Antique Rugs

Today I pushed myself to try and finish the Red Skins logo on my grandsons rug but failed.   Which means its time for another rug show. Hopefully there will be something to show on that rug tomorrow; sure hope so because I'm not having fun right now using #6 and #7 cuts. Actually a few loops were even smaller UGH!

Above is a framed E.S. Sands rug design.

A dog in profile from a collection sold from a Virginia estate hooked by the owner I believe.

Girl in landscape with oval center.  Great artistic design for that time with the flower and tree extending beyond the border.  That person was "thinking outside the box".

The Kitchen Scene above was hooked in 1881 by MB.  You can see the cat under the stove and if you tap on the photo to enlarge to see the date and initials well hidden in the oval rug.  Also notice the unequal border ~ as if the woman had limited space and the rug design overwhelmed her before she ran out of foundation on the right side. The only other time I've seen that was in Barb Carroll's antique rug Kinderhook Basket, shown below.

Below is a gorgeous New England hearth rug which sold for $28,000 and change.  Wonderful vine border and adore that bold ...is it colbolt blue or purple vase?  Since I have a cataract understand my eye color detection might not be on cue.  But what I see is wonderful as my eye sees it now.

The rug below has no provenance that was noticed on the auction site. Scrolls in the rug are equally matched on each end and sides althought not flowing comfortably with my eye.  What is also interesting is the flat dark black X across the blue rectangle.  

Okay, gotta go and finish my dinner.  Ben has been taken care of but since I pushed myself to TRY and post a picture of the rug I'm hooking have delayed my dinner.

Have a good evening.  God Bless the men and women police officers, firefighters, and the military who put their lives in harms way to protect ours.   They do NOT get enough pay!

Saundra

Woodland Life - Reptiles

You've already read how much rain this part of Seaford received the other day and there is still standing water at the back of the yard toward and into the wooded area.  

Some of you are terrified of snakes and I am not.  Matter of fact look forward to seeing the first snake of the spring and they are usually black or brown snakes.  Yesterday while near my shed saw some movement in a shallow water puddle and went to investigate.  

This is what I saw.  Naturally I didn't have my camera with me and wasn't sure the snake would still be there when returning with it ~ but it was.  If you tap the photos it will enlarge to see the bands around the snake.

I took two photos from the left side.  The snake is sunning in the warm sun and shallow water.

And two photos from the right side.  Was hoping to at least get one of the photos turned out so that I could identify the snake. 

Must admit that I was taken aback with the markings all the while wondering if it was a Copperhead.  Supposedly we don't have Water Moccasins in Delaware and since Copperheads ARE poisonous that was my concern with its markings.  No I did not kill the snake, never do as they have a purpose in the cycle of life.

If you would like to learn the identity of northeastern turtles, snakes, frogs, click on this link HERE.

Once I was riding my bike in the neighborhood and saw a snake slithering across the roadway so stopped my bike to look at the first snake of the season.  At a standstill by my bike the snake lifted it's head and flattened.  Now that scared the bejesus out of me even tho I knew full well this is not a Cobra snake state.  Nonetheless I hightailed it out of there and left the snake alone.

Come to find out it was a Hog Nose Snake which has a first line defense of that behavior and if that doesn't send the visitor away it will roll over on it's back and stick out its tongue as if it were dead.  That is its second line of defense.

Oh I'm sure neither Kim nor Lauren have managed to get this far to read this post.  Bet they both were gone when they got a look at the first photo.

Have a great Saturday night.

Saundra

After the Rain Came

Earlier today when I glanced at the thermostat it read 101 degrees outside.  Now remember there is water everywhere STILL so think of steaming water on the stove and how that would feel being surrounded by it.  Even tho I've an A/C it is still humid in the house.

This morning I pulled a few more loops on Ned and then switched to my grandson's sport's rug.  After all, it is inevitable that I'll have to tackle the more narrow loops than #8.5 for the Red Skins logo.  Not looking forward to this part but will do my best.  Yeah, can do it because if I can hook two Rotties in #3 and have teeth and tongue look real can handle a Red Skins logo.

Today my next door neighbor told me that there was 10.3" of rain dumped on this section of Seaford in 4 hours.  Yesterday I posted pictures of my yard and while the water has receded from the mailbox building the mosquito nesting area is still here.  Just hope there are plenty of frogs to feast on the mosquitoes yet to come.

