Monday 28 May 2012

Wavy Cynthia rug so far

Loving my speed shuttle. It is a living thing.
The canvas, too, becomes alive after a few square inches have been hooked; a tension is developed which was not there before.
These pix show back and front. A lot of ends to be trimmed.

Sunday 20 May 2012

starting Cynthia rug

My mother wanted pinks/terracottas/earth tones. I stripped up 28 garments in a mixture of appropriate tones including the light blue she wanted. The result I am getting is bright, bright, bright - I am worried that she won't like it - it's too bright for her. Should I add in more brown (which I was keeping for borderlines) or what?

Notice however how easy it is to manage the stitches with the speed shuttle when natural light comes through from the back of the canvas. Bright or not, this was one happy hour spent listening to Radio 3 and painting in fabric.

Finally, the speed shuttle

At last, after many weeks of calculating, stripping and prevaricating, I actually started work on the speed shuttle rug I have been planning for my mother.
We have had a bit of trouble finding a place where I can prop the frame up securely enough to work on it. I tried several options in the living room; Dan and I experimented with step ladders and easels in the kitchen; finally I took it to my bedroom and discovered that the ugly plastic crates I keep teaching stuff in have a kind of lip on the edge. They are also so full of teaching crap that they are really heavy. Lean the frame against my window - natural light from behind the canvas is great! And the lip on the edge of the box holds it up.
That orange square check thing is a seat pad from one of our dining chairs which fell apart. Dan fished it out and has given it to me as my Official Rag Rugging Kneeler Pad. So that's why we never threw it away!