Prim but Not Proper

I am still unpacking from my Primitive Class at Loyalist last week. It was 4 wonderful days with a class of exceptional students. They truly made the experience for me, and I thank them once again for making me feel so welcome and so special.

My take on this Primitive Class (hence the clever title) was Primitives with a Technology Twist. We shared all the wonderful resources that are out there on the internet to help create a one-of-a-kind primitive rug. Since rug hooking has evolved, as have the fabrics we would "up-cycle" today, these have their own distinct personalities, adapting the primitive style.

I took pictures of each of the students and their project. The pictures are not the best quality of the rugs. For better ones, please go and visit Christine's blog. Hers are taken with a really good camera and totally highlight the rug, not the creator.

Here are my stellar students:

Cindy with her little Irish cottage with mossy roof.

Carol with her moose runner, close to my heart.

Deborah with her Maude Lewis design.

Christine with her not-so-primitive "selfie" in contemporary "as is" fibers.

Mary Anne with "Iggy" the adorable piggy.

Jane with her bird with the amazing background.

Maribeth with her gorgeous goldfish.

Harley with his moose. This was his first class.

Nancy with her husband as a boy being chased by a goose and rescued by a pig.

During the 4 days, we also did some "onion skin dyeing" and some "marrying and marbleizing", so I decided to create a little mat out of all the wool that we created. That is where I came up with the title
'Prim but not Proper' and put it in the design. I also have included a motif from the 9 projects that were under way.

Here is the pattern, for which I will share progress shots.

I can't wait to share pictures of these student projects completed as well. It was fun designing and studying the Primitive Rug fundamentals - and then adapting them where we saw fit. I am sure a few of the purists might think it is not good to "stray from the basics".  But we sure had fun doing it.

Fun with Fonts.

Every time I do a class, I try to come up with a coordinating idea for name tags. I think they are not only fun, but important - for my "short term" challenged brain and for the students, who may or may not all know one another.

In keeping with my upcoming class, which is Primitives, I decided to make somewhat primitive tags. With a little something extra. I printed out the names on printable fabric - in my new favourite font "sunshine poppy" - and then ironed them on to some "upcycled" wool.

Then, I made a little wool sandwich with black wool and blanket stitched around the outside, stuffing some dried lavender in at the end. I added a button to each one from my button jars and tied some hemp string around the button, so it can be worn lanyard-style.

Here's a close up of mine - the prototype with too light floss - and a tad blurry.

And here is the group shot - with the hemp string tied around them.

I was very happy to come up with a practical idea for the lavender, which I dried and saved in the garage for "someday". I will do some plain ones with the rest of it when this is all over. (The blank is in case someone shows up at the last minute.)

And this project was not the only fun with fonts I was having in the last while. In deciding on a design for my "challenge" mat for Rug Beat, I spent far too long on a great website called dafont
It is a website where font designers put their wares on display. They are available for free download for "personal use" - or you can make a donation. (Note to self: go back and do that.)

Be warned, this place is incredible and you can get stuck there for a LONG time. I had so much fun looking at so many fonts. Can you believe there is such a thing as a "cat font". Yep, there is indeedy - and I used it in my "challenge" mat. Here is a little sneak peek:

I was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire you-know-what the whole time I was hooking this. Hopefully, you don't have to look too hard to see the fonty felines. Hint: in the O's, the head is on the left and the front paws and tail complete the circle.

It is an incredible resource for rug hookers who use words in their mats and don't have great "penmanship" LOL.

When you have some time to spare, go and and have some font fun yourself.

A Busy Past Few Weeks

That is my excuse for my absence. Not an original one, but an honest one.

First there was the Annual in Kingston, which was great. Every year has its own little quirks and this one was no different. We stayed in an older conference centre that has been updated and was quite good from an accommodations point of view.

The rug show was excellent, though my pictures from my iphone do not support that statement. I am very disappointed. I wonder if it was because I only got to see the show on Sunday when it was open to the public and I was constantly zigging and zagging around other viewers? Or just bad photos.

At any rate, I  had a definite favourite rug and a picture that is good enough to share. It did not win an award, but it was definitely a crowd favourite!!

Isn't it delightful? It was hooked by a member of London Ontario's Simply Hooked branch and is called "For Lynette". It is a compilation of her children's artwork - Jacob, Kate and William. I love every single thing in the rug, from the colours to the borders. It is the kind of piece that would make you smile no matter how many times you looked at it.

Since I am preparing for a Primitive class at the end of the month, my head is definitely in that space right now and perhaps that is why I adored this so much. I have to go through my kids' artwork and see what I can come up with.

The Primitive lesson planning is also seeping into a "challenge mat" that I have to design for Rug Beat. They published an article I wrote on the Challenges in a Challenge - and asked me to come up with one to go with the article. Obviously, I will have to participate in my own challenge, so I have a few ideas in mind - one being a Primitive treatment and one being anything BUT.  If you want to see what the challenge is, click your way over to Rug Beat.

My other incredible news is that I am going to be a "Grand" - before the end of the year. This is very exciting for Rick and I and for Laura (daughter) and her partner Kris. It all happened a little faster than they were planning, but it was definitely planned. What a wonderful Christmas it will be.

So now all those hexipuffs have a definite purpose and a "due date" lol.  And I can see a lot of hooking, knitting, quilting projects over the next several weeks, months, years.

This is definitely a club in which I am happy to become a member.