Have a good evening everyone and wish this humidity and heat would subside and could send some to those dry areas which wish they had some rain.

Saundra

TESTING 1, 2, 3

While pulling loops on my grandson's rug pondered what to do with sweet Ned ~ those triangle sections along a border.  That 'thinking' process made me wonder how it would look IF I outlined those triangles with a gold wool.  Then it would bring the gold color of the horse and the gold border together.  

On the photo above I placed a gold strip of wool along the top and left side.  Also hooked in gold along the top left triangle and used the purple predominant wool as the center. 

On the top right corner where the grey texture was hooked I've now decided I don't like that light color in a triangle at all.  The blue isn't offensive to me but surely that light grey is.  Hmm, am critically looking at the butterfly and flower inside now.....  That is where my eyes go and those are NOT the focal point of this rug.  Oh my.....

So now I've to decide:

~ what color or colors to hook in those 6 triangles.  
~ do I use the gold outside line for those triangles
~ what color if any do I change the inside of the butterfly and flower

Me thinks this was a SHORT recess and my grandson's rug will be on my frame again soon until I figure out what to do to make Ned a worthy steed.

Meanwhile, today in Seaford there was close to 10" of rain fall.   As soon as the torrential rains stopped I went outside to take pictures.

 Above is the view from my garage to the shed.  That water also encroaches into Ben's back yard.  

 A picture from my garage and toward my neighbor's backyard also filled with water.

Although I was sure I'd not be able to access my mail box decided to drive down to see what it looked like.  Yup, entrance to the development as well as the roadway across the bridge is flooded.

This is the right side and to the right is a small bridge which crosses a creek which is overflowing and running across the highway.

Okay, this is Ben's back yard from the back of the house toward the shed, a photo shown previously from the garage.

Here is Ben's backyard and toward the wooded part of my property from the left side of my back deck.  So much water and thousands of deafening sounds from frogs communicating.

Ahhh, one thing my ex taught me from his years in military is... "where there are frogs, there is water".  Every time I hear the croaking of a frog I am reminded of that.

Yet, if you look at this and what has happened elsewhere with flooding, I'm lucky.  BTW, I noticed an orb or two in one of my photos.  I'm wondering if that is my guardian angel or family.  Yeah, I'm sure most of you don't believe that gobbly gook, but I do.  Each time I see an orb in a photo wonder who is with me.  In case you're wondering which photo, it is the one from my garage toward my neighbor.   There are actually two round circles.  One bright and one below that which is another.

Have a wonderful evening.  We each choose how we wish to live.  I choose to be happy and try my best to spread that.  Someday I'll tell you a story about what I wanted to be as a 15 year old girl in my small home town.  A story told to the local police.    

Saundra

I Need Another Break!!

Alrighty then....so I took a break to think about going forward with Ned. But now am getting bored with hooking background on my grandson's rug so need another break.  Hey... you hookers must agree that background CAN get boring....right??  Between time I've considered options for the border of Ned and have a few ideas creeping thru my cranium.  

Meanwhile, tonight I'll pull a few more loops on Zach's rug and tomorrow will work on Ned.  One thing for sure (I think) is that Zach's rug will be done by Christmas.  In the event I run out of the blue background I will shorten the dimensions of the rug to make it work.  

Oh my.... soon the Red Skins logo needs to be hooked and it will be a more narrow cut than the Oriole logo.  Now THAT is what I'm dreading. So once the Red Skins logo is hooked it will be easy sailing.

Have a great evening and GOD BLESS the police officers in DALLAS and elsewhere who rush toward the sounds of gun fire to protect the innocent and gave up their lives in the process.  

Saundra

Checking Out the Border

Thought that before any more of the gold border is hooked I should see what it looks like on my monitor.  The last couple times showing Ned may have neglected to say it was a pattern by Woolley Fox.

Think I'll set Ned aside for the evening and hook some background on my grandson's rug while I look at Ned.  There are a few areas which are bothering me; well, maybe those areas would be those triangles on each end.

My initial thought was to have the middle on each side the same and have the four corners different.  So I chose the blue for the right bottom to balance the blue strips representing Ned's mane.  Then top righ used the grey faint stripe of the butterfly and flower.  

