The big rug hooking convention is coming up in a week. So being the very organized procrastinating artist that I am, I have had to work non-stop to try to finish the rug (that I started over a year ago) for the exhibit at the convention.
I finished the interior of the rug, and then started to figure out how to do the border and put the words onto the quilt. I consulted all my friends and a few professionals. The teacher that got me started on the rug suggested a red border with yellow lettering. What the wha??? I couldn’t figure out where she came up with that idea. But after trying out a number of different color combinations, I saw that she was right. A red coral was a more acceptable color to me, and so that started me on a 3 day adventure of trying to dye just the right color of red coral, and a little yellow for the lettering. I used to do a lot of dying, but I’m a little rusty now.
Anyway, after a few stops and starts, and a little dye spill on my new stove, I was very pleased with the color I got. I dyed over a number of different neutral wools, so I got a little variety in the final results, which I think adds to the interest when you are hooking.
When I am very busy doing things other than quilting, I revert to my little box of two inch squares to satisfy my need to put pieces of fabric together.
I had the idea to start with one square and just built a quilt from that, doing a color drift kind of idea. This is VERY fun to do. But it does take longer and longer to add a side on to it.
I also managed to sneak out of town for a workshop with Sherry Lynn Wood. She is a fascinating artist who taught us to do curved improvisational piecing in one day. Here are a couple of examples of her work:
She encouraged us to use lots of colors. Here’s a view of our work stations!
And, back to the rug! I used Gene Shepherd’s method of putting the lettering on without drawing it in first. I planned to put two lines of writing above the rug, and two lines below. I was almost all the way through the first line of writing when I realized that I had hooked the wrong line next to the rug!
Plan B: I would hook the words all the way around the rug, and hope against hope they would fit. I got to the last line, and realized I was running out of room. I looked at the verse again, and only had to leave one word out, and have it still make sense. Whew. Disaster averted.
Today I will be filling in the coral red background around the lettering, and then I will still have a bit of work to do, blocking, whipping the edge, and binding the rug. But I am fairly confident I will finish by the time I have to leave next Tuesday! I’ll be back in a week or two with more quilting news and views!!
