almost famous

I received a surprise phone call from my aunt yesterday. She had ordered the new book, Hooked Rugs Today 2006, and one of my rugs is featured on the back cover...



The house mat was designed by Deanne Fitzpatrick. I started it at a workshop at her place in the Fall of 2005, where I was encouraged to use lots of other textures (wool slub, fleece, mohair locks, etc.). If you ever have the opportunity to take one of her classes or even to visit her studio in Amherst, I encourage you to go. You will not be disappointed.

done!

Yep, the new machine was hard at work on Saturday. I even sewed in my very first zipper ever. Can you believe it?

I am going to be working on writing up the instructions this week, while everything is still fresh in my mind.

my new Singer

Several years ago I bought my first sewing machine - a 1950s era Singer - complete with table/cabinet for $20! It has served me well, and I most definitely got my moneys worth. I had been having a few problems with it a couple of months ago, and around the same time, my aunt gifted me my grandmother's old Singer (same vintage, but a much fancier model). I then had two Singers.

Since then I been having some problems with my Grandma's machine, and I was beginning to think that the time had come for me to "bite the bullet" and treat myself to a brand new machine. I started researching new machines, and was horrified at the prices. You can practically buy a car for less than a new sewing machine! I was torn: new TV or new sewing machine. It had to be one or the other...not both.

My sister called last week, wanting to pop by and drop off my birthday present. Would I be home on Saturday afternoon? She would need help bringing it inside. My curiosity was piqued....what could it be? Imagine my surprise when she opened her tailgate to reveal a sewing machine! Jackpot!


It belonged to her neighbour's late wife, and arrived complete with cabinet and all of the original attachments, plates, etc. Even the instruction book - copyright 1972, so it's only one year older than me! I spent about 45 minutes cleaning it and oiling in all the necessary places, before I turned it on for a trial run. It sews like a dream!

You don't need to be a math whiz to figure out that I now have 3 Singers. At this rate, I will soon be able to open a museum! ;-)

rewind...

Okay. I know that I have been negligent in my posts of late. I’m sorry. No good excuses, just life has gotten in the way.

I spent the next to last weekend in the city…shopping, visiting, eating, and getting some culture. I made a great discovery at Romni, when I found half-sized skeins of Strati (the wonderful slub yarns I have been incorporating in my hooking lately), for half of the price. After much consideration of all of the various colours and skeins in the store (and wandering up and down all of the aisles, drooling all the way…), I was able to exercise some self-control and only splurged on four skeins ;-) I cut them up and braided them in bundles of 10…


They look pretty, and it also helps to keep it organized ;-)
I have been thinking more and more about my footstool, and I am getting closer to actually drawing it on paper. I’m already starting to think about colours, and I expect that some of the slub will be making an appearance. I don’t think that I will need to do much (if any) dyeing….I can just work from my stash.
I was surprised with early birthday presents from my cuz Laura. One of them was some flowering tea. I had first heard about this several years ago…but I had not seen it in a store before. It is pretty neat stuff – and a great gift for anyone who likes tea. I took a couple of “before” and “after” shots…




Very yummy!

inspiration

My sister brought her kids for a sleepover last weekend and suggested that I reorganize my furniture a little. I have moved my couch over in front of my wool shelves, so I can't help but be motivated to produce when this is what I see....


Of course, there is still more wool -- but it's not too much fun to hang out in a closet!

feather pillows...

If you are looking for feather pillow forms that don't cost a fortune, Ikea has some for 5 dollars apiece. They are 20" square -- sadly too big for the pillows I just sewed together, but I can always hook more ;-) [I picked up three on Monday]

a real gem in Ottawa!

I had to go to Ottawa this week for work, so I invited my mum to come along for the ride and promised shopping and sushi. AB (my Auntie Betty), recommended we go here. What a great store! I didn't see very many things that I didn't like....gorgeous fabrics, fine threads, books galore, miniature punch patterns and supplies, and even a little bit of rug hooking wool. I defy you to browse without buying ;-)

I picked up a few more batik fat quarters for purse linings, as well as some gorgeous Sulky blendable threads for top-stitching purse trim. Believe it or not, I demonstrated considerable self control by limiting my fat quarters to four and my spools of thread to just six -- but aren't they lovely?!


