Braiding and Here Be Dragons

Still slowly working on Here Be Dragons mat. With luck it'll be done by this weekend. I think I have about 1/4 of it to go. I do think I am going to try using Monk's for any future cotton fabric mats. The rug warp really doesn't like irregular shaped strips which most of my t-shirt strips are since I torn them instead of cut them. I am ever so grateful for my slanted hook other wise I probably would have been very frustrated and sore handed doing this.

Most of my week I have been concentrating on my first braiding project which will end up as a small oval bath or kitchen mat. It's out of cotton quilting type fabrics from my slash. I'm doing it in shades of blues with a little lavender and pinks throw in. Though the pinks may not be used on this, It depends on how big this turns out. It's getting fairly big as it is very quickly. It is more narrow than fat so far and debating what to do to fix that. I am learning a lot on color progressions. I braided a bunch of the fabrics first and then started sewing instead of braiding a bit, then sewing and braiding some more, sew, etc. So I really didn't know how this was going to come out color or pattern wise. Next one will be braid a bit, sew that, braid, sew and try to get the colors and develop a pattern of colors as I go along. This is not one of my better projects. My braiding technique needs lots of work especially with the cottons to get the braiding even and consistent looking. Both my daughters are interested in this mat, especially the fact it's washable. I will be making more and giving them for xmas this year.

I can't wait until I get a chance to try the braiding in wools. This weekend I get to house sit again--yeah, which means house to myself and can spread out my fabrics, look at what I have, do some color planning for some of newer canvases I want to do and do some dyeing too. If I can get some money from hubby also hit the thrift stores. I need to start gathering wools for Walk Me's border. I know already I'm low on browns and have a good idea how much I'm going to have to acquire for doing at least a 4 to 6 inch braided border around it.

I also hope to play around with braiding to try and figure out how Delsie Holt of Kingdom Moon Rugs http://www.kingdommoonrugs.com/gallery.html does her rugs. I totally love them. I really want to try and do scenery type rugs like she does.

Hopefully the local rug hooking group is still going to meet today. They cancel it if there are less than 4 attending. I am determined to make this one and actual meet another hooker in person. I am still disappointed that the local teacher isn't teaching and I'll have to go to another state to take classes for my beginning requirements to get into teacher training. Even though I look like I don't need beginner lessons there are a lot of things I don't know and I do want to teach eventually and am too unsure of myself just to put myself out there as a teacher yet. I want to teach but am afraid to at the same time. Not that I have any extra money for going to anyone's classes as money is very tight here at home. And no extra money to put back and save either for future classes or camps in the future. I'm not very good at making money with my arts and crafts either. I really suck at it. I enjoy doing them but never manage to sell them for decent prices. Never sure what to charge or what anything is really worth. I have business training and have run businesses but I don't like doing it. What I need is a business manager/partner or keeper that will take care of all the business aspects of my art while I concentrate on creating and making it. Hopefully, the right person will show up sometime.

I'm Back

I've been staying over at my daughter's house the last couple of weeks while her SO was out of town doing sci-fi cons as photographer of celebrities. He was doing one in Fl then had to go up to Detroit for another with a brief pit stop at home. Occasionally my daughter gets to go with him but not these last trips. When she does get to go my granddaughter, Aurora, gets photoed graphed with the stars too like the cast of Battlestar, James Marsters and others. I'm hoping I get to Dragon Con this year as they will be having James and Patrick Stewart and a bunch more--I haven't checked the confirmed guest list yet.

Kendra and James Marsters

Firefly cast with Kendra and Aurora

Aurora and Kendra with Battlestar cast

Kendra, Aurora, and Corey with James Marsters (Spike on Buffy and Angel, Capt. John on Torchwood and Brainiac on Smallville


I have been working on rugs over there. I get so much more done when there isn't the net to distract me as they don't have Internet. I've almost got the Here Be Dragons mat done--I figure 2-3 days yet to go. I started back working on the Folk Angel rug I started in January with the #12 cuts or 1" wide strips. I'm trying to get some of the older UFO's done before I jump in on the new canvases I did last month. It's going a lot easier this time around hooking it because of my slant shaft hook which makes pulling the big strips through a lot less wearing on my hands. It's not a Hartman--not able to afford 35.00 for a hook yet.

Folk Angel


Here be Dragons Mat


I've also been experimenting with braiding using cottons from my fabric slashes to make a bath or kitchen rug. I'm trying to get the basics down so I can do a braid edging around Walk Me when I get it done.




I've been looking into getting teacher training so I can get certified eventually to teach rug hooking here in SC. I'm only one of maybe 8 people that do hooking in SC and I can't find anyone that does braiding here--that's very sad and pitiful. There are very few professional traditional artists in SC period in any medium--guess everyone moved elsewhere or they gave up and quit doing it. I want to take classes but all the one's I want to take are a good distance away and too me very expensive, not even counting traveling, rooms and food. On both ATHA and the McGown sites there are teachers in NC and GA so I guess I'm going have to go there. I have to have at least a basic class and recommendation from a teacher to get into any of the teacher training classes. Even though there are a lot of self taught, like me, teachers out there I need help in learning to teach and do classes. Lot of self confidence problems. Maybe something will break and I'll be able to do this somehow.

Here Be Dragons progress, etc.

I've been busy over at my daughters since last weekend and haven't had a chance to update. I'm working on two projects at once. The Here Be Dragons mat in cotton t-shirt strips which is a little over 1/2 done and the cat's paw runner which I took the acrylics I had hooked out and am doing in now in quilter's cottons from my fabric stashes. I am also learning to do braiding. I'm using bits of fabrics I am using in cat's paw and will be attaching the finished braid to the runner as a test to see how braiding a border will work with Walk Me when I get it done. The cat's paw is 12" wide by 31-33" long if I remember rightly. With the added braided border it'll be more useful. The braiding is interesting and frustrating since it is in cottons.

I still have to go on hunt and search the thrift stores trips to get up enough fabrics for the WM border as all the wools in my stash are spoken for for projects. But thrift stores have to wait as we are too broke right now for me to do any shopping at them. Business at the computer shop has been down with people not picking up their fixed machines and my kids have not been paying their very low rents to us and we still have to pay out money for shop, house and trailer rents and ultilities. No to mention food and gas. And since Ebay won't let me sell my downloable to email sxstitch patterns in the regular xstitch area like I had been for almost 7 years I have almost no income myself coming in. The xstitch was paying for my backing fabrics and other supplies. Anyway I'll figure something out.