Throwback Thursday

In anticipation of the upcoming Rugs By The Sea rug camp thought today's 'throwback' photos should be from 2013.  We Three Amiga's (Deb, Char and I) have a special place we sit in the afternoons to sip wine, chat and/or hook.  We call it "Our Veranda".  Here is a photo of my roomie Deb checking her  emails

Then sweet Char, who HATES having her photo taken is making a snarky look at me as I take the forbidden shot.  The look silently says..."there will be payback".  She is fine lady but you don't want to get her Irish up 😉.  

Then a photo of me saying "cheese".  

When attending any rug camp I take a project to work on before the teacher gets to me.  That project was Lollipop Bouquet, an antique adaptation designed by Magdalena Briner Eby.  For some reason the shirt I'm wearing immediately triggers memory of this rug.

I totally enjoyed hooking that even tho it had 66 circles.  That is why I didn't hesitate hooking the Great Granddaughter's Rug with two lollipop bouquets in the design.

Am doing this blog post just before leaving for dental surgery to ensure you'd get a post today.

Saundra

Back to My Rugs

'Twas the year 2013 and another delightful rug camp with Barb Carroll on the now sold Ligonier estate.  The rug I hooked in her class was a Woolly Fox design named Oh Deer.

While at Barb's I fell in love with a newly hooked rug by Barb named Westmoreland Ponies.  Well of course I had to buy some of the wool she used in hers and then later hooked it at home.  The pattern is offered by Woolley Fox but it is also a free pattern in an older issue of Rug Hooking Magazine.

While perusing active blogs noticed Karen Kahle providing a tutorial on hooking a spiral chair pad.  Thought it a way to use up some worms so drew one up and hooked it.

Another rug hooked that year was Big Dog Hollow by Briarwood Folk Art.  Kathy wanted to hook my E.S. Frost sheep so we traded patterns.

Below is Long Island Farmhouse, a design by Lucille Festa.  Still  in my stash is another of her designs named Moon Over Vermont that I need/want to hook. 

Drawing for Polly Minick I was given permission to hook any of her designs at will.  Since I was drawing Two Chickens patterns for her upcoming class decided to hook one for myself.

With chickens still on my  mind and in the mood to design a small mat drew up this "Mother Hen" original, and sold it.

From my pattern stash it was time for me to hook Henny Penny, a Woolley Fox design... ya see a theme here, lol.  

Since I save pictures of antique rugs decided to replicate a design the auction house called Red Bird and the rug was found in Pennsylvania ~ thus the name Red Bird of PA.  Naturally that red bird had faded.

And a year can't go by with hooking a Magdalena rug....Lollipop Bouquet is among one of my most fun to hook even tho I was somewhat skeptical since it had 66 circles.  Yup, I counted them before starting to hook.  But was fun because those colors came out of my worm baggies.

Before Halloween I wanted to hook a sweet mat designed by Barb Carroll called Jack.  It is in an old issue of Rug Hooking magazine.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing more of my old hooked pieces as it has been fun for me to reminisce on the enjoyable hours of hooking.

Saundra

Careful What You Ask For

A few months ago one or more of my followers asked me to post photos of the rugs I'd hooked.  Don't think you knew what you were getting yourself into and wonder how many of you are now bored.

You know that I love Magdalena Briner Eby and have hooked a few of her designs.  One such was Lollipop Bouquet and was dreading the 66 circles.  Or at least that is the number that is embedded in my head as I'd counted them out back in 2013.  Feel free to count those circles and correct me.

Strange thing is this was a most enjoyable rug to hook, loved every minute of it as my pre-cut wool strips in whatever size was used and just pulled from the proper color baggie.

In 2014 I drew and have sold a few patterns of what I call "The Cat's Meow" which is an antique adaptation.  The photo was taken with a flash but in real life the wool was overdyed for a dirty look.

This is the inspiration for the design and I received permission from the owner.

In a class with Betsy Reed I hooked an antique adaptation  of what I've called hearts and swags.  It was made into a big cushy pillow.  Naturally the photo was taken with a flash and is more bright than in person.

Hey..... I didn't get all the pictures posted as I'd planned for this blogpost but will do more tomorrow.  Have a good evening.