They also stock weaver's cloth for miniature punch backing. I'd only ever seen it in white before, but they also carry black and a nice taupe colour. I picked up a couple of metres of taupe and one of black. I am going to experiment and see if I can make a runner of sorts, only hooking portions of the cloth and leaving the background plain. I don't know when it will happen, but at least I have the cloth! ;-)

Spring Ahead...

My internal clock and calendar has been confused by the early switch to daylight savings time. Yesterday started off as a fabulous day. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, coats were unnecessary -- just like Spring!

I had hooked away on the second half of my newest purse for much of the day on Saturday, steamed it flat and left it to dry overnight, while I started cutting out lining and trim fabric. Sunday was full of promise, and I was hoping to get it all sewn together. With the problems I have been having with my sewing machine lately, I decided to go and visit my mum, and use hers. I hadn't really done all of my figuring ahead of time, and I was undecided about how I was going to attach my zipper (I think there is a reason why I haven't yet put a zipper at the opening of any of my purses to date). I made a couple of hasty decisions in a row that ended up being poor choices, plus I forgot some tools and materials that I needed at my place. I finally gave into my fatigue and crabbiness and stopped shortly after assembling the lining.

Here is the first half of the purse. I abandoned the idea of hooking it completely with nylons, and instead just used part of a pair of glittery gold and black ones (Calvin Klein from Winners on clearance)

I do have some other photos, but they haven't made the journey from camera to laptop yet...more to come in the coming days.

Too good to be true.

I love it when things come together quickly: an idea + materials + plan + commencement all take place in a very short amount of time. It is great when you are so excited about getting started pulling loops that you can hardly wait to begin. This is where I was at on Sunday night, right after my last post. Eager to get started and see my plan executed.

...until "poof" it came to an abrupt halt. Now, I know that it's been a while since I hooked with nylons, and I know that I designed the purse, dyed the nylons, drew the pattern and prepared the packing for hooking (i.e. sewing on the ultrasuede and zig-zagging around several times) all in the same day. And I know that I used nylons that I bought from Dollarama. And I know that my colours weren't exactly what I had planned--much lighter than I had envisioned. But I don't think that I deserved this. Not when this project was supposed to entertain and delight me while away and spending five nights at various hotels. Alone.

Okay, so here is the problem....
I had forgotten was that once you cut off the "bands" and stretch them so the edges roll in, the inside is actually on the outside. Now, the outside of my nylons is a little "brushed" and so they appear darker than the inside (they are more likely tights than sheers). There is also a thread that didn't take on as much of the dye and actually appear a little shiny. The end result is a bunch of colours that look more like Easter than Summer.

I am at a stand-still. I don't know if I want to try re-dyeing for this idea or shelve it to be hooked with wool. In the meantime, I can't decide if continuing to hook my thick dark stripes is worth my time or not. Consequently, I did no hooking yesterday, and doubt that any loops will be pulled tonight either. I am really starting to wish that I had brought my knitting on the road ;-)

Queen Size.

I have been collecting pantyhose ever since I participated in the Padula Grenfell Swap a while back (2001 or 2002?....I can't remember). A couple of years ago, I bought a big bag of nylons in an auction at a rug hooking event. I also added to the bag from my own drawers (I would only ever hook with my own used nylons--never someone else's!)...and a bunch of white and cream nylons I picked up at Dollarama when it first opened in Huntsville.

If you are buying pantyhose to hook with, the cheaper the better, and bigger is best. One of these things is not like the others....


I dyed up a storm of legs and panties last night. I had forgotten how quickly the nylons accepted the dye. I took ten of the light coloured pairs (a mix of white and cream), cut the legs off at the crotch and then cut each leg in half....so I had a total of 50 pieces. Here are the rest of the results....


I was surprised at how much lighter they looked once they were spun and dried....so the finished colours are a big lighter than I was planning, but I will use them anyway. They are actually a little darker and brighter than they appear in the pictures.

I have been wanting to start a new project for a few weeks now....but work and life created their usual obstacles. I managed to break through my funk yesterday, and all the pieces fit together to create my newest design and pattern: a summer purse hooked with nylons...


I am anxious to get started hooking tonight. The Academy Awards are on, so I don't think I'll be seeing too many of the fancy outfits--I'll be too busy pulling loops. I'll still be able to listen for the winners...

I am on the road all week for work, but I will be holed up in my hotel rooms with my hooking for company. I'll try to give you regular progress reports.

