Another wonderful finished rug from Star of Texas

Linda Gartner sent me this picture of her completed rug from the Star of Texas Rug Camp. Isn't it wonderful? Her background is simply divine. The background was easy to do once she figured out what her base color was going to be (olive/gray color). After that, we chose five to six additional colors to hook with the background. She did a great job on this rug. Thanks for sharing the picture Linda!
Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at designing a cross stitch pattern for my sil for Christmas. Wish me luck! Maria

Back from Camp

What a wonderful time I had at Barbara Carroll's camp at her home in Ligonier. The wool, the rugs, the antiques, the wool, the company, the wool, Barbara Carroll and .....Did I say wool! Oh, I had a grand time and will post pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded. For now, I'll leave you with a few photos of rugs I completed before I left for camp. The first rug is Winter Angel and the next Ho Ho Sheep. Sorry about the quality of photos as they were taken with my blackberry.
Winter Angel

Ho Ho Sheep

Finished a couple of Halloween rugs

As promised, I wanted to show you these two rugs I finished. The first one is called Boo Boo sheep. Don't you just love the sheep with the witches hats. They make me smile. The pattern is available for $30.00 (16 x 11)

I tried to get a good picture of this rug but I just couldn't. The white in the pumpkin face shows up as bright, bright, bright and it isn't that way in person. This is a sweet little rug that hooks up quickly. I used beading as a border around the rug. Love the way it looks. This pattern is available as well for $38.00 (21 x 15)

Have a great weekend. Maria

The last batch of pictures from Star of Texas Rug Camp

New patterns will be coming in a week or so. I just finished one tonight that tickles my fancy. A couple of whimsical Halloween patterns and one new winter themed rug. In the meantime, I'll finish showing the last of the rugs from camp.
The first picture is rug adapted from a postcard. Mary Jo did a wonderful job hooking this Jack Russell terrier. The dog seems so alive and looks like he could walk right off the canvas.

The next rug is by Shirley. Didn't she do a terrific job with the colors in this
rug. The clothes on the snow family are great.I can't wait to see this rug when it is finished.

Terri from Nebraska worked on the Pearl, Laverne and Mae pattern and her roosters are
to die for. The wool colors are so rich and warm. You can't see it in the picture but for the circles on the middle rooster, she coiled the wool and it looks fabulous. People kept oohing an ahhing about how neat it looked. Keep hooking Terri!

Next up is Kristi and I love what she is doing with this pattern. The
rug looks so much better in person. Very dark and primitive. I just
love it.

Here is a picture of a finished rug by Kristi. You can see her wonderful sense of color in this rug.

Connie was hooking a Magdalina Briner style rug and doing a great job on
it. Hooking a rug in this "hit or miss" fashion can be somewhat daunting
but she did great with it.

Karen was hooking a pattern called nesting and was very open to hooking
outside her box. Throughout the nest, Karen pulled up wool at different
heights to give the nest dimension. She also pulled the loops of the rooster tails very high to give the tail depth and mixed in some wool yarn just for fun. This rug is going to be terrific when done.

Connie was hooking an Edyth ONeal pattern and it was coming along well.
She used a lot of Paisley in this rug and it made it look so special.
Connie is one of the fastest hookers ever and did a great job with this
pattern.

Last but not least is Sue's rug which I love. She did a fabulous job
with this pattern incorporating many different techniques such as
beading and coiled or rolled wool for flowers. She is making this rug into a
pillow. Go Buckeyes! (inside joke)


Thanks to all my students. It sure was a great experience and
I encourage you to attend this camp if you ever get the opportunity.
Cythnia and Katie do such an incredible job hosting this camp.

While looking through some pictures, I found a few from Sauder that I thought I'd share. Both are new patterns from Wendy Miller, The Red Saltbox. Aren't they wonderful? Til next time, Maria

More pictures from Star of Texas rug camp

It has turned cold and rainy here in Northern Michigan. Snow is right around the corner! I've been busy hooking some new patterns but am not quite done yet. When they are done, I will post pictures soon as they are done. In the meantime, I'd like to share with you a couple of more photos from the camp. The first one is my Halloween Stroll pattern hooked by Connie from Texas. She wanted to adapt the stroll pattern for a gift and wanted two little boys in it. Didn't she do a great job with the colors? Love the red coat with the purple pants. Her hooking is just wonderful. She too was a speedy hooker and completed this rug in class.


Linda from Texas hooked the next rug. She wanted her background to look old and did a great job with the colors. The entire background will be hooked using this patchwork and the horse will be a dark colored wool. This rug will look so old and primitive when done. Just stunning.

Enjoy the photos. Maria

Pictures from the Star of Texas Rug camp

The camp at Star of Texas, Fredericksburg was a great experience. The gals in my class were so much fun and oh so talented. Over the next week or so, I'm going to share pictures of their rugs in progress. Several of the ladies actually finished their rugs. And then there was Ms. Linda Long.....she was a speed demon when it came to hooking. She actually finished two rugs and started a third.
Linda is great with colors and her rugs are terrific. I just wish you could see these rugs in person. Her hooking style is amazing. She hooks pretty high but the neat thing about her hoooking style is that she leaves so much space between her loops. I examined her rugs in depth and learned that she oftentimes leaves three of four spaces between loops. If you flip her rugs over, you see a lot of the foundation material showing on the back. This style of hooking makes her rugs appear old. I tried to hook leaving more space and if you are a packer like me, it is hard to do. Below is one of the rugs she finished at camp called Tilda. The colors she used in this rug are great.

The next picutre is of Matilda. Who would have thought of a blue face for this gal? I just love the color choices she made in this rug.


The next couple of pictures are rugs that Linda brought to camp to show us. This one is Mister Snowman and Linda did a wonderful job with the color in this rug. She used wool yarn for his socks and the star. I've never used yarn in a rug before but it hooks up great and looks awesome in a rug. The colors in this rug just make me smile.

The next photo is of my Halloween Stroll and is terrific as well. As you can see from all these pictures, Linda has a great primitive sense for color.

The final photo is of a rug she hooked with Cammie Bruce. I believe the pattern is from Barb Carroll. The colors and hooking style just make this rug look old.


I really wish you could see these rugs in person as my pictures are not doing them justice. Well that's it for now. In the next day or two, I'll show another rug or two from camp. Enjoy the pictures, Maria

Something to Crow About

Is the name of the new rug I've finished. I started it 3 to 4 weeks ago but was inspired to finish it for an online retreat. I'm offering it as a pattern for $38. It is 11 by 23 inches. I have to give credit to Lori Rippey as she told me to hook a black pumpkin. It would have never occurred to me to do this. This pattern would also look sweet with a white pumpkin as well.

I just returned from teaching at Star of Texas Rug camp in Fredericksburg, Texas. OH MY goodness, if you ever get a chance to attend this camp GO. The camp is wonderful. The founders, Cynthia Norwood and Katie Hartner, are just the best hostesses. They make the camp very special. The facilities were wonderful. My bed was so comfy! The town of Fredericksburg is a quaint little place with the sweetest shops. And the food....OH my, so good.
My students were awesome. Wait til you see some of the rugs they hooked. I'll feature them over the next week or so. Maria