My New One on the Frame

In a previous post I told you what my next project would be but understand that you may have doubted me since I'm so fickle.  Nope, it didn't change.  On my frame is a Magdalena adaptation named Bird Dog,  drew it myself measuring 20 x 27 whereas Magdalena's original measured 37.5 x 50.  Am guessing that would have been the dimensions of a burlap grain or feed sack opened up and she would utilize that size ~ waste not want not.

It took several sketches and reviewing the poor photo in the Magdalena booklet before deciding on my drawing.  If you have the booklet by Evelyn Lawrence please look there first.

If you don't own the booklet here is an even worse photo which is a copy of the photo in the booklet.  A well known rug hooking business offers the pattern with an elongated snout.  Perhaps thinking the white spot to the lower right of the dog's face was its nose.  I didn't think so.  To me it was a white spot at the tip of the ear and was confusing.  BUT, if you look closer to the left of that spot you will see a darker speck which I believe to be the nose Magdalena captured.

However since there is no good photo of the original Magdalena I chose to make my own speculation of what Magdalena intended and did not hook the white spot on the end of the ear.  While that would be feasible since there are white tips on the toes and the end of the tail it is visually confusing.

It feels good to work on another Magdalena rug and somehow comforting.  Not sure if I'm channeling her or she's leading me at this point.  

Once my piece is hooked and have a photo I'll offer it on my web site.  But I have a master copy of my size if anyone is interested.  It would be drawn on Dorr Natural Linen with serged edges.  If you desire a larger size I can do that too.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

LITITZ HENS

Am calling this design by Magdalena Briner Eby "Lititz Hens".  Sorry more hasn't been accomplished on it since the last posting, but such is life.

In case you are a new visitor, the dimensions of this pattern is 19 1/2 x 40.  Neither this rug nor Magdalena's Goat, previously hooked by me, appear in this book.  But if this isn't on your rug hooking book shelves it should be.  If you wish to order a copy you can contact Kathy Wright HERE.

If you missed Magdalena's Goat I hooked this the original size (29 x 35) which was close to colors Magdalena used to hook hers.  

And this smaller size of 22 x 26 was hooked in different colors  just to give prospective hookers color ideas.

Okay, with the 'such is life' comment above, I was without heat for 24 hours.  Being a 'glass half full' type of person, am thankful the temps weren't those of the previous week.  Last week with soaring winds and temperature in the teens it could have been much worse.

Thankfully it is warm now and getting ready to have a bowl of chili to warm my insides as well.  Happy Saturday.

Saundra

Rug Update and Tooting my Horn

I'm get closer to being done despite the yard work for this almost 8 acres.  No it is not a pristine, coiffed yard, it is all I can do to just keep the grass cut after all the rain, so not a lot of weed pulling, pruning and fluffing up. 

I think Westmoreland Ponies is coming along well and nearing the end.  In person the crown/crest appears darker, which is nice.  It will be ready to show in Cape May this September along with the other rugs completed since last year's show.

Okay, so tooting my horn.......  A week or so ago I received a nice inquiry from Mary Jane asking if I'd give permission for her to post a picture of my Domestic Zoo on her blog.  Well hey, of course she had my permission.  Mary Jane mentioned wanting to do some research on Magdalena Briner and wanted to show my rug and the availability of patterns. 

Then I mentioned research on Magdalena had already been done by Evelyn Lawrence and was in a book co-authored with Kathy Wright.  But believe me I was humbled and honored just being asked to be on the same blog by and with these women who I respect.

So for those of you who are new to hooking and love primitive, .....enjoy MaryJane's bog.  http://www.maryjanesrugs.com/blog/1950172-magdalina/

Thanks Mary Jane for thinking my adaptation of Domestic Zoo worthy of being mentioned on your blog.  And thanks to everyone who drops by.  Have a great evening and stay cool.

