Theatre Friends

It is that time of year, when my summer theatre activities wrap up.  Today was the last day for our junior/senior high group.  The 'littles' had their last class on Monday. Now we start the big final production weekend, Saturday night rehearsals, Sunday afternoon final dress rehearsal and then the first show on Sunday night and another one on Monday night at 6:30.  There are 50 kids in the program this year, and they have been attending class, one afternoon a week all summer long.  That means in 8 weeks they learn all their material to sing, dance and stage 23 numbers for their show which is about as entertaining as an hour can be.  Tickets are $10, if you would like to attend.....The Elkhorn Valley Community Theatre in Valley Nebraska is the location.

I teach this program and have for many, many years.  It is my favorite 'job' and it takes me about 2 days to start missing these kids and wishing we were starting all over again.  This year one of our fellow rug hookers, Pat Shafer, has volunteered to help with costuming and organizing the back stage, which is a colossal undertaking with 50 kids, each of whom wears three different costumes.  Oooooh, don't do the math.  Poor Pat!  Pat's husband Steve is our sound guy and does an excellent job handling that extremely important job.  This year Pat and Steve's granddaughter Emily is doing summer theatre.  She is an excellent violinist and has a very important part in one of the scenes.

OK, back to rug hooking......since my mind is on summer theatre, costumes, etc.....I decided to show you my 'theatre rug'.  I made this rug for my voice studio at the theatre, several years ago.  During the school year I give 12-15 voice lessons a week to kids and adults.  My theatre office/studio is my home away from home, so I made this rug to commemorate some of my favorite shows and some favorite characters from shows we have done over the 30 years I have been running this theatre.

Look closely and you will see ANNIE, TINY TIM, DOROTHY, THE LION and SCARECROW etc.   Each of those characters was played by a person special to me.....that is how they made the cut to be on the rug.   My significant other Carl is seen as Cogsworth the Clock, the part he played in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.  My daughter Leah is in the burgandy dress she wore when she played Gooch when I played MAME.  My friend Ken made the rug as SCROOGE.  My bestie Beth was the Wicked Witch of West in THE WIZARD OF OZ and I can be seen playing my favorite part....Eliza Doolittle.  You will undoubtably recognize me in my black and white Ascot dress.  On the end is my friend Don Overholt.  He played Sitting Bull when we did ANNIE GET YOUR GUN years ago.  Don is gone now, but his friendship is forever remembered in this rug.

This is a pattern from the Frazier company, called Ring a Round the Rosie, I believe.  It has children running in a circle.  I drew in the costumes and hair-dos and hats to make them into their characters.  I also drew in a "yellow brick road" for them to dance around.  I love this rug.

I will show you some pictures next week from the summer theatre shows.  Will we try to 'break a leg'.

Soon,
Janice

Dancing Horses

Here is a fun rug that anyone could make.  I love horses, have I mentioned that?  And since my store is The Rug Hooking Store at Black Horse Antiques, you can imagine that I hook lots of black horses in my rugs.  This rug is on my bedroom floor.  I made it to go with a certain bedspread, something you are never supposed to do, since your room decor can change, but I figured when I change the bedspread, I will hook a new rug for that spot.
This was very simple to design and could be drawn with anything, not just horses.  A lady who saw this rug was inspired to hook one with crows, but a dogs and cats rug or birds or stars or....well, you get the idea, it could be about anything.
I laid out my linen, drew the border in the dimension I wanted.  This a pretty large rug, but any size would work.  Then I took 5 simple horse shapes.  These are horse figures that I have used in different rugs and had the templates ready to reuse.  I save every design I draw or important figures from the designs and store them in manilla envelopes, marked with the design on the outside.  It is a simple filing system, but they are always handy if I need a good star, or flower or animal or.....yes, I see that you understand this as well.
I copied off the various horse shapes, got down on the floor and started arranging them in all directions.  I wanted them to be moving every which way, so there was no particular orientation for the rug.   When I got them in a position I liked, I used my trusty Sharpie to draw them in.  Then the fun began.  Again,  those backgrounds are so much fun to me.  I just drew in shapes with my marker, they are basically in the shape of triangles.  Long triangles, short ones, fat ones etc.  After I hooked all the black horses, with a plethora of different blacks, I simply outlined a triangle and continued to contour it with different colors.  My background was variations of 3 colors, black, gold and turquoise.  Remember, the designer's rule of thumb is to use 3's and 5's to keep the eye happy.  Well,  this simple rug of dancing horses, is certainly a happy rug.

