CHANGING Of The RUGS

Finally I vacuumed so changed rugs in two rooms.  First was the living room where I replaced Blue Bowl of Flowers to the Horse and Crows antique adaptation seen below.  This one seems more seasonable to me than the floral and next month will change it again.

Then to the kitchen where I put Nantucket Broom Ride on the harvest table and my 3 pillowed hooked pumpkins.  I only hooked these after seeing Lauren do hers a few years ago.  Will have to look for a better basket to place the pumpkins in.

Found this basket and at least the pumpkins do stand up better but wish the basket was a darker color.  Out of curiosity which basket do you prefer?

There is another oblong darker basket but it is deep and hides half the pumpkins.  Oh well, it's just me in the house and I'm not entertaining guests or hosting a party so guess this will do and I can see my pumpkins.

Well, I did it.  I turned on the heat because when I woke up inside the house temp was 60*, just too cold for me to take.  As the outside temperature was below 39* the second stage propane heat kicked in immediately.  So reduction of propane in my ground tank has already begun the countdown.

Low temps overnight again and won't be near normal until Sunday.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Having Fun Hooking Here....

I'm having so much fun playing with this mat.   So far I've used cotton knit, yarn, cheese cloth, cotton flannel, green nylon hose, vintage seam binding and wool.  Am enjoying this much more than when I hooked the Tattered Tulip using mostly woven cotton.

My lamb's features loses something because the threads of the cheese cloth cover the thin pieces of wool.  And although I continually reshape them in place the features get distorted.  But....it is an antique adaptation, right?

In case you want to see the original antique Li'l Lamb it is below.

Hmmm, this actually  helps me realize some changes that I need to make.  Naturally I don't have all the exact colors that are in the antique as I'm trying to use what is available.  But I do have more appropriate green color for the ground and will make some changes there.

The antique lamb looks like it is smiling and mine looks sad so that has to change too!!!!  Makes the challenge even more fun even tho it is some reverse hooking.  Is anyone out there playing along?  If not that's okay you can enjoy thru my adventure.

Gonna get cold with the arctic weather moving in overnight.  So perhaps tomorrow evening the heat will be turned on.  Also heard we may have a frost in a day or so.  Where the heck did the spring and summer go?  Ya mean 6 months just flew by in a flash?     

Happy hooking and what's that other quote..."don't worry, be happy".                    

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

 

Antique Rug Show

My search for new blood a new rug for me to hook is rather slim pick'ns now.  But will keep looking and posting what is found for you to enjoy.  And might even have to go back into the archive antique rug photos to see if any of the past light my fire.  So on with the show....the rug below has nice fall colors with an eye appealing hit and miss background. 

This floral seat cover is yarn sewn & clipped.   Dimensions are 16 x 18 and  hooked mid 19th century.

Okay, now this one did jump started my heart a bit.  Described as a Folk Art Farm measuring 33 x 42 from 19th century.  Cannot remember where I found it so don't know where to go researching again.  Just wish this was a better and more complete picture.

Below is a rug which Barb Carroll owned and she named it Cora and Bentley because of the initials at the bottom.  

A strange looking cat but I like the cat and background colors.  Wonder what it is about those odd colors that gets my attention?  It measures 14.5 x 23.

I often see peoples' adaptations of this Cogswells Grant design showing up on FB.  The original measured 31 x 45 and was a gift to the museum by Bertram and Nina Fletcher Little.  Rug dated 1890-1925.

I rather like this Rooster, Berries and Hearts rug dated in the 1800's.  The monochromatic rugs are nice on the eyes and look old.  

And lastly, a Dog rug measuring 33 x 48 and said to be hooked late 19th early 20th century.

Perhaps I do have some descent designs to choose from, but none so far make me want to draw them out right away.

