Rug Hooking Smorgasbord

First message I read this morning on my iPad was a sweet comment from Julie of Primitive Heartstrings.  She has just started hooking her very first mat and is doing a terrific job.  Pay her a visit, and do like I've done and add her to your side bar so you can follow her journey into rug hooking.  Great job Julie.

So after yesterday's blog post some of you are feeling a little unsatisfied and state that one rug does not a mini rug show make....right Lauren?  I'm sitting here chuckling as I write this.  Okay, so let me make that up to you right now.  I'm going to post some pictures of rugs my gal pal and camp roomie Deb has hooked.

First up is New England Berry Tree, a Woolley Fox design.

Below is Peace and Plenty, a design by Spruce Ridge Studios.

The Tree of Life is an easily recognizable design. 

Berk's County Bouquet is one she either did with Barb Carroll at the Lancaster ATHA class or purchased the pattern and hooked it at home, not sure which.

The pattern below is a design by Bev Conway and sorta think it is called Three Amigos.

Below is another design by Spruce Ridge Studios and is named....you guessed it....Glad Tidings.

Got Wool is a design by Woolley Fox.

Magdalena Briner's design Birds and Dog below.

 A Karen Kahle design known as Monticello Deb hooked with Barb Carroll at Woolley Fox camp. 

Crips, this next photo must have had the camera sideways and even tho the photo was up righted using the paint program it goes back to it's original position....sorry.  Anyway, this is a Gustav Klimt design Tree of Life that Deb drew and hooked at Cape May camp last year.  Deb used every hooking technique that Ali Strebel taught us in class.  Deb had so much fun that she is again in a class with Ali this week and can't wait to see what she hooks.



Next is called Hildefern and is a design of Woolley Fox.  Deb used pieces of her antique paisley for each of the fern leaves. 

This cute rubber ducky mat is something Deb hooked as a gift to Barb Carroll one year.  She and I decided to each hook a rubber ducky and present it to her one year when we attended camp there.

 Think this one is called Nurturing Friendship and totally forget who the designer is.

This is a face purse that was gifted to me and hooked by Deb.  She has hooked and sold several of them.  I use to wear it but got so many people stopping me asking where I got it that now I hang it on the wall as a piece of art....which it is.

These were some purses Deb had hooked but not finished when I dropped by to visit her.  Under the purses you can see the sketch of what was to be Gustav Klimt's design she later hooked.

She has hooked many other rugs and sadly don't have a picture of all of them.

And, don't forget to drop by to check out Minick and Simpson's Day 2 of sales and silent auctions.  Have a great day and good luck.

Saundra

Mini-rug Show

Today was mostly shouting on the phone with my mail server Comcast for the second day in a row.  Won't even bore you with my high intensity stress level.  Right now things are working so figured I'd better take advantage of any communication on my blog while I can.

Soooo, I've had this picture of a spotted Holstein in my antique rug pictures for a while and always wondered where I'd seen it before.  Then when at Woolley Fox rug camp I saw an enlarged picture of it on the fridge in Barb's classroom.  AH HA!  Finally the mystery was solved and I hadn't seen it or hooked it in a previous life.

Sorry to say that is the extent of my old rugs.... since a whole of lot nuttin' was accomplished on my son's rug there's not much to show.  If there is something someone would like me to talk about, a newbie with questions this is a perfect time so it will give me something to write about.

Hope you have a great evening and may your work week go easy for you non-retired folk.

Saundra

What Time Is It?

Buffalo Bob (if you are of the age in remembering) would say...."It's Howdy Doody Time".  Since I have no significant changes in my son's rug, and no new rug on the frame guess it is time for a rug show.  Hey, that ain't bad is it?  Here is an antique rug with two cats and sawtooth border.

Two pups with hit and miss border for you doggie lovers.

Wouldn't either of the rugs below make a wonderful Valentines Day gift OR even a wedding rug?

Both of the horse rugs below are great, there's a spot in my heart for horses and used to own one when I was a kid.  Haven't ridden a horse since 1981 tho.

The oldie below is wonderful too....horse and dog.

The folk art dog below is interesting.  Seems that I'm in an animal kick today.

So far it is horses 3, Doves, 2 Dogs 2 and Cats 1.  So continuing with the animal theme guess I need to balance it out a tad.  Don't think the cat rug below is an antique and saw it on Pinterest with no name of the hooker.  I'll be quite happy to post the name if anyone knows who the hooker was.  It is quite nice and has the olden appeal that I like.

And of course love this old cat mat and want SO MUCH to hook it and one day (soon?) will do just that.

Have a great weekend everyone.  BTW, I started this blog yesterday but between my internet service and/or blogger got so frustrated that instead of throwing the computer out the window decided to shut it down and sulk while I hooked.

Saundra

Back to the Man Cave Rug

Since Chum is hooked (not bound yet tho) and nothing planned (yet) to go on my frame thought I'd better work a bit more on my son's Man Cave rug which is to be a Christmas gift.  Here's where I am.

I've ONLY 6 months to finish this and it isn't quite half done yet.  Yeah, I know there's plenty of time if I stick with just finishing this rug.....but there's so many rugs I want to hook and temptation to start another 'between' is calling me. 

My plan on Man Cave is to do the border, then top lettering and hook background toward the other beer mug.  I'm not happy with the background on the bottom left and part of the darker outline around the pool balls. 

As I was concerned on having enough of all the same color value of blue added some darker value blue into the mix.  But now not happy with the way the background looks, particularly on the left bottom.   Rather than reverse hooking at this point will just finish the rest with the wool colors that work best.  If then I run short of the good colors will pull loops from here and there and 'make it work' as Tim Gunn of Project Runway would say.

Have a great evening and happy hooking, quilting or stitching....whatever floats your boat.

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

A Rug Bound and A Rug with Small Change

I have a lot of favorite rugs that I've hooked and Harvey's Magdalena is right up there.  What is it about Magdalena's rugs that grabs at my heartstrings?  Since these two rugs are bound they both need a label.  I want to hang them on the wall but labels first and then want to take them to Cape May rug camp in September so may as well just wait for the hanging.

Yup, already a small change on Chum.  I removed the red mouth and maybe that is what made him look so unsettling.

This is what he looked like yesterday when I thought he was done.  He looks a little gentler to me in the above picture. 

 

Maybe tomorrow I'll post all the Magdalena rugs I've hooked and see which ones are to go on my list of rugs to hook.

Have a great evening.

Saundra

The Rug CHUM is Hooked

It may not be bound yet but all the hooking is done on Chum.  This photo is a little more true to the color, albeit a little dark, and was taken without a flash.  He does look a little sinister and wonder if it is the mouth color/size strip or the eye?  I'm sure those finger/claw toes don't help but that is the way the original antique shows the rug and kept it true to the antique.  However, when I offer one of these for sale it will be with the option of regular paws or these.

The photo below is really washed out but at least you can see more of the mixes of color in the background, and is taken with a flash.  Why can I never get a photo with the true color?  Oh yuck, what a horrible photo; almost removed it but what the hey, it is what it is.

If you new to my blog, or can't remember what the original antique rug looked like, here it is.  And, if you'd like to see the wool I used to hook Chum, just scroll thru a couple posts to see a picture.

And for those of you inquiring minds wondering the dimensions, my rug measures 18 x 33, which is plenty large enough for the space planned on my wall.

Tonight's plans are to finish binding Harvey's Magdalena so will show you that tomorrow.  After that, if there is time I'll pull some loops on my son's Man Cave Rug.

Have a great evening everyone.

Saundra

A New Primitive Hooked Rugs Book

Cynthia Norwood publishes great primitive rug booklets and this one is no exception.  I purchased mine thru Rug Hooking Magazine but it is also available thru Amazon.com. 

There are lots of modern day hooked rug pictures provided for examples of techniques and eye candy.  In all honesty I haven't begun to read it from cover to cover yet but am in awe of the antique rug with scrolls and the modern day version.  Makes me want to tackle another rug with scrolls.  Dang but I wish I'd started hooking earlier in my life so there'd be enough time to hook all the ones on my list of things.

Here are some of the topics Cynthia covers: 

~a brief history of rug hooking
~techniques used for primitive style rugs
~fabrics to make the most for primitive rugs
~color planning and power of backgrounds
~leftovers, scraps, worms and jewels
~toning down your wool
~borders and binding
~7 floral pattern designs to use and copyright

Hey guys, I'm almost all done hooking CHUM and will post an update soon.  Then will need to pull out my son's Man Cave rug and do a bit more on that to keep the flow going...after all it is only 6 months before that baby needs to be hooked, bound, framed and ready to hang...EEK!.  Can't believe it is only 6 months away until Christmas.

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

Saundra

Exciting News From Polly Minick

Some exciting news about Polly and her sister Laurie is about to unfold, right here, right now.  Beginning on Flag Day, June 14th Minick and Simpson will be offering special events on their blog several days in a row. 

Each day there will be a silent auction ending at midnight.  There will be some shaker pieces filled with sewing items, Laurie will offer Quilt Kits, a Crazy Cat piece handmade by Laurie, books at a discount, and four hooked pieces from Polly.  Polly will also come out of retirement long enough to sell some Rug Kits.

Some of Polly's finished pieces up for auction are a Mermaid....

A hooked Santa in Red, 

A hooked Tree with Red ornaments, 

And a hooked Christmas Stocking. 

But who knows what else these crafty wild and crazy women will find to offer for sale once this event starts.  I predict there will be a little this and a little that up for auction too.

Save the date, mark your calendars and check their blog often beginning FLAG DAY June 14th.  At the end of this event the money raised will be donated to the Semper Fi Wounded Warriors Fund and The Humane Society, both great causes. 

Have a great evening and don't forget to mark the date.

Saundra

THE JACKALS FEED ~ A Novel of Africa

This is a new book written by my friend B.J. Coltrayne.  He worked on this manuscript for a few years and I was so happy to see it was finally published.  He is well underway working on another book but don't know how close to publication that one is.

Below is a synopsis of the book.  If you double-click on the picture it will enlarge and make reading a little easier.

When BJ was writing the book we used to ponder who we would like to see play the role of Frank Burnham (the book's main character).  We thought about Clint Eastwood but he is older than the character in the book.  But heck, there are other great actors who could do this action-packed book justice.....Mark Wahlberg and Bradley Cooper to name just two.

The book is available on Amazon and should be available at Barnes & Noble, and eBook.  This is the ISBN-13: 978-1-63192-876-5. 

Have a great evening.

Saundra

Textured Wool vs. Solid Colored Wool

In yesterday's post I told you I'd show the wool used for CHUM and here they are.  At the very top left is the herringbone textured wool for Chum's face and to the right of that...the plaid, is what was used for the body.  Sorry, can't remember where I got that wool.  Oh but there were two solid green spots on the body and tail stripe which were a dark green.  

To the right of that (cattycorner) is a similar colored wool to what I used for the inside border.  When I started with that wool wasn't sure if there would be enough left home to finish the border.  So Barb Carroll generously gave me that piece to use whether I ran out or not.  She thought it would add to the old look if I put it in the rug since women used what they had and 'made do'.  Barb is so dang sweet.

On the left side bottom is a  boucle nubby wool which was a woman's blazer fabric and Barb loves using it in my rugs each time I take it.  Just love how it gives the look of wear.  And then the wool above that is a textured wool I purchased eons ago when I took a class with Patsy Becker at Cape May.  You can see a better view with the close up pictured below.

In the first picture, on the bottom is a plaid called Gemstone, a wool by Heavens to Betsy, which is the outer border line.  The inside primitive dark is a bunch of different dark colors from my stash of dark wool.

 

I've a confession to make.  Actually guess it really isn't so much a confession as an acknowledgement of my lack of knowledge about wool and hooking when I first started my journey.  So I'm just like the rest of you ~ hey, we all had to start somewhere.  So the thrift shop became my best friend to get different colors.  Problem was I didn't know how to use textures and tried to avoid them.  You can see this poor bland rug below that was hooked in almost all plain/flat wool...all except for the bowl which at the time I didn't particularly care for.  This rug I hooked on my own at home using #8 cuts.

Even some of my first teachers used mostly flat wool.  Everything in this rug is flat wool which may have been mottled or over dyed but still considered flat wool in my eyes now, thanks for the education by Barb Carroll on how to hook a warm antique looking rug.  Don't get me wrong, I love this rug and think it is beautiful.

Do I still hook with flat wool?  Yup and did so in my Ali Katz rug last year at Cape May.  But it depends on what I'm hooking.  If I want the rug look old and try my best to replicate an antique I'll use textures and strips of this and that to add to the 'make do' appearance.

I published this post yesterday but had forgotten to write another interesting fact about textures.  This one just blew me away.  I was at Cape May hooking a profile of my departed Shadow and to my dismay ran out of the wool for her head.  So my teacher (Diane Stofel) and I visited all the teachers to see what might work.  See that textured wool to the right of Shadow?  That is what I used to finish a lot of her part of her face and neck.

Once upon a time after taking my first few classes with Barb Carroll at Woolley Fox rug camp I thought about getting rid of all my flat wool but have since changed my mind since I do use it to hook flower pins and have used some in my son's Man Cave rug.  Just couldn't picture pool balls with textured wool since they are a solid flat, but shiny color.

In reality I really should dispose of some but hooking is more fun than downsizing the wool room.  Besides there just might be another whimsical or other rug which dictates that type of wool. 

Have a great evening everyone. 

Saundra