Saundra

Channeling Magdalena

I cannot believe that I just spent 45 minutes writing my blog and with a click of the wrong arrow just lost it all.  There must have been 8 or 10 pictures which I had to locate in different files and poof.... all gone.  I almost decided to walk away from the computer and quit but it has already been 5 days since my last post.  What is worse is that I was done with my post and was checking to see if the link attached was working and then clicked to exit rather than the arrow to go back to where I was.  Oh well, that taught me to click SAVE sporadically when I'm doing my blog.  (like now)


This small rug or mat evolved because my friend Evelyn Lawrence gave me a challenge.  It all started when I was hooking the fox mat for Barb before leaving for Woolly Fox.  Evelyn asked the size which was 9 x 15 and she said that would be the perfect dimensions for her to hook up quickly.  She asked if I would draw one up and send it to her..... well of course, anything for my dear friend.  Evelyn is considering teaching a Magdalena Style class and thought it might be nice for students to see how a design can be done in Magdalena style and how each one might come out differently.  We didn't know how each other was going to hook our rugs but I just knew they would be different....and so they were. SAVE! (not going to lose this again)


While the hooking is done it has not yet been bound but was excited to share it with you.  This   piece measures 12 x 17 as room was needed for the corner swags and circle flowers.

This is what it looked like before sending a picture of it to Evelyn and when I saw the bright outline of the fox knew it had to be pulled out and rehooked with a more subtle value.  As you can see I also fiddled with the circle flower on the top left too.

And this is the style in which Evelyn hooked hers, more of a hit and miss.  Carrying her challenge to the limits, Evelyn said that some of the colors in her corner swags were mostly wool strips adopted from left overs discarded by hookers at a camp she attended.  After all, Magdalena used what she had and Evelyn was following in her footsteps and utilizing what was available.  Besides, it makes for an interesting conversation and example of using what we have available, when teaching the students.

For my rug I chose the design of Magdalena's Dog.  Obviously this rug did have color at one time but with age, sun, wear and perhaps even natural dyeing it has lost some of it's color.  But for me it was using larger areas of same color that attracted me to this design; that plus it would have color in the swags and circles.

For those of you who may be new to the Magdalena style or a little timid, an even more simplistic approach would be to follow the basic design with a center motif and corner swags with a solid background like the Magdalena rug below.

There are various styles to Magdalena's hooking, the one I did was only one.  There is also the hit and miss style in Magdalena's Eagle rug where she filled in blocks with color and using different values just as we are taught by teachers today.

It appears Magdalena preferred or perhaps it was out of necessity, that she used a hit and miss style most often.  oops, I see this next picture is laying on it's side but you get the idea of the point I was trying to express.

It is quite easy to take any motif or several motifs and make your own Magdalena style rug.  All one has to do is peruse the book researched by Evelyn Lawrence and co-authored with Kathy Wright, and look at all the ways in which she made her rugs.  Then you just pick out the style that speaks out to you.


Just remember to date your rug and put a tag on it with your name as the hooker, the date and the wording "Inspired by a design of Magdalena Briner".  

If you do not own a copy of this magnificent read with many pictures, treat yourself and order it today.  Here is a link where you can purchase it:  www.rughookingtraditions.com .   I hope you have enjoyed this post and I fear that I've left something out that was lost with a click of my finger.  

Back to Hooking

Whew, thankfully Irene left me with minimal flooding, no house damage and minimal tree problems.  There was a lot of leaves, limbs and some sizable limbs to fall but it could have been much worse so consider myself lucky.  I started the clean-up yesterday and there is still more I plan to do today as soon as I update my blog.

I was without electricity for 22 hours which is not conducive to rug hooking and hooking by candle light didn't work very well for me. I even tried propping up two mirrors so the light would be magnified and that wasn't much help either.  So yesterday for about an hour between clean-up I finally pulled some loops on this NotForgottenFarm design which I think is adorable. 

I have received my copy of the book written by my friend Evelyn Lawrence and Kathy Wright and oh boy is it ever interesting.   A lot of work and research went into the compiling of information for the book.  It gives historical informormation about the life and times of Magdalena, beautiful colorful pictures of rugs hooked by Magdalena, some of which I have never seen before.  In addition to the pictures of the rugs there is detail information on each of her rugs regarding design, color size.  This is a fabulous must-have book about Magdalena Briner Eby, one of the most well known (in my estimation) textile artists of American Folk Art.

And, some great news for any of you who were not able to attend Sauder (like me), and you would like to own one of your own, here is a link you can access to order: www.rughookingtraditions.com .  You can also see the dates for next year's  Sauder. 

Well, guess I better get outside and do some more post-Irene clean-up done.