A Couple More Rugs

Here are pictures of a couple more rugs that I've made over the years. The first one was a pattern in Create & Decorate magazine - they showed it as a penny rug, but I enlarged it and hooked the design. I've always loved alphabet samplers so it was fun to make this rug.

If you look closely you can see that I hooked the background behind each motif with a wool that was similar but different to add a subtle detail.

A Favorite Quilt

I belong to a quilt group that has been meeting together monthly for over 15 years now - we take turns hosting the meetings in our homes and/or yards, and sometimes meet at a restaurant during the holidays. This quilt was made by my friends in this group - I had chosen the theme of "Home is Where Your Story Begins" and asked each person to make a block that represented that theme to them. I chose the color palette so that all the blocks would coordinate when completed, and this is what they came up with. Some of the stories that they told.

• Jackie's family spent a lot of time in a canoe at a local lake so she made Crossed Canoes.
• Kathy's family had 7 children so she made a 9-patch to represent each person, and paper pieced a small house for the center block to represent their home.
• Kaye lives in a log cabin currently.
• Carole stitched up a 'family tree' growing out of a heart.

I stitched the 'theme' block, made a couple more blocks to make the quilt bigger, plus added some applique details. The best thing about this quilt is that when I look at it I remember all the friends who contributed to it and bask in their longstanding friendship!


It's interesting to see how we have all evolved over the years. In the beginning we were all stitching miniature paper-pieced quilts. Now we have a doll maker, a jewelry maker, an art quilter (or two) and a rug hooker.

New Rug Project

I know I'm not the only rug hooker who flits from one project to the next! Last time I shared pictures of the stair rugs I was working on. Then I went to Portugal, and when I got home I decided to make a memory rug and I set the stair rugs aside for awhile. The people we stayed with own about 30 horses so I'm hooking a horse rug - and in the corners I will add a detail of a cobblestone street corner that I saw and loved. There are about 6-7 different dark green wools used in the background on this - I like that there are so many different textures and shades - and I added some movement by hooking swirls and curves. I've far exceeded the minimum hooking time for the 10-minute challenge in the last three days.

Quilts, Quilts, and more Quilts!

Awhile ago when I was visiting with my friend Marliss, we were talking about gardening - she mentioned that her neighbor had received an award for the most beautiful yard in their city - then she mentioned that this same neighbor was a quilter. Well, with a combination like that I couldn't resist asking her if she could get me an invite to go see all the goodies. Last night was the night. Melanie's home is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and seeing her quilts - I'll let them speak for themselves....... Her father made all her shelves and quilt racks -




Melanie used a Buggy Barn pattern to make this quilt top that she uses for a curtain on her sliding glass door - so clever! And she made a matching valance for over the sink - I love it!


And this is the only wool project that she had - she bought it as a kit at a local quilt store and did a great job on it - I love that the hanger matches perfectly with the star motif. The spirals are needle felted with wool roving. We tried to talk her into becoming a rug hooker so she could work with wool more often - maybe we planted a seed......

Primitive Eye Candy

A couple days ago I was reading Blackbird Designs blog and followed a link to the website for a store called Calico Moon. They have a gal on staff who is a rug hooker and does some beautiful stuff. Besides pictures of her rugs, there are pictures of the studio, the store, and pictures of her home - lots of eye candy. (I see a picture of a sheep weather vane that would make a great addition to my collection!) Maybe we can all start a write in campaign and ask her to start blogging - I'm sure she'd be good at it and very inspirational for the rest of us! Anyway, check it out - I think you'll enjoy it!

Addition To My Sheep Collection

I stopped at Dollar Tree on my way home from the gym today so I could get a few items to make a simple necklace that I've been wanting to make. I was so tickled to see they had received a shipment of resin animals - and the best one was a cute black-faced wooly sheep! Since I'm a rug hooker I'm very partial to these critters, and have collected quite an assortment of them to display in my studio. I might have to go back and get a few more so they can be used at door prizes for our upcoming Utah hook in next month. Here is a picture of my newest one, and then more pictures of the rest of my collection - some handmade - and some manufactured.

