I had a wonderful week in Anaheim, doing all things rug hooking! The very first day I got a good start and was off and hooking. Because I had questions. I didn’t know how to differentiate one hill from another, and I wasn’t sure whether to hook the cow or the hill first. Well, Gene (the teacher) suggested I go through my stack of wool, and designate certain colors for certain hills. Yes! That was what I needed to do. My hills will go from dark in the back to light in the front (which is the opposite of what Gene usually suggests, but is what my picture looked like to me.) I also had to make sure that there was enough contrast between the hill color and the cow that was on that hill. I am working that out as I go. I borrowed 10 plastic bags from Gene, and put each hill’s color in one bag with a number on it. You can see here that I numbered each hill.
And then it was time to work on the cows. That takes me a LOT longer than working on the hills. A lot of anxiety and uncertainty. And then I just do it! And if it doesn’t look right, I re-do it. The animals are small, and the wool is relatively large, so you have to do things just so to get enough details that the animals are identifiable. Here is a closer picture of what I accomplished by the end of the week:
During the week, I thought about my design a lot. I decided to eliminate the wolf and the mice, and make it just about God and the cows (“He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.”) And when I told Gene that, there was a lot of discussion about wording and borders. And I like the idea we came up with–the wording will be included in the design, and I might use redwood trees to make the border. I drew a sketch this morning, and I liked it.
On the last morning before class, I checked my email. And I got a most exciting letter–my rug, “He Holds All Creation Together” was chosen to be included in the Celebrations of Hand Hooked Rugs. There is only one big rug hooking contest in this country, so it is an honor to be included. I worked hard on that rug, and I do love it. Its so exciting that it will be included in the Celebrations book, and will also be displayed at Sauder Village in August, at a big rug hooking gathering.
debby quilts 