A Happy Surprise for my weekend!

 So, last Tuesday or Wednesday, I came across an Instagram post from an organization called Multicolores.  This wonderful organization is a non-profit in Guatemala that supports Maya women in self-discovery and artistic development.  (I grabbed this from their site because, well, they say it best)!  

Multicolores - Who We Are

The organizers were giving a free spot in their Intermediate-Advanced Rug Hooking Class, so I added a like and comment, and promptly forgot about it.  On Friday, I got an email from the Creative Director, Madeline Kreider Carlson that I was being given a spot and the class starts on Saturday!  I downloaded the course information, and informed everybody in my house that I was busy Saturday and Sunday!  

Fast forward to Saturday, and let me tell you, I was blown away!  Instead of me telling you about what I saw, let me show you pictures of the beautiful art I got to look at as well as chat with two of the artists in this group.  (I did get permission to post pictures from their website, but definitely go there and check it out, there's so much more)!

Multicolores 

designed and crafted by Irma Raquel Churunel Ajú, member of the Chuacruz rug hooking group

One of our teachers

designed and crafted by Bartola Morales Tol, member of the Patanatic rug-hooking group

designed and crafted by Imelda Estela Pich Chopén, member of the Chuacruz rug hooking group

designed and crafted by Nicolasa Pacay Barán de Barreno, member of the Patanatic rug hooking group

The class was three hours on Saturday and three hours on Sunday.  We were given some templates that are used by the Maya artists as well as beautiful examples of their rugs.  The two artists that were our teachers for this class were Irma Raquel Churunel Aju' and Yolanda Churunel Aju' (sisters). 

Irma Raquel Churunel Aju' is inspired by ancient Mayan symbols (nahuales), and is a member of the Multicolores Leadership Program

 Yolanda Churunel Aju', and is a pioneer in designing story rugs.  These story rugs portray a narrative often inspired by Maya history or legends.  

So, now that  you've seen just a few of the beautiful rugs, can you guess what medium they use?  Nope, it's not wool.....it's t-shirts, or paca, which means second-hand clothes.  Once clothing has made the rounds from retail stores, thrift stores, Goodwill, etc, there are companies that buy clothing by the pound and ship it overseas to other countries, Guatemala included.  The artists of Multicolores use this second-hand clothing (mostly t-shirts) as is to create these beautiful rugs.

There were four of us taking this class, and got to design our own rug, learn how to cut the t-shirts into strips, get feedback from Irma and Yolanda on our design as well as our color choices.  They were so kind, and their knowledge just blew me away.  

We were also given our own Nahuale, or spirit totem and your sign is assigned to you at birth from the Tzolk'in calendar  All we needed to do was given them our birth date and year.  

This is my nuahual, Tz'i, which means wolf or dog.  Not sure how accurate this page is, but here's a bit of info.  nahuale Tz'i  You will definitely see this in a future rug I'm going to do,

So, now it's Tuesday, and I'm ready to start my Multicolores rug.  I've got my paca stripped and in bundles, and "some" color planning.  (I'm not the best as color planning ahead of time). 

I've only touched the tip of this wonderful organization and the class.  Please go to their site, read about the wonderful artists and organizers of the group, then get ready to drool over the beautiful artistry!!

Happy Hooking!

 

A Lesson Learned and a Few Rugs

 Happy First Day of Spring!  

Today was a good day.  It was sunny and warm (ish), and I took a little trip to Target (masks on, ya'll)! 

So, I'm going to preface this post with something.......I'm incredibly blessed.  During this pandemic, I've had very few complaints.  Yes, my fiber business has suffered with the closing of fiber festivals, and not being able to meet with other fiber people in person.  That being said, I don't depend on my business to support anything other than itself.  Aaron also owns his own business (private and corporate aviation), and he has had to hustle to keep it open and solvent.  He has been incredibly successful at this, so our paycheck has been steady, and he has been able to keep his other employee.  I don't have to worry about keeping the roof over our heads, our bills paid, or where our next meal is coming from.  There are so many people across our country, the planet even, that are struggling.  

Now, with that being said, I have realized something about myself.  I am not a very nice person to me.  I have spent more time inside my own head this past year than any other time, and it's not super comfortable.  When I made the decision to leave my corporate job of eight years, I had so much outside support.  Listening to other artists on social media, it's very apparent that not everybody has the support I have.  Aaron took on financial support of our household, and even bought me a backyard studio that is an absolute refuge for me.

This is just the outside! 

 

He is always encouraging me, and has great advice for a beginner entrepreneur.  My parents, sister, in-laws (and out-laws, lol), and our kids, are the most supportive people I know.  My biggest enemy to my self-confidence is me!  If you heard what I say to myself in my own brain, you'd be shocked, I know I am!  I just never realized it, it just became my norm.  I can't think of anyone that could say anything to me that is worse, or even comes close to what I say to myself.  Weird, right?  Well, not so much.  I've been doing a lot of reading/research on this, and it's not uncommon.  Being an artist is something pretty new to me.  It's not something that I ever thought or wanted to do, but I've always been that "crafty" person.  Cross-stitch, embroidery, dried flower arranging (hello 80's and early 90's), crocheting, then rug hooking, knitting, spinning, etc.  The first time someone called me an artist, I didn't realize they were talking to me.  It's taken me a minute to claim that particular title, and still feels weird to call myself an artist, but I'm getting there.  It's all part of the work, I think, and there's some work to do.  I've decided that the mean girl that lives rent-free in my head is going to be evicted.  It's going to take a while because she has been living there for quite a while, but I've got a plan.  I refuse to continue to make myself small, or conform to fit into some construct that my brain/ego has decided is comfortable.  I'm going to take chances, try different things, and when that mean girl starts to spout off, her comments will be replaced with encouraging, supportive talk.  Yes, I have conversations with myself...lol.

Ok, now that that's off my chest, let's see a couple of finished rugs!

 

 

This one is called Moonstruck.  You know how one or two full moons during the year looks just like it's sitting right above your head?  Well, this was one of those nights.  I took Jackson out, and before he could sniff one thing, he was moonstruck.  He sat there for about fifteen minutes just staring at the moon.  It was magical.

 

 

This is a dragon drawn by our (bonus) daughter, Ashley.  I wanted to do something different, and asked her to draw me a dragon.  No other instructions, just that.  I really like her fierceness.

I'm currently working on the third Lake Bird, the Wood Duck, and tomorrow will be a day in the dye post.  I need a bunch of background colors, and don't have any on hand.

Now that I've dumped my brain onto this post, I'm going to go veg out in front of the tv for the rest of the night.  Have a wonderful evening/day, and remember......Be Kind to Yourself!

A LIttle Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

 Hello everybody!

My week has been a little busy, but nothing mind-blowing.  I started dyeing wool for my Etsy shop and hopefully shows for 2021, finished decorating my February feather tree, and worked on my vintage rug repair.  I'll do a separate post on the wool dyeing tomorrow because I'll be back in the dye pots again.

February's feather tree came out pretty cute!  I made over 200 fabric yo-yos for the garland, and crocheted tiny hearts for each branch.

The fabric yo-yos are pretty easy to make.  I basically started at the beginning of the Hobbit movies, then moved onto Lord of The Rings trilogy, and....voila!  I do use what I call a "cheater" to make them, because I don't have the patience for making a template, cutting each circle perfectly, and sewing perfect, tiny little stitches.  This is what I use....Yo-Yo Makers

 I've already started thinking about how to decorate my feather tree for March/St. Patrick's Day.  Also, I make and sell goosefeather trees on my Etsy shop, and do custom sizes if interested!

My rug repair is going slowly.  I sewed the first patch down, and realized that I made the patch too small.  I will add another patch below the original one, and sew them together.  I re-hooked a few loops, and the original hooker definitely hooks tighter than I do.  No biggie, but it's pretty interesting to see the differences.  

 I'll do some more work on her over the weekend, and will have at least one patch sewn on and re-hooked.  The original wool is in great condition, but I can tell that the strips were cut from maybe some kind of clothing.  Most are a consistent width, but there's a few that are a bit wonky.  Hopefully I won't have to dye matching colors, but we'll see!

Check back in tomorrow for some beautiful hand dyed wool!

Vintage Rug Repair - Trying Something New

 Hello everybody!

I am a huge fan of thrift stores, antique stores, tag sales, and estate sales.  No matter where I go, I usually come across vintage rugs that usually have some kind of "issue".  I do have a couple that are pretty much pristine, but the rest have various wear places, tears, and worn edges, and they have all been hooked on burlap.  Burlap does not wear well, but the art that has been created by women and men many years ago, deserve a second chance (at least I think so)!  So after a lot of research online and in books, I've decided to take one of mine and try repairing her.  I am going to document the process, and hopefully you all will enjoy the journey!

So, here's our candidate.....isn't she a beauty?!  I would like to be able to use her on the floor in my kitchen after the repairs are done. 

Front

Back

From the back, it looks like there's been repairs done in the past, plus, either the original hooker, or the repair person (could be the same person), also put "patches" on each corner.  So, what these patches look like, are pieces of those denim patches moms used to buy to sew onto the knees of their kids' jeans.  Not sure if they still exist...lol

Here's one of the corner patches.  There's one on each corner, and I haven't decided if I'm going to snip a few of the stitches and take a peek underneath.  It doesn't seem to be holding anything down, it looks just like extra reinforcement for the corners.  Also, the edges look nice and strong.  She was bound with binding tape.

These two are views of past repairs to the rug

 

 

 

 

Here's another view of the past repair on the border. 

 I did have to take out some loops right up to the repair, and when I peeked underneath, it looks like the first row of loops are sewn onto the binding tape, so I'm just going to leave it as is.

 

Here's the damaged areas that I'm going to repair.  There are a few weak places that I'll look at after I do the initial repairs.  I may need to take out those loops, add reinforcement linen patches and rehook 

Front

Back

Small pull, but the backing is weak.

I've taken out the loops on the worst area, exposing as much healthy backing as possible.  At the original repair (where the binding tape is sewn), the backing is still shredded, but since the loops on the border seems to be holding, I'm going to sew the patch backing onto the binding tape.  

 

Here's my patch.  Also, the original wool seems to be in good shape, so I'll use as much as I can to rehook the area once the patch is sewn on.  If I need to, I'll try dyeing matching wool.  What I have noticed is that not all the loops are wool.  The outline of the red flower feels like a type of rayon, maybe from a dress.  I think this rug is an ode to "use what you've got", and it's really beautiful.

 

 

If you are interested in a good rug repair book, This is the one I'm using.  Judy Taylor from Little House Rugs  Lots of good advice and pictures.

 

Now I'm off to start the first repair.  Wish me luck!!

A Journey with Hobbits While Creating

 Today’s a little gloomy, and since we’re still stuck inside, I thought I’d work a little on decorating my goose feather tree for February. 

So, along with being a rug hooker, wool dyer, knitter, crocheter, etc. I make goose feather trees just as they did back in the late 1800’s. They are easy, if not a bit “fiddly” to make, and you can make them any size for any space in your home. They can be decorated for any holiday, season, or just left plain.  The one I leave out and decorate year-round is about two feet tall, and sits in a cream color base with dried moss around the base. My plan is to show how I decorate my tree each month, sometimes changing decorations a couple of times in the month. 

Here she is decorated for Christmas and January. I found the ornaments at TJ Maxx, and they are reproductions of glass German ornaments. I am absolutely in love with them, and run across a box or two of them every other year, and always grab them! 

For February, I am making a yo yo garland and tiny crocheted red hearts. The garland will have yo yos and red beads, and the hearts will hang at the end of the branches. Can’t wait to show you the decorated tree!

While making yo yos and crocheting tiny hearts, I’m watching The Hobbit trilogy. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings has been a favorite since fourth grade. I still have my books from way back then, and both of our kids read them when they were in school. 

Here they are, and sit front and center on my bookshelf. So, do/did you fall in love with Tolkien’s world and characters? 

Happy crafting and creating!

Creativity Slump and a Temperature Rug

Ya'll, I'll be the first to say that I love to be home to create, cook, and even clean 😏, but seriously, there can be too much of a good thing!  I have noticed that my creativity has hit a bit of a slump, so I've decided to do something that is a bit different, but still rug hooking.  Let's chat about it....

So I'm sure you've seen or even made a temperature blanket.  I haven't heard of one until a couple of members of the Valley Fiber Arts group was working on one a couple of years ago, then again last year, and has they've started another one for this year.  I do knit and crochet, but come on, I'm a rug hooker at heart, and I started to think that this might be something that could be translated into rug hooking.  I've even seen cross stitchers and embroiderers stitching temperature projects!  Now I'm garbage at math, so I needed to keep it very simple, and as I work on my 2021 piece, I'm sure my brain will be fast forwarding to 2022 and what can be done differently.  In keeping it simple, I've decided to do a one inch square for every day, so I drew 12 six inch squares with 36 one-inch squares in each.  I know, the most squares that will be filled out for each square is 31, but I'm sure I can figure out something  to hook in those extra squares or even as a total space. 

Here's my backing (monks cloth), and the squares drawn out.  Ignore any extra lines, this is for me only, so it's all good.  Since I'm starting a bit late, I've gone to my weather app and wrote down the morning temperature for each day.  I will use the temperature when I wake up every day, just to be consistent.

Now for the colors..I struggle with choosing colors and I wanted to use up strips I already have.  I have a habit of buying already cut strips from other rug hookers that are destashing or have decided to not hook anymore, so I have a ton of them and of all different sizes.  For this project, I'm going to stay at a #6 or smaller since the blocks are only 1"x1", so I've got plenty of strips to choose from.

Here's my colors, each bag labeled with a temperature range.  Starting from the left 

• 98F and above
• 97-90
• 89-82
• 81-74
• 73-66
• 65-58
• 57-50
• 49-42
• 41-34
• 33-26
• 25-18
• 17-10
• 9-2
• 1F and below

Today I'll play catch-up, then I'll need to record and hook one square a day.  Fingers crossed it'll look kind of cool at the end of 2021, and If you all decide to do something similar, let me know!  I'd love to see your interpretation and colors!