Saundra

Magdalena Rugs I've Hooked

In yesterday's post I mentioned hooking a lot of Magdalena rugs; but not nearly as many as Evelyn Lawrence has.  Evelyn has hooked all rugs attributed to Magdalena Briner Eby that are known to be her design from the 1800's.

The first of Magdalena's designs I hooked was 2008 when I foolishly drew out only one half of the design of 1885 Horses.  What the hell was I thinking?  Well actually do know... I didn't want to hook such a big rug and it appeared long.

So the following year, 2009, what do I hook?  Uh, Domestic Zoo, the largest of Magdalena's rugs or any other rug I hooked so far.  After having seen Evelyn's in a rug show at Cape May I was smitten. 

In 2010 hooked Dog and Crows.

Also in 2010 I hooked McCue Eagle.

In 2011 decided to draw a smallish size of Magdalena's Dog and hook that.

Don't know what happened between then and 2014 when I decided to hook Lollipop Bouquet.  Must say it was with a little hesitation I decided to hook it.  Why the hesitation??  Because there were 66 circles which I was dreading.  But of all the Magdalena rugs I've hooked think that one was the most fun.

Then was on a roll during 2014 because I hooked Magdalena's Folk art horse mat size....

...Magdalena's Farm......

.....Magdalena's Olde Ducks.

In 2015 I decided to hook Harvey's Magdalena.  Goodness, what am I going to hook next?  There are so many cool Magdalena rugs left to hook.

Guess I've got to pull out Evelyn's book to see what should be next on my list.  For those of you who may not know, and may have an interest in replicating Magdalena Briner's rugs here is a great book.

 

Evelyn Lawrence had been researching (and continues to do so) Magdalena's legacy as the most prolific rug hooker of her time.  This is a book well worth the read and the knowledge.

 I apologize for not giving you a link to buy this book but blogger is being a huge pain in the arse tonight.  So due to my frustration level will leave it up to you to figure out how to purchase it.

 

Have a great evening.

 

Saundra

How I Choose Wool for Rug Camp

Actually, I have done my wool selecting differently depending on the rug.  You can start by asking yourself some of these questions:

~Do You want a light or dark background?

When I hooked Magdalena's Farm with Barb Carroll my only request was to have a primitive black background and I didn't care what other colors she chose to put where.  Obviously I was quite happy with the results.  Barb used all of my wool except for the grey horse and she sold me only the amount needed to hook the horse.

This is how I packed wool for that camp. As you can see I took many more colors than needed but look how easy it would be to show the teacher what colors were available. 

I put small pieces on one of those rings you can buy at craft stores.  Think they come in a package of 3 and are used for Dream Catchers.  I put a large safety pin on the piece of wool and put it on the ring.  The wool pieces are usually less than 1/4 yard but will put a little more of that color in a container.  But having that ring, or those rings makes it easier to show the teacher rather than picking up the whole container.

Extra wool in those colors were in a plastic container which also went with me to camp.  I could leave the container in the van and only go there if I needed more than was pinned to the ring. The wool on the rings is in the colorful mesh tote.

~Is your rug for a certain room in the house?

Answering that question might lead you to a color for the main motif or choice in background as well.  Such was the case with my Ali Katz rug.  It was planned for my garden bath and my Jacuzzi tub, sinks, etc. are navy blue so I wanted a dark blue background. 

~ Do you know exactly what colors you want where already?

Again that was the case with Ali Katz because it was adapted from a silk painting I'd done in 1998.  So really the color planning was pretty much done for me, all I had to do is go thru my wool and select the colors.

There are also those times I want to replicate the antique rug and want to do it at home where there are mounds of left over wool strips.  That is what I did with Magdalena's Lollipop Bouquet.  Oh my but I do love this rug.

So for Betsy's class I am taking Magdalena's Olde Ducks pattern that I drew out.  Here are two pictures of the original.  As indicated in the book, it is unknown if the two color pictures were actually two rugs hooked by Magdalena or a picture before and after repairs may have been done, since there are slight differences.

I'm not planning on hooking my Olde Ducks exactly like Magdalena did hers as I don't want my smaller ducks quite that dark.  I'm trying to take a variety of uncut wool and several bags of woolie worms to give the rug an old look.  A lot of my pre-cut strips will remain home and this is the first time I've tried taking just SOME to do an old rug so will be interesting.

