Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tertiary Colors (Merit Program) Peridot Award



I just finished hooking my tertiary colors for the Peridot Award on the Merit Program. I decided to do proddy for my flowers mainly because I had just bought the book "Prodded Hooking for a Three-Dimensional Effect" by Gene Shepherd. It is a fabulous book AND it comes with a wonderful DVD. I enjoyed prodding so much that I prodded some flowers on a hooked purse I have been working on. (Hopefully the purse will be sewn together very soon).

For my tertiary project, I used at least one value of all of the six tertiary colors.

Hydrangeas used values 1, 2, and 3 of blue-violet (110).
The marigold is value 3 of yellow-orange (104).
The flower top left uses value 1 of red-orange (102) for the center and value 4 of red-violet (112) for the petals.
The flower bottom right is value 5 of red-violet (112) and the petals are value 5 of yellow-orange (104).
Leaves are a mixture of the first 6 values of yellow-green (106).
The background is value 1 of blue green (108).

I used a different method on my hydrangeas than in Gene's book on his delphinium. Gene knots each flower separately using a fine cut of wool, trims off the tail, and then places a drop of Fray Check on each knot. I took yarn and attached each flower with a french knot, just like one would in embroidery. My thought is that it would be faster (love that!) and perhaps a bit sturdier. I would like to put my rug on the floor occasionally and I think the flowers would be less likely to fall off using the french knots.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Re-visiting Complementary Colors


When I hooked the Complimentary colors, I was wanting a better transition on my background from values 5 to 4 and 4 to 3. I decided to dye two more values of the blue-violet calling them values 4 1/2 and 3 1/2 to see if it would make a difference in the transitions. To figure how much formula of dye to use, I divided the difference in the measurements between the two values by half (the difference of value 5 and 4 was 1 tsp. of formula, half of that = 1/2 tsp.). My total amount of formula for value 4 1/2 will now be . . .
1 1/2 (value 4 amount) + 1/2 (the extra amount)= 2 tsp. Complicated unless you have done Palette Dyeing, but I'm pretty sure that I think I know what I think I'm doing. Anyway, to compound the confusion and just because I'm cheap, I wanted only to dye half of the amount of wool normally used for one value. So, now for my 4 1/2 value I will be using 1/2 the wool and 1/2 of the 2 tsp. = just 1 tsp. of blue-violet dye formula. Was it worth the trouble? I don't know, you tell me . . .


It was a fun experiment. Maybe it made a slight difference, but I would always wonder if I hadn't tried it out. And, it gave me something else to blog about.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Warm and Cool Colors (Peridot Award) Merit Program



On the Peridot Award, one of the choices is to hook a mat or 10x10 inch square in a rug of warm or cool colors. I asked permission to combine the warm and cool in one area of my rug as I thought it would be interesting to see the contrast between the two. I think it was very effective in my hooked butterfly. It was a challenge to choose the wool from my dyed palette of colors, but I came up with a combination that I liked. This is a picture of how the rug is progressing.



It will be a rug of the six chosen projects of the Peridot Award. As a plus, I will be using lettering in my border and finishing the rug which will count as two projects from the Ruby Award. Dying all the wool for this rug counts as one project for the Amethyst Award.

When I need more of a certain color for the rug from the color palette, I can determine which value I want and I am able to dye just that one value in the amount of wool that I need. Such will be the case when I hook the border of my rug. I will need about 3/4 of a yard of Blue-Green value #7. April DeConick has given a chart for us to determine how much of our formula to dye 1/2 and 1 yard increments of the values we need in her Palette Dyeing class.

For the next project, I will be trying some prodding.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Complimentary Colors (Peridot Award) Merit Program



This is my example that I hooked of Complimentary Colors (colors opposite the color wheel) for the Peridot Award. I have used all 8 values of Yellow-Orange for the pumpkin and leaves and values 7 to 3 of Blue-Violet for the background. I am wanting a smoother transition on the background between values 5 to 4 and values 4 to 3, so I think I will dye a strip of wool in between those particular values and hook only one row using those new values (let's call them value 4 1/2 and 3 1/2). It will be interesting to see how much smother the transition will be.
Click on any photo to see pictures close-up.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Merit Program (Peridot Award) Primary Colors



My second project for the Peridot Award is to hook a 10x10 inch area using only primary colors. I have drawn three stars along with some stripes and have hooked red and blue stripes with yellow stars. I began with the darkest values and progressed to the lighter values on the stripes. With the stars, I used the 4 darkest values for the first star, the 4 middle values for the middle, and the 4 lightest for the last. So, I have hooked an area using only primary colors but using most or all of the values that I have dyed with my formulas.

I used ProChem dyes for my primary formulas.

