Green Acres...Of Wool

I've been at a bit of a stopping point with my Grannie's Flower Garden rug because I didn't know what to use as my background color.  I thought I could just happily hook along with the flowers and the background would come in a flash of inspiration.  It didn't turn out that way.

So there I sat. Looking and not hooking.

In a stroke of good fortune, my parents traveled north from Texas to stay at their cabin in Nebraska, which is conveniently located just a couple of miles away from Janice Lee at Black Horse Antiques and The Rug Hooking Store.  Janice not only has a terrific store and is a Bee Line Art Tools Distributor, but she is also a fantastic color planner! Score!

Janice's shop in Valley - darling place!

I popped in to see Janice last Saturday, and she immediately started pulling bundles of wool off of her shelves.

She tried some blues and some grays and some rose colored wool. Nothing was really "selling" me.

Until she started pulling greens off of the shelf.  It made sense to me that a garden would be on a green background.  However, it was a little tricky in that I had already hooked a number of the flowers, so if the background wool is too dark, the dark flowers disappear; too light, and the light flowers go away.  I ended up going with four different light-ish colors, and I cut them all up in my trusty Bee Line cutter with a #7.

I'm now ready to go through green acres of wool to get a background in my garden.

Thanks Janice!

Compartmentalizing

I'm going to reveal a little part of my psyche here - I can't outline a box and not fill it in.  There is something about incompleteness that nags at me.  Which is really funny if you've ever seen my desk or house, because those entire spaces are studies in incompleteness.

On some days?  This is clean.

When I started my Vintage Iowa Postcard rug, I wanted to outline the entire thing first, because I've heard other hookers say that's how to start your rug.  But I can't do it.  I can't have that big outline and not have it filled in right away.  I find myself MEANING to outline the entire border, but then I'll start the trees and next thing you know, that small part is outlined and then filled in.  I start the cornfield, and then it's outlined and filled in.  Then the barn.  You get the drill.

 
It's a little tougher with the sky, because it's so big.  I can't really outline the entire sky, nor do I want to, so I'm outlining chunks of it and then filling in with swirls and wavy lines.  It's interesting, because as much as I want to think I'm consistent, each "chunk" turns out different.

Once again, I'm packing, and once again, I'm counting on the magic of steaming to work out some of my issues.  I just bought some wool from Nola Heidbreder to use on the clouds (you can see it on my desk - there is this fantastic turquoise/jade color, and the "Snow" wool is underneath it), and am waiting on some orange wool from Gene Shepherd to fill in my letters.

Onward....

Animal Purse: Still Not Finished!

Oh boy.

I'm going to say this purse has been a learning experience.  I did not get it done in time for my sister's birthday, but I did get the hooking done in time for New Years'.  I still need to steam it and make the liner and get the handles on.

However - I made a rookie error.  I didn't buy enough wool for the background!  I had this really beautiful dark tobacco colored wool I bought from Charlotte at ATHA Biennial whose store name I can't remember to save my life, which is unfortunate because she was lovely and the wool is terrific.  I got very lucky in that I had most of it hooked, so I filled in the background on the bottom with a black Dorr wool I had,  but it was definitely a learning experience:

Always Buy More Wool Than You Think You'll Need!

I am really happy with how the animals turned out - this is technically my third finished project, so while I know there is a lot of room for improvement, I know I can can do it.  That's kind of a relief!

Here is a photo of it before it was steamed:

I'm always amazed by how much steaming does to improved the project.  It's like magic!  I'm counting on the iron to correct the err of my ways.

On to the liner - it's time to dust off my sewing machine and get 'er done.

What Can Brown Do For Us?

Today at Bee Line Townsend we are having a training session with UPS to see what Brown can do for us to ship all those cutters and cassettes people are wanting.  Mr. Brown did not bring any snacking items, so already Brown did not do something for me, but he seems like a nice guy.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to a few of our storefronts who sell the Bee Line Townsend products for us.  They are all terrific people, and I wish I could be in each one of their shops.  One customer I spoke with today found out I am originally from Fremont, Nebraska, and she is in Papillion, and told me about a wonderful shop in the Valley, Nebraska area called The Rug Hooking Store.  She described all of the amazing wool and tools, and it's all I can do to not get in my car and drive there and start touching things.

I can tell already that this is going to be a dangerous interest.  My husband should be cringing.

I like to do tile mosaic work, but I only like to use vintage china plates, particularly state plates.  I frequent Goodwill and the Salvation Army and garage sales, and lug home stacks of plates.  There is a room in my basement, the Mom Cave, and it is chock full of plates, waiting for me to take my aggression out on them in a big plate breaking session.  I'd better get breaking, because I can already see the future, and it is in bins of beautiful wool, waiting to be stripped into worms.

Since my candy shop is still off-limits to me, I guess I'll go see what Brown can do to get your equipment to you.  But I want to see pictures of the finished products!