Hmm, BUT... if I put the grey faint stripe on the left bottom corner it is too close to the butterfly and flower and not sure if I'd like that color on the top left directly across from the other corner color.

Am pondering putting the blue in the four corners and keeping the green/purple plaid in the middle.  Or put blue in all 6 triangle shapes.

Me thinks working on my grandson's rug for the evening is a good thing.

OH!!!!!!!  In yesterday's mail I received the fall issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects.  And this beautiful crow is one of the patterns, a design by Pat Cross.  Well you know it will soon be on my frame since it is a crow. And Walter is a mighty handsome specimen indeed.

Accomplished a lot today doing things not enjoyable:  pulling weeds, cutting grass with push mower and riding mower, trimming limbs and bushes (still LOTS more to do), cleaning out fish pond filters, filling bird feeders.  But hey, as an adult and homeowner it isn't always cake and ice cream is it?

But tomorrow I can have a free day to do as I please.  Hope you enjoy your evening and hope tomorrow is a happy one for each of you.

Saundra

Eat Crow & Secret Hooking

A follower commented that the first crow rug on a previous post was her favorite.  That pattern would be Eat Crow, by Ann Hallett.  When I purchased my pattern it came from Rittermere-Hurst in Canada.  Sorry, but I don't know where that pattern could be purchased now.

So this was Rose's favorite... now check out that oatmeal background which has darkened with use for sure.  

This is the reverse side of the rug.  So you're wondering what the big deal is, right?  Well before I learned how to hook secret messages that were legible reading from the flipped rug, I learned how to do secret messages which were camouflaged and only the hooker knew it was there. 

This is what I would see if I stood in front of a mirror.  It is the hidden word Panzer in the upper left corner of the rug above the crow's head. This rug was for my crow-chasing thought he would sprout wings goofy Rottweiler.

But that technique could also be used if you didn't want your initials and date to show up in front, but that info would be detected from the back.  OR, you could just hook that information in the front using the same background wool.  

For me it was just a fun experiment and something I thought I'd share with you.  

Happy Saturday.

Saundra

Remembering Shumba and Panzer

My last post was about becoming enamored with crows.  So let me tell you a little about Shumba and her boy Panzer.  Oh, the dogs' names.... my ex lived in South Africa for a few years and the Shona word for lion was Shumba.  Actually that word is for a male lion but the name my ex wanted.  So for the boy I decided since Rotties are of German heritage wanted him to be a reference to a German tank... a Panzer. 

OMG, Panzer couldn't have been further from a German tank. He had a long inseam, lol, but didn't have a bad bone in his body and wasn't a bully.  His mom Shumba took care of him.

Here is Shumba with her 8 pups and she was an excellent mother.  We purchased her from a local breeder NOT a puppy mill.  We met the father and mother of Shumba, saw they were healthy and well behaved dogs in the lineage and made our choice for the most inquisitive pup from that litter.

See that pup to the far left almost on his back?  That would be Panzer. He was notorious for getting in a submissive position on his back and have to be carried in the house.  That is until he got too big to carry.

In the photo above mom and son (Panzer on left) are playing freely at the grounds around the ball fields.   When there was a game going on and a ball went outside the field the ball players knew us and would tell Shumba to get the ball.  That she would and would give it to the player across the fence.  But here I'm sure it was Panzer who wanted to play. If he couldn't get a ball he'd pick a wild flower and tease his mom with it to play, poor guy got stung by a bee there once too.  I know that hurt my boy.  He was a goofy sweet boy.

Goofy boy has his tongue sticking out.  He had an allergy which required medication around his eye at times.  That is what you see above, they are wet from running thru the wet ball field grass.

Notice the dogs are not on a leash but in a relaxed position.   Even when we took the dogs to the fields and let them run freely, if we clapped our hands twice they would come running to us and SIT!  We trained Shumba but Panzer learned by osmosis.  They were incredible dogs.

Above is another example of a pair of socialized and well behaved Rottweilers.  Again we clapped our hands twice and they returned immediately and sat.  I took this photo of my beauties which became the focus of a rug hooked later.

I'm a wide cut hooker but hooked the above rug in #3 for the dogs and couldn't stand the thought of hooking the background in #3 so hooked that in #5.  Just as soon as that was hung on my wall I pulled out some linen and drew another pattern and they would be a #8 cut!!!!

