Next Project: Vintage Iowa Postcard

Waaaay back in August, I had the opportunity to take my show on the road to Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week.  I was lucky enough to meet Nola Heidbreder, who became one of our Bee Line-Townsend distributors after Sauder Village.  I saw Nola for the first time at Marilyn Schmidt's Hook-In in Lenexa, Kansas last February, but she was pretty busy the whole time so I didn't get to officially meet her, but I fell in love with the Vintage State Postcard  patterns she was selling.  At Sauder, I couldn't resist any longer, and I bought one.

Here is the pattern, available on Nola's website, http://www.nolahooks.com/:

It's 17x30 - isn't it cute?  I happened to have some wool that will work well in this piece, so I got started.  I should mention that I have no patience whatsoever, so I probably dove in before I should.  Patience really IS a virtue, I shall probably pay for my haste later (see "Ran out of background wool" on last post!)

Now that I've started the tree line, I'm completely geeking out because the wool I have is absolutely PERFECT for the trees.  I'm finding it's so much fun to find the perfect piece of wool for a project.

Here's the green wool, freshly cut on my Bee Line - Townsend cutter (shameless plug, I know!) This wool has a few different hues of green in it, an then just a touch of brown.  Perfect for trees!

Here is what it looks like hooked into the pattern:

I'm trying to do round shapes in the tree line - I do try to pay attention to some of the fantastic rugs I see at shows!  The bit below is supposed to look a little like farmland - the green is pattern-free, with a little variation in the greens.  Someone did a lovely job dyeing this, I wish I could remember where I bought it to attribute it!

Here's a different shot of the project in its early stages:

 I know Laurie Simpson is teaching a class at Sauder Village 2012 on Vintage Postcard Pillows, and I would so love to take it, but I think I will need to be at my booth since BLT is vending at the event.  *le sigh*  Although who knows?  I may still be working on this rug in August! 

Admitting You Have a Problem is the First Step...

First things first, Bucky Bee is finally finished!

(insert applause here!)

I followed Gene Shepherd's video on how to whip the edges of the rug with the binding, and while I am no Gene Shepherd, it turned out pretty well for my first try.

First Rug is complete!

Now that I know I can do this rug hooking thing, and it is actually FUN, I am on to the next project.  I did buy some lovely wool at the Cream City Hook-In, thinking I knew what I wanted to do next:

Isn't it pretty?  Lots of fantastic greens,

and this amazing pumpkin/gold plaid.

And then...I froze!

I thought I wanted to do a simple 2'x3' rug for my family room in a pattern of squares within squares, because I've seen some really cool designs with that theme.  But then, I saw Sharon Townsend's circles that we use on the Bee Line - Townsend website, and then I saw a blog the other day (whose name I can't remember and am completely wracking my brain over) where the background was this fun collection of circles with brightly colored centers, and I thought THAT'S the rug I want to do next!  So I'm stuck on circles in my head for a week and then I find these at Wicked Wool:

Oy.  I am powerless.  I used to own a gift shop, and every Halloween I dyed yards of vintage chenille and made pumpkins to sell.  But hooked pumpkins?  When I have all of this beautiful pumpkin/gold colored wool?  What is a hooker to do?  So I ordered a kit.  Now I'm thinking, "Maybe I'll just wait on the rug for the family room and do the pumpkin first!" 

It's official - I have RADD. 

Rug Attention Deficiency Disorder.

I'm starting to try to talk myself down off the ledge.  There is plenty of time to do all the rugs I want to do.  But while it's hard to just look at that wool and not run it through my cutter with my favorite #7 cassette, when I pick up the wool and move it toward the cutter, I think, "WAIT!  What if I change my mind and want to use a #6?  Or a #8.5, which I also love?" and then "What if I decide to do something else, like a picture of my amazing Standard Poodle George the Superpet?"

And who wouldn't want a rug with this hunk of a dog on it? 

Who, I ask!?!  Maybe my mother, who is being

accosted by said dog in this picture.

Of course, now that I see this picture of George, I still want to do an Andy Warhol-style rug of his head, but I think that is a little beyond my capabilities at the moment.  Best to stick with my simple squares and circles.  So here I am, back at Square One.  Literally.  The possibilities of what you can hook are endless!  How do all of you experienced hookers out there ever decide what to do?  

I guess I need to cut my wool and Just Hook It.