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

Magdalena Farm Update and.... What Next?

The last couple days has provided limited hooking time for me so not a whole lot more has changed since you last saw the rug.  Here is Magdalena's Farm by Woolley Fox as it looks at the moment.

Since there is just background to hook, but interesting background I might add, I'm thinking about popping something else on a frame to start for fun.  Yes, backgrounds can be either boring or soothing and something you can do in your sleep....well almost.

So there are two designs sitting on the fence that I'm trying to decide between to start next.  One is a fantastic kit I luckily won from Maria Barton's generous Giveaway from Star Rug Company last fall and have been itching to hook it ever since (thank you Maria!).

The other is an antique adaptation of this floral antique rug.  I love antique rugs and think part of the charm is the color changes in the background where similar colors were used to fill in.  Also like that 'dirty worn' look of light colors from years of use ~ dirty farm soiled feet and the like.  Oh the stories they could tell.

The Star Rug design is small and all the wool has been selected so right there for me to cut (thank you again Maria!).  And the antique I'd have to pull the colors for which would take time.  Hmm, ya think I've made up my mind yet?  Stay tuned and find out.  BUT, it won't happen tonight and for the next two days I've got my dear grandson after school so it will be a few days before I can play more in the wool room. 

Have a great evening everyone and hope you received JUST the right amount of rain needed for the growth of your gardens and yard.

Saundra

A Magdalena's Farm Update

Yeah, I'm sure you are all wanting to see my progress (or lack of) on Magdalena's Farm rug which was started at Woolley Fox camp a couple weeks ago.  In my defense, upon coming home from camp felt it necessary to finish The Cat's Meow rug first since it was so close to being done and was started before attending camp.  That is why there's not more accomplished on this fun rug.

Well, as usual my inclinations were to continue having fun and hooking without posting an update.  But since it was time to move the rug on the frame decided to take a picture.  It appears to be ALMOST half hooked.  Geez, this may be a record since this wasn't started until May 19th.

Have a great evening everyone, we in the east will soon experience the storms the center of the U.S. will experience tonight.  May we all be safe and ... GOD  BLESS  AMERICA.   GOD knows we need his help.

Saundra

Magdalena's Farm Rug in Progress

I was tempted to keep on hooking and take a picture later and update my blog this evening.  But that is exactly what happened yesterday ~ ...oh Saundra, just hook in that small empty space.  Okay, so now let's hook around the horse.  Oh, but I want to hook that space under the goat's belly.  So then it became almost bed time and too tired to mess with the blog. 

The rug is spread out on my back deck and photographed in natural light, no flash.  I can see it has ripples so should have taken more care to spread it out better.

Magdalena's Farm is the perfect size for me and measures 24 x 38.  My gal pals Deb and Mary were hooking much bigger rugs which you can see in a previous post from Barb's camp.  The longest rug I ever hooked was Domestic Zoo and that will maintain as the record if I have anything to do with it.

As I'm looking at what I've hooked am trying to decide whether to finish the area to the far left and fill in the background or finish the bird motif.  Think I'll finish the left side so that I can call that part done.

If you're interested in ordering Magdalena's Farm pattern just e-mail or call Woolley Fox I'm sure they can fix ya up.  I've attached a link to the Magdalena page for your convenience.  You can see how others have hooked this design and see other Magdalena patterns while you're there.

Have a great evening and please be kind to one another. 

Saundra