To give you a perspective, in the top narrow cut rug Shumba measures 15 1/2" tall and Panzer measures 17" tall.  While in the primitive rug Shumba measures 14" from foot to head and Panzer measures 15" from most bottom foot to top of head.  So that just goes to show you can get some detail with a wide cut.

Tomorrow I'm going to tell you more about the first crow rug named "Eat Crow".  There is a connection between that and Panzer.  Also there is a hooking technique included in that post as well.  So come back to visit.

Saundra

CROWS

Yes, it's true that I love crows.  The story behind that is my sweet departed Rottweiler Panzer, the son of Shumba.  We bred Shumba once, she had 8 pups which all lived, strange for a first litter.  We sold 7 and kept Panzer.  

Panzer was the sweetest most gentle goofy boy dog ever.  I used to tell my ex he was a jokster.  He'd run thru the field grab a wild flower and run at his mother hoping she'd chase him down for it.  I'm getting off track here.

Anyway, Panzer also thought he could fly because when a crow would caw and fly nearby he'd run and leap as tho he would sprout wings and catch it.  Then the attraction to crows began.

1 Crow Bad News

2 Crows Mirth

3 Crows a wedding

4 Crows a Birth

5 Crows riches

6 Crows a thief
7 Crows a journey

8 Crows a grief
9 Crows a secret

10 crows sorrow

11 Crows love ~~ uh, I'd like to know where that love is??? 

12 Crows a good tomorrow.  But the poem doesn't have a 13th crow so maybe that is where my love went, lol.

Yes, I hooked all of those and actually have another couple Magdalena rugs which also had a crow in them but didn't post.  

Have a great evening.

Saundra

A Gift To Myself

Look what was in my mail today.  Yippee, a rug purchased on eBay.  I LOVE crows and have hooked several which I display.  Red and gold against black is very striking, so it had to be mine.  The hooking is perfect.  This was a design by quilter Barb Kemp who has passed, felt it fitting she get credit for the design.

Hey, ya notice the gold, red and black theme going here??  Told ya I loved gold black and red.

Now I need to make a decision on the border of Ned.  The bold gold above was my initial choice.  

Then looking on the shelf wondered if this gold would be better. Would love to hear your thoughts because now I'm confused.  I look at the darker gold and think that is it.  Then wonder if it is over powering the horse.  Me thinks me needs to sleep on it tonight and look again tomorrow.  Meanwhile I'll hook background.

OH!!!  A hooker friend of mine had cataract surgery on one eye two weeks ago.  She told me it was unbelievable how she sees color now because the colors were distorted before and now more true.  Tomorrow she is having her other eye surgery.  And an artist friend of mine had previously told me the same thing.  He said the colors were way different after surgery than what he saw before.

Hmmm, which makes me wonder what the hell I'm seeing and no wonder why my eyes are confused.  Do know that I qualify for surgery for the cataract in my left eye, am just hesitating doing that.  

Dear Colleen, Lillalotta and Elaine, I'd love to personally respond to your kind comments to me but you are all "NO-REPLY Bloggers".   There is a way to fix that; all you have to do is GOOGLE "How to Fix NO-REPLY Bloggers".  Meanwhile, just know that if I don't send you a personal message answering your questions that is the reason why.

Have a good evening.  It is steamy hot and humid here.  My plans for yard work the rest of the week is over.  Not submitting myself to such torture and possible health issues.  Hmm, sounds like another day of couch potato hooking.

Saundra

Independence Day

Happy July 4th to you.

This is a design by Polly Minick which I hooked.  The paper cap was hooked using cotton fabric with lettering on it, which added to the cuteness.

Celebration Guy doll I made which may still be in one of my containers. I haven't peeked in those containers in a long time.

The same with Miss Liberty, don't remember whether she sold or not. Could be in the container too.

Another design by Polly Minick I hooked called Patriotic Sandpails.  Also made the mohair jointed bear and hat.

You guessed it, another Polly design called Sam's Hat which was hooked 2007.  I only put the single initial 'S' because I was going thru a divorce and instead of SS figured the single S could also stand for my first name.  But I know why there is only the single letter.

Hey, can't have a July 4th celebration without an appearance by Uncle Sam, right?  I designed the pattern and made this Uncle Sam numerous times and can't tell you how many dolls I've made like that.

