HAPPY EASTER

The other day I thought back to my childhood and remembered our Easter traditions.  One such tradition was going to Church in the morning, a normal Sunday event, not just holidays.   Mother and I would be in our new Easter outfit which included gloves worn in the early 50's and a new Easter bonnet.   

After church we made our way to Rehoboth Beach, DE to watch the Easter Parade on the boardwalk.  There many other people there enjoying the holiday tradition who were also wearing their Easter finery.  Wish I had a photo to share but sadly it is just a fond memory.

May you enjoy Easter with your family, enjoy the chocolate and please remember the true reason for this holiday.

Saundra

MISC. CHIT CHAT

Will chat about various topics, first of which is about the last tornado which came thru Delaware last week about 10 miles from where I live.  Below is a  map of Delaware and I've circled my town of Seaford and the area the tornado caused damage to over 60 homes and other buildings plus took one life.

There was an article about last week's tornado in the Washington Post which you can read HERE.  There is even a video which you can watch.  

According to a local meteorologist the conditions are the same as last week which has the potential to give this area turbulent weather this evening.  Am sure you are aware this storm system has already gone thru the mid-west.  So I will be on high alert and doubt I'll get much sleep if the wind is strong when in bed.

Another topic on my mind is the annual Medicare physical.  For those of us of  'a certain age' we are subjected to what I consider cruel and unusual punishment.  Let me explain ... just knowing it is the annual physical my blood pressure increases even as I drive to the doctor's office.

Then while waiting for the doctor the nurse takes my bp which is, of course, elevated.  The doctor looks at the bp number and says she wants  me to have a follow-up in 3  months and if my bp is high then will increase my medication.  So for that follow-up she would have used the hypertension code.  

Continuing with the exam the doctor gives me three words which I'll recall upon command a little later.  Meanwhile I'm asked a verbal math problem to solve in my head, after which I'm given a piece of paper to draw a circle, and mark a designated time.....say 5 minutes after 10.  These tests are to determine whether or not I have dementia?  Or is it a way go put a label or code for my medical records?  After all they charge based on codes, each illness has a code so more codes the more a doctor can charge.

Okay, so lets say for arguments sake it really is for my (our) own good and health.  Would they ask a 20 year old person these questions?  Hell they can't do math because a calculator is part of their supplies when attending school.  I can do it because at the age of 13 I had to do the math and make change with the old style cash registers.

Not sure how many teens can even read a clock since everything is digital and all they have to do is look at their iPhone.  Okay, so those 3 words after all that?  Sometimes I manage to name all three if I can concentrate and repeat those words during the rest of the interrogation, lol.  But most times I can remember two of the three words.

Sooo, the million dollar question is ~ did Joe Biden pass or fail those tests?  To quote Joe, "Come on man".

Don't know about you but I much preferred the Budweiser Clydesdale ads than the ad currently being circulated.  I am NOT woke, I will never become woke, I'll continue to use the terms 'manhole cover' will still refer to my remaining male family members as 'son' and 'brother'.  And will use the words man and woman not they, them, etc.  Okay, got that off  my chest, lol.

Now to the good stuff in case you haven't moved to another blog by now I'll treat you to a beautiful design by Theresa Rapstein.  The pattern name is Old Blue Flowers and is hooked by Theresa.  What an awesome design.

Theresa has a wonderful way with wool.  This is either hand torn or very wide cut.  Love it!  She has a way to make her projects look OLD.

Oh, in case you're wondering I had that follow-up visit with the doctor after 3 months.  I was to keep a record of my bp with the cuff and take it to the appointment.  The doctor also took my vitals while in the office and blood pressure levels were in the acceptable range.

Happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

UPDATE on 1911 HORSE

Here's the update to 1911 Horse and couldn't wait to work on the tail and hip.  Perhaps I could have gone for a more brassy gold but not going to reverse hook this as it does look more brassy in person.                       

Sorry this update is so close to the last one but there's nothing else you'd be interested in I don't think.  Unless it is the level 1.3 tornado (up to 140 mph winds) which went thru this area on Saturday evening but thankfully about 10 miles from me.  But I did not sleep well since the winds were so bad and I've had trees in my yard blow over at 80 mph winds.

My dear neighbor Lamar came thru just when I needed him.  He started my push mower for me and while he was checking out my riding mower I cut Ben's back yard. 

I'd love input on subjects, photos or anything you readers would find interesting.  Just comment or send me a message thru "E MAIL" me.  Happy hooking.    

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

RUG EYE CANDY

April already????  My how time goes by so quickly.  Today there is still the leftover wind from March but April showers came on stage as scheduled.

During my morning caffeine fix I search for vintage rugs so thought I'd entertain you with some of them.   This antique rug is another of my favorites, of course, since it has a horse on it.  Have had this photo for a while and would love to hook it but it is so big.  Horse and Roosters hooked 1902 and measures 24 x 66.

Below is a landscape from the estate of Penny Marshall (yes, THAT Penny Marshall) and it measures 23 x 38.  

A view of the back so you can see the true color and repairs on the sides.

Another rug from the estate of Penny Marshall is this lovely Stag rug.  Dimensions are 26 x 44.

For you exotic animal lovers is a leopard rug dated 1920 and measures 18 x 28.5.

The back shows the hooker used a fabric to bind the edges of her rug vs. just turning over the foundation or using binding tape.

An oval rug of pansies with no dimensions or date but think it is very eye appealing.

I was quite intrigued with this pieced textile rug.  Did the person have no  hook or hookable foundation?  Or again wanted to make use of what was available?  The textiles (silk, cotton and wool) were stitched on a denim backing.  It measures 21 x 32.  Sadly when I did a screen shot this is all I could capture.

The only thing the auction house provided on this next rug were the words "good dog"; no dimensions or date.

And for the feline lovers, this rug is adorable. A mama cat with kittens measuring 21 x 41.5 circa 1900. 

Here's a closeup of mama cat's face.

Happy rainy dreary windy day.   But a wonderful day to do the hand work we enjoy.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com 

TOOK A BIG BITE

Yeah, me thinks me bit off more than I could chew.  Actually the size I drew was planned at a big (big for me) size of 32 x 35.5.  Perhaps if I was hooking in #9 or larger it would go faster but I'm trying to use up worms so most of it is hooked with #8.5.  In retrospect wish I'd thought about the size a day or two longer and might have made a smaller size.  

I'd hoped to get all of the horse hooked but you know how that goes.

There's still a lot left to hook and the background is always very boring.  The border and scrolls are fun but unlike Lauren I don't find the background 'relaxing'.

Normally by now I'd have made my first grass cut.  But I've two immobile mowers and until my dear neighbor can find time to come do a minor or major exploratory on each my weeds will continue to grow.  He works during the week and weekends he has his own tasks.   

Weather is about to change with a freeze tonight but warmer at the weekend.  However since it is a harsh cold front moving in who knows what other turbulent weather might be in its wake.  At least if my house is still standing tomorrow I've plenty of hooking to keep me occupied.  Happy hooking everyone.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

MY BLOG PSA

Windy Day pattern hooked by me and sold by WCushing 

Over the last year or so several people have asked why they are no longer receiving my posts automatically.  Or most recently ask me to add them to my 'newsletter subscription'.  Wish I could help, however that is a feature Google/Blogger no longer provides.  Believe me it is as frustrating for me as it is you.  And this doesn't affect just my blog, it affects many other bloggers as well and they aren't happy either.

Most times I work from my PC vs. iPad as I like the keyboard better using all my typing skills rather than thumbs.  So maybe this might help make finding me easier.  

My blog name is "Saundra of Woodland Junction".  So go to your search engine and type in my first name, links should be provided for my blog, website, etc.  Eventually you might only need to type in the first 3 letters of my name and those links would pop up.    I just did it on my PC and took a screen shot.

Notice 'sau' were the only letters I typed and the blog link popped up with other options.  By chance if you don't remember my name or how to spell it, am sure it would work the same way if you typed in "woodland junction".

Also, someone once told me if you are a 'follower' the posts will show up that follower's feed.  Still don't understand just what or where that feed is.

Over the years I've told several of my readers they were a "NO-REPLY" blogger.  Or perhaps you thought I was being anti-social since you didn't receive a response.  Trust me, we bloggers love communicating and replying to our readers and those who are kind enough to comment or ask questions.

We aren't being anti-social, we just can't reply to your comment.  You can google 'how to fix no-reply blogger' but I'm making that task easy for you and you can read how to fix that problem HERE.

