ANTIQUES, RUGS AND BARTERING

A while back Gayle told me of a gentleman who would love to have a hooked rug. He has a home full of antiques and would love to trade something for a hooked rug. Well I love antiques so I was game for the trade. I met with Bert in his home and he showed me around his place which looks right out of the 1800 time period, Just the kind of home I would feel real comfortable in. Most of his pieces are around 1840, which is the time period I am really drawn to, We settled on a rug he wanted hooked.  It is a design from a friend Kay Wild.  Bert has wanted this rug for a long time. I borrowed Kay's rug and drew the pattern off the original rug. Here is the finished rug.

 

Here is the piece that I traded for the rug. It is an 1800 New England Mule Chest, One board( meaning one piece of would was used ) It has original red paint on the back of the chest. The top opens up and there is a candle box inside along with storing for blankets. Lots of character too. I Love this piece and I most enjoy getting to know my new friend Bert- I might just get him to try hooking, Gene Shepard watch out!

UNDER THE SEA

Last June I was in Denver visiting family.  While I was visiting my granddaughter I noticed that she loves mermaids.  I have not yet made her a rug and thought this would be a fun design for her.  So drew up a mermaid and began working on her.

 

She likes very bright colors not primitive or drab. This was a challenge not to change the colors while hooking.

I had to do yarn for the face to get detail. More fine hooking then I ever do but I think the face turned out.

I added 3 fish and 3 starfish along with some seaweed. I like the overall effect.  I hope she will. In a couple of weeks I will hand deliver it to her for her 5th birthday!

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER

I finished up a couple of projects this week and I am working on some others. First I have this great basket I found years ago at Goodwill; I think I paid 8.00 for it. Over the years corners have broke and fallen out. I love the basket and it is an easy fix but it can be pricey. I would have to order the supplies and I would have to buy much more than I need. So I was about to just dump it off at the thrift store. Then a thought came to me, what if I could find a basket with the same size reeds at the thrift store. I could then soak, cut and replace the broken parts for a fraction of the cost; say 2.00! That is just what I did and now I have a great basket again and I saved left overs for future brakes, great day!

Here are the broken corners; each corner looked like this.

 

 This is the 2.00 basket I soaked it and then cut pieces off to have the strips shown below.

Here is the repaired basket.

 

When it dries it will match the rest.


Next my husband made this stool that the seat opens up and you can hook a rug for the top of the seat. Well I never really liked the rug I had on it. I had designed this pattern for a pillow and thought it was about the same size as the stool. I decided to hook it and put it on the stool instead. now I think it looks much better don't you?

 

I found another cute child's bench at the consignment store last week; can't wait to have fun with this project.

And last of all, I took a soap making class on Saturday. I have wanted to do this forever and the opportunity presented it self. It was fun and pretty easy. Here is my first batch; nothing special but I will get creative with the next.

ANOTHER LITTLE FIND

My friend Mary found this sweet child's chair at auction and bought it for me.  I must say it needed some work.

 All the joints needed to be re-glued.  I had forgot how much I hate gluing furniture. The paint was old and falling off and needed a paint job. So I knocked it all apart and re-glued the chair then gave it a good sanding. Then a choose a sage green milk paint. I love how this paint goes on so smooth.

I put a little stencil on the back of the chair for a little detail.

Then I sanded the edges and coated the whole chair with a brown glaze.  I hooked a little chair pad for the chair. I think it looks much better then before.  I plan on putting it in the little bear room upstairs in my home.

By the way I received Rebekah L. Smith new book in the mail the other day. I love the book, love her colors and designs. I think it will transfer over to rug hooking very well. If you get a chance check it out.

LITTLE PILLOW

I recently recovered a chair in my bedroom. I loved the new fabric and even found a soft linen throw to place on it however it seemed to dull. I thought it needed a little pillow and I needed a fun fast rug to hook. Sometimes I need to just do something quick and easy. So I pulled this simple design together. I had just gotten my new wool from Heavens-to-Betsy. There was a beautiful chocolate mousse color that I knew I would use for the background.  When I finished the rug I used the same wool for the back and then stuffed it with wool- that is the wool lint I collect from my dryer. makes for a soft pillow.

 

 

Here are some photos on the chair in my room.

What do you think!

Welcome Rug

I wanted a rug for my bathroom. I always liked this one from Maggie Bonanomi book "Comfort Zone."  I thought the colors and design would look good for this bathroom. When I finished however I did not like it in the bathroom. I found a place by the front door and it fits perfectly. Now for a bathroom rug.

 

I love Maggie's colors and tried to use the same layout.

 

 

Here is a close up of the rug.

 

The perfect fit at the front door. Now what to do for the bathroom?

 

 

 

DAPER HAMPER

Finished up the little hamper project.  I found a wonderful milk paint and tried it out on my little hamper and was quite impressed with the results. I have tried many different milk paints over the years and really do  prefer them over chalk paint. I know the chalk is all the rage now but I do not like the look you get with it.  I think it looks cheap. This milk paint goes on smooth and covers flaws pretty darn good and I find very little brush strokes when it dries. the paint is called General Finishes.

 

 

Before the paint

 

 

 

After the paint

 

 

 

Next I went over it with a glaze finish. I usually use colored wax but the glaze goes on super easy and dries really fast.

 

 I lined the inside with  a drop cloth and used Velcro the attach.

 

Then I design a little rug to go onto the lid.

 

 I covered the back of the lid with a piece of wool.

 

 Love these little handles on the side.

Here is the end results!