This is where we learn new ways to do things and share things we created out of necessity that work! smile! laugh! it makes the hooking go faster!
Oct 28, 2018
Here’s an alternative to putting glue in the back of small items like coasters or ornaments......silicone sealant! The finished result is very flexible and not at all stiff! See the video below from Wanda Kerr.
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September 26, 2018 SECRET MESSAGES
I am using the information I found from the "Hooked on Words" book from the Rug Hooking Magazine and a copy of this book is available to borrow from our lending library .
It talks about Secret messages in Rugs and how to decode them, in other words how to hook them, it is all in the technique. This is a good way to sign your rugs.
1. Write down your message then reverse the type and trace it on the backing material using a different coloured marker to contrast with your pattern. Trace the message on the right side of your rug.
2. Hook the message letter LOWER and at a narrower cut than the regular hooking on your rug. An example is to use a smaller cut and pull it to a hegiht a #3 or 4.
3 Then work the background area surroudnign the letter. Use a wider cut and hook the loops HIGHER, to the height of #6 or 8. When you are hooking near the message letters you will want to be closer than you might normally hook, one thread away rather than two.
4. When you get to the letter, stop and snip the wool. Begin hooking again on the other side of hte letter. This is a critical step to ensure your messge letter will not be obscurred by wool.
Sept 24, 2018
Ever want to stop threads from pulling out of hooked items? Especially pillows? Lynda Johnston has the solution! Iron on fusible interfacing to the back of your work! Here’s an example where she used it for an ornament!
July 27, 2018
Ever want to stop threads from pulling out of hooked items? Especially pillows? Lynda Johnston has the solution! Iron on fusible interfacing to the back of your work! Here’s an example where she used it for an ornament!
July 27, 2018
GROUP OF SEVEN
I have a subscription to Deanne Fitzpatrick's "WooIcake" where she gives tidbits of information of lots of different topics regarding rug hooking. We are hosting a workshop in October by Carol Shewan titled "A Walk in the Woods" with Tom Thomson and some of the things we hope to learn is hooking painterly. Deanne suggests that we look at artists' books when chossing a colour palette, she goes on to explain that sometimes just looking at colours that an artist has choosen gives us a base for our choice of colours in a totally different rug. For example we can take colours of blues and purples and grays from a landscape and even though we are not hooking a landscape this can be used as our colour pallete for our next project. It was quite interesting and shows us to give alot of thought and look around at books and nature to choose our colours. Check out this video and she hows she explains this, it is really intersting:
Basicaly she says that you could look at this picture and choose your colours and apply it to what you are working on not necessarily a landscape! You can see by the choice of colours how well they work together. Food for thought!
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May 7, 2018
Francine sent us an interesting item she found on Pinterest....ever wonder how many strips you can get from a given piece of fabric?
The image was linked on Pinterest to this article from a rug hooking store, also containing some useful info on fabric strips. Check it out here.
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April 5, 2018
Do you struggle to thread a needle some times? Here's a nifty way to do it - i've tried it and it seems to work MOST of the time. This fellow starts out by doing things the "regular" way, but then he shows you a different method - using friction to draw the thread through the eye. Try it!
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March 22, 2018
Greg had a great idea to hang his latest creation: he took a strip of wood, drilled holes in it, and attached hanger thingy's....and then sewed it to the back of his rug! No need for loops, casings or dowels.
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Dec 17, 2017
Here's an interesting video that was recently posted on the OHCG's Facebook page. It features Martha Stewart and an expert in antique rugs discussing how to care for and restore them....what do you think of their advice? Let us know!
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July 16, 2017:
Head over to the main blog to see this video about using stash wool to unify your colours!
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June 5, 2017 PRESS 'N SEAL
I had heard of this before but Loretta Moore brought it to my attention again and that is if you have trouble with your gripper strips on your frame pulling out your yarn or hooked loops (YES this has happened to me several times) then take some Press'n Seal bought at the grocery store and press it to the back of the completed hooking and "voila" they won't be pulled out!
June 5, 2017
Here's an idea that I think I first saw Shirley Stalford do, it was organizing our sniglets or worms! She took an old cotton placemat and put and row of elastic down the centre leaving little pockets to put her wool in. What a great way to organize your colours and create a pallett. Jennifer has done the same thing for her upcoming Oriental Course with Karen Kaiser. What a great idea and very packable!
Apr 9, 2017....some very useful info from Martina Lesar about cleaning your rugs. Click here to read all about it!
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Hit & Miss
May 7, 2018
Francine sent us an interesting item she found on Pinterest....ever wonder how many strips you can get from a given piece of fabric?
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April 5, 2018
Do you struggle to thread a needle some times? Here's a nifty way to do it - i've tried it and it seems to work MOST of the time. This fellow starts out by doing things the "regular" way, but then he shows you a different method - using friction to draw the thread through the eye. Try it!
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March 22, 2018
Greg had a great idea to hang his latest creation: he took a strip of wood, drilled holes in it, and attached hanger thingy's....and then sewed it to the back of his rug! No need for loops, casings or dowels.
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Dec 17, 2017
Here's an interesting video that was recently posted on the OHCG's Facebook page. It features Martha Stewart and an expert in antique rugs discussing how to care for and restore them....what do you think of their advice? Let us know!
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July 16, 2017:
Head over to the main blog to see this video about using stash wool to unify your colours!
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June 5, 2017 PRESS 'N SEAL
I had heard of this before but Loretta Moore brought it to my attention again and that is if you have trouble with your gripper strips on your frame pulling out your yarn or hooked loops (YES this has happened to me several times) then take some Press'n Seal bought at the grocery store and press it to the back of the completed hooking and "voila" they won't be pulled out!
June 5, 2017
Here's an idea that I think I first saw Shirley Stalford do, it was organizing our sniglets or worms! She took an old cotton placemat and put and row of elastic down the centre leaving little pockets to put her wool in. What a great way to organize your colours and create a pallett. Jennifer has done the same thing for her upcoming Oriental Course with Karen Kaiser. What a great idea and very packable!
Apr 9, 2017....some very useful info from Martina Lesar about cleaning your rugs. Click here to read all about it!
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Hit & Miss
I was experimenting on utube this morning and watched a video with Cindy Gay entitled hit & miss. She had hooked her rug and was adding a border that was in straight lines with different colours pulled from the rug. She was using up her stash of mixed colours and at first I thought "this is nothing special" but then she hit on a problem that I had seen in my own rug where I was filling in the background and that my straight lines or in my case not so straight lines where shifting from being able to fit in a loop to squishing in a loop and having it look messy, her solution to turn the loop sideways and presto it looked great!
Never would have thought of that, so simple!
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Today's tip comes to us from Margaret Eindhoven, who learned this gem from Germaine James. If you're faced with hooking something close to the edge of your foundation fabric, we often have to get creative in our use of the hoop. Margaret uses cut off sections of stockings (aka knee highs, panty hose, etc). Simply cut off a section, and loop it through your fabric. Use that strip to stretch your work within the frame - very easy, and not much bulk. It's especially good with a TUX frame.
Of course i had to go an try this out myself! I used one of those nasty socks you sometimes get on long haul flights and sliced it into 1-2" chunks. That creates a natural loop of fabric. 
Then i just stretched them out and inserted them into my fabric. From there you loop them through themselves and over the hoop. They hold really well.++++++++++++++++++++++
Printing on Foundation Fabric
If you're like me and can't draw, transferring a design to your foundation fabric can be a challenge. There is always RedDot, and I'm getting pretty good a tracing something with the help of a sunny window, but there is an alternative: you can use your printer! This will only work for pieces that will fit into your printer - i.e. no larger than 8 1/2 x 11 or 14, but it's an interesting technique to consider.