Whipped!

The pillows are done. Finally. Even though I took them along on my trip last week—and hauled them in and out of four different hotels – all of the whipping was actually done at my place this weekend. Well, technically I guess I did do a little bit in Niagara Falls, but the lighting was so poor that I just ended up cutting it all out when I got home on Friday night.

I basically finished them the way I had planned…with the addition of basting the edge prior to whipping. I found that using a blanket stitch (with regular sewing thread) really helped keep everything neat and even when I was whipping – especially since the wool (pillow back) was a little shorter in some places than in others. When I got to the middle seam (where the zipper was sewn in), I had to modify the edge to prevent it from being much thicker than the rest. I trimmed the excess wool to about 1/16”, and then cut away about 1/4" of the linen backing, directly across from the seam (since I cut the backing just before basting over that section, I didn’t need to worry too much about it unraveling). This picture helps show what I did…


The edges were pretty wonky until I pressed them. I am so glad that my mum had an Elna press collecting dust in her laundry room—and that she let me (permanently) borrow it ;-) It does a great job with hooking, for far less effort that a plain iron. I think that this would be a good group purchase for a guild or group…

I also finished off my swap mat for the May 5th R.U.G. at the Simcoe Count Museum, months in advance. I know, I can hardly believe it—I am normally such a procrastinator. I am not done though, I still have to organize my game pieces…

For those of you wishing to participate in the swap, here are the details from the Fall/Winter 2006 edition of the R.U.G. sack…

The next swap will be a GAMEBOARD of your choice.
The dimensions should be 12” by 12” and it can be hooked on the backing of your choice, with the materials of your choice, and the finishing of your choice. Yes, I know we are offering a lot of choice here but it is supposed to be fun and I am sure you are all ready for the challenge ☺
*Please be sure to attach a label with the makers name to the mat.
*Please include appropriate playing pieces or disks.
*Please include instructions for play if it is an uncommon or original game.
The mats will go on display again in the morning (please bring them to me first so that I can take pictures and keep a list of all participants) and for the first part of the lunch break. The maker will keep the box/bag/basket with the game pieces. Halfway though lunch, all of the mats will go in a bag and all participants will have a chance to randomly choose one. This should give everyone an opportunity to find their new mat’s maker, personally thank them for their creation and pick-up the game pieces (while also avoiding the problem of pieces getting separated from their game in the bag and helping to keep the bag a manageable weight).

Speedy Gonzales!

There are all speeds when it comes to rug hooking. Some people are fast, some are slow, and others just go with the flow...hooking regularly with their weekly group. Regardless of the pace at which the hooking is completed....it is a whole other set of rules for finishing. Many people hook steadily for days or weeks on a project, only to have it sit rolled up under a bed or in a closet, patiently waiting to be "finished" (pressing, binding, basting, etc.) -- but not everyone! ;-)

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an e-mail from Patricia Truesdale this week. Patricia was the first person to purchase a Gossip pattern, and most definitely the first person to finish one -- and in less than 3 weeks! ;-) Congratulations Patricia...your purse is beautiful!


If you are hooking the Gossip pattern, Patricia did have a couple of ideas... First, she did the top-stitching on the tabs before sewing them in place. Second, she purchased the red bamboo for her handles at the dollar store (sold in bundles of four 4' lengths for only $1) and cut it down to the correct size.

In Stock...

I forgot to mention that the paper patterns are now back in stock. If you would like to place an order, please send me an e-mail.

New eyes....

Sometimes when I see something again after a long time of not noticing it or not looking at it, it's almost like looking at it with a new pair of eyes. I notice things that I previously may have overlooked, new parts become my favourites, and something that I may have loved at first, now seems ordinary. This is how I feel about my pillow tops. I took some pictures and pasted them below...




I have only ever sewn together one hooked pillow before...and it's likely that the trouble I experienced at that time is the reason why I have delayed finishing these two pillows until now ;-)

For these two, I serged around the outside, as close as my serger would allow (about 3/4" from the last row of hooking). After finding some wool for the backs, I cut a piece about the same width as my pillow (including the 3/4" of unhooked backing on all sides) and 1 1/2" longer than the length. I then ripped this piece of wool in half before ironing (fusible knit) interfacing onto the wrong side of both pieces of wool. That was as far as I could go...I had to ask my mum to sew in an invisible zipper to join the two pieces (I have never learned how to sew in a zipper, but I promise I will learn when I get a new sewing machine ;-) ). The zipper is sewn into place about 1 1/2" from the edges. The zippers were too long, but the shorter ones for pants are too short (trust me!). I am eventually going to glue a new end and cut the excess off.


