New Old Design Progress

still mostly pulling from the pre cut baskets

only the oragne strips are newly cut

I used nearly all the orange them last year...

cleaning up my old doodles

for the booklet has helped me get some of my 

hooking mojo back

tomorrow will be 3 months since Mom has been gone

there is such a big empty spot inside me

trying to stay busy and positive

knowing that's what she wanted

I am pulling old memories from my mind

from when my parents we younger and healthier

the past 10-12 had pushed those memories deep 

for the most part

 

 here's a recent good memory

Mom and Melrose were best buddies

they had their own little mutual admiration society

off to work soon

ah...the stories I could tell from the ER

 

Another Patriotic Piece

posted this yesterday

using up more red,white and blue strips

I had so many short pieces from the last 2 rugs

 

a little progress

it's about 12 x 26

so that center space isn't very big

right now I'm planning on a flag

drawn on the same piece of linen

as Little Bird, Little Star

the rug I'd planned to hook

decided my precut strips would not do it justice

after the little one is hooked

I'll separate them and set the floral aside

until I'm ready to cut more strips

*****

I have a ton of strips still ready to use

 not the colors I want to work with

challenging myself to hook 

at least one more rug

before cutting more strips...

 

 

Sew Primitive

I decided Old Glory needed a companion rug...

design elements are from a Cheri Payne pattern in my collection

still using up the already cut strips

Sew Primitive 

in case you want one

move fast...

she's retiring her pattern business at the end of this month

 

Red, White, Blue and Green

started a new rug yesterday

after organizing those wool strips 

it was obvious I need to use a lot of those greens

as usual not sure where this is heading

maybe all over stars

(from the cookie cutter shown yesterday)

maybe a flag in the center..

maybe you'd like to hook this too

my star is about 6" across

 

Seriously Melrose

less than a second after I set it down to photograph

he is much better looking

than the hooked version

I told him so 

not bad for all worms

that have been rejected repeatedly

 

Slow Progress is Still Progress

in case you're not on Facebook

here's my rug progress

still working out which colors to use

which to leave out

I'm used to hooking much faster than this

especially with such a stash of wool strips

right now I'm splitting my time between hooking and cleaning

my NC sister will be here in a month

she and her DH will be doing some work for me

they know I have no time

but still...

Mom went to the hair salon for a trim today

she's been refusing for about a month

( we had a good day

she was looking serious here

after dropping a puzzle piece on the floor)

it's a roller coaster ride for her

always happy for good days

they started her on a new medicine

an anti-anxiety cream 

praying it helps

so we can keep the Haldol to a minimum

some day I get all boo hoo about my life

then  I talk to a lady at the facility who is my age

has MS, broke her leg last year, hasn't walked since

she has been doing rehab for months

as her leg heals while she works to lose some weight

 

a little giveaway for my blog readers

please don't share

I'd like this to be for my regular readers...

a very nice book

but once through was enough for me

a little worn around the edges

from bouncing around in my totebag

leave a comment on this post

letting me know of a story you'd like to hook

I'll draw a name Saturday morning

March 11th

it's already in an envelope with a piece of wool

planning on getting to the post office Monday morning

Fun Antique Rugs

I always enjoy the rug shows

Saundra 

 shares on her blog 

hoping you'll enjoy mine

with a few fun rugs...

I think these squirrels are having a discussion

about the nuts

in the neighborhood

 

 off course

I would change this to a cat

with birds...

 the possibilities...

have always wanted to reproduce this one

hearts and all

empty the worm baskets!

this looks like 

something you'd see under a microscope

I can only dream

of hooking something so wonderful...

***** 

Mom and I had a pretty good night last night

slept more than we have in days...

about 5 am she started with the 

"get me out of here"

in her mad Gladys voice...

she went half an hour

the overnight staff has been wonderful!

if all her test results come back good

she's going home 

to the facility today

she is looking and feeling so much better

we had a wonderful Dr from the hospital in charge of her care

she took her time talking to us

(in the hall)

and was very patient and kind with Mom

we spoke to her about the future

what would she do if this was her Mom

we liked her answers...

wishing you a wonderful day 

Crows

 

 

planning a new pumpkin rug

with crows...

right now I'm back to the geometric

lost interest in the little cat and pumpkin rug

plenty of pressing on my plate

the big stack of chair pads all have whipped edges

now to press and stitch on wool backing

Wishing you a beautiful Sunday!

