More top work on the border!!! : )
Happy Hooking!!! : )
New Hooked Rug – Day 77 ~ Helen’s Tapestry
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Folk Art at Old Crow Farm in Vermont
Original Hooked Rugs and Santas, Witches and other characters by Sunnie
Hi Sunnie! I’ve been enjoying your blog and watching your big rug come alive. You’ve received a Blue Ribbon! Come claim it on my blog.
Sunnie,
I really enjoy watching you complete your Work In Process. I keep going back to the beginning to check how you changed something that looks awesome in the latest pictures… Like the lion’s doggy face. Or was it a bear face. I just loved that.
Thanks for the FAST reply. I went on the Snap Dragon website to check out their frames, $big money$, ouch! So I’m rigging up my own temporary frame. An idea I picked up from one of the rug hooking books.
Anothing question if you dont mind… My mat is an oval shape Welcome rug on a burlap sack, 16″x27″ with flowers around the edge and the word Welcome centered on the mat. My question is? The amount of wool needed for the background is 4 times the size of the area hooked in that color? I’m I right or wrong? I saw some charcoal grey/black plaid in three different prints and sold as a bungle, I think it’s called, as a 3/4 yard total, and I was thinking, 3/4 yd isn’t going to be enough for my background and maybe I should double it to 1.5 yds since the flowers r taking up space too.
Your awesome tapestry has got to be heavy when completed, do you keep track of the amount of wool used to create it? And is that rug for the wall or floor? Okay girlfriend, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I’m off to gather more wool…
Regards, ~Anita
Hi Ladies!!! Glad to have you visit! ; )
JENNIFER,…thank you for the blue ribbon award! : ) And
congratulations on yours!!! : )
……………………
ANITA…there are many frames less expensive than the SnapDragon. You can find beginner frames on eBay that are very reasonable!!! : )
I’ve heard that if you are doing a #3 or #4 cut (narrow cut) the estimated amount of wool to cover is approx 4 times the area to be covered. If you are doing the medium or wide cuts is can be 5 or 6 times the area to be covered!!
What I do is to gather more wool than I need for the background, choosing several wools that work well together.
Let’s say I want a deep blue background and I have 1 yard of blue plaid wool that I love on hand. But what if it isn’t enough? : )
I then buy, dye or find in my wool “stash” another quarter yard or two of a wool that will blend with my first wool.
Let’s say that I think 1 yard will be enough but I know that 1 and 1/2 yards will be plenty.
I divide my first blue wool into 4 parts and also put light lines on my backing, dividing the pattern into 4 parts. When I hook my background, I hook some of my chosen wool in each of the 4 sections, leaving some open spaces in the backgrounds of each.
I can tell if I am getting low on wool doing it this way and, if I need to add some of my extra wools, I can add some in each of the 4 sections. Then… it looks like the rug was planned that way!!! : ) In this way, I never have to worry about not having enough wool!!! LOL
(Of course, if you really want to be sure you have enough wool, get an extra yard more than you think you need. You can always use it in another project!!!)
As for my larger rugs…yes, they do get rather heavy towards the end and I keep an approximate idea of the amount of wool I am using. I have used several different antique blacks for the Helen’s Tapestry and have probably used 2 – 2 1/2 yards of blacks so far…plus extra black scraps leftover from other projects.
(the rug can be used either on the wall or on the floor.)
I’m off to hook…let me know how you are getting along with your rug when you get it started!!! ; )
Warm Regards, Sunnie