With the back face down, I placed the "top" on top, with the hooking face-up. Since my hooking is not perfectly square, I trimmed the excess wool (so that the pillow top and back are the same size and shape). Next, I flipped both pieces over and pinned them together, before attaching them by sewing around the hooking with my zipper foot...getting as close to the hooked loops as possible without catching any loops in the stitches.

I am now ready to whip the two pieces together. Since I have so much backing and wool fabric along the border, I am not going to use any cording -- I don't think that I need it. Instead I am going to roll/fold it forward and baste it in place prior to whipping. I also trimmed the wool material in the centre seam allowance (where the zipper was sewn in), since it will be too bulky when whipped.

I am travelling all week for work...so I hope to get the whipping done in my hotel rooms at night. I will let you know how it works out and post pictures when I can.

How do you finish your pillows? I am interested to learn other techniques....

It's a bird! It's a plane! ....

…it’s a U.F.O. Like every craftsperson I know, I have a number of unfinished objects hiding around my place. They’re in drawers, bins, baskets and closets. I used to think that I only had two unfinished rugs, but I recently rediscovered a third. I also have three unfinished pillows (only one still has hooking to be done, the other two just need to be sewn together), one portrait requiring laser surgery on her eyes, three portraits yet to be started (of my remaining three grandparents), a HUGE 9’ by 12’ (yep, that’s feet, not inches!) room size rug that I have had for about 5 years, and an antique pattern.

It would be foolish to think that I will finish all of these projects this year…but my goal for the month of February is to at least finish two pillows, and maybe a third. The wool for the backs is picked out, and I have yarn ready to whip one of them. I didn’t get a chance to take daylight pictures of my pillow tops (each hooked at least 2-3 years ago!), but I will post some this weekend.

After the pillows it will be all purses, all the time for a while. I have a great idea for a summer purse hooked with nylons, and I have been dreaming of owls lately (and it’s not just because I have a pair of owl pyjamas, either ;-) ). I think there will be an owl purse in my not too distant future….

Oh, I almost forgot….the paper patterns are back in stock for those of you wanting one. It’s never too soon to get started on your Christmas gift making ;-) Happy hooking!

I didn't die (of stagefright)!

Wowee! What a crazy busy day on Saturday in the city-- I think that I am still recovering.

The hook-in in Toronto was a great time. Lots of beautiful rugs, gorgeous wools, yummy treats and friendly people. The talk went fairly well -- it is definitely a switch from teaching workshops (and I don't think that I have presented in front os so many people since my university days!) Thank you everyone for receiving me and my work so warmly – it’s a miracle that I was able to fit in my car for the ride home with my head so inflated ;-)

It was so nice to see the purses people brought that they had hooked themselves..."my children and grandchildren". One of my favourites was one that Wendie Scott Davis designed and hooked…

Wendie had a great idea to attach the pieces of plastic canvas (for the base) together with duct tape. Not only will this make them a unit, the tape will also help to prevent the cut edges from poking through your trimming fabric. Great idea Wendie! ;-)

One thing that I realized I forgot to mention during the talk was about making sure that you reinforce any closures. That is, stitch around your Velcro or your magnetic snap, securing the lining to your backing. If you don’t….you will find that the stitches holding your lining in place will soon be over-stressed and start to come apart.

For those of you who placed an order for the paper patterns…I dropped them off at my printer at today at lunchtime….and I will pop them in the mail as soon as I possibly can – hopefully in the next couple of days. If you want to place an order (especially those of you who happened upon me when I was sans pen)….just send me a quick e-mail (fisheyerugs@hotmail.com) and I will add your name to the list.

I went to visit the Textile Museum on Friday afternoon…for the first time since I was in high school. It’s funny, I often think of going when I am down in the city, but some how it never seemed to happen. Right now they have a really great exhibit of beautiful textiles and embroideries from India and Pakistan, called Colour & Light. If you have a chance to check it out, I am sure that you will be inspired to create something colourful…

New Look...

