT light so could hook in the living room.  Well the old charge lasted for about 20 minutes then that light was gone.

No power?  No Problem, out to the back porch is where Ben and I retreated to.  I filled his KONG with a bone which kept him busy for at least 3 minutes (it is between his front paws), but happily I hooked with a glass of wine on the back porch. 

Then when it became too dark to hook out there and even darker inside, began thinking of the women who lived before the electric light.  Obviously they did what they could by candle light and 'early to bed early to rise' to take advantage of as much daylight as possible.  I'm sure they didn't stay up until 10 or 11 p.m. and up at 7 a.m. (remember, I'm retired now).  Sometimes I wish life was a little slower and more humble but when face to face with the reality of the old and new technology, the electric light bulb is way better. 

Still haven't started binding the Oh Deer rug and this is what I've accomplished so far on the Henny Penny. 

As you can see I'm just hooking in blocks of different colors and won't change that.  But do think that I'll outline the left bottom clover or leaf with one of the duller reds as I think it would balance it better.

This has been a fun rug and really didn't think I'd pull out any loops to keep it free and appear as tho 'she used what she had'.  But that bottom left clover is bothering me.

Hope you all survived the bad weather of the last couple days and h ope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for dropping by and please be kind to one another.

Saundra

OH DEER

My choice of design to hook at Woolley Fox camp was Barb's Oh Deer rug.  I saw it in 2012 just after she hooked it.  I was spell bound and knew it was going to be a future rug of mine.  Barb enjoys the color planning process and tries to use as much wool a student brings as she can ~ but of course the colors have to work with one another so sometimes it means buying a smidgen of wool to pull it all together. 

This is what I've accomplished so far.  The color palate is a brighter than I normally hook and anticipated it would be a little more dull and primitive.  So for sure this will remind me of the over the top laughter and fun times we had for 3 days with Barb and our gal pals.  Perhaps the happiness influenced her brighter fun colors.

Since arriving home, unfortunately there has been less fun pulling loops and more time spent on laundry, yard work, and other responsibilities.  Plus spending lots of make-up time with my boy Ben, who gave me a very warm welcome home... he missed his mommy.

I was in a turmoil as to which Woolley Fox design I would work on once arriving home ~ would it be the Henny Penny that was started just before camp or the Oh Deer?  Well, the Oh Deer won out.

Today I spent some time with my son, DIL and grandson Zach and their friends.  Hope you all had a happy and safe Memorial Day.

Saundra

Henny Penny

This is the smaller Henny Penny (a Woolley Fox design) which measures 15 x 21.  As you can see I'm drawing lines to make it a smidgen larger and lines so that I can hook more blotchy spots of color.  Sure hope I'll like it when I'm done, but if not I've been known to pull out loops and re-hook. 

Actually I've since drawn more lines after the picture was taken so it will be quite easy for me to confuse myself.  This is the project I'll work on Sunday night in the cottage and in class until Barb gets to me with my camp rug.  If I'm lucky maybe I can get Barb's input on this one also.  Although I might be a little embarrassed for her to see all the lines I've drawn on it.....hmmm, after thinking about it maybe I won't show it to her.

My van is almost packed and I will leave here tomorrow to spend the night with my friend Deb, and then head off to Ligonier, PA for a wonderful time with Barb Carroll.  Have no fear, I will have camera in hand and will let you know about the fun time we had.

See ya in a few days......TA TA!

Saundra

Life after the Spiral Chair Pad

The Spiral Chair Pad is in the wings waiting to be bound and will post a tutorial of sorts about binding a round mat in a future post after Woolley Fox rug camp.  But for now, this is what I'm working on.

This is a design called Henny Penny offered by Woolley Fox and is the smaller size offered of the design.  But because there was a nice wide extra margin thought I'd draw lines to extend the parameters of the design and do a little tweaking.... uh, maybe. 

As you can see I plan to do the blocks of color to replicate 'using up' what is on hand as I do like the look.  All the red is wool from my worms as are some features of the chicken.  The dark sage green came from my stash and the lighter green was a green recently purchased with camp and this rug in mind.

Now this is a LOT more fun than the hit and miss chair pad!!!.

Have a wunnerful wummerful evening everyone.  And thanks for visiting.

Saundra