Peg Loom Weaving

Long time my friends! Bronchitis knocked me down for about 3 weeks, I'm still not 100%, and now I'm blessed with a head cold. Yay! Lol, I always say I can't complain because it could be worse.

I saw an amazing weaving project on someone's Facebook page and was told it was done using a peg loom. I had never heard of such a thing, just the beautiful but expensive looms that take up a whole room. I would love to learn to weave "for real" but that will never happen I'm afraid. I love rug hooking and my other fiber crafts though.

So back to the peg loom.... Saturday evening I called my dad and told him about the peg loom and Sunday afternoon after church we were in his garage making one. Dad loves my projects. :-) I'm always asing him to do something for me. I like to keep him busy in his retirement. :)

 

Don't laugh, but the picture is of my first attempt. Ignore the fuzzy wool yarn ends. Next time I will be using t-shirt for the warp....or is it the weft?!? Oh, I didn't tell you...I used t-shirt yarn to weave. So neat to cut up an old t-shirt to use for a craft project! Making the "yarn" was fun!

I have some ideas what to do next and how to fix the looseness of the blue bit, and I hope to make a throw rug or two. This little thing is about the size of a mug rug, but it wove up quickly.


~Michelle

Have A Blessed Easter

Punch Needle Retreat

I am so excited! We are taking a trip to Vermont this summer so that I can take a class from Amy Oxford of the Oxford Punch Needle! I have never attended a rug hooking retreat, just a few day hook-ins. The boys will be able to fish, golf, and do manly things while I hang out with the ladies and learn more rug punch techniques. We have never been to this part of the country so we are excited to see Vermont.

Amy has lots of classes and retreats scheduled at her new rug hooking school, so if you are looking for a retreat or live close to Cornwall, Vermont, be sure to check out the listing on Amy's website or click on the photo below to go to the classes page.







~Michelle

Christmas Gifts

Yes you read that correctly. : )  I didn't celebrate Christmas with my hooking buddy, Kimberlee, until well after Christmas. I was busy, she was busy, I was sick, and our work schedules are completely opposite.

She punched this beautiful crow for me. : )

And I made her a cross-stitch design from Gettysburg Homestead.  Thank you Mary for the freebie pattern. 

~Michelle

Auction Rug

A few ladies in my guild like to go to a local auction and they shared their latest find. This beautiful rug hooked by Virginia Hildebrandt in 1977-78. The label shows that it was a Joan Moshimer design. The colors were so bright that it's hard to believe it's 35 years old. The rug is as old as I am, and it's certainly more vibrant and colorful than I am, lol!!!

 

 

You will not believe the winning bid! Ready for it? $115!!! I can't believe there wasn't a reserve that had to be reached first. They really got a steal of a deal. I don't know the size of it, but you can see that it's almost as long as the tables in the first picture and I think they were 6 feet. Not a small rug!

The colors she used in the background are fabulous. It's neat how from far away you don't notice the different colors, but they work so well together to make a vibrant design.

 

Thanks for stopping by. : )

~Michelle

Rug Hooking Guild Meeting

I *finally* made it to a guild meeting. I've missed the last two due to not feeling well and when they only happen once a month I feel like I really miss out. I was late, but I made it! There was a special guest so I made extra effort to drag myself there. I haven't felt well in months with my chronic issues and of course they were flaring up that day. Just my luck, lol. I was 30 minutes late, but not the last one there. : )



Barb's sample



A close-up of Barb's sample

Barb Gott of Gott Wool was our special guest. I missed the sign-up for the mini workshop she was teaching, but there were extra patterns so I got to participate. Yay!  She was teaching about the bargello style. It's not my style, I'm a prim girl, but I'm up for learning new things so why not. She had gorgeous wool to purchase so I chose three. We could have used our own wool, but it was easier to buy the three value swatches for this project.

The wool I bought from Barb Gott

This was not the style of hooking I'm used to. There was a lot of counting and following of the pattern to do, and it was a lot like counted cross-stitch. It was kind of nerve-wracking as if you make one mistake counting, your whole pattern will be off. No pressure! : )

I got the middle started. Oops, my photo is upside down!

Barb was a great teacher and threw in a joke or two. Thanks Barb for a great mini workshop!

Barb Gott

All of the guild ladies hard at work. I think there were 45 of us there that day.

I have a few more pictures from the guild meeting that I will share with you another day. You will not believe it! : )


~Michelle

More punching and mistakes

This is the reason I shouldn't craft in the middle of the night. I work second shift and am a night owl, and one night after work I decided to do some rug punching with my Oxford. I was up until 2:30am which isn't all that unusual. I thought this was a fun design, but now I'm not so sure. I should have done tongues instead of the, um, quarter rounds? It doesn't have the prim look I was hoping for. Hubs even said, "Wow that's a modern rug." Bummer. I've let this sit for a while and now I need to finish it or rip it out and do tongues. *sigh*

~michelle