Click HERE to read the blog post on how to do it.
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DOTS!
Ever wondered how to hook small dots in your work without a bazillion ends? check out this video!
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The tip today came from our own Joyce Jones whom I asked for help! You see I am stepping out of my comfort zone and attempting to hook with a #4 cut. She said when hooking a detailed pattern such as mine above, first outline the design and then fill it in so it won't get messy. I sure have a long way to go with this rug but I am so grateful to have all the wisdom of our experienced rug hookers in our group, Thanks Joyce!!
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Our latest tip was taken from the Rug Hooking Magazine and it talks about architecture of buildings in Europe and how all structures have similarities so check out this interesting link by clicking on the underlined phrase "all structures have similiarites" to find out more!
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Jennifer sent me an interesting e-mail which she stated she had checked out the new OHCG website and they had an interesting link about the museum in Cheticamp Nova Scotia.
Check it out!
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What size cut do you use?
I was reading on the Rug Hooking Magazine website and they suggest you keep these 4 things in mind regarding the size of cut you use:
Scale of your pattern whether it is a coaster or a large rug
Type of wool you are using
Amount of time you want to spend on the project
What overall effect you want to create
This certainly is "food for thought" before you begin a project!
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STRESS STRESS STRESS!!!!!
I was reading on the Rug Hooking Magazine website and they suggest you keep these 4 things in mind regarding the size of cut you use:
Scale of your pattern whether it is a coaster or a large rug
Type of wool you are using
Amount of time you want to spend on the project
What overall effect you want to create
This certainly is "food for thought" before you begin a project!
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STRESS STRESS STRESS!!!!!
Deanne Fitzpatrick was asked what is the biggest mistake she sees in rug hooking and she said TENSION in holding the hook, tension in the body, tension , tension tension so we need to think about why we hook and create a calm, relaxing atmosphere and ENJOY the pleasure of pulling our loops. For more information go to Deanne's webiste:
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WHEN you bring your hooked piece anywhere roll it so the outside of the rug is showing, this makes it lay flat when you put it on the floor.
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GREG recommends the "Eaton Edge" for binding a rug. Check out this video. Early rugs had the binding out on first and then you hooked up to them...but that leaves an exposed edge. People then stopped doing the binding in favour of whipping the edge, as that encloses the edge.
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ALWAYS hook the sky horizontally. Your eye "expects" sky to be oriented this way. Joyce says the horizontal lines hold your eyes into the picture.
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FINISHING TECHNIQUES
Rug Binding by Marjorie Duizer 2008
1. Press by placing the finished rug on a flat surface and steam on backside first, then turn over and stem on right side. Use a damp press cloth and don't move your iron around--just lift it and press starting in the center and working toward the edge. Lay flat to dry (usually overnight).
2. Sew three rows of stitching around rug approx 1/2 inch from last row of hooking, then 3/4 inch and then 1 inch. Trim off excess burlap.
3. Fold over to back side of rug enclosing cording in the fold and baste in place.
4. Whip using 100% wool ( 3or 4 ply) working from front to back and having your stitch as close as possible to last row of hooking.
5. If whipping an oval or circular rug gently pull the cording to make the rug lay flat as you are whipping.
6. On a square or rectangular rug, mitre the corners.
7. When applying the binding ( have it pre-shrunk before you apply to the rug) hand stitch it as close as possible to the whipping and then stitch the other edge to the rug, covering the exposed backing. Mitre the corners of the backing as well.
8. Before finished hemming, place a few strands of the hooking wool under the binding, so you will have it to repair your rug if ever needed.
I especially like #8 where she tells us to add a few strands of wool under the binding in case of repair!
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SHARPIE MARKER
When you finish whipping your piece with wool some times you can see the light linen colour near the edges of your last row of hooking so a wise woman Janet told me she uses a sharpie marker to colour in the little inconsistencies, it works!.
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