Baby’s Jack In The Box Wagga/Quilt

Made using an old dressing gown and some dyed blankets. Extra to rug making, I have a lot of dyed cloth here.

Jaden's Wagga & Our Next Get Together

Rug day at Anne's in Warrandyte was the usual relaxed, lovely day among friends (minus Chris, sigh). We need to take more photo's as everyone was quite productive!

You know when you dye a heap of blanket, only to find it too dark for your hooky rug, or too green/blue...? Well, over time I had quite a bit of green I wasn't using in any current rugs. I dyed another deeper green piece and made this Wagga (follow the link for others) for my eldest grandson's 19th birthday.
The red tartan comes from a kilt I wore on constant rotation when he was a baby (and I was a young'en').
I have pieced together a back from various fabrics I have had in my collection, including some of my Dad's jeans and my Mum's tablecloth (unfinished from when she was 14 years old). These being my grandsons dear departed and ever adoring great-grandparents.

THE NEXT GET TOGETHER IS AT MY PLACE (ROBYNE'S) IN THE PATCH ON THE 25TH OF MAY. Phone 0410876096 or email r.m.square@bigpond or call any of us or comment here for instructions on how to get here. 10am onward.

Please come and join us! It's heaps of fun. Once you start you'll never stop, I assure you.

Jaden's Wagga

Jaden's Wagga (not finished, no back yet) made using dyed blankets and some of my old favourite kilts (one I wore to death when he was a little boy and I was a little Grandma).
Happy Birthday for last week boyo! My first-born grandson with my last-born grandson (his baby brother) and my beautiful Ruby.

27th & 28th September at the Melbourne Show

I promised to put some links to various rug hooking and prodding information. So here 'tis:
The Yarra Valley Rugmakers (some of the Victorian Rugmakers) has a load of good links down the left side of the blog. Links to tutorials, suppliers and so on. Also, wander through the blog to see what the group is up to. There is quite a variety of styles among the few members. Anyone is welcome! We're a friendly lot!
Also, please follow the link to my Flickr page, to see more of my work. Any of the links here on the right with 'Bobby' are mine.

It's always nice to see interest in the craft. I heard some great stories. One fellow told me about his granny from up Numurka way, born around 1890? The floorboards had rotten away in their house and she spent every spare moment with a rug on her knee, covering the floors then making more for all the family. Right up until her death at a great age she made rugs. He still had her tools, but none of the rugs survived.

My inspiration for the Footy Rug. From a drawing by Paul Constance, an enigmatic fellow at my work. He doodles sport cartoons the whole time and I've collected quite a few over time. This had always seemed a good rug design, so I blew up the drawing and we fooled around with the back character, minutely. 
Now, I'm hooking it with Dad and Grandma's clothes. Which is funny because they'd not really want to mingle (in-law's you see). I'm forcing reconciliation with their clothes.
Cutting up Grandma's old shirts, I saw her 'short-cut' hemming technique. She did a tiny back stitch from the right side, then took a bite of  4mm or so, which looks like a running stitch on the inside. I showed a lady after we talked about ... stuff... and said only I in the world would recognise my Grandma's hand. I got a bit teary (but I think I got away with it. I'm good at hiding tears, it's my Anglo heritage).

If you look to the bottom right, you can see my outline drawing for the Footy Rug. 

Here's the old Proddy Rug on the go, still. One on the go and one on the floor

And this is some old lady that has absconded with my youth. 
Little secret? The white stripes on the footy players jumper is Dad's jocks.

Nessie's Birthday Wagga

Anna is the last of the big little's to get a Wagga. All the kids but not yet any of the grandchildren have one.

 Made using an old aqua blanket and other hand dyed blankets. 

Our Wagga

The back of the new Wagga. A combination of bits and pieces I've collected, made, worn, purchased recently or over time.
The Mona Lisa tea towel's a beaut! I gave her a pretty crown of lazy daises.

The same as the last one I made my son, but this is all dyed (I ran out of the colours on his and we liked it so much I had to replicate it). So, it's all old blankets dyed with Landscape dyes.

Red bunny I had stitched on a skirt. The writing is from a tea cloth with Welsh Spoons all over it. A big part of my ancestry is Welsh and I have the looks, apparently, so...

I must have made that feathered star 25+ years ago! Note the John Wolfe's 'Paris Garret' ex skirt. 

There are the Welsh spoons. And a couple of bees from an old cushion I made a had as a class. Back in the day. I keep everything significant or loved, regardless of the space is takes up. It's my space anyway, so I may as