Springville Quilt Show

Last week I attended the annual quilt show in Springville - the quilts are always amazing. A lot of them are art quilts - I can admire the workmanship and creativity of these, but they're not something I'd ever want to make for use in my own home. Here are pictures of just a couple quilts that appealed to me. Enjoy.

My Prize Arrived!

I was one of the lucky winners in a giveaway that Sandy had on her blog, The Olde Country Cupboard. My prize package arrived today and I was so tickled to pull everything out of the box! She does amazing work with beeswax - something I've never attempted myself - so that makes it even more special to me - knowing that these things are outside the realm of my creativity. Thanks so much Sandy - it was fun to win these!

Kay's Prim Home Tour

Okay - Here are the pictures of Kay's historic home that I promised yesterday. It's old (by Utah standards) and small and packed to the gills with primitive goodness. Here is the front of the house - I love the colors, and the roof line, and the curved door.


Here is the doorway to the building behind the house that is Lorin's art studio. Lorin does oil paintings, watercolors, and he also does some wood carving. It's kinda cool that he uses this building for a studio, because a previous owner did also - LeConte Stewart was a famous area artist.


This is the barn covered in climbing morning glories - unfortunately most of the flowers had closed by the time our meeting started, but I know they're gorgeous when all the blooms are open first thing in the morning.
OK - let's go inside. We'll start in the living room.


This is a needlepoint picture that Kay did after she asked Lorin to design it. It depicts the historic neighborhood that they live in - the small yellow house in the top middle is their home.


The kitchen.



Dining room - Kay used to insist on buying ONLY antiques, but has relented a bit in recent years when she finds really good reproductions - like this cupboard.


The Americana/Guest Room/Schoolhouse




And I think her laundry room is my favorite room in the whole house.





As you can see, Kay loves old childhood toys - she collects toy sewing machines, toy washing machines, toy ironing boards, toy irons, and vintage textiles - OH - and I didn't take any pictures of her china head dolls - she has several - the smallest is about 3" tall.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. I've visited Kay & her home dozens of times, and never get tired of seeing it! She's very talented and has a real eye for putting things in 'just the right place'!

Lovely Day of Rug Hooking

Today was our monthly rug hooking meeting. We met at my friend Kay's wonderful primitive home where I took lots of pictures to share, but today I'm just going to share rug pictures, so get ready for a treat!

This first rug is one that Sharon has just begun. We met at her house last month and you can see pictures of that day in a previous post. Sharon's husband is a watercolor artist and she decided to turn one of his paintings into a rug. So far it looks fantastic. She's hooking in a #6 for the first time and says it took some getting used to. Those trees look so real!
Marliss is new to hooking, and is working on this cute kit that is her first project. I love the colors that she's using! The center of the star will be filled in with dark wools so it will really pop against the brights.


Victoria is making progress on her log cabin rug. I love the way you can see the chinking between the logs. After she had hooked for awhile, she switched to knitting and worked on a sweater for her little grandson - sigh - such talent! I can't understand how a person can keep track of 4 needles at the same time!


Marilyn is working on a Deanne Fitzpatrick design she got when she was in Nova Scotia a few years ago and got to visit her studio. The water is done so well - you can really see movement in the waves.
Angela brought this finished rug to show, because Michelle is working on the exact same one and wanted to see where the colors were placed.
Here is Kay's current rug - a spinning wheel that she wanted to do after reading a recent article about them in Early American Homes. As usual, her husband drew the design for her and it's going to be marvelous!


Here are pictures of Kay's other rugs that she has in her home. Most were designed by her husband and have a personal significance to the couple of either a place they have visited, or an event that they want to remember. She loves to add words to her rugs to add meaning too.












Tomorrow I'll share pictures of Kay's home - it's a small historic home, and she has squeezed SO much primitive goodness into every nook and cranny - you'll love it!