Teacher Rugs ~

Katie Hartner of the Woolley Fox was truly a wonderful teacher.  One of the best!  So many teachers are there to color plan a rug and little to no teaching is done.  Each day Katie covered a topic for us.

Here are a few of the rugs she shared.  There were many more I did not get pictures of.  This rug was gorgeous!!!  I always love a patriotic rug.  So very sorry for the washed out colors.

Close ups . . . 

Part of the flag canton's blue had faded to a totally different shade.

This rug had a proddy edge.

And the backside showing how it was bound.

Katie teaches an online values class that I have heard is a great learning experience.  She is big on using leftover worms in your project.  Here are some of the pattern choices for the class.  (The carpet in the room was a bit on the hideous side!)

Head on over to Sue's blog to see the rugs being hooked in class.

Time to finish packing!
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Drumroll Please ~

The winner of the sunflower give away is Ginny Hillman who entered via email.  Ginny is a former Buckeye who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago.  Ginny, please send me your snail mail info.

Thank you to all who entered and for continuing to read my blog.  I am amazed it's been 11+ years.  Please stay safe and healthy.

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends 🦃

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

October Project List ~ Week 2

 

It's been a rather productive week and for that I am happy 😁

HOOKING

Santa & Rudy - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label
A pattern by Mavis Butterfield, you can find the paper pattern here.

Mr. Hempenstall - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label
A fun pattern by Maria Barton, Star Rug Company.  Maria has such a fun style and you can spot her patterns a block away. 😁 Find it here.

Hanging pumpkin pocket - hook - assemble - label
The pocket is normally not my style, but since it was gifted to me, thought I would hook it.  I must say, I LOVE how it came out.  Now to assemble ~ my downfall . . . sigh.

Old Tom - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label
Pattern by Lori Brechlin.  Find the paper pattern here.

Are you detecting that I LOVE paper patterns?

APPLIQUE

Rebekah Smith turkey - pattern to freezer paper - pieces to wool - stitch

Stack 'O Jacks - pattern to freezer paper - pieces to wool - stitch
A free pattern by The Teacher's Pet that can be found here.

CROSS STITCH

Bethia Fenshaw 1861 - stitch - attach to spool

WIPs to finish

Hooked sunflowers - proddy petals - add backing and stuff

Hooked Santa - finish hooking - bind - label

A Small Marine Sampler - (aka the cross stitch from hell) - finish cross stitching - hem stitch the edges 
This was supposed to be a July birthday present, but I just got so disgusted with it I nearly threw it away.  (Marly, you would just burn it, right?)  The chart was fraught with errors and I had to guess at some of the motif placement.  I am just not happy with it.  There seems to be too much dead space in between.  I was getting ready to start frogging and redoing, then just said the heck with it and put it aside.  I was so close to finishing I figured I would go ahead with it as is.

I hope I've added the links properly for the patterns.  Still learning new blogger . . . sigh.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Sunflowers ~

 

I've finished my hooked sunflowers and attached the backs.  I stuffed them with wool snippets and their final resting place is on an old bed spring.

The sunflower on the left has been gifted to a friend.  The one on the right . . . is for one of my blog readers.  (Please note that for shipping purposes, the sunflower will not be attached to the bedspring.  You can whip stitch it on . . . or just set it there.)

Most of you know the rules.  Leave a comment on this post only or send me an email with give-away as the subject.  Please no sharing on any social media.  The winner MUST CONTACT ME within 3 days or I will choose another.  I will pick the winner Saturday morning.  Sorry, but due to shipping costs, the winner must be in our great United States (Land that I so dearly love).

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

October Project List ~ Week 1

 

October already.  Our weather has gotten downright chilly almost overnight.  I much prefer last week's warm days and cool nights ~ not cool days and cold nights.  You'd think after living my entire life in Ohio I'd come to the realization that's what to expect . . . sigh.

Here's my very ambitious October project list.  Wish me luck 😨 

HOOKING

Santa & Rudy - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label

Mr. Hempenstall - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label

Hanging pumpkin pocket - hook - assemble - label

Old Tom - pattern to linen - hook - bind - label
(I've already hooked this but may hook again just for the heck of it.)

APPLIQUE

Rebekah Smith turkey - pattern to freezer paper - pieces to wool - stitch

Stack 'O Jacks - pattern to freezer paper - pieces to wool - stitch

CROSS STITCH

Bethia Fenshaw 1861 - stitch - attach to spool

WIPs to finish

Hooked sunflowers - proddy petals - add backing and stuff

Hooked Santa - finish hooking - bind - label

A Small Marine Sampler - (aka the cross stitch from hell) - finish cross stitching - hem stitch the edges

I think I will first work on the hooked sunflowers.  There is not much left to do and they will finish quickly.

