My dear husband hung my retirement hooked rug today. It is in a post near the end of February that I updated and edited today. After we were finished he mentioned that he hung Bob's rug too. Bob adopted us about a 10 years ago. He is an American Bobtail with tuxedo markings. I'll add a pic of him to this post after find one on the computer. He has been quite a clown, and is a great hunter. His favorite prey seems to be the rats that are quite common to this area, although our address is in a suburban area that wouldn't boast about rats. So his rug had to be of him finishing off a rat. Bob will eventually cross the rainbow bridge, as so many beloved pets do, but this will help us to keep our memories of him in his prime. I made it during our first challenge this year for An American Primitive Group.

A Mini Lesson on Color and Value

I thought this was a great time to document the benefits of reverse hooking on a rug. Color choices can make such a difference. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of the original prior to reverse hooking and choosing a different color for an area. The dark brown of the dirt road went up to the dark purple of the "trailer". From a distance, the trailer just didn't show up very well. Brown and purple and it didn't show up? That was because their value was too close. It is why lots of deep colors can be mixed in with black for an antique black. So I knew change was needed.

My color choices are limited by the fact I don't dye with anything but koolaid. More about that in another post. Most of my wool is upcycled from discarded men's sport coats, ladies blazers, or skirts*trailer is from a tweed skirt* OR hand dyed wool I purchase from other members of Primitive Rug Hooking Group PRHG on ebay. Such as Christy Mason of Double M Sheep! So first the reverse hooking which really just means pulling out the wool strip that is hooked into the backing. My backing, 100 % linen is visible in the photo. You simply find an end and tug to remove it.

If you look below the trailer you'll see a light brown that appears brighter than it is because of the contrast in value. So now the trailer "pops". :) Should make me happy, but sadly, as my hooking experience has developed, thanks to observing the beautiful work of all my rug hooking groups, An American Primitive Gathering in particular, it just won't do. Not only does the trailer pop, but so does the new buffer color. Looks out of place with two darks on either side.

Second reverse hooking, with the really medium brown strips coming out and a sage green plaid strips in their place. Voila! The rug works so much better! :) Blending is quite an improvement over disappearing or sore thumb placement! I like clear bright colors, but not when they stand out like a sore thumb.

CPLG monthly giveaway!

The drawing for these precious yellowware baskets is currently going on at the CPLG Blog.
The actual drawing will be done on April 14th, so you still have a few days to make a comment! Good luck!

Come visit me at Discovery Green on April 11th!

If you are in the Houston Area, this coming Saturday will be part of the Earth Day celebrations. I will have my items in a booth area during the afternoon from 2 - 6 pm. The Green Market will open in the morning, and there will be lots of other activities as well. If you haven't visited Discovery Green yet, why not come out this weekend.

I'll be bringing some small rugs, table mats, and upcycled items such as the bunnies now listed in my etsy shop. The bunnies were made from a hand embroidered and quilted lilac quilt. So why cut it up? Well, the quilt was also covered with cigarette burns. Why not set the good parts free to another use? Hope to see you there!

Earth Hour 2009 Saturday March 28, 8:30 pm your local time

Join in the vote for our planet! Saturday, March 28 8:30 your local time. Turn off the lights, stay off the computer, no tv, maybe go outside and look at the stars. Meditate, pet the cat, or whatever you'd like to do. Help world leaders understand the need for working together on the problem of global warning.

My first recipe to share!

Grandma Jo's Birthday Party Grits preheat oven to 350

Spray pans before filling. This makes a lot. I used a short round 12 in diameter casserole
pan, and a foil cake pan.

2 cups quick grits
8 cups water

Place 8 cups of water in a Dutch Oven or large stockpot
Bring it to a boil
Add 1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes
1 TBSP garlic powder
2 cups of quick grits
Stir constantly once you add the grits, cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

Once the grits are cooked,

Add and stir in:
1 TBSP parsley flakes or fresh chopped parsley(chives are good too)
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
1 ~ 8 oz package of cream cheese cubed
1 16 oz container sour cream
12 oz of Velveeta cubed ~ I cut off the chunk, then slice through in thirds from 3
different sides to make the cubes. Break the chunks cubed apart before dropping into
the still hot grits.


Once all the add~ins are incorporated/melted into the grits, put them in the pan and
pop them in the oven for 30 ~ 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned. I usually
sprinkle a bit more Montreal Steak Seasoning and Garlic Powder on the top of the dish.

Grits tend to be a bit bland, so adding extra seasoning on top, spices up the servings.

The kids are having a good ole Texas Barbecue to celebrate Olivia's 1st Birthday. We'll be bring Grandpaparazzi's Barracho Beans and my fancy party grits. There would be lots of ways to slim down this recipe, like using no fat cream cheese, or substituing plain yogurt for the sour cream. So if you are watching your calories, Use Molly McButter instead of the real McCoy...

I finished my Retirement rug!

It is finally finished. The edges are turned under, and it is hanging on the wall. This rug is actually a primary source! I started my teaching career in 1968, and taught until 2008. During that period of time, we landed on the moon, the internet became available for use by schools, and our first African American President, Barack Obama, was elected! At the bottom, you can see a white section, that has my first email address acquired somewhere around 1990 or so. To the right you can see portions that include my two favorite internet projects. The Jason Project, which we did at Hidden Hollow Elementary in Kingwood, TX and Journey North(my absolute all time favorite internet project).

But there is so much more hidden in the symbolism of this rug. For example you probably notice that the 3 central parts have different colored backgrounds at the bottom. They are black for slate, green and white. My first school actually had the same style slate boards as when I went to school as a girl. After moving to Texas, and returning to newer school there were green chalkboards, and eventually the magnetic white dry erase boards. On the first you can see A, B, C in white for the white chalk we used. The middle section has j,k,l, in yellow like the anti glare yellow chalk that became popular. Those letters happens to be my initials and the middle of the alphabet and at the end W, x, y, z. You might have already figured out the profile is one of my favorite presidents, George Washington. If you haven't read a biography of his life, you should give yourself that pleasure.

The school house in the middle section has a dragonfly zipping along above it. TX roof, because the larger part of my career was here in TX. Dragonfly because, well, if you know me, you know that :)...

To give some perspective to its size which is roughly 30 inches by 50 here is a pic of a part of the rug and a French Door leading to our dining room. If you peek through the door, you can see light reflecting off the top of my dh's bald head. He hung this finished rug for me today. Not quite a year after the date I retired after 35 years as an elementary teacher.