New Hooked Rug – Day 3 ~Helen’s Tapestry

Today I worked on more border, filled in a little water and worked on leaves on the old rose flower.  Also some dark black/green that I’m using for the background behind the deer.  I have to choose colours that will show off the motifs and still blend with each other as I go along…so it is a little tricky!!!  As you can see, I’m up to my old habit of using scraps of leftover wools…making one of the flower leaves turning a bit brown!!!  LOL

Special Note:

I called Fraser today to ask about the linen this pattern was put on.  It was put on a linen that is more suitable for a wider cut which is why I’m not able to do really fine details.  They suggested that I pack the wool in more tightly (which might work somewhat but doesn’t really solve the problem!)…but I think if anyone orders this pattern they should specify Monk’s cloth or fine linen !!!    (OR rug warp…that’s been recommended by other hookers too!)

I made the mistake of assuming  that a tapestry pattern or a floral pattern meant to be done in narrow cuts of wool would be put on a backing appropriate for that cut.   In my phone call, I mentioned that I would be hooking in the fine cuts but I didn’t specify what type of linen I wanted!!!   It is an expensive pattern so I can’t really order it again with another backing…but be advised that you need to specify and make sure you get the backing you want.  : )  The linen used with the Bradley Primitive is the same linen I received for this pattern…and it just isn’t good for the #3 & #4 cuts.

I’ll just adapt the pattern and redraw some things or leave them out altogether!  So it’ll still be fun!!!

Happy Hooking!!  Sunnie  : ) 

New Hooked Rug – Day 2 ~Helen’s Tapestry

Today I had time to work on the water, the foliage, the eggplant border and a flower!  Since there are quite a few flowers and berry bushes, etc. that are not very large, one really can’t do a lot of shading with them.  Most are very simple shapes too.  I think I will use several colours of flowers and berries just as in nature.  I’ll decide as I go along what colour to put where!!! 

I’ve said before that I always hang up or drape a rug pattern after working on it so I can really stare at it and notice any little “glitches”.  I also can decide what I think will look best with what I’ve already done.  I like this pattern because it is fanciful like the folk art I love so I don’t have to be so realistic in my interpretation!!!  I like the freedom to do what I want and not follow a formula!!  LOL

I changed the drinking deer a bit to define the head and have the head be less “chubby”!  LOL  Also, I noticed that the dark colour I put in the lower corner of the grasses melted into the eggplant border and made a corner “blob”, so I changed that too.  I added more to the border (as you know, I like to do the border as I go along so I don’t have to work with the same colours each day at the finishing of the rug!)  and did the shaded flower in an old rose colour.  (I have several 6- or 8- value swatches that I bought years ago and they are coming in handy now!) : )

I’ve been asked about my “goals” in rug hooking!  : )  I can say that my goals are always to have fun, to learn something and to do the best I can do at the time and with the knowledge that I have at the “moment” the rug is hooked!  : ) 

Of course, there will always be some who are not happy with the choices we make or what we do…but that is just life!!!  LOL  I really find enjoyment in correcting my mistakes and solving hooking problems…which is why I do my own colour-planning and experimental methods!!! 

At my time of life, the most important thing is to have whatever art or craft piece I do bring me great joy while I do it!  If I am going to spend precious time on the creation, it must be a delight.  : )  The fact that someone else enjoys a rug I’ve designed and hooked enough to purchase it for their own is a special blessing and a bonus for me!  But I have enjoyed every minute of the adventure of creating it!!

I hope you are all enjoying your creating too…and counting the blessings of each day!

Happy Hooking!  Sunnie  : )

New Hooked Rug – Day 1, the adventure begins! : )

Gosh, it’s only Day 1 and I’ve learned a lot already!!!!  LOL  Hooray, I had several hours to hook so I’m on my way!!! : ) 

The motifs are so small that it is difficult to get much shading into the grasses but they are coming along and showing up.  So I am redesigning as I go so that the leaves will stand out.  I’m using a lot of the #4 cut and some #5…I don’t think there will be any #6 in this…no matter how much I want it!!  LOL  There are the illusions of cattails and grasses but I can see that needlepoint would be easier for a tapestry!!!!  (Whew!) 

Also, I am going to call Fraser’s next week because it seems to me that this linen is really appropriate for a wider cut wool because the mesh openings are rather large.  I used this linen for the Bradley Primitive and it was wonderful!!!!!  Maybe it’s just my inexperience showing…but I’ll check with them anyway!!  LOL

I ordered 2 mottled blues from Phyllis at Winterberry Cabin for the pond main blues…1/4 yard of her “Old Blue” and 1/4 yard of “Old Blue Light-Mottled”.  All the blues I had at home were not the colours I wanted…(for the main pond colours) but I am using some of my other blues and greens in the water for accents.

Because I’m a primitive rug hooker, I find that about three quarters of the wools I have are plaids and textures, etc. appropriate for #6 cuts and wider…so it is really a treasure hunt to find wools in my studio that can be cut into the narrow strips!  : )

Now that I’ve started, it really is great fun…but I’m certainly having to do things differently than my usual hooking style!!!  LOL  This picture shows the bottom of the rug and my starting place!

Since this is a “tapestry” rug, I looked at pictures of tapestries online and in needlepoint books I have.  I also looked at floral rugs using narrow cut wools.  I needed some information and inspiration… and so we start.  I can see right now that I will have to redo the head of the deer drinking…it looks a bit odd and gets lost in the surrounding wool colours!!!  LOL

Because “tapestry” always conveys to me deep, rich colours (and also, the colour purple!) I decided to stay away from “sweet” pastels unless they are needed for accents, etc.  I chose for the first border background colour an “eggplant” purple that I love and I am using my own hand-dyed mottled wool for the vine and leaves (Sunnie’s Peaches in the Sun  Casserole dyed wool) in that purple background. 

As I looked at the pattern before starting the planning process, I felt that there would be many shades of greens, browns, grays and blues for all the grasses, foliage, trees, water, animal colours, etc.  I wanted to define the center section and show it off as the outer border is so “busy”!  So I felt that the purple with the golden & pumpkin coloured vines and leaves would be a good frame.

Please feel free to ask any questions as I go along or ask me to clarify or explain something!  If I can answer, I will! : )

Note…If you are a relatively new rug hooker, please don’t be afraid to attempt something you’ve never done before!  If you are already comfortable with your hooking style and can pull your loops up in the way you want, you can do a challenge!  The worst thing that can happen is that you (or I, for that matter!!!) have to ask a more experienced rug hooker or a teacher for help!!!  That’s not a bad thing either!  : )

I have been hooking since 2005, so I am not a rug hooker with long experience.  Although I took that class in 1998 learning narrow cut and fine shading of rose petals, I haven’t done any narrow cut since then.  I didn’t even finish that rose as it just wasn’t “my thing”!  : )  I didn’t pick up my hook again until 2005 when I taught myself to design and hook wide cuts in the folk art style…so I certainly can’t be looked at as someone who can do these things because I have a wealth of experience!!!  I do these things because I am not afraid to make mistakes or not please everyone with what I do!!!  So if you want to try something…go for it!!!  I’ll be cheering you on!!! : )

Happy Hooking!  Sunnie  : )

New Hooked Rug Starts Today! “Helen’s Tapestry”!

This is part of the large “Helen’s Tapestry” rug patttern that I will be starting today.  Watch for the first progress post this evening!  This rug is 32 x 54 inches and will be done in the narrow cut wools (#3, #4, #5…and maybe a #6 in some places!!).  It is designed by the Harry Fraser Co.  and is a lovely pattern.

Because I am a primitive folk-art style rug hooker and have never worked with narrow cuts (except for a class taken in 1998 where I learned to shade the petals of a rose with an 8 value swatch!!!) : ) …this will be not only a challenge for me but I’ll be learning as I go!  Also, as you know from the Bradley Primitive rug adventure…I don’t colour-plan my rugs in advance.  I just get a general notion of what I want and then plan as I go!!!!  We’ll see if this works on this rug!  LOL

I have a good friend online who has promised faithfully to puree vegetables for me and arrange for hair transplants if I lose my teeth and clumps of hair while doing this rug…so at least I have planned for that!!!!  LOL  (Get ready, JoJo!!)  : )

I hope you enjoy the creation of this rug along with me!  Hopefully, we’ll all learn a lot…!!! I’m going to start at the bottom of the rug and I’ll post a picture of that part this evening.  You can’t see the bottom of the rug here.

  This is waaaayyy out of my “comfort zone”!!!   : )   If anyone has done this rug or anything like it, I can sure use information along the way!!!  Hre we go, ready or not!!!  LOL  

Happy Hooking!  Sunnie  : )