The hanging pumpkin pocket is a kit I received last fall in a 3 day class I took, a thank you from the organizers.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Now Why Didn't I Think of That?

 

I was not too happy with the handle on my Rebekah bag, but said that I would probably learn to like it.  Several blog friends suggested that I coffee stain it.  DUH!  I don't drink coffee, never have, but I keep a tub of coffee for stain in the fridge.

 

Before . . .

 

 

After . . .  MUCH better.  Thanks to all who suggested it.

 

 

In November of 2013, I posted that my proddy tool had gone missing. 

 

 I didn't realize it had been missing for 4+ years.  I knew it had to be in the hooking room ~ somewhere ~ so I would not buy another one.  ($35 and up depending on the site.)  Guess what I found the other day?  You guessed it right.  The proddy tool.  In with cross stitch.  Whodda thunk?  Organization is not my forte.

 

Winter has returned to northern Ohio but that was to be expected.

 

Been binding, cross stitching, hooking.  Will share soon.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Hooks Like Butter ~

I have one of these Uncle Sam banks somewhere in the attic.  Not antique but I've probably had it for forty years :)

I'm sure you've heard that some wool hooks like butter ~ just passes so easily through your backing.  This wool truly ranks as one of the best.  It's either Betsy's or Rebecca's.  I'm not good at remembering whose wool it is. 

I'm using it for the background of this little fall mat.  It just makes for a nice, subtle background.  In person, I'm not sure if there is enough contrast between the background and the sunflower stem and the sunflower doesn't seem to stand out as much either.  I think I need to get some opinions at hooking tomorrow evening.  My goal is to finish the background this evening which shouldn't take long at all since the overall size is only 9 1/2" x 11 1/2".

I proddied the sunflower petals.

My hook's been smokin' this weekend.  I finished hooking all my sunflowers.  Now the not so fun part of "finishing" them.  These measure about 8-9" across including the petals.  Some of them have a single row of proddy and some a double.  And, BTW, I still haven't found my proddy hook after a couple years or more.  I refuse to buy another one because they aren't cheap and I know as soon as I'd buy one, I will then find it.

These two measure about 6 1/2" in diameter.

I should be out cutting grass and working in the yard, but there are still some of those dang bugs and I just can't deal with them.  Darn that the weekend is almost over.  At least next weekend will be a three day :)

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Sunflower Tutorial ~

 

Here's how I make my sunflowers with proddy petals.  Maybe not the right way, but it's the way I do it.

 

Draw a circle on the backing of your choice.  A 4" diameter is a good size for the sunflower on a bedspring.  Larger if you want a table/candle mat.

 

These are the wools I used for the center.  (I did not mix the wools.  The plaids give you a varied look.)  The colors are washed out but you get the idea of what type of wool I used, right?

 

 

After hooking the center, do a row of proddy as close to your last row of hooking as you can.  Go here to learn my method of proddy using your rug hook.  (Note ~ proddy tool is STILL missing . . . sigh.)  I used maybe 5 different wools for the petals.

 

 

Do two rows of proddy for fullness.

On this sunflower, I used the same wool for the first row and varied the wools for the second row.

On this one, I varied the wools for both rows.

Here is an idea of the spacing between the proddy.

 

 

Cut your backing about 1" from your second row.  I zigzag the edges to prevent fraying.

I fold over and pin.  Baste if desired.  Do not steam ~ it will really smash your petals.  (Yes, I did that ~ ugh.) 

 

Cut a wool circle to size.  Whipstitch in place being sure you don't forget to remove all your pins :)  Padding can be added if desired but it may make it difficult to insert the spring.

This is the type bedspring I used.  On the left is as I bought it (from a friend but you can find them at antique shops or I'm sure online) and on the right after DSO cut it.  I know others have not cut them, but this seemed so much easier to me.

Carefully "screw" the spring in to the back of the sunflower, poking through the wool. 

 

I hope this answers any questions you might have.  Please email me if you need additional information.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

 

Sunflowers ~

 

My sunflowers are hooked and the petals proddied.  Three of them are probably too big to put on a bedspring but the fourth one, though hard to tell, was hooked a bit smaller.

I got the backs sewn on two of them.  Just a piece of wool secured with a whip stitch.  

 

The one on the left had the top row proddied with all the same color wool.  The one on the right I used about 5 or 6 different wools and I like that better. 

 

Click here if you would like a simple explanation on how to proddy using your rug hook.  It's been at least two years since I lost my proddy tool.  GGGRRRR!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren