RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

A PORTFOLIO OF MY HOOKED RUGS AS PROMISED

It's looking more like spring although we are bracing for another snow storm tonight. As I was driving to town today, I noticed the river was open for a good stretch although it's still frozen in front of our house, but it won't be long before we see open water here too. I'm still on the lookout for my first Robin but I imagine it will be a while yet.

Today I scrubbed 4 calf gates, a chore which I don't enjoy but it must be done. I still have some time before returning to the farm to feed the calves so I thought that I should do a post about the rugs I designed and hooked. Some need binding and they all need labels. I haven't tried making my own labels yet.

My very first rug, Cow in the grass,  all done with recycled wool. I dyed a white and black plaid wool skirt and it turned out perfect for grass.  My daughter Jackie gave me some yellow and green dye powder she used where she teaches weaving.


This rooster was to remember the kindness of my many friends who supported me during my fight with breast cancer. Anne bought me a big crowing rooster and together with my woman church group they made me a huge basket of sunshine. It was filled with small gifts that I had to open one every day, for a whole month. I called it Sometimes you have to make your own sunshine.

I used all recycled wool and unknown fiber for the tail feathers.


This was a challenge from Sunnie Andresson Rug Hooking Daily. We had to use a ring, a rock, a forest and the color purple.  My first thought was to hook a king sitting on a rock with a golden ring on his finger but it didn't appeal to me so I went back in my childhood as I love the forest behind our house and I was a bit of a tom-boy, hanging upside down from trees.  The ring was an old tire swing, the rock is beside the tree and some little violets for the color purple. Everybody's rug was so different from each other and it was a most enjoyable exercise to get us out of our comfort zone.


My Childhood Memories rug was something I wanted to do ever since I took my basic rug hooking lesson as I saw one our teacher did but hers was totally different.  My first idea was to make a twisted ribbon border. It started out nicely but the ribbon got a bit wonky as I went along and I left it like that to show that the journey isn't always smooth.



This was another challenge from Sunnie Andress on Rug Hooking Daily. It was called My Grandmother's trunk. It was to depict what our grandmother left us.  I didn't inherit anything from my grandmother but her love of flowers.  The grey background was dyed grey to mimic the shingles on her house. It was done using a photo of my grandmother.




Sunnie Andress and I  became good friends on Rug Hooking Daily and together we started the group called Great Stash Deworming Marathon and it's still going on today. I made a hit and miss rug and this one went incredibly fast .


Still deworming my stash of extra wool worms I made this chair pad for my hooking room. Using only precut wool worms in my stash.  I even married a bunch of worms to get this green border.  Marring wool is to simmer wool of different colors or tone together so they all blend together.


I called this one, Ode to Joy because of the happy colors.
Still, on the same challenge of deworming the stash, I did this one using kitten's paws pattern and joined them with stems and leaves for my other chair.



I was inspired by a rug I saw in Rug Hooking Magazine and called this one, Geology.


My grandfather was done using a very overexposed black and white photo and I struggled with shading the face features.



Another challenge rug using only leftover worms from our stash. It was called All Around the town or something like that. I would have to go back and check the name of the challenge. All these challenges were subject to our own interpretation which makes these challenges so enjoyable.


Another challenge rug using a song theme. I'm dragging my feet on this one but I have some small pieces of wool to marbelize for the bottom, just not enough spare time to hook.


This was my very first primitive rug and it was a blogging giveaway from Lauren of Hugs and Pugs. She had included everything I needed to hook this cute kitty rug, including a primitive size hook.  Lauren is such a great blogging friend. This project went astoundingly fast as compared to my regular  # 5 or 6 cuts and I really enjoyed this little project. It is always beside my hooking frame to place my scissors, hook, and tweezer on to protect my table top.  Thanks, Lauren. It's a gift I really cherish every time I hook.

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving a comment. Your comments are very precious to me.
Julia









23 comments:

  1. What a great hobby with such brilliant results. I really like what you’ve made and I wish I could do something similar. My results wouldn’t look as good though. I don’t know how you have the patience to do something like that. I think my brain injury has a lot to do with it. It doesn’t stop me from seeing how good your rugs are though. There’s no doubting that.

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  2. Your rugs are wonderful, Julia!!! My favorite is your Childhood Memories rug. You really come up with great designs.
    I am so happy you found a good use for your little primitive kitty.
    Hugs :)
    Lauren

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  3. I love your work. The rooster might be my favorit but the one of your grandma made me think of my great grandma. Shenhas a quilting frame hanging from the ceiling of her living room.

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  4. You are amazing!! I think the portrait rugs must be incredibly hard to do!

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  5. Oh Julia, these are just so astoundingly good! I know it sounds strange to say, but I find it very hard to believe that a human made these, they are so amazing!
    I love the Geology one and the childhood memories ones particularly. How many hours does it take to make one of these? The colours are so vibrant!
    I hope you are having a good day.xx
    x

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  6. Julia, you are one amazing woman! Your rugs are gorgeous. I think you could make ANYTHING and that talent is so admirable. Thank you for sharing your lovely work with all of us. I hope you know how amazing you are, friend.

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  7. I'm so impressed by your rugs. They look fantastic!

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  8. Julia, I can truly say your talent for hooking rugs is amazing. I wish I lived closer to you so you could teach me. I bet you would be a great teacher. All of these are beautiful. I don't think I could pick a favorite but love all of them....Hugs to you sweet gal...

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  9. Hi Julia,
    I truly enjoyed your "Hooking Journey" and the story behind each rug!!! How wonderful to be able to keep track of those important moments in your life by hooking a rug to remember them!! Each one is just wonderful and so special!! Lauren IS a sweetheart and I got the chance to personally meet her when she came through Arizona!!
    Thanks so much for sharing and hope you have a wonderful week!! Hoping too, that spring is on the way!!
    Heart Hugs~
    Julie

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  10. Wow Julia,
    I love your rugs and the stories behind each one. Some of them I have seen but there are a lot I haven't.What amazing rugs!! I really like your creativity. That rooster tail is wonderful. I was staring and it and trying to figure out how you did it. I hope you can remember because that is so perfect. Thank you so much for sharing. I know that was a lot of work. How is your shoulder today after washing those calf gates?

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  11. Your rugs are all different and very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Julia,
    I enjoyed this post so much. It was fun to see all the rugs. You are so talented. I really like the tom-boy one, what a unique idea. Yes, that was/is me too, a tom-boy.
    xx oo
    Carla

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  13. Lovely rugs, Julia!! We are gonna get snow tonight here in KY :)

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  14. Wow! Just Wow! Those are so amazing. I can't believe the talent and the work! Oh, the work.
    And you're a busy lady.
    They are all so lovely.
    Thank you for sharing them.

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  15. Julia, you are truly artistic. I love every one of your rugs. You do faces very well.

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  16. What a fun post! I love your rugs and as I was looking at every one I was saying out loud: "Oh, I love that one the best!...wait, I love that one the best"...on and on! It would be hard to pick a favorite and what I really love is the love you put into them. Using every aspect of your life and putting it into an art form is so wonderful. Keeping on hooking dear friend! You are talented! Have a good week and I hope the snow leaves soon and a robin appears quickly!

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  17. your rugs are beautiful, I love the cat rug. The designs are all so homely, what a lovely hobby.

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  18. Hi Julia, I had to read your blog again and it’s so good. We definitely need more posts but I understand how busy you can get so sorry about that. I think you do great posts about everything and put a lot of effort into what you do. Keep it up.

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  19. Hi Julia, you are a very talented lady. I especially love the rugs with animals :)

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  20. What an amazing and talented lady you are sweet Julia. All of your rug designs are great. Thank you for sharing your great talent with us. I know you must be really glad to have gotten those calf gates scrubbed. Are you seeing much spring-like weather? We have a day or two of spring-like then it turns cold again. I am ready for spring to arrive and stay. Hugs

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  21. How enjoyable to see your rugs grouped together, Julia!!!!! We have had fun along the way with our De-worming and Challenges!!! I'm so glad we have our friendship and fun with hooking! I appreciate you and the great tips, information and encouragement you always give me!!! Hugs to you, Sunnie :)

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  22. Thankyou author for sharing your work, very well explained and informative. Meanwhile, if you are in need and looking for a rug cleaning service, feel free to message us or visit our website. We offer you this at a very affordable price. Thank you and Godbless!

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