Category: mats

August 2, 2017

The Stolen pattern

Close-up of “Stolen,” hooked by Catherine Kelly. Beautiful, isn’t it? Love the colors, all the tones.

“Wait till you see my new rug, “Stolen,” guild-mate Cathy Kelly e-mailed me. She also said that I had to wait till it was finished before that happened. Okay. Really, I didn’t think too much about it other than I like to see what Cathy comes up with. She’s very creative, that one. In fact, since I’ve moved to New Mexico and joined the Adobe Wool Arts guild, she’s one of the folks who’s really pushed me to go beyond my own comfort level. And she’s done that just by modeling good, artistic experimentation and enthusiasm and encouraging us all to look beyond rug hooking to: 1) influence our rug hooking and 2) try new things.

Cathy also somehow convinced me to act as the guild rep to Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Council. Sure, sometimes meetings can be a little tedious, but it’s let me meet a whole bunch of people I never would’ve otherwise come to know. Which further led to my joining the board of Susan’s Legacy, a non-profit helping women who suffer co-occurring mental illness and addiction.

So, you see, Cathy’s not just a great artist, but a class-A person and friend. But did that change yesterday when she shared “Stolen” with us at the guild’s usual demo gig at the BioPark? You be the judge. See the pic above of “Stolen.” Definitely an appealing rug.

You might be interested in one of my rugs, hooked years ago (despite the 2014 date); it happens to be hanging in the East Mountain Library in Tijeras, NM. It’s in an exhibit that was offered to Cathy for her work. She generously proposed to hang a couple of my rugs too. Here’s the rug I mentioned:

Stolen patttern — Here’s a close-up of my rug. I designed it as a table runner, and if I gave it a name, for the life of me, I can’t remember it. Guess I’ll call it “Stolen.”

Oh, and did I mention this one that I hooked in 2015, after I arrived in Albuquerque. I think that I was sewing rug binding on it at my very first guild meeting.

Stolen pattern — “Paging Party of Gray” is another table runner, just a little smaller, and it’s definitely not hooked in wool. But perhaps you’re noticing a pattern here? Like it should be called “Stolen”?

Okay, maybe I should mention that several months ago Cathy asked about purchasing the original rug – I use it to cover a small bench in my house. I had to tell her that it’s one of maybe three rugs that I won’t sell, that I actually use in my own house. Then she asked me if I’d draw out the pattern; she’d even try to sell it for me through her own hooking business. I said, “Sure, great idea!” And then I did absolutely NOTHING about it. Even when she reminded me. MY BIG BAD! So, I was thrilled when she hauled out “Stolen” yesterday morning. Laughed my ass off, in fact. Then we fantasized about how rich we could become if we started selling the “Stolen” pattern. Because you all know what a lucrative business rug hooking is. NOT!

That was yesterday’s fun. Regarding the RUG ON THE FRAME this week. I learned a little more about Boucherouite rugs after reading Liz Alpert Fay’s current Textile Art News. In the newsletter she had a story about Kea Carpet and Kilims (New York). The gallery’s Hudson location recently held an exhibit of rugs hooked/tufted by members of the Creative Growth Art Center (Oakland, California). Curious, I clicked on the gallery’s homepage and found…Berber rugs! Including Boucherouites! I learned that these rag rugs only started being made in the mid-20th century, so they’re a new thing. Check them out.

Dog on rug — Tynan presents this week’s **RUG ON THE FRAME**. I’m enjoying the wanna-be Boucherouite. There is **no way** I am capable of being blind to colors and throwing anything in, but it is, after all, a Boucherouite- *influenced* rug, not an actual Boucherouite. ***WHAT’S ON YOUR FRAME TODAY? STOLEN ANY PATTERNS LATELY? 🙂***

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July 26, 2017

Hooking an almost Boucherouite rag rug

Boucherouite rugs are my new passion! Sort of. See, I was going through my Pinterest pins – I put tons of things up on Pinterest for for later use (far more than I’ll ever be able to use) –

looking for inspiration for my next hooked rug and somehow I came across Boucherouite rugs. I must have been in my Indigenous Art folder or something and one thing led to another. Anyway, these rugs are colorful geometrics, very rustic-looking. Right up my alley!