The next blog post am planning to show what little I've accomplished on the big rug project, lol.  Usually I'd have a plus one going on but frankly all energy needs to be focused on this big horse.   Happy hooking and I'm on my way back to doing just that.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

VINTAGE RUGS

Sit a while with a cup-o-tea, coffee or favorite libation and let's peruse some old rugs.  No date for this basket of flowers but it measures 20 x 36 and hooked with cotton knits on burlap.

This is the backside and the colors don't seem to have faded much but must have been in a heavily used area for the edges to get so frayed.  But burlap does get brittle and dry.

Three birds and girl in bonnet in back.   It is Canadian hooked mid 20th century, cotton on burlap.  It is from the Marty Osler collection and measures 22 x 36.

Here's the back side of the rug.  If anyone is interested it is still up for auction.

A cat sitting with a ball of yarn measures 23 x 31 and said to be hooked early 20th century.

I wonder if that was the inspiration for the hooked rug which used to hang on Barb Carroll's wall at her Ligonier estate?  And then maybe not.

I found this Barbara E. Merry rug of a farm with hay wagon in January but never posted it until now.  Dimensions are 32 x 39.5.

A view of part of the back.

Another Barbara Merry rug is this sap gathering rug.

Here's a quirky rug which,  had I not already designed and hooked a rug for my son's game room, this would have been fun to do for him.  Bears drinking said to be circa 1890 on the auction site.  Dimensions are 24 x 44.

In case you're wondering, here is what my son's rug looks like.  

An early PEI hooked rug with central floral and brick look background.  Measures 30 x 48.

A galloping rider-less horse dated late 19th to early 20th century.  Measures 29 x 52.

Hmmm, guess my post isn't complete unless there's a canine in the show too.  Two dogs hooked late 19th-early 20th century.  Has mixed fabrics and measures 18 x 35.  Sorry the rug and or photo is so poor.

Have a good evening and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

 

RUG HOOKING 102

If you are pulling loops and have a comfortable rhythm, you have already graduated from rug hooking 101.  Many of the seasoned hookers will know this already but for you newbies here are a couple things you may not realize.  

There are no real hard/fast rules in rug hooking but rather guidelines like, pull loops up as high as the width of your wool strip, it is okay to use different size strips in the same rug but if you use #8.5 for most of the rug and use #4 for inside the flower, you need to pull that #4 strip up as high as the #8.  Other than that it is follow your heart.

Someone asked me if I would be offended should someone make changes to one of my patterns.   My answer was an honest "no I wouldn't be offended" as I've made my own creative changes to others' patterns.  There is a caveat with that choice tho ~ you still cannot claim it is your design even after making the changes.

Case in point, 2007 I hooked Kindred Spirits' Crow Sampler, her design shown below.

After buying the pattern and ready for my frame, I felt it needed a border framing all the way around.  It took a little time but I moved the border over and re-drew the pennies all the way around.  This is my hooked version and I cannot claim it my design, it is still an Ali Strebel design.

Another example is Bev Conway's whimsical pattern Speckled Hens.

Although her design is cute with huge eggs laid by the hens, I envisioned the design for them to be sitting on a straw nest, thus my finished rug  ~ it is still Bev Conway's design.

Yet another rug I made changes to is by Bill Laraway named Gossip.  This is his original pattern with some of my early redrawing of the design to suit me. 

And here is the finished rug.  Am so proud of the feathers and my birds.  When I posted the finished rug photo on Facebook I gave credit to Bill, of course, for the design and mentioned I took creative license.  He saw that post and gave me a 'like'.

Although I drew a modern day image of clock, added a cabin and chicks in the mat below, I cannot lay claim it is my original design.  For it was inspired from the antique quilt of Harriet Powers, therefore, you guessed it, it is an antique adaptation.  You can read a little about it HERE and see what I'm referring to.

Evelyn gave me a Nola Heidbreder pattern named Golden in the Garden.  Naturally it beckoned me to change that Golden into a Rottweiler. 

Perhaps one day I will take the rug off the wall and change Ben's head and nose as it doesn't look proportionate to the body.

This is how my boy Ben looked and I hooked it in mostly #8 and #8.5.

There have been a few other patterns I've had to change but won't go into the lengthy detail of the purchased botched antique adaptation of the Mary Comstock rug but you can read a segment about that HERE.

More for you newbies to know...and something I notice often even with rug teachers and people to sell patterns which irks me.  There are those folks who put their web site 'watermark' on antique rugs as if it is their brand.  An antique rug in public domain and dated 1927 or older is free for anyone to draw and cannot be copywritten.  Sometimes people put that watermark on a rug to make people believe they own the rights to draw it and only them.  

Not true.  Perhaps it would be a friendly thing to do, but that would be a monopoly with a lack of healthy competition.  Another thing I've noticed is where a pattern seller will make changes to an antique adaptation (changing a deer to a sheep), (changing a Magdalena animal into something else) and calling it their design.  

Nope, again not true, it is still an antique adaptation.  It would behoove them to change the wording to something like: inspired by Magdalena Briner Eby, or antique adaptation of Magdalena Briner Eby or if the designer is unknown, that word would do too ~ but it is still an antique adaptation.

Sorry if this was a boring blogpost or seems redundant, but I wanted to write about something and this subject popped in my head.  Happy weekend and happy hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

P.S.  Colleen, I cannot respond to you since you are a no-reply blogger.  Please introduce yourself thru the E MAIL ME section of my blog so I can add you to my contacts.

                                    

A HORSE IS A HORSE, OF COURSE...

.. even if it is only an outline.  Seems I spend more time thumbing thru worms and various cut wool in search of the appropriate color than I do pulling loops.  That is why this is all I have to show you on the new project.

I was unsure about the orange scroll color on to the top left that is why it isn't completely finished.  But wanted to hook a little just to compare with the original antique.  Now that I'm looking at the original antique below and comparing to my hooked section above, think I'm safe using that color since in person the color I chose does appear more orange than red.

Hmm, in the antique photo seems I need to pull my green worm bag out as some of the background has a green tint.  Oh my, more worms to search thru and add to the mix.  What is that date at the bottom?  My first my thought was 1917 but decided it was 1911 which is what I drew on the pattern.

Why oh why did I draw this pattern 32 x 35.5?  Believe me I've asked myself that many times.  The horse, from tail to nose measures 23.5, almost 2 feet.   So why?  I wanted another big rug to rotate in front of my fireplace.  Soon I'll be replacing the one which resides there.  This rug won't be ready but perhaps I'll show you my present rotation regimen for that spot on my next blog post.

Today was a very warm day as will be tomorrow.  So it is over and out here for sneezy/watery/blowy as the pollen heightens.  

Happy  hooking.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Rug Show

After two days since my last post you guys are getting antsy for another post from me.  First up is Gen. George Washington and Horse with his Mt. Vernon home and cherry tree at the bottom.

A sizeable undertaking for some rug hooker is this geometric on burlap;  and here I am regretting drawing my present project 32 x 35.5.  The geometric is said to be hooked between 1880-1920 it measure's 52 x 122.5.

The hunter and dog are immediately noticeable but the moose takes a few second to identify only after being mentioned.  Dimensions are 19.5 x 36.5 and hooked late 19th or early 20th century.   

For Janice's bunny fix is a Mennonite rug dated 1884 and being handled carefully with gloves.

A close up of the hit and miss detail.

This next one made me chuckle ~ a baby being pulled by a cat chasing a mouse.  Reported to be circa 1900 measuring 19 x 44.  Can't imagine a house cat being strong enough to pull a baby.  It was still up for auction last I looked.

Another idea for a de-worming project is this geometric squares pattern,  no age or size was mention on the auction.

A trotting horse with hit and miss circles border, no date or dimensions were provided.

Talk about camouflage, look at this cat and mouse rug, you have to stare at it to find the outline of the cat.  Dimensions are 20.5 x 31 and hooked late 19th century.  No picture of the back was provided to see if there was a lot of fading on the front.

I hooked an adaptation of that antique design back in 2004 and sold it for $600 as a divorce was eminent and figured I'd better sell it to save money.  Can't recall the dimensions and sorry the photo is so poor,  photo was taken in sunlight on the back deck.  I don't do sunlight anymore as none turned out well.  You can see my former initials of SS at the bottom.

Weather was rather chilly today but sunny.  Haven't listened to the forecast for tomorrow but it will still not feel like spring I'm sure.  Guess it is better than some of you folks are experiencing.  Hey, we'll all get there sooner or later but spring will happen.

Guess I'd better get back to my humongous (to me) pattern or I'll never  have an update for you.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com