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Monday, March 28, 2016

A new creative outlet.

I may have told you all this but before I found my love of beading I was a cross-stitcher, quilter, and all around general crafter.  I love most forms of art that involve needle, thread and fabric.  Quilting did give me my first feeling of being an artist.  This was my first design of my own.

I loved quilting but then I found the beads and for the last 8 years it pretty much consumed all my creativity and really made me feel like a true artist however, I have been feeling a bit burned out for a while and needed something to jump start the artist in me.  Around the holidays I bought my first needle felting kit.

I fell in love with it.  I considered buying another kit but then I really wanted to challenge myself.  So I went to a local shop to check out their supply of felting wool.  They really didn't have a good supply but I was able to get some white and fun grey.  As I was there I noticed the rugs (mostly wall hangings because who would actually walk on them) I had seen them before but never really up close and I was very intrigued.  One of the owners was more than happy to show me more and how it was done and tell me she offered class making this rug.

Now I know when I tell you this is called rug hooking most of you will instantly think of the hippy yarn thing that was popular,  This is not that.  Primitive rug hooking uses wool strips hooked into a linen (burlap) backing, creating pictorials that truly amaze.  In fact I was able to attend a Hook-In which was an all day hooking fun fest.  Look at the amazing rugs I was able to see.







I have to say I was a bit intimidated by all the artistry however, these ladies were full of compliments, tips and all around excitement to have newbies to the craft,   It was very welcoming.  This was so good for me as I had changed up my rug from the class sample and was feeling very unsure of myself.  Here is what my rug looked like at that time.

As you see from the class picture to mine I had made the decision to change those funky(and frankly scary) flowers to trees.  I wasn't seeing what I had planned until one of the ladies said "never look at your rug on your lap, always lay it on the floor to get a good idea of what you like"  so I did and I was pleased.  Here is my completed rug.

I am so happy with this one that I have been hunting for my next one but let me tell you a secret.  I discovered you can design your own!  That just blew me away.  All of the sudden I saw why I was drawn to this.  The artistic expression on such a personal level that I had found in beading is also in rug hooking.  Here is the rug I have designed and begun working on.

Now when the beads are silent or I just need to do something different I have another outlet to create in.

Do you have other outlets that excite you?  Tell me about them.

2 comments:

  1. I love your rug, and it was fun to see the WIPs from the hook in. I hope you show us your coffee rug as it comes along!

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    Replies
    1. I will and thank you so much for stopping by

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