Friday, October 15, 2010

more Quoddy Loopers' mats

More of the Quoddy Loopers have been busy over the summer, while some have taken a hiatus from rughooking. Not so with Sandra - currently on a very large rug for one of her grandsons, drawn by her sister, Heather.

Sandra hooked this hit-or-miss mat to use up odds and ends of woolly worms, but she says that they seem to be multiplying, as her grab bag never gets any less full! The basketwork effect of the scrappy mat is a great simple and effective geometric design.

Next is Sandra's Kings Landing Peddlar, drawn from a photo she took at Kings Landing Historical Settlement, near Fredericton, New Brunswick. Also drawn on the backing by sister Heather... then Sandra went to work. Another beautiful slice of history to add to her collection!

Now Louise has finished a "Big Boned Girl" (pattern is Deanne Fitzpatrick's, with dashes of fun, as most of her mats are). I think I missed getting Louise's winter hooked pillow up, but we'll have snow before too many more weeks go by, I imagine! This 'fat-bottomed boy' is also one of Deanne's designs. I think there was some novelty wool used to add a little sparkle.





Sunday, October 10, 2010

Progress on the St Andrews pictorial rug

The photo is a little misty - colours are actually a little brighter than they appear on my screen, anyway. It is a very loose depiction of St Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick (Canada), the lovely little seaside resort town I live in. Only the elements I wish to include are in--the windmill from Kingsbrae Garden, the Pendlebury Lighthouse (magically restored to its former glory, though that work is ongoing), Ministers Island & Bath House, the historic Blockhouse and just two of the numerous churches in town. I've also taken the liberty of moving a bit of the Algonquin golf course to adjoin the Hotel.

This 4.5 x 5ft rug has been on the go for three years, and I keep it at the church where the Quoddy Loopers meet every Wednesday, so it is only worked on in small hunks of time (6:30-8:30pm, year round). Others of our group have taken turns working on it and I hope to have more working on the borders when the Algonquin Hotel and the top water/sky is finished; perhaps this fall will see it done. I do miss the odd week, either by not being able to make it to the group or by hooking on another mat that has a deadline. This one is purely pleasure, so it will be done when it's done.

This week was the first time I took it off the rolling frame, so we have only seen it in sections since it went on the frame in, I think, fall of 2007 (possibly summer '07). Other members have also donated wool for the project, as well as time, which is much appreciated.

The rug is mostly 100% wool, both fabric and yarn, with the odd dash of novelty yarn for sparkle, on primitive linen, with cuts ranging from #3 up to 3/4" hand-torn strips. Much of the wool is as-is fabric; a great deal is purpose dyed, especially the greens and blues.