Heart Rugs ~

 

With all the heart rugs that Saundra and Sue posted, I thought I needed to jump on the bandwagon.  I didn't realize I had this many.  Are there more rugs with hearts?  Just maybe.

Only the second thing I hooked back in 2005.  At that time I would draw up simple little designs because I was to cheap to purchase a pattern.

Key to My Olde Heart, a pattern by Red House Wool Studio, hooked in 2015.  I believe I changed the word LOVE to 1803, the year Ohio became a state.

My Garden, a pattern by Woolen Memories hooked in 2017.  I don't consider this a heart rug, but there are a couple hearts in it 😁

Old Hearts, an antique reproduction hooked in 2018.  The pattern was purchased from the Old Tattered Flag.

Wonky Love Hearts, a pattern by Jo Wick (find her on Facebook under Jo's Folk Art Fibers or simply Jo Wick) was hooked in 2021.

Also hooked in 2021 is True Hearts by Winter Cottage Studio.  The pattern can be found on etsy.  Oh, the blues are so much prettier in person!

In 2023 I took a needle felting class with good friend Heidi.  We hooked the mat before class and added the felting on top of the hooked piece.

Stuffed hearts also hooked in 2023.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Frittering the Day Away ~

I have no idea where my days go.  I am busy all the time but feel I am accomplishing nothing.  I haven't started a real rug project but have been working on little hooked hearts.  I had hooked and stuffed quite a few hearts for a show where I was to vend last October ~ then it was cancelled.  I listed some for sale on Facebook and sold a few.  Then I got a couple orders so had to work on them.  Not something I really want to do, but the $$ will definitely come in handy for May's rug camp in WV.  Here are a few of them.

These were extra large bedsprings.

Here are a few I just finished hooking.  One was for an order but I didn't want to waste linen so hooked a couple extra.

I have also been wasting spending time grubbying some battery candles.  Easy but I make a mess doing it.  I made one yesterday with some cheap white Dollar Tree glue.  That didn't work because the glue easily chipped off so I removed it all and started over.  I used Elmer's without problem.  They were each done at a different time with a slightly different grubby mixture so that's why they don't all look alike.

Damn deer!  As I have said I live in the city but with woods nearby.  This one was only a few feet from the house munching away.  There were 3 in the yard.  The other day in the open field 2 houses down from me there were 9 of them, not the least bit fazed when my granddog and I were nearby.

I've also done a little more rust dyeing to use in junk journals . . . now I just need to figure out what do do with them 😁

A piece of paper that was not quite dry and tore when removing from pan.

I love the rusty keys on the left.

Coffee filters.

Leftover rug hooking linen.

And my favorite.  The lace was already coffee dyed.  I don't know why sometimes the color is just rusty . . . but sometimes it is a grey blueish color.

Our bitter cold temperatures have eased up, but now the weather guessers are predicting 4" - 8" of snow tonight.  The way they are acting one would think it never snows in northern Ohio . . . sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Miscellaneous Finishes ~

I finished putting the backs on my hooked hearts.  They can either be used as bowl fillers or tucked in to an old bed spring.

Funny story.  Last night I got the hearts out so I could take pictures this morning.  I could not find the large hearts.  I spent at least a half hour looking for them on my main living level, upstairs, basement . . . where is the he** could I have put them?  I got up this morning and looked some more.  No luck.  Finally later in the morning while showering, it finally dawned on me.  They were in the freezer.  WTH you ask?  I stuff my hearts with bits of wool.  Last week at guild there were some pieces of wool being given away.  Some of the pieces looked like they had been around for a while, and I always worry about moth eggs in old wool, so a solution is to put the wool in the freezer for a number of days to kill any eggs that may have been laid.  I had stuffed the hearts . . . so put the hooked hearts in the freezer.  DUH 😲

I also finished some hook pouches.  The paisley one are partly machine sewn but the ones from antique coverlets are completely hand sewn.  I am so glad to have those done!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Spinning My Wheels ~

Do you ever feel that way?  I am busy all the time.  I never sit and do nothing.  Sometimes I think I don't know how to relax.  When I retired (6.5 yrs ago!!!) I imagined I would have so much free time.  HA!  Hasn't happened yet.  The list of things I wanted to make in March for the October show . . . well here it is May and only one or two things have been crossed off the list.  (I do think I've complained about this in the past . . . sigh.  Some things never change.)

Anywho . . . here is what has been accomplished recently.

I finished the binding on these two little hooked mats.  Still no label 😖  The color of the pumpkin is pretty good . . . but the clamshells on the bunny rug are not accurate.

Pinkeeps are totally done.  The colors are so washed out.

I bought the large tintype recently because the facial hair reminds me of my younger son.  I don't think he was amused 😁

I am working on putting the backing on my hooked hearts and also hook pouches made from antique coverlets and paisley.

Last week DSO and I went to the Apple store for an iPhone photography class.  I wanted to learn how to get better color when photographing my rugs and such.  Sadly, no real answer.  A suggestion was to build a lightbox.  Not what I want to do.

Enough whining for today.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren
 

Monday Happenings ~

I have been working on odds and ends for weeks.  Trying to make things for the show where I will be vending in October.  I am trying so hard not to be my usual procrastinating self.

Binding is nearly complete on these two little designs.  This sweet bunny pattern is by My Winter Cottage and the pdf be found in her Etsy shop.  I enlarged her design by 50% and added the clamshells.

A quick fall pattern I have hooked a couple times already.  The free pattern can be found here along with a few other fall freebies.

These hearts will have a wool backing and be lightly stuffed with wool snippets.  They can be used as bowl fillers or tucked in to an old bedspring.  Two larger ones are at the top of the picture.

And finally, I sewed up these pinkeeps.  They just need to be stuffed and have a rusty pin and old buttons put on.

Even though I have had a Cricut for over a year, I am still Cricut stupid.  I know the most basic of the basics.  I just don't take the time to learn.  I prefer to be shown.  Today I was finally able to attend a class at our local library.  (They fill up so quickly and I have never been able to get in.)  Well, the librarian teaching the class didn't even know she was to teach it until it was class time.  She knew about as much about the Cricut as I do, which as I said, isn't much.  It was to be basic class . . . make a monogram for your phone case.  She really hadn't a clue and I learned absolutely nothing.  That is an hour and a half of my life I will never get back . . . sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren