The rug hooking piece that I started during "Applique Weekend" was intended just to be an experiment, a little something just to try out some techniques on.
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Attaching stones, |
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attaching leather, |
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appliqueing wool and some embroidery stitches. |
I was going to attach it to a wooden hoop but couldn't find one the right size, so looked into another suggestion and found a brass ring at Lens.
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The rug hooking is 15" in diameter and the ring is 16" so I was able to whip the edge at the same time as attaching the ring. |
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I attached a piece of thrift store blanket to the back and |
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its finished and I love it. The pattern was a Rittemere-Hurst-Field called Glass Peaches but I'm calling mine "Peach Stones" |
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Next September at the McGown Teacher Training I have to teach this piece. |
The instructions were to hook it in a 3 cut and have cumulus clouds. I do not find the pattern particularly inspiring and I have to find some teachable components. So one of the things I am going to teach is how to use black walnuts to dye wool. I will then use the dyed wool in the tree trunk and perhaps the cabin too. Sue and Bruce donated 2 bags of walnuts that had fallen from their trees so Thanksgiving weekend was spent dyeing.
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Black walnut stains everything so I did my dyeing outside. |
I only used about 25 walnuts (husk and nut) and the "tea" lasted through 2 days and 2 yards of wool. I took a 1/4yd and simmered it for 1hr, another 1/4yd for 1/2 an hour, another for 15 minutes and another for 7 minutes. Each piece was then rinsed, again and again and again, then hung on the line and sprayed with the hose to get all the walnut bits off.
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It was very windy so the spraying with the hose step resulted in me taking a cold water shower! Then they all went in the washing machine . |
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So now I have a nice 4 value swatch. |
The next day I went through the process again - 90 minutes, 45 minutes, 30 minutes and 15 minutes. The last 3 all look pretty well the same colour but I wont really be able to tell until tomorrow when they will be dry after the final wash.