One Done Two To Go

The wonderful Deer and Blue house is finally bound and gracing my harvest table.  It was fun to hook, love the colors and blotchy background.

Now I'm binding Li'l Lamb and want to show you newbie hookers something you may not know.  Heck I didn't know it until I had been hooking over a decade.  The lamb piece has a curved top.  Since I don't want to whip the edges to add more color and width to the pieace I've decided to use cotton rug binding.

Did you know there is one edge of cotton binding which can be gathered?  Yup!  That would be the more rigid edge.  It may take a little patience to find the proper thread as this did for me and I tried both ends to see which worked best.  You can see that thread to the far right.  

The mat isn't quite bound but thought I'd show you what it looks like during the process.  The inside gather can be manipulated as you work and while you do see gathers it isn't the big puckers you would have if you didn't gather.  Then once the final steaming is done it smooths out nicely.

I did start a new project and ~ no surprise here ~ have reverse hooked even before the first photo.  But hope to have something promising to show in a day or so.

Weather here has been a few degrees above normal so I've tried to take advantage of it as much as my back, hip and knees allow.   There are unruly patches of periwinkle (vinca minor) which are taking over the yard.  When we first built here I didn't think it would even catch as a 'pretty' ground cover.  But OMG do I regret planting it!!!  Made some headway today around the back deck and before the mild temps leave will need to take inventory of the rest of the yard to see what is most important next.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Binding an Oval or Round Mat

As mentioned in previous posts, there are various ways to bind a rug.  Actually have blogged about most all styles with visuals if you wanted to type you are looking for in the search engine top left side of the blog.  As there may be recent visitors or, hopefully subscribers, to my blog will show this one as it is in progress.

Newbies..... did you know cotton binding tape has a gathering thread along one edge?  Yup.  You can see the thread with a start of the pull.  Sometimes it takes a few minutes to find the right thread and if not successful try the other end along the same more rigid edge.

Below is a photo where you can see the curl of the gather around the curve.

......and around the other curve.

Another view below.

Tomorrow I'll show you the finished Spike both front and the bound edge of the back.

Saundra