Doing a little research, I found out that the Boucherouite rugs, also called carpets, are woven by Berber women in North Africa (often Morocco). They recycle old textiles and clothing to create one-of-a-kind rugs. Ah…sound familiar? Apparently, they became quite the home decor rage a few years ago. This blog post by Decor8 gave a nice overview back in 2013. (I am sooo behind the times…)

Looking at them, the rugs reminded me of how woven bedsheets hook up, so it seemed a natural extension to draw out something on the monks’ cloth that approximated a Boucherouite. Tynan’s showing you below what I came up with. It’s not a floor rug this time, but a table runner. I’ve got basic colors in mind, and I will use primarily bedsheets, but I plan on making a lot of it up as I go along. Please join Tynan and me on the journey. More next week…

In the meantime, where do you look for artistic inspiration? Favorite sources? Please share them with us in the comment section below.

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July 12, 2017

I forgot I hooked that rug!

I can’t believe that I forgot I hooked that rug! Yes, it went plumb out of my mind. Let me explain.

that rug, hooked — Unfinished and, therefore, unnamed rug being hooked with t-shirts sometime last fall.

Last night I was going through my laptop files looking for a particular rug photo. (I read a blog that encourages people to share their gardens and crafts and such. Of course, they want to see my rugs. 🙂 ) So, I’m combing through the blog file, the guild file, High on Hooking’s inventories, every file containing pics of rugs for whatever reason. And I come across this photo of an unfinished rug.

And I think, where the hell that rug? How come I haven’t been trying to sell that??? It was a pretty large, circular deal. About 28 inches in diameter.

Like many of you, I am not a woman who keeps things that bother me to myself. I less than casually mention it to Tom who responds with What rug? (Insert my eye roll here.) Once I show him the photo, oh, I remember that one! Thank God. I was starting to think senility might be creeping in. Then he asks about its whereabouts. Duh! Then he asks if I ever finished it. Of course, I finished it! I had to have done it before I started the big, blue floral rug around January 1.

I check the wicker trunk and the cedar chest. Nada. I take a cursory glance around the closet and laundry room, but they both hold my hooking raw materials, not finished rugs, most of which currently abide in my mobile store. It’s definitely not with them.

Again to the cedar chest. I do a better search, actually take things out. Nope. The rug seems to have vanished. I briefly consider that Melinda might’ve taken it. She really liked it when I was working on it. Nah, I would’ve seen it at her house. So, it has to be in mine!

Tom’s lost interest by now. I head back to the closet and the laundry room. Okay, I have not cleaned or sorted my laundry room counter in a very l-o-n-g time. Been too busy. This time I actually pick up some pile, move things around, and…lo and behold!…there, neatly folded, is that rug. I grab it, unfold it. Oh, the hooking is done – just like I remembered – but the finishing, not so much. Never bandy that word senility around so casually when you live in a glass house. It will come back to bite you in the ass.

that rug, unfinished — I definitely hooked that rug. I most definitely did NOT finish that rug.

Now I have another job to do so that I can get this baby out to the Rail Yards and the other places I’m selling at this season. (That would include, I recently found out, the Sunflower Festival in Mountainair, here in New Mexico on August 26.) Since tonight I’ll finish hooking another rug (see photo below) and have yet to design something new, I guess that I’ll be sewing binding on the “Tree of Life” when I meet with some guild members tomorrow for a mini hook-in. Like you, I’d rather hook.

Last week brought some interesting news. Along with 59 other hookers who feel a need to share the hooking gospel via social media, specifically via a blog, High on Hooking’s blog was named one of the best 60 rug hooking blogs. (It didn’t specify where, so I’ll go with in the entire world.) I admit that when I saw the email that morning, I scoffed to Tom that it was some kind of scam, false news, as it were. But, no, when I got on Facebook later in the day, congratulations were flying. Thank you, Rug Hooking Magazine and Feedspot for a lovely and unexpected boost.

Lastly, Tynan is back with “The Rug on the Frame.” Though he did mention that it felt like a demotion after being allowed to write the blog last week. I told him that if he’s good, he’ll get another chance. And if he stops calling us idiots. This rug is a favorite of his, though he’d make me take out the “WOOF” and put in his name. Then I couldn’t sell it, I explained. Exactly, he said.

hooked rug and dog — Tynan says, that rug should be mine. “Woof” is hooked all in t-shirt. Much cooler than wool this time of year.

November 15, 2016

Current state of affairs…always hooking…

Damn, I wrote that headline and realized that it looked vaguely political, something I try to avoid on social media especially these days. At least the freaking election is finally over, and we can only wait to see what January will bring. In the meantime, the holidays are rushing at us like there’s no tomorrow. A portend? (Sorry. I said I wouldn’t say anything political. I won’t.) And there is hooking, always hooking.

The bag is burlap, about 6 inches by 6 inches. It's hooked with wool yarn, ribbon, and stretch velvet. Very cute. — The bag is burlap, about 6 inches by 6 inches. It’s hooked with wool yarn, ribbon, and stretch velvet. And a little pearl. Very cute, if I do say so myself.

So, what am I working on these days (always hooking)? In hopes that I’ll get a call from the waiting list at the Rail Yards for the holiday market next month, I’m still creating rug mugs. I’ve also come up with a new item; it’ll be a great stocking stuffer, gift card holder, hostess gift, or little girl’s purse. Here’s a pic of the prototype. Like it?

I plan on filling them with candy canes for Christmas time and maybe some faux flowers or something next spring. The bags are from Hobby Lobby, too inexpensive for me to bother making. The hooking’s a bit tricky since there’s no frame involved, just your hand to stick in and hold it all. (I don’t know how Rachelle LeBlanc hooks without a frame ALL THE TIME and then gets those beautiful results.)

Albuquerque’s Fiber Fiesta is also keeping me busy and not just because I’m a guild rep to the Fiber Arts Council. I think I know what I want to create for next May’s show, and I’m doing some research, though I’m not ready to share just yet. But I better get a move on as it has to be pretty much finished by the March 1 entry deadline. For those who are interested, the Call-For-Entries is open and waiting. Consider joining us.

In between projects, I’m still working on my “fall” tree of life rug, the one I started last month. It’s coming along despite being thrown to the side on a regular basis. Always hooking….

It's about a yard across, t-shirt and bedsheet. — It’s about a yard across, t-shirt and bedsheet.

As an aside, how many of you saw this rug on page 56 of the newest ATHA magazine?

"Kenya FLora and Fauna" hooked and designed by Sylvia Huntington. — **“Kenya Flora and Fauna” hooked and designed by Sylvia Huntington.**

I was flipping through it the evening my copy came, when I caught sight of “Kenya Flora and Fauna.” That’s really familiar,” I said then looked a little closer. “Ha, I do know this rug!” Nancy Huntington submitted the pic; it’s a large mat that her mother-in-law Sylvia hooked after an adventure in Africa. Nan brought the rug to one of the demonstrations our guild does at the Albuquerque BioPark a couple of months ago. Kids loved it! Here are a couple of close-ups I snapped at the BioPark. (Nancy generously shared the photo above.) Fabulous rug!

A closer view of Sylvia's rug. — A closer view of Sylvia’s rug.

What’s your current state of affairs? On your frame, that is.

PS – Before I let you go, for anyone in the general New Mexican area, if you’re in the mood for a field trip this coming weekend (Friday-Sunday), make sure you look into the Santa Fe Fiber Festival brought to us by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. My partner in crime, fellow native New Englander and new New Mexican, Melinda, and I are heading up there Saturday. Hope to see you!

September 19, 2016

What’s on the frame this week?

This is what I'm currently calling the "midnight tree" rug. It's about 28 inches in diameter. I'm hooking with bed sheets again. — This is what I’m currently calling the “midnight tree” rug. It’s about 28 inches in diameter. I’m hooking with bed sheets and t-shirts this time. (And, yes, I’m missing a nail on my left big toe.)

The title should probably read “What’s on the frame this very minute?” It would be more accurate. I started a pretty large rug last Tuesday. Then came yesterday, one of my mornings at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards Market. A woman and her husband spent some time in my booth admiring a few of the rugs; then they were off. No big deal. It happens like that almost all the time. Except…they came back. And bought two mug rug sets and a wall hanging. Woohoo! The only downside is that I’m now down to two mug rug sets, and I still have another weekend to go. (Then I’ll take a break from vending till December’s special holiday market.)

Consequently, while I’m enjoying working on the new “midnight tree” rug, as soon as I draw up a couple of mug rugs (like ASAP – this afternoon!), I’ll have to kick it’s butt off the frame. Of course, if that’s my biggest hooking problem, I must be doing something right.

Set and have a cup of tea? "Autumn's Sunflower" there on the left sold at the Rail Yards Market Sunday. "Petro Sun" is still available. — Set and have a cup of tea? “Autumn’s Sunflower” there on the left sold at the Rail Yards Market Sunday. “Petro Sun” is still available.

What’s on your frame this week?