Evelyn Lawrence did all the research on Magdalena and has hooked all of her designs.  If you are interested in getting your own copy of Rug Hooking Traditions with Magdalena Briner Eby you can order it from Woolley Fox. 

Have a great Sunday.

Saundra

CIRCLES and STARS



Thanks to a couple of my newbie rug hooking followers I've had a couple questions asked.  This is great to be able to actually help with subjects presently in the mind of someone.

Question:  "How do you hook a circle... do you start on the outer edges or in the middle".

Answer:  You start the circle just inside the line drawing (not on the line) so that the circle or motif won't swell to a larger size.  Here are two rugs to demonstrate; first is Lollipop Bouquet, a design attributed to Magdalena Briner (with a flash).  The circles (all 66 of them) measure between 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" in diameter.  They were all hooked using #8 wool strips (1/4" wide strip).

And a close up of some circles shows some closer hooked strips if the wool was thin and more rounded if the wool was a nice lofty strip. 

Since I used wool from my worm basket used what was there so there was a fair amount of thinner wool which I wouldn't normally use to hook with but had it so used it.  After all, that is what Magdalena would have done.

Another rug with circles is Crow Sampler, a design by Ali Strebel.  I did, however, take some creative license as I put the circles all around the perimeter of the rug and not just the top half of the rug.  Here is the rug in full view.

Here is a close up of some hooked circles.  Again, the circles were 1 1/4" in diameter and were hooked using #8 (1/4") wool strips.  I hooked just inside the line, came around and ended my strip in the same hole where I started with the tail up.  Then I'd start my next color starting in a different location than where the other color was started.  Usually I go for the opposite side to start the other color.  Then the center was a tail up, loop and tail up.

 

And often people will ask if you start a star on the tip or where.  If you want a really sharp pointed star you can start and end at the point.  However, you don't know where the length of wool strip will take you and it might not end at the next point.  I don't get anal about it and normally start on the inside dent and hook until the color runs out and then start another strip.  Again you would want to start hooking JUST inside the star's lines so it doesn't grow.

Question:  Which cut is to be used for which design or is it personal Preference and what do the numbers mean?

Answer:  Cut size is a matter of personal preference..... HOWEVER, some designs do dictate how narrow the cut should be.  I like primitive designs but if it is an eye of a dog (take for instance Shadow) I hooked the eye in a smaller cut than the #8 I used for her hair, nose, etc. 

The numbers refer to the (width) of a wool strip.  Cutter manufacturers assign numbers to them and that is why I refer to the #8 (my first desired strip size) and my new favorite is the #8.5.  Here is a breakdown in incremental measurements that will help you understand the WIDTH of a strip:

·          #2 cut = (2/32-inch) = 1/16-inch

·          #3 cut = (3/32-inch)

·          #4 cut = (4/32-inch) = 1/8-inch

·          #5 cut = (5/32-inch)

·          #6 cut = (6/32-inch)

·          #7 cut = (7/32-inch)

·          #8 cut = (8/32-inch) = 1/4-inch

·          #8.5 cut = (10/32-inch)

·          #9 cut = (12/32-inch) = 3/8-inch

·         #10 cut = (16/32-inch) = 1/2-inch

And there is another part of Annie's question which I will answer on another post as this is getting rather lengthy. 

If anyone has questions they'd like answered, please feel free to write me at saundra125@comcast.net.  Have a great evening everyone.

Saundra

Cape May or Bust and Lollipop Bouquet Update

I've been frantically working the last two days to ready myself for Cape May.  Since I have someone come in to care for my boy Ben and house sit I usually make a heat up meal of his choice so have made that.  Got all the other chores done and am in the process of loading up my pristine clean van for the trip tomorrow morning.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I cannot sleep the night before camp because I'm so excited AND during the night wake up wondering if I'd forgotten to pack something.  So then the day of arrival at camp it is like a family reunion when you see folks you  hadn't seen since last camp, stay up too late and can't sleep the first night on a different bed.  After that it settles down and I'm so exhausted after two nights of little sleep that a bomb wouldn't wake me up.  Well, guess that would.

Cannot believe that I'm taking 12 hooked items for the show; yes some are small.  Last year I took 8 pieces for the show so the extra 4 are because they are small.

Here is what the Magdalena Lollipop rug looks like now.  And, dear sweet Lauren, mine measures 25 x 29. 

