First Rug Hooking Project

As promised, here is a picture of my first primitive rug hooking project. It was started on Mother's Day weekend at a class at the http://www.shepherdsharvestfestival.org/. The original design by Victoria Jacobson of http://www.angelgirlstudio.com called for simple stripes, either horizontally or going around the heart. I modified it to add the flowers at the center. I finished it as a small rug but intend to sew it to a pillow form. I need to go shopping for some wool fabric that will coordinate with my bedroom quilt but am waiting to finish enough blocks to make a pillow sham to take along to coordinate with.

I have to admit that this project didn't thrill me. I was limited to the color choices in the kit. She did bring a bunch of strips along and allowed us to trade in colors that we didn't want for different ones. Since my MBR is in purples and greens, I was able to swap out some really outlandish colors for others that would coordinate better but didn't feel I wanted to spend a lot of money for additional fabrics to make the rug even more coordinated. I also found the technique itself hard on my hands, which take a beating as it is, between my hand crafts and boxing and household responsibilities. If I absolutely adored the craft, I might be worth the wear and tear on my hands but it just didn't put me in that relaxed, metitative state that knitting or hand-quilting often does. However, when I stopped by my LQS to pick up the tape to finish the back, I saw some needlepunch projects hanging on their walls that were absolutely adorable. So, who knows, maybe that's another new craft to try . . .? I'm always on the hunt for the new and exciting.

As a side note, I'll be out of town for a week with my daughters at a dance camp. I'm hoping to have access to a computer to perhaps post once or twice but can't be sure. I'm dragging several projects along to fill the hours while DD#1 is at dance camp and the others are swimming, playing, or napping, so I'm hoping to have several UFO's crossed off my list by the end of next week. Woohoo!