Friday Finishes!

This week I finally got the time to finish one item and make something new. It seems that I spend more time cleaning and taking Bean out, he really is an energetic pup and if i don't wear him out every few hours, he spends his time indoors, annoying me.

My great niece got a giant dollhouse last Christmas and so far she has decorated it with Barbie items, so i wanted to make her a rug for the house. I picked an antique design from Kopp's book and kept the colors in pink and blue, since those are her favorite colors. I wanted to use 3 strands of floss to keep the rug in scale, but it was way too much work and repetition, so I jumped to 6 strands for the background. It gives it a bit of a raised effect and it is not what I envisioned, but I am sure she will love having a real rug for her doll house and maybe someday she will get real furniture for it;)

If it were me, I would spray it with walnut ink, but she is a girlie girl and bright it will be. The rug is 7 1/4" x 6".

Another idea I had, was to make little tea coasters and stuff them with balsam. I thought a small piece like that would fit nicely into a thank you card and I could give them out as little gifts too. I used one of my photos from the trip and printed it on printable fabric, but I misjudged the size and they have become little pillows. I do like how they look and still a nice gift idea. I don't really like the stiffness of the fabric paper and I really do not trust the inks if it gets wet. I did heat set it and then run under cold water but I did notice a bit of red ink. It is a nice idea to use with photos to make pillows or even a mini quilt from your favorite trip.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have the annual art show in Wickford and the folk art music festival in Newport, so hoping to get to the art show, I haven't been in years.

Still Hooking!

What I thought was going to be a quick project, turned into a two week marathon. I am on the last ten rows though and hoping I can get it done tomorrow, my hands are killing me, lol.  I bought 2 yards of cheap homespun to add to the rug, and all I got was 4 rows out of it, you use a lot more fabric when you get out the outside.

As you can see, Izzy doesn't mind if it isn't finished, it is still a nice place to sleep. That is the backside, my locker hooking skills are a bit lacking, but I like the look and it will look nice in the entryway.

Locker Hooking and Vintage Thread!

This weekend I decided I needed to make my own rug for the front entrance, since I haven't found anything I like. I have locker hooking supplies and I need to use up some stash, so this is the perfect project. I also got some extra supplies from Chris at We Love Quilting. She sent me a box of rug hooking supplies along with locker hooking tools and a book, which I didn't have. The hooks she sent me are from John James, so much nicer than the cheap one I had.

I am just doing a basic hit and miss rug and using up colors that I really don't use in quilting and I do have quite a few reds. This will be at the entrance so it will be walked on a lot and get dirty, but it is washable, which is nice. A great project to use your scraps on.

Another item I have had and trying to decide what to use them for, are vintage threads that my friend Lauri from Threads of Miz, sent me. I am wondering, should I use them? They are in good condition and beautiful threads and I could use them in embroidery projects or stitchery and they seem thin enough to punch with. Should I use them?

There are more colors underneath, it is a complete set.