Next time friends,
Janice

Guest Artist

I got a call and an email from good friend Jan Goos yesterday.  Jan is one of the most talented colorists I know and apparently the apple does not fall far from the tree.  These pictures show a project that her daughter Michelle is working on.
This is a Primitive Spirit pattern that they bought here at the store.  They color planned it when they were here for a visit and this is the result.  I love the colors they chose!  The background of the flower basket is wonderfully variegated.  I can't wait to see it progress.  They promised more pictures as she gets more of it done.

I love the flower in the corner.  By using a variety of colors, pinks, rose, blue, yellow, in short strips, she has achieved 'brush strokes' like you would if you were painting.  It is very subtle and makes the flower so much more interesting.

I like the greens they have chosen too.  Jan is a big fan of the silo series,  Summer Silo, Silver Silo and Sand Hills Silo.  They are soft greyed blue greens, related so they all look terrific together.
I think green is the trickiest color to work with.
Of all colors, I think green values are the most challenging.  If you do not use greens that are different enough in value, they blend together and look like a blob.   I also like to use blue greens and yellow greens in the same project, so leaves, stems, and grass are more interesting.  Color planning here in the store I often find people are reluctant to mix yellow greens and blue greens, but if I show them examples and 'encourage' them, they become believers.

Thanks Jan and Michelle for the photos.  Jan is one of our teachers at The Nebraska Rug Hooking Retreat that I put on at the Lied Center in Nebraska City every November.  Her specialty is what I call "elegant primitive".  She loves primitive color and style, but in her very unique way.  She is technically just a beautiful rug hooker, as well, and always has interesting tips to share.  If you are interested in attending the retreat, check out the RETREAT page in the toolbar at my website www.janicelee.biz  We still have some spaces available with Jan Goos and Pris Buttler for this November's RETREAT.

Next time,
Janice

Heirloom Theorem

I am still in Heirloom Rug Class mode, but promise to move along tomorrow.  Above is a picture of a rug my friend Sandy Weller did in an Heirloom Rug Class that I taught several years ago.  Sandy chose to hook a theorem in the Pennsylvania Dutch style.  This rug shows the soft watercolors used in old theorem paintings, very lovely.  But again, the background is what makes it interesting to me.  We selected 6 or 8 different dark values to be our 'black' background.  By hooking them in patches, vertically, Sandy made the rug look faded or water stained, just like a 150 year old theorem might be.
Diane Stoffel taught me to think about everything in light, medium and dark values.  As you can see this background has light, medium and dark 'blacks' that give the effect we wanted.  If we had chosen darks that were too similar in value, it would have been a more solid look.  We wanted 'old' and I think that is exactly what Sandy achieved.  Way to go Sandy!

Tomorrow...
Janice

More Heirloom Designs

I must be getting excited about the September Heirloom Rug Class coming up, because I have been thinking about favorite 'antique' looking rugs and what is so appealing about them.  First of all, they are so useable.  You don't feel bad about throwing them down on the floor and walking on them day after day, when the wear just makes them look more desirably older.  I also love the simple patterns, not too much detail in these primitive oldies.  Most of all, they fit in so perfectly with the antiques in my home and store.  I have had the antique store for 31 years, and the rug hooking portion of it for 12 years.  That makes me officially an antique lover first.   The rugs in my house have to look like they belong here.

The 2 horse rug on top is always a favorite in the store.  This pattern was sold by Patsy Becker.  I used lots of variety in my black horses, but the real fun was the background.   I pulled out some of my over-dyed favorites, Pecos Sand and Toasted Almond, with a wide range of values from light to medium.  I knew there was a lot of background in the rug, so rather than do a random draw for the background, I drew in these simple shapes and figures.  I gave the design corners, gave it the simple triangle border on the top and geometric contours where ever I could fit them in.
Then, darker values for the figures and a lighter mixture for the rest.  It is a fun rug to study, from a distance you see a tan background, as you get closer you start to pick up the different points of interest in the background.

To compare, I am showing the deer rug I made for my son's room. (No, I did not give him this one either)  When my son moved out years ago, I redid his room but kept the deer theme.  He had pictures of deer all over the room, so I thought I should keep the deer around to remind me of him (Not that I could ever forget that big galoot).  I hooked this rug and it is on the floor at the foot of his bed.  This is a Quail Hill pattern from an antique design.  I am showing it because it makes such an interesting contrast with it's straight line background.  The rug is so simple, with 2/3 or more of it's background being the sky, that I thought I would keep the background simple as well and chose to do straight line hooking.  That is a technique often seen in old rugs and it can give a quick and simple 'old' look to a rug.  The interest in this background is the color of the wool I used.  It is ECLIPSE and is one of my own recipes.  It is tanny green and looks old, old, old.

So contours and figures or simple straight lines, both can give a rug an antique look.  The plan and the application of the plan are the key to success.

I have to go check on my kittens, now.  They visited the vet yesterday to get shots and altered.  They are 6 really irked kittens right now and they are barely speaking to me.  I better go try to make amends.

Soon,
Janice

Heirloom Rug Class

 Summer is waning fast and that means September and my Heirloom Rug Class will be here before we know it.  This year's class will be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday September 15, 16 and 17, from 9-3:30.   We usually stay late and hook past dinner time.  Carl will make us dinner so we don't have to stop hooking.

For those of you who don't know about this class, here are some photos of the type of rugs we work on in the class.  This is my specialty and I love teaching how to make your own 'antique look' or heirloom rug.  I wrote a nice book about it and each student gets a copy of the book when they attend class.  We discuss the various ways to achieve this old look and then each student incorporates 4 or 5 of the 15 different techniques into their rug.

I always say these rugs are so homely that only a mother could love them, but that is unfair!  They really are beautiful in their primitive way and certainly are some of my favorites.  The horse rug above is the one I use for my store logo.  I drew this pattern, but it was inspired by an antique rug. The black horse seems straight forward enough, but was really rather complicated.  And although the original may have been done with scraps, the planning of this 'scrappy' rug was also an interesting labor.

I also drew the chicken family, yet it too was inspired by an antique rug.  Making the stains in the background which resembled the original was tricky.  I know some of my friends wondered why I wanted to make a brand new rug look stained, but I am sure you get the point.  It aged it immediately!

The horse/chicken/rooster rug is a pattern from Woolley Fox.  The background of that rug is really a great use of scraps.  I took all my "blackesque" wool, separated them so they stayed with their friends, then drew pools and puddles into the background of the pattern with my Sharpie marker.  Then instead of mixing the black
wools, I filled in individual areas with one color of wool.  I was careful to balance them thru out, so I maintained by triangle placement, always using a single color in three places.  Hopefully you can see the different black/green, black/brown, black/check, etc wool thru out the background.  It gave the rug an automatic old feel and used up lots of leftovers beside.

The 3 Roosters rug is also an antique inspired rug.  This one I did not draw, but the pattern maker is no longer in business, to my knowledge.  I used 10 different blacks in the roosters and then managed my background of browns sugars, pecos sand and toasted almond, so it looks like one end has faded lighter.   Or maybe the maker had to stew a new pot of wool and the walnuts she used for her dye were no longer in season.

Ah......vintage rugs, my passion.  If you would like to learn how to make your own "Heirloom Rug" call or write me for more information.  There are still 2 spots available in the September 2013 class.

More rugs next time,
Janice

More Views

 Here are some more of the good people who were here for our special Saturday hooking last week.  Jan Goos is pictured, not at a rug, but at my computer trying to help me figure out some blogging things.  For instance, even tho you may be signed up to get emails when I do a blog, it may not be working.  I am not sure why.....so rather than wait for an email, keep checking in.  I am trying to blog every day or two.  Also, I have not quite figured out how to respond to comments.  Ah, yes, I am embarrassed, but I think I have worked that out.  I am not trying to ignore you kind commenters, I have just not been sure how to answer.  I think I have it now!

Colleen Cochrane  is shown working on her rug from the Sharon Smith class.  Colleen chose the "Pansies" pattern as a gift for her mother.  It has been challenging as she worked at balancing the colors thru out the rug.  She has the background done now and I will show you a picture of the rug soon.

I am going to throw in some pictures of wool in an effort to tempt you all to come visit me at the store.  I know, subtlety is not my forte.   My dyed wool addiction is even worse than my pattern problem.  The good thing is......I LOVE TO DYE WOOL....so there is always plenty to see here at The Rug Hooking Store.   I also love making new colors, so there are literally hundreds of different colors and thousands of pieces of hand-dyed wool to see.  On top you see just one of the areas of dyed wool.  On the bottom you see 1/8 yd strips I made for a class.  These are baked and prepared in my own little process.  They are absolutely gorgeous and very versatile. Try one sometime, they are fantastic fun to incorporate in your rug.    Come visit.  I love company.

There is a storm coming.  I better shut down for now.
Janice