Srappy Tips

Saundra

asked me about my hit-n-miss hooking

I should really just refer to it as scrappy

I choose my colors palette...

this project included all the colors except the light neutrals

mostly medium to light shades

no high contrast strips

I have a ton of worms after cutting so many last year 

for Mom and Ann to sort for me

 normally there would never be a mountain of worms

they have been sorted by color

then into light, medium and dark bundles
placed in a large basket by color

I pull a bunch of worms 
 put them on the rug in progress

my huge Talon frame has given me lots of room

to the left in this photo is a small basket overflowing with worms

I work from these worms

pulling from the large baskets as needed

I NEVER pull a random strip and hook

the traditional way to hit-n-miss

I have to like the feel of the rug I'm hooking
I've tried the traditional way and it doesn't work for me

I hate to waste linen

normally I draw my pattern leaving a 2-3 inch background

stitch on some scrap fabric so I can move it on the frame

usually I hook beyond the marked outside edge too

adding scrap fabric to your background 
lets you hook on small pieces of linen

if you purchase a pattern 

with a generous background

stitch some fabric to the edge before hooking

then use the excess linen for coasters or ornaments
before you take it off the frame

*while this one is off the frame

I'm going to do a few more small pumpkin mats

some of my rugs from years ago

the American Alphabet Crow was such fun to hook

if I remember correctly I did the border first

without any idea of what would go in the middle
obviously my design

bottom left is a Lori Brechlin pattern 

Old Glory my own drawing

it feels good to be back hooking

thanks to all who have welcomed me back

More Scrappy Hooking

progress...not sure about that yellow...

it's much brighter in person

 very far out of my comfort zone 

the dark dividing line looks black

it's actually a reddish brown that never worked anywhere

love it here

a few gals asked about the pattern

the drawing is what I started with

can you tell I'm not a perfectionist?

1. draw any size rectangle on your backing

2. draw an X from corner to corner

3. mark the middle of each outside border line

4. connect the dots to form a square

hope this makes sense...

very simple 

if you make one I'd love to see it!

found this one of ebay

for all those dark worms still haunting me

Kitchen Sink Rug

this scrappy rug is going in front of the kitchen sink

hoping this one will really shrink the worm stash

fun using colors I normally avoid 

mats prepped and ready to finish

whip the edges

then cover the back with a heavier wool

will practice on these before doing Debbie's

biscuit making

he looks a mess but I swear he's always being brushed

working on decluttering this week

about 20 large bags of fabric donated to a few 

churches and gals that make small quilts

for hospitals, homeless and nursing homes

still plenty left for quilt making

next I'm tackling Mom's clothes

starting with her coat collection

she loves coats like some women love shoes!

Wishing you a good day...

 

Background and Border

loving the scrappy border...

 

Big Orange Cat

another fun chair pad

now to decide on the border...

after this I have a large geometric planned

to use up lots of scraps

inspired by this rug:

mine will have a lot of red

a lot

Wishing you a great day!

Next on the Frame

This morning I finished hooking

the third chair pad

it's time to move to a different project

with a change of colors...

I won't be dyeing anything special

like Saundra did (and I love)

just need to use up some worms

leaning towards a round chair pad

back in the morning to share some progress

More 4 Patch

above images from Pinterest

love the total scrappy quilt on the bed

using all ugly fabrics...

in my opinion



yesterday we set the blocks out

a few different ways



Mom says we need more orange, more dark blue

we are not going to use black

or many plaids or checks

out of our normal fabric comfort zone...

This morning I spent some time

outside trimming bushes

pulling weeds

listening to the birds

other than the death glare

coming from Olivia in the kitchen window

it was lovely



Random Quilt Love



most of these quilts I love for the design

when looking at them

my mind seems them in the colors I'd use...

hot and humid yesterday and today

that means indoor work

cleaning, moving furniture around

more cleaning

lots of cat brushing

Simple Mat

this is the little mat

Melrose posed with a while ago

black cat didn't work...

geometric did

not so bright in real life

behind it is a small quilt

I've finally gotten around to putting the binding on

next is some wool applique...

after that I can hook again

decided I need to finish at least one thing

before starting another

Olivia is on a roll this week

we went to the basement to do laundry

in less than a minute she caught a mouse

ran to me with it

praising her I opened the door

so she could at least take it to the garage

I've never seen evidence of a mouse

down there before

both cats are down there with me 

a few times a week...

sheesh...it's critter week here