Happy hooking and hope the few who are joining in the fun challenge are making headway.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Li'l Lamb Update

As I didn't have enough tea dyed cheese cloth for the lamb some fuzzy wool was also used.  At  least now the lamb is hooked and can continue working on the background.  So far the background consists of yarn, cotton knit and a little wool from the worm bag.

The  brown/black yarn below was spun by departed friend Leslie Coveney.  She put a tag on it labeled "Gabe Blend llama wool".  I've had it for years and finally using it.  This close up is true to color but you'd never know it was the same which is hooked close to the lamb's body and between the hind leg down the tail up to the black cotton  knit. It is a beautiful color but think it is too soft to be used to bind a rug.

She generously also gave me other yarn some of which I've used to bind a rug.  Here is a design by Tonya Robey called A Day in the Country and Leslie's yarn was used to bind this rug.

Leslie also spun my dogs' hair onto a thin strand of wool which I used to hook in my Rottweiler Memorial which you can read about HERE. 
Hope everyone is having fun with the project they chose and looking forward for you to share a photo with me.  

It's drizzling here today so will stay inside and pull some loops.  Weatherman says it will be below normal temps next week so guess my heat will soon be turned on despite the low 70 temps of today.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MISC. CHIT CHAT

Since it is October, thought I'd start sharing some of my autumn hooked pieces.  This first one was a free pattern insert in the Sept/Oct 1997 issue of RHM and a design by Barb Carroll.  Look how all those textures work well in the border.  Hope Barb is smiling down on my color choices and likes the purple.

Mache Jacks is my design and I offer the pattern, the crow was a purchase from JoAnne's fabrics many years ago and the papier mache' jack-o-Lantern I made with a group of dollmaker/crafter friends when I lived in Columbia, MD. 

Remember a few days ago I told you Priority mail, and I suppose all USPS mail, increased by $1.  On 10/3 I shipped a pattern from Delaware to  Georgia and as yesterday 10/10 it still hadn't arrived.  Tracking had it in Jacksonville, Florida yesterday and was finally delivered to it's destination in GA at noon today 10/11..  

Huh, how did it miss Georgia?  Last time I looked at the US map from DE it would have gone thru VA, NC, SC, then GA before getting to Florida.  WTH?????  That was supposed to be a 3 day delivery but since the price went up $1 they should have made it a 2 day.  Anyway it finally reached its destination after 8 days.

So far I've not given in to turning on the heat despite waking up to inside temps of 62* in the morning.  I manage by wearing a turtleneck with sweats and lately it has been warmer outside than inside.  So open the windows where a little heat trickles in and increases the inside by just a couple degrees.  Soon it will be too cold for me to handle the cold and will give in to turning on the heat.  Am trying to delay the electric and fuel bills by as many days as possible.

Hope people are looking for their choice of pattern and plan to join me in the challenge.  If anyone has questions please feel free to email me.  Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

A FUN PERSONAL CHALLENGE (updated)

Want to play along with a couple of us and challenge yourself on hooking an antique looking mat?  This isn't a competition, it is intended to be a personal/individual challenge.  

I love antique rugs and love replicating them but would like to improve by doing what our foremothers did...use alternative textiles.  As mentioned in my previous blog post I tried that but didn't choose my fabrics wisely.  This time they will be more hand friendly.  I will share what I've learned on my own so far.  And hope even new hookers might feel comfortable to join in the fun and feel comfortable to ask plenty of questions.     

Okay, so in my previous blog post shared what I'll be working on (the Little Lamb) and here is the messy table with the drawn pattern and some of the textiles I'll be using.

I'm not using burlap and wanted to use a looser weave piece of Belgian linen I have left but it was way too small.  I drew my lamb at 16.5 x 16.5 and I'm using primitive linen.  Note that I utilize every piece of linen and for MY USE if the sides don't fit on the frame I sew fabric on the short sides so it works.  That large group of wool above the pattern will be used for some of the background and will be the perfect color.  Those were leftover worms which I overdyed and you can read about it HERE.  

Over to the right of that pile of wool is yarn, cotton knit, cheese cloth  and vintage seam binding.  Below the Little Lamb photo is a piece of green nylon stocking from who knows where.  But I plan to use it in this mat before it is lost.

I just started hooking that cheese cloth in my sweet li'l lamb and not sure if I've enough or will need to hook in a few loops of wool.  Have pulled my loops about every 3rd or 4th hole so far and may change that if it appears the loops are too close.  

While I'm attempting to hook this a little differently than normal, note that some antique rugs don't have those bits of foundation showing and appears to have bulky loops in their rugs.  So guess everyone had their own rhythm back then too so not necessary to pull low and far apart.  Here is an example of bulky  loops.  I see woven cotton, some knit and what could be wool yarn.           

The update:  Nancy asked me how wide I was cutting my cotton strips and I wasn't sure since I didn't measure, just started cutting.  But here they are lined up ~ first 3 from the left are cotton knit, then the cheese cloth and then a piece of cotton flannel.  Hope this helps.

In the previous post I provided some ideas for your project so I'll put new ones and the others here again.  You may choose one of these or another of your choice.  If you'd like to peruse my previous antique rug shows,  just type those words in the blank spot at the top left of the blog post, hit return and you will see many posts.

  

Again is Li'l Lamb.

Black Kitten.

Black Lamb.

Lone Flower.

 BUS the Dog.

Early Bird.

A pretty flower.

I think there is plenty to choose from and feels good for me to have something new on my frame...if I can sit down for a little while to pull more loops; happy hooking.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MY MOJO

Think my mojo is back.  Maybe it was there all the time but only revealed itself again when communicating with a loyal reader/follower yesterday.  So my next project is going to be another small antique adaptation and personal challenge.  This time I'm going to use various textiles not just wool and very little if any woven cotton.  And it will be opened up to anyone who wishes to join me.

For those who have followed me for a while you might remember when I hooked Lone Flower and hooking somewhat different than my normal.  My normal rhythm and instruction I read when teaching myself to hook and in the first structured class was to pull loops up as high as the width of wool.  And close enough that you can see thru the top of the loop, not squished closed.  

Here is the finished Lone Flower and love how it turned out but only wool was used, no alternative textiles.  If you'd like to see an older blog post during the process you can find it HERE.  

In early rugs the hooker didn't have lessons and didn't care about the aesthetics of the rug, they just needed a floor covering.  Therefore if you look closely at antique rugs you will glean all the info needed to hook a rug which looks antique.  Take, for instance, this antique Star rug  ~ ooh, look at that wonderful blotchy background.

Now look at a close up of two sections of that rug and the distance between loops.  You can see it was hooked on burlap which has become brittle, a natural occurrence of old burlap.

Also notice no wool appears in these two photos.

Plus you can see foundation peeking thru loops on a Magdalena Lollipop Bouquet rug too.

Then 2021 I hosted an alternate textile challenge on my blog and had several people join in.  My choice to hook was the Tattered Tulip.

Below was my poor rendition and my choices of textiles was not so great as I chose mostly homespun and woven cottons.  This next challenge I'll make much different choices. 

I'm not quite ready to start yet as there's just a little more to hook on the Comstock rug and want it out of the way and clean up the rat's nest I've developed first.  If any of you are interested in joining in I'll be doing another blog post in a day or two.  Meanwhile, here are a couple ideas for you choose from.  This first one will be my choice.....Primitive Lamb.

Then I looked thru my files to find other pieces which could be hooked smallish.  One I also hooked is this original antique Black Kitten.

Another good and easy project could be this Black Lamb.

Below is an original antique dog rug but of course I had to hook him too.

So guys and gals, the next couple days think about joining in to make an olde looking mat and challenge yourself.  You can choose one of the rugs I've posted here or something else that floats your boat.   Finally I'm getting excited for the next project to go on my frame.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

It's Rug Show Time Again

Sometimes I think people enjoy my blog more for the antique rug photos than what I'm hooking.  Hey, that's fine with me as it is an incentive for me to keep posting and looking for them.  So if you're one of those folks you're in luck.

Recently found is this Home Sweet Home rug with an almost obliterated lettering and date of March 1933 on the left side.  It was hooked with cotton and wool on jute.

An old Americana hooked rug ~ Uncle Sam holding a flag.  It measures 33.5 x 59 and dated 1900.  

Here is a close up of Uncle Sam himself where you can see more clearly the 1900 date below Sam.

Am pretty sure I've posted this antique rug previously and perhaps it was when it was auctioned previously.  The primitive cats rug was hooked late 19th century which measures 24 x 39.5.  Like other rugs recently posted it is from the estate of Elaine Buck.

                         

Dated between 1868-1933 is the floral.  I wonder if the hooker's or recipient's name was Rose.  They gave width of 31" wide but no height.  Is  hard to tell  with the angle of the photo if it is 31" square.

I really like this Lamb with blue bow, dimensions are 34 x 44 and the collection of Alain and Louise Huin.

When I first saw the above rug on the auction site it reminded me of the Reclining lamb (below) hooked late 19the century. 

Double Eagles, 38 x 43, hooked late 19th century and another rug from the estate of Elaine Buck, West Chester, PA.

And finally, a Horse with an outlined cropped tail hooked late 19th century.  In 1999 it sold for $1,725.

Still no clue what I'll hook when the 'Mary oh Mary' Comstock rug is finished but am still thinking and looking for what floats my boat for longer than 5 minutes.  

Had my annual flu shot yesterday and since it is so dang chilly made a pot of Smoky Potato Chick Pea Soup and it was delicious.  I saw the recipe on FB about a week ago.

This morning I checked my propane (backup furnace heat) since it was at 35% level I ordered a fill-up, the price today is $3.499 but the price is going up soon I fear.  It was announced that OPEC is reducing production of oil by 2 million barrels per day.  Hopefully my price for fill-up will stay that price until at least this first delivery.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MERRIE OCTOBER

I did it, I reverse hooked the 31st date and like it better.   It is now displayed on the sofa table but is the only fall/Halloween decoration out at the moment.  Before anything else is put out the house will need a good vacuuming.  But even before that I've two patterns to draw.

Had I realized ahead of time that I didn't want the date I would have moved the crescent moon over to fill in that empty spot.  But that is way too much reverse hooking  ~ I still like it better.  It is a design by Lori Brechlin and pattern offered by Spruce Ridge Studios.  Normally I'd make that a hyperlink but Kris' web site is under construction.  

BTW, a heads-up.....shipping has gone up once again.  I was shocked to see that a priority flat rate envelope shipping went up $1. 😠

   

Happy hooking and Merrie October to you all.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

THE DEVIL I KNOW....

 ...vs. the devil I don't know; that's what I'm working on.  You guessed it, instead of drawing out yet another pattern which may or may not make the grade, I've decided to work on the Mary Comstock rug.  All the wool is gathered, most of the irritating hurdles (re-drawing motifs) have been hooked and the rug is near completion.

My intention was to do a post yesterday on the first of October but wanted to complete that right side of the rug first.  Still I want to welcome in Merrie October.  Dang, wish I'd not hooked the 31st and just let it say Merrie October.  Think I've more of that background color so maybe I'll reverse hook those loops ....and then maybe not 😊.  Design by Lori Brechlin and pattern offered by Spruce Ridge Studios.

We did need rain here, it has been raining since Friday and will continue to rain through Wednesday ~ that will have been 6 straight days of rain.  Thankfully it is on and off rain so no flooding.  Just hope it stays on and off and not constant torrential downpours.   My heart goes out to everyone in Florida who has suffered from Ian.  For those of you who may have wondered, Polly Minick is fine, her house is okay and she went to stay with her family.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com