Onto Autumn Fruit on Off the Wall Friday

Shirley, hooked by Kyoko Okamura, 40" by 37"

 So, I'm onto my 2nd big project- Autumn Fruit designed by Pearl McGown & Jane McGown Flynn.  I'm still pretty shocked that I got this lovely pattern on linen with all the wool kitted out and class instructions all for $20 on eBay.  The more I looked at the project, the more I realized what an amazing deal it was.  Not to mention, it's a perfect 2nd project.  First it will teach me to follow a pattern and also shows me how to gradate the pattern to give it depth.  

It was given as a Northern McGown Teachers Workshop by Kyoko Okamura on July 17, 2018. (So nearly 8 years to the day from when I started it.)  The project comes with all the wool plainly labeled, a lesson in color planning and then detailed directions on how the fruit needed to be hooked.  This is where we started with the maker ending on the fourth step or so  :

The strips are in #7 cut (7/32).  I don't happen to have that die size, so I'll be using #6 cut (6/32nd or 3/16th's) I mean how much a difference can that be?  The lady who started this did exquisite work.  Her loops all are super - super even.   It's a bit intimidating but I put my big girl pants on, silenced the critic committee in my head and got the peach leaf done.  Not super even, but color placement is right and it looks fine.  

Next in the directions where the plums.  But, reading the directions carefully, I could tell that this is where the maker decided to leave the directions behind. (I mean who hasn't done THAT!)  She followed the color placement like the pear with the values gradating to show the shape of a round plums.  This is her version, and you can see how gorgeous her work is - 

But Kyoto went off of the actual picture that the pattern was based on.  Many rug patterns are made from traditional paintings and rugs. So her directions, had you using a whole different color and playing with values of the plums as a whole not the individual spots in them.  Bravely, I ripped out the beautiful loops of the maker and decided to trust in Kyoko's directions.  Taking loops out in rug hooking is easy since there are no knots - so with a tug here and a tug there - the plums disappeared.  That's when I realized that all the colors the maker had used were completely different.  

I spent yesterday putting in the plums and the leaves.  I experiemented with using a #3 cut (yep - that's 3/32nd - see you're gettin' the hang of this!) for the stem of the leaf. The color was the same and I wanted to see how the little loops looked with the 6.  Traditionally, most rugs are hooked with loops that are only 2 size difference - but I can see me totally blowing that off.  I mean really - rug hooking for me is about  texture and line and you can't play with texture and line without adding scale to it.  

They totally look different.  Not better not worse but you can see why she decided to go her own way. This is right though by the pattern and how Kyoko intended.

This is where I am so far - WoW!  this is turning into quite a lesson in value! One thing I love about it is that it's so easy to sit down and hook for 20-30 minutes at a time.  Quilting had turned into a big production that I never seem to have enough energy or time for.  I'm  self-aware enough to realize this is more a Nina issue rather than a quilting issue.  Apparently, a wool strip measured in 32nds isn't as intimidating at this season in life.  

Thanks though for going along on this rug hooking journey with me....

Onto Cool Things I've found....two treasures this month....

1. Hartman Hooks (Irish Hook) - now most people don't realize what a find this is  - but rug hookers know!  In 1988, an Irish man designed these beautiful rug hooking tools out of yew wood and brass.  An American woman distributed them here for the last 30 years.  Recently both retired and the hooks which were a staple in the rug hooking world became scarce.  After much research, I found a yarn shop up in Maine which had the #5 Ergo Hook as a back up for my #6 and the #3 Ergo for fine work.  (Both at good prices!)  The thing about hooks is that the hand wants what the hand wants and my hand loved the Hartman Ergo.  I did find out that the original designer's son is still making them in Ireland, so you can order them from EBay and Etsy but then they have to be imported and it's a whole expensive production.  So now with three Hartman hooks I'm set!

   

   Who knew such a little tool could be such a pain to find?

   
   
2.  My husband and I love thrifting and I'm always on thelook out for something unique.  Today I found the quilting book - Yoko Saito's Houses, Houses, Houses.  It's such a gorgeous translation of her Japanese book.  The book explains in minute detail how to design a small houses quilt.  Then there are directions and patterns to make them into 3D projects or a Block of the Month quilt.  All of it, I believe is done by hand applique. This has me thinking, I could do a version featuring my small town.  
   
   
   

That's what I've been doing - 

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