Even the Wee Folk critters are riding in the July 4th parade.  This is a design by Vermont Folk Art rugs which I hooked a few years ago.

Hope you have a safe and fun filled holiday today.

Saundra

Couch Potato Hooking

Yesterday I trimmed tree branches, pulled up those horrid thorny things which grow into tree like structures and have roots like squid tentacles. Even tho weather was mild I got hot working in the sun.  Today's plans were to cut grass BUT.... it rained overnight and into part of the morning so was too wet to cut.

Oh my, what is a woman to do but sit, hook and watch recorded movies on TV?  Yes, it did clear up and Ben got his walks but other than Ben I've been a total vegetable all day.  So you are wondering what I accomplished???

As you can see my primitive dark background has numerous dark wool even flat black which seems to really stand out.  So does married wool which has red, blue or green in it.  That's fine with me because in person it isn't as noticeable as it is in the photo above.

Oh, in case you're wondering or in case you can tell.... the red corner was the #2 wool photo in the previous post.

Tomorrow is Independence Day and not sure what the weather will be but Ben's backyard and the rest of the yard really does need to be cut. Maybe I won't be that couch potato tomorrow.  

Sure wish I had a gardener, a house cleaner and a healthy cook on staff so that all I had to do was walk my boy Ben and hook.  Boy what a life that would be.  

OH... add a helper to keep my wool room tidy.  Now that would be a help too.  Hmmm, bet I have sweet dreams tonight of what I've wished for.

Have a great evening and hope you have a safe, fun filled and happy 4'th tomorrow.

Saundra

Pulling, Planning and Deciding

With the butterfly, flower and some of the background hooked thought it was time to figure out where to go next.  Went to the wool room and pulled wool but couldn't find the one that interested me.  That would be the wool worms used in the hind left hooves of Ned.

Since 'most' of my shelved wool is color coordinated started lifting up all the red section...nope.  Nowhere to be found.  Guess those worms were the last of that piece.  Hate when that happens.  So went to other plans.  Took photos along the way to see what strikes me even tho the colors don't show true with digital photos on the computer.  Oh well...

The soft red wool above the horse is what I'm planning to use to hook the name NED.  Thought it should be visible but not over powering. It is a red honeycomb wool and the gold really mellows the color.  

For the first stripe butting into the points of the background thought to use the dark/bright red but am wondering if that would compete with the halter on Ned.  OR, would it bring it together?  Hmm.

Another option would be this brown red with a gold window pane.  The gold would perhaps pick up and reflect the gold in Ned, it wouldn't be as bright as the halter on Ned which might be a good thing.

Then, above, is the red/orange plaid wool which seems to appear even brighter than the first photo.

Isn't this the way it always happens?  Something you don't have now you want it.  Even IF I had a section of wool which are those back two hooves on Ned maybe it wouldn't look good anyway.  

So, at this time my thoughts are to go with wool #2, the brown/red with gold window pane.  I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this.  Meanwhile, tonight I'll work on the letters and background.

Ya wanna know what is funny is that when I had that strip of wool with the last two hooves, I did not like it.  The wool was really scratchy and wondered where I'd use it.  So never underestimate the power of wool colors.  After all look how that green and purple plaid turned out.

Have a great evening everyone.

Saundra

A Look at Ned

Decided to pull Ned (a design by Woolley Fox) off the frame to see if I am happy with the wool choices made thus far.  The butterfly was hooked and wasn't confident in the grey/blue stripe for the center at first but the next morning decided I was happy.  

The wool for the butterfly outline and the flower outline are from one piece of wool that generous Barb sent me in a 'get well' card last October.  So it seemed only fitting as I'm trying to channel Barb and the inner child that I use that wool.  And even more so since it is a purple; purple with a little poison.

The more green section is what was used to outline the butterfly and was a section of that same strip used to outline Ned's eye.  For the outline of the flower  used the more purple section of the plaid. Happy to have a little more left to use somewhere else in the rug along the border.

Must admit that I'm approaching this rug far differently than others I've hooked on my own. Fact is, just using that green and purple wool was like fun and freedom to experiment.  Am sorry but do not know if it was Betsy or Rebecca who offered that wool quite some time ago.  

Hope you have a fun filled and safe holiday weekend.

Saundra