Another New Rug.....

I started this rug last Sunday for the Cheboygan High School Band Booster fun raiser and finished it by Friday. Five days...now that is some fast hooking as it is 19.5 inches by 19 inches. TheBoosters used it in their silent auction. Well, after I had given the rug to the Band Boosters, I realized that I did not take a picture of the rug. I was hooking, sewing, and steaming so quickly that I forgot the dog gone picture of the rug. Plus I was hoping I could sell the pattern and needed a picture of the rug. So guess who won this rug at the silent auction? Hmmmm.....YES, me! It is called "Little Dog" and really does hook up very quickly! The pattern on linen is $40.00. Maria

~*A New Pattern*~ Lazy Cat

Well I just couldn't resist another pattern based upon the "Lazy Animal" theme. So here it is- the Lazy Cat.

It is 16 x 24 inches and available on Linen for $48. Email me at starrugcompany@freeway.net to order. Happy Easter. Maria

Sweet Offering on Ebay

My friend Lori Rippey has the most wonderful little hand made bunny on ebay right now. It is sitting upon a fabric covered paper mache box. Inside the box, she has attached the sweetest little sampler. Her work is just amazing. Her is the link to this listing. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190203852120&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

Remember I was mentioning in the last post, that it was warm and hoping Spring was on its way.

Boy was I wrong. You can't see it but it is snowing again in this picture. This is the view from my family room. To tell you the truth, I don't really mind winter all that much because this veiw is pretty awesome.

I couldn't resist showing you this picture of my puppy, well almost a year old, Josie. Isn't she sweet? Well, sometimes...she is a chewer and loves to eat my wool. The rug she is sitting on is a reproduction of an antique rug. I bought it at my sister-in-laws store Yellow Creek Trading Company in Peninsula, Ohio. http://63.84.59.169/page.aspx?ID=67. In addition to home furnishings, they sell the best food items. The spicy corn relish is a must! Maria

Unfinished Projects

So do you have any? Now I’m not talking rug patterns that you haven’t started hooking yet. That will be another subject for discussion. How many of you start a rug and for whatever reason set it aside whether it be for color issues or scheduling issues. My MO is to pull all the wools for a rug, start the rug and once I get it to a point where I am comfortable or am having trouble with it put the rug with the wool in a basket and start another rug. Now I know many of you are probably cringing at the thought of starting a rug before you finish the last one. Right now I have five active rugs that I am working beside me on the couch.
The reason this subject popped into my head had to do with my studio and how out of control it is. The other day I was looking for some wool that I was certain I had but couldn’t find anywhere. I remembered using the wool in a rug that I started in the summer but couldn’t locate it. After searching for about a half an hour, I finally found it in one of the baskets with my unfinished rugs. I have so many baskets full of wool and unfinished projects in my studio that I made a promise to myself that I was going to finish at least one rug a week. So far, since Sunday I have finished three rugs. Now when I say finished I mean that the rug has been hooked not bound. If I can finish these rugs, I’ll be able to put all the wool away, get the baskets up off the floor and straighten up my studio. So how many unfinished rugs do I have? Oh, I’m embarrassed to admit this but at least 30. As I complete them, I’ll post them here for all to see. Maybe knowing that I will be accountable to you for finishing my uncompleted projects will motivate me. This first rug is from a workshop I did with Barb Carroll in Columbus, Ohio during a From Our Hands show. http://www.fromourhands.com/ It was such a great time.Click on this link to see some more of these hooked rugs in different colors. http://www.woolleyfox.com/woolley.htm

The next rug is a pattern by Kelley Belfast which she sold on ebay last year. I just love this pattern.

The link to her blog is http://kankerdoodle.blogspot.com/. Finally, the last picture is a Potted Pear design. This is a sweet little pattern. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these completed rugs. Maybe gifts for friends and family.

Maria

Wishing Spring were here

We were greeted with rain today. Our poor little River Birch tree is taking a beating. I do love how it makes the trees look but am not fond of what it does to driving conditions and what it does to the POWER. Luckily, we still have power, at least for now. Here's a picture of my driveway. It looks like an ice rink.

MR RABBIT RUG

I've been hooking away on my Mr. Rabbit rug. I love the design but yes, I am struggling with color. Here is a picture of the wools that I pulled to use in the rug.

Wow, had I seen this picture before I started hooking, I wouldn't have even attempted to use these wools in a rug. That pink wool is ok for bubblegum but not my rug! When you are hooking a rug and have hooked some of the design and come to a halt because of color issues, the experts suggest you take a picture of the rug and study it. The experts say that the picture of the rug can give you a different perspective and help you see the wool colors that you need to use. Now that tip makes sense to me having seen this picture of my wool for my Mr. Rabbit rug. Had I taken a picture of the wool before hooking, I wouldn't have even attempted to make these wools work.

Here is a picture of a rug that I hooked several years ago. Don't you just love the little chicks. I'll be adding this pattern to my website soon.

Have a restful Sunday. Maria

Hooray for the weekend!

I have a three day weekend and am looking forward to hooking on some of my new patterns. The other day I came accross some of my older rugs that haven't been seen in a while. So I thought I would share a few with you over the next couple of days. If memory serves me correctly, I also hooked this pattern in a green and blue color palette which was kind of neat and different. I probably hooked this rug 7 or 8 years ago. The yellow wool is some of Wendy Miller's butter mustard. Oh how I wish I still had a bunch of this wool. I have bits and pieces of it left and I covet it as it is the neatest color. She has the recipe in her new Dye Book which you can order on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Red-Saltbox-dye-book-rug-ooking-wool-PRHG_W0QQitemZ250190118355QQihZ015QQcategoryZ28161QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem or her website, http://www.theredsaltbox.com/. There are a lot of other wonderful recipes in her book as well. Enjoy the weekend! Maria

Happy Valentine's Day

I thought I would share with you one of my heart rugs to honor the day.

Happy Valentine's Day! Maria