Yep, I played around a little bit tonight in my hotel in Peterborough. I can't seem to get my new header to go all the way across, so it will have to do as is for now.

Whatta ya think?

Seventeen.

Yep, I finally got around to counting how many purses I have hooked and assembled, and it's 17! Even I was amazed.

I finished the final four. Finally. The first pictures are from the first purse I ever hooked -- and one of the last to be finished. It is a Karen Kahle pattern (i.e. motifs) and the finishing methods are all mine. I didn't have any Ultrasuede that "matched"...but I like the look of this sea green colour. It picks up on the greens in the hooking. There is one piece of Ultrasuede that makes up the sides, bottom and strap of the purse...


These next two purses were my "demo" bags at workshops. Way back, after teaching my very first class, I went and finished all of the purses that I had in varying stages of completion to show all of the steps in finishing a purse. A couple of weeks later I was invited to teach another class -- and so I needed to come up with new demos. I settled on just a couple this time, and needed to hook them in a hurry, hence the geometric designs. The top one (blues and browns) has an skinny oval bottom sewn on and the other one is just sewn shut without a bottom (so it's just good for your skinny wallet and a couple of Kleenex ;-) )



In case you're wondering about number four -- it just needed its lining sewn in, so it hardly counts, unless you consider that the lining was sewn together about 2 years ago. Yikes.
I'm off to go and write my speech for Saturday. Wish me luck!

Yes, again!

Wow! Two posts in just two days – I must be feeling better ;-)

This last week has been going well. It feels like a New Year. I tidied up my place, organized a bunch of papers, got back into a routine at the gym, and now I’ve started working on some unfinished projects. Some of them have been waiting a long time to be completed.

At the start of last night I had 4 unfinished purses. One of them is the very first purse I hooked. Three of them were used for demonstration purposes in the one-day workshops I was teaching. The hooking is complete on all of them….it is just finishing work that is needed. A lot of finishing work. I worked on two of them last night. I still have 4 unfinished purses.

I am going to dust off my sewing machine tonight and see what I can do… I will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

It is the 50% off sale at Fabricland this weekend. If any of you are in the market for purse supplies, you might want to check it out…they do carry a few different styles of handles, as well as magnetic closures (which were about $5-6 each last time I was there). I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of the notions will be on sale.

Once I finally finish these four purses I have promised myself that I can start on the new one I have planned. I’m not certain of the motifs yet, but I have figured out the basic shape and some of the construction. The planning is so much fun!

New Catalogue...

Thank you for your patience and understanding –the good news is that I no longer have a sinus infection…and even better, that my productivity has improved substantially ;-)

I have been busy getting my new patterns ready for the printer, and I am pleased to announce that I picked them up on Friday and they are all stapled, folded and ready to go. I spent the rest of the weekend measuring, cutting, serging and drawing 24 patterns and creating a new brochure



Please send me an e-mail if you would like pricing information and/or a jpeg file (about 1MB) with the complete catalogue.

Other good news is that I upgraded my hotmail account yesterday so that I can now work off-line to reply to e-mails. This will (hopefully) help me to be a better correspondent, since I can compose all of my replies and then just go on-line to send and receive. Because I do not have internet access at home, I was only able to manage my e-mail while I was connected at work or the local WIFI café. I spent a couple of hours sifting through my inbox last night and replying to 20+ messages. We’ll see how it goes…but it looks good for now…

I received my new issue of Selvedge magazine last week. I was introduced to this unique British fibre arts magazine by Mary Anne Wise last year at Hooked in the Mountains….but I didn’t see it again until late last Fall when I went to Rochester. I quickly handed over my $20 before I could second-guess my purchase – and it was totally worth it. Unable to find a place that stocks it here (although I have recently discovered that it is available at the Textile Museum in Toronto), and unwilling to pay 70 British pounds for a subscription, I sent them an e-mail to find out where I could buy it in Ontario. A few hours later, I received an e-mail back and was offered the opportunity to pay just $85 US for a year (6 issues) – a considerable savings! Merry Christmas to me! If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day present, treat yourself ;-) I just love this magazine and can't say enough good things about it!

I am finally starting to feel ready for the Upper Toronto Branch Hook-In on February 3rd. If you are in the area, please come – it sounds like it will be a fun day. I will be speaking on purses and also bringing some of my wares.