New things

 Here are some things that I have finished up recently.  "The Prairie Fox" is found in 'The Rug Hook Book" by Thom Boswell.  It was designed by Kathy Morton and her hooked original is 27" by 54".  I hooked a miniature version of her rug (12½" by 24") and it is one of my favorite rugs now.  I have it on a small table by my chair.

 The Shepherd and Sheep were designed by Nancy Thompson.  Again, hers were much larger (see other pictures) and attached to wooden boards, whereas my Shepherd is 14½ inches tall and the sheep are 4½ inches tall.  All are stuffed with poly fill and finished at the bottom.

The above is a pillow that I made for my rocker/glider chair I recovered last year.  It is a chair that my husband gave me when my first child was born back in the late 70's.  It sure doesn't glide as smoothly as the new gliders that are out now, but I still love it.  It needed a little something so I hooked the pillow for it.  I rock my grand children in it now.

Happy Hooking.

Auction Day

 The covered dish dinner and auction was fabulous.  Here are some pictures.

The sign in table for name tags, auction paddle numbers, and door prize jar.

Everyone went home with a door prize.  We had some GREAT things in them.

This is the table to buy raffle tickets for our wonderful raffle rug.

Some Autumn decorations to put everyone in a good buying mood.

Pretty pumpkins made from wool.  Some of these were in the door prize bags.

The Kitty would howl and hiss for about 30 seconds when you squeeze him.  Kathy could not resist.

The little acorns are felted wool in acorn shells.

These are items for the big auction.

This is the silent auction table.

Of course we ate first.  We know how to do a covered dish around here!

Let's eat!

Auction rules to follow.

Bidding frenzy at the Silent Auction Table.

Last minute sign up for the door prizes.

The Auctioneer and our own Vanna White modeling.

A happy bidder

This is most of our hooking group.  What a great day!

Auction and Raffle

This Saturday will be the Crescent Lane Rug Hooking Guild's Covered dish dinner and Auction.
Here is a picture of the rug that we made to raffle off that day. Everyone who wanted to hook a square got one free raffle ticket. Everyone could hook anything they wanted, and just look how cute it turned out. It was agreed that we would keep a rug going all the time and when someone wants or needs something to hook, it will be available to them at our hook nook.

During our lunch, we will have a Silent auction of several items to bid on. The auction will follow immediately after lunch. Each item was handmade by someone or a bought handmade item. We will also have enough door prizes for everyone. It will be so much fun.

We have so very many wonderful items for our auction. I hope to get some good pictures to post. Happy Hooking!

Make a cute magnet for your scissors and hook . . .

You can make a cute magnet to hold your favorite hook and scissors for yourself or for a hooking friend. It is not difficult, and the magnets keep your hook and scissors handy. One magnet is placed on top and the other magnet is placed underneath your linen to hold the top magnet in place.

NOTE: I found the directions for making the sweet little snippet bag on Linda's blog at http://thewoolcupboard.blogspot.com/  in the October 9, 2011 post.

You will need the following: wool fabric, fabric for lining, two strong magnets, pins, a needle, scissors, embroidery floss, buttons and scrap wool (optional).
I bought my magnets from Home Depot. They are a 3/8 inch x 7/8 inch by 7 7/8 inch block, two per package for about $2.50.

Cut 4 pieces of wool and 4 pieces of lining 3 1/4 by 4 1/2 inches.


Sandwich your magnet in between 2 lining pieces and then two wool pieces. Pin, centering the magnet.


With your needle and embroidery floss (all 6 strands), use a running stitch to secure the magnet in all the layers. Hide your beginning and ending knots in between the layers. The lining pieces will help to protect the wool from the sharp edges of the magnet. NOTE: Check the polarity of the magnets before you sew the second one if you are mixing your wool around like I did on the example. I can change my magnets around to show a different side.


Trim your lining pieces shorter than your wool pieces.


Embellish your magnets with scraps of wool and buttons if desired. Treat yourself . . . or make one for a friend. Happy Hooking!

Allie's Rug

Now that the new grand baby is here, I wanted to make a rug for her big sister (my first grand child) who had to give up her room and move upstairs. That is a lot to ask of a big sister!

I decided to let Allie design her own rug. She looked through some of my rug hooking books and decided on some things to put in her rug. I gave her a large piece of paper (a mistake on my part) and she filled it up with her favorite things . . . Hearts and Stars and Flowers. I helped her with the leaves and side leaves and stems. Then she wanted a dog in the center. D-Daddy (my hubby) taught her how to draw a dog.

My next step was to talk her out of half of the tulips in the center. She decided on color placement and went through all my wools and picked out her favorite colors, all blues and purples. She liked dots, so she told me to add some.

When I gave her the rug, her face lit up with joy to see her drawing on a rug. I was trying to impress her and I pointed out that I added purple tint to the background wool. She studied it for a moment and said, "That's O.K., MooMoo. I don't think anyone will notice. Oh well, so much for for that.

It looks so adorable in her room.

Panda rug finished

I had finished the Panda Rug about two weeks ago and took it to my daughter today. She was so delighted and surprised to see it. She knew that I was hooking something and just could not imagine what it could be.

When I showed her the rug, she remembered the picture that she drew as if it were yesterday. She remembered that I had saved it from years ago and that her dad and I had always loved it. She had no idea that I was hooking it as her rug for the new baby. My daughter studied the picture and then the rug over and over again. It made me so happy!

It looks adorable in the baby's room. All we need now is a baby! Autumn Kate will be born in a few weeks. We are so excited.

Cleaning and lubricating your Bliss Cutter

It is not difficult to clean and take care of your Bliss cutter. Mine is rather old as you can see, but it runs smooth as glass. Do not be afraid to clean your cutter. (Please click on the pictures for larger images.)


First, you want to clean out all the wool dust . Lower the drum by turning the knob under the machine (unscrewing it a bit, not all the way). The drum will lower. I use an old toothbrush and brush all the areas underneath and on top.

Once all the dust is gone, you can use a lubricant (I use a Lithium Grease. It is like a tooth paste in consistency). To put the lubricant on the machine, I use an old paint brush with stiff bristles.
Lithium bonds to the metal which is a good thing. I bought this tube from Lowe's for about $3.75. This tube will last me more than a life time, but it is also good for door hinges. Lubricate you Bliss maybe once a year or whenever it is not running smoothly.

Clean and lubricate everything that turns on the underneath side.

Get into all the grooves of each gear.

I will also lubricate the handle because it squeaks sometimes.

Take good care of your Bliss. Happy Hooking.