I didn't want it as large as the original by Magdalena Briner as hers was 35 x 41, according to Evelyn's book (co-wrote with Kathy Wright) titled "Rug Hooking Traditions with Magdalena Briner Eby".

Speaking of my dear friend Evelyn..... she and I will be in the same class at Cape May where our teacher is Diane Stoffel.  My project is a profile of my dearly departed Shadow who is playing with her pal Panzer at Rainbow Ridge.

I'll drag my Lollipop rug with me to hook on the first night and while I await my teacher.  Will try and gauge which handfuls of woolie worms I'll need to take for that time frame and hope to get a little more done.    Was so hoping to have it done and ready for binding during the trip but such was not the case.

My camera is on my lap right now so that I don't forget to pack it and plan to take a lot of rug pictures.

So my little chickadees have a great next 5 days and will plan to share photos from Cape May.

TA TA.

Saundra

Won't Finish in Time

It won't be done in time to take to Cape May for the binding for sure as there is too much to hook and too much for me to do here before I can leave for camp.  Here's Lollipop Bouquet right now.

Therefore, about two days before leaving for camp I'll need to decide if I want to take numerous bags of color separated wool strips OR start a new rug that is hot on my list. 

It sure would be nice to have this to bind at Cape May with no other wool to worry about but am sure that won't happen in a week with things needed done here.

So check my blog again because I plan to post until the day before I leave. 

Have a great evening.  Tonight is low humidity, low temperatures and I've the window's open to let the breeze blow thru.  This is my favorite time of year.

Saundra

Lollipop, Lollipop, oooh lolli lollipop.....

Any of you guys or gals growing up in the 50's know how that song went.  And guess you know that is the lead into showing the update on Magdalena's Lollipop Bouquet. 

Well, you know I had to do it.... I did have to pull out a few neutral strips and enlarged some of the circles in the top row.  Not sure how much difference it really makes but here is what the rug looks like now.  And I can tell you right now the top right border color is going to change from light to something darker.

And this was a picture of the last posting for you to compare.   Actually I can see a little difference even tho all of the top circles weren't enlarged it still satisfies me.

As you can see in the first photo I started hooking the corner swag.  Sad to say that I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to hooking Magdalena's rugs.  The plan is to replicate the antique rug using my wool on hand but somehow, somewhere, the shape changes. 

In looking at her swags it might look like 3 rows of blue wool but you don't know if those were #3 cuts or #8 cuts since everything was cut by hand I'm sure.  So each swag may end up being differently shaped, and maybe even a color missing but will attempt to do my best.

OH, and the other thing..... in a previous post mentioned that in the original antique picture it showed that Magdalena used various colors in her holding line.  Check out my top picture and you can see that I've tried to do that too.  But think for sure I'll change the holding line on the top left corner to something darker.

And not sure if I'll continue using left overs in various colors for the holding line or use a long strip of wool with various textures to make the rug more stable at the edges.  Time will tell.

Thanks for dropping by.

Saundra

Call Me Crazy But........

....... would you believe that I have actually enjoyed hooking the circles and can't wait to get back to them?  Frankly I wanted to continue hooking all the circles until they were done but knew that I had to start putting color between the circles and solidify a part of the rug. 

At first my plan was to hook two rows of circles and then the soft light above the red.  But then decided to hook the dark before starting the third row of circles.    I usually try to post a picture with a flash and without.  Here is the picture with a flash which, of course makes everything look brighter than it is.  Oh, and yes, that is wool between the red and the bottom row of circles, it just happens to be natural linen color.

Here is a picture without flash and as always it is a little blurry without a flash. 

So far the only wool I have cut is that for the natural background, every piece of wool other than that has been from my woollie basket and am hoping to continue with that theme.  While there are some neutral linen colored wool strips in my baggies, there is not enough to do the whole rug.  But believe me when I say that I'll cut as few strips as possible because that is another challenge of mine for this rug.

Sure didn't want to pull the rug off the frame to take a picture and post as my circles were calling me. 

Must make mention here that since Magdalena's Lollipop Bouquet is an antique in public domain I was free to draw it and hook it myself.  I do NOT sell this design but Barb Carroll does.  However, I DO sell Magdalena Briner's Domestic Zoo pattern and Barb posts my name on her web site.

Have a great Sunday evening.

Saundra