My primary red formula is:
1 tsp. #307 Chinese Red
1/4 tsp. #304 Cape Cod Cranberry
1/16 tsp. #233 Bright Orange



Primary Blue:
1/2 + 1/16 tsp. #440 Blue
1/2 tsp. #495 Teal


Primary Yellow:
1 tsp. #119 Sun Yellow
1/2 tsp. #120 Golden Pear
1/32 tsp. #233 Bright Orange




All other colors in the color wheel were dyed from mixing these three formulas.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Merit Program



I have been learning the Palette Dyeing process from April Deconick (Red Jack Rugs) on Rug Hooking Daily. I have now dyed eight values each of all 12 colors in the color wheel. So, having done that, I have decided to work on the the Peridot award for the Merit program. To do this I have chosen six of the eight projects and will be hooking them into one rug instead of doing individual mats. My first project was to hook the color wheel using the palette of colors. I have re-drawn my color wheel several times making a mess on the canvas before deciding to hook just plain 'ole squares. Not real creative on my part, but it got the job done. I wanted to show how subtle the color changes were from one color to the next, so I placed them next to each other without a dividing line or space. Above is my color wheel, below is my palette of colors . . . six dyed yards of values.

Snow Folks



I just finished a "Snow Folk". It is an adorable rug hooked snowman that I found the pattern and fabulous directions FREE on Jennifer Manuell's blog 'Fish Eye Rugs'. You can find her blog on my blog list, or to go direct to the "Snow Folks" click here. She has wonderful close-up pictures and detailed construction tips. Fun to make! She even gives instructions for the knitted hat. I suggest hooking several at one time. My tip for the snaps is to sew the bottom of the snap on first, then snap on the top part. The scarf is an old wool sweater that I felted and cut up. I made the trees from old bobbins using #8 cuts of wool tied in a single knot around the bobbin. I found the rusty old stars at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas department. Make one for yourself!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Footstool is finished!




The footstool is now finished, not without removing and adding some hooking here and there. After sewing the corners and checking the fit, I found it to be too loose around, and that it was about a row or two short at the bottom. I had to remove the stitching from the corners, remove some of the hooking from the corner area, then add a row or two around the bottom to lengthen it. I re-stitched the corners together, folded the excess corner area to one side, and then turned up about a 1 1/4 inch hem. The hem was slip stitched to the back of the linen. It now fits snugly. To hold the slipcover in place, I sewed some yarn to the very bottom edge, wrapped it around each leg and stitched it to the bottom side edge. I did this several times to draw in the sides and to hold it in place.
PLEASE CLICK ON ANY PICTURE FOR A CLOSE-UP VIEW.


Draw a line for a 1 1/4 inch hem.


Zig zag or serge at hem line. Notice that I did not trim off the corners. I am leaving them intact. If ever I would want to undo the footstool cover, I could always go back and hook the corner area and make a rug mat. There is enough of the hem to whip an edge. This corner area is where I needed to pull out a row of hooking on either side to make the cover fig more snug.


Pin corner area.


I used yarn and I used a back stitched from the top corner down to the hem.


Check for fit. Here is where I discovered it was too loose and I needed to add another row all around the bottom. I had to remove the corner stitching to remove a row from the corner area (each side of corner). Notice a little of the corner area hanging out? Before hemming, I basted the corner edges to the hem and then turned up the hem.


Here is a close up of the bottom. To keep the slip cover on securely, I took a stitch at the hem, wrapped it around the leg, then attached that yarn at the hem on the side. Do this about twice and then pull the corner area together with a few stitches. I did NOT attach it to the footstool itself.


Another view. Nothing fancy here!



And here you have it!










Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Just having fun . . .



Due to all the heavy rains and flooding that Atlanta has been experiencing, I haven't been able to pick up my white wool needed to do palette dyeing from my rug hooking group. I only had 12 6x16 strips of creme wool and my primary color dyes re-figured for the umpteenth time, AND I was so very anxious to see what the secondary and tertiary colors would look like. So I spent the morning figuring out how much of the mixed dye from the primary colors I chose would it take to mix one value of each of the 12 colors. I'm certainly not a mathematician, but somehow I figured it out. It is amazing how the dyes mixed to make all the colors from my three primary dyes. This is value 4 of the 8 values. Also, this is Max the barn cat . . . who is no longer a barn cat, ever since he got kicked by a horse and broke his hip years ago. Max has decided he likes 'our' barn better than his.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Palette Dyeing

I am having so much fun doing the Palette Dyeing, I just wish I had more time in the day. I figure it takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours start to finish (dragging out all the dye paraphernalia, dyeing the wool, and putting it all away again) to dye one set. If I didn't have to cook I would try to do two sets. I am working on finding my favorite blue, red, and yellow so I can start my color wheel. Here is a yellow I tried . . . I'm not using it because it is too brown for me, but it made a beautiful palette. It would be great for Sunflowers!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Hooking and Graduation


Since it is football season, and football reminds me of the University of Georgia (my family's favorite team . . . except for the Georgia Tech Grad that married my daughter), and UGA reminds me of my son's graduation this summer, I thought it would be appropriate to show the pillow I made for my 'baby' boy. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and now has a job! Good going, son.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Footstool Update . . .



I have all of the top and one side of the footstool hooked. I have decided to add a beauty line around the top to frame it and to separate the top from the sides. The muted green plaid wool worked the best, something subtle so as to not take away from the colorful top. I'm still thinking through what I want to hook on the other three sides.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Palette Dyeing with April DeConick

On Rug Hooking Daily, I am taking a virtual rug camp on April DeConick's 'Palette Dyeing' technique. It is an intensive study on color and dyeing colors in 8 values. It is so fabulous . . . I am learning volumes and I've just begun.
Here is my first attempt. It is very mottled, but I was so thrilled at my sample.

I tried my hand at mixing my own formulas with the Pro-Chem dyes that I had on hand. Each set looked like brown to me. I had red brown, yellow brown, green brown, and a brown brown. However, look at what my red brown and green brown dyes produced . . .







In upcoming weeks we will be dyeing the color wheel. I'm looking forward to that!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

footstool progress . . . hmmmm

I am making progress on the footstool, however after ripping out and starting over I re-thought my wool selection. I took out some of the brighter colors and replaced them with more neutral wools. It still is pretty bright and I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I'm not going to do any more reverse hooking on it! i'll just go with it. Here are the new colors I chose . . .

This is what it looks like so far . . .



I am still trying to decide what to do with the sides. I will probably do something very simple since the top is so colorful, and use the brown as the background color.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hooking a footstool with a "free spirit" . . .

I have been wandering around "Rug Hooking Daily" looking at all the wonderful pictures of hooked rugs and mats that are posted. There are so many talented hookers and so many delightful rugs. I am very drawn to the whimsical and primitive rugs that I see, but have never hooked anything I consider either.
I am striving to design something with a little more ... what I call "free spirit". Sometimes I feel like I keep myself in a box as far as creating a design or hooking. Today I have spend all afternoon measuring a footstool that I have been wanting to cover. I have the dimensions drawn off, so it is ready for a design. I want something colorful, something whimsical, something 'hit or miss', and something eye catching. The top, I'm thinking, will be the 'hit or miss'. Around the sides of the stool, I'm just not sure yet.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A CLOSER VIEW.


I measured the top of the footstool. I also took measurements both ways starting at the bottom of one side, up and across the top, then down the other side (allowing about 1/4 inch more to these measurements).


This is how the pattern looks drawn off on linen. I put on 'X' on the corners that will not be hooked.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

More than a color wheel . . .

I am now following Wanda Kerr's blog. I first learned of Wanda from when she spoke at Caraway Rug Camp a few years ago. She is a delightful speaker and a very talented fiber artist and rug hooker. Anyway, today she has written a post on "Is there Help for the Colour Troubled". So much for the color wheel (and I was so proud of my sunflower cushions). . . however, I suspect that I will still lean heavily on the wheel till I grasp the concept of color. Her post is definitely food for thought and I suggest that you check out her blog "WandaWorks". If you pan down her blog, you will see videos of her dying the color "pewter". Thanks, Wanda.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Sunflower Cushions


Last summer I took a one day class on the use of a color wheel for color planning. I was wanting a small project to do to reinforce what I learned, so I drew a large sunflower and leaves (I sure didn't want anything too complicated to start off). Using a tetrad (a contrast of 4 or more colors, kind of like two split complimentaries opposite each other on the wheel), I used Navy for the background, Yellows and Yellow Orange for the petals, which left purple for the flower's center. I was so tempted to make the center the normal brown but then, what would I have learned? I was so surprised at how well I liked the purple center. This little project has given me a little more confidence to tackle other (maybe even bigger) projects.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

My "LuLu" rug

This is my rug "LuLu". It was made for my daughter's in-laws for a Christmas gift last year. LuLu was a Jack Russel Terrier and the family pet for 13 years. She loved the beach and the mountains and was a wonderful family pet. LuLu passed away today. It is so difficult for my daughter, husband and his family, and I mourn their loss with them.


Sunday, August 23, 2009

20 years in the making . . .

My first blog . . . my first post. I'll start by telling the story of a rug I have finished.



This rug was started 20 years ago by my sister Beverly. She was always the first to try out new crafts, and I always 'caught on' about 5 or more years later.


My sister tried so hard to get me interested in rug hooking, but I just didn't 'get it' at the time! Then about five years ago (a few years after Bev lost interest), I started hooking and absolutely fell in love with it! I was sick to learn that she was no longer hooking and had given away all her wools, dyes, and dye pots. All she had left was a half finished rug, thumb tacked to a huge frame which sat in her closet for years. She gave it to me in hopes that I would finish it, but it only sat in my closet for a few more years. I finally got mad at having to move it out of my way every time I went into my closet to find something, so I decided to see what I could do with it to get it out of the way.


It was a Lib Callaway design called "Tree of Life" drawn on a very inexpensive burlap. Bev had all of the tree and some of the border and background hooked. All that needed to be hooked was the rest of the background and finishing the border. But, she and I had a very different hooking style . . . so to keep the rug somewhat consistent I ripped out the background, washed the wool strips and hooked the rest of the rug. Her background was the yellow that she dyed from onion skins. (I wasn't motivated to dye from onion skins, so I just used some gold wools that I had on hand and used her yellow strips around the tree.)


I was really pleased with the way it turned out . . . and I fell in love with the "Tree of Life" pattern. I gave the rug to Bev for Christmas last year. She was so surprised to see it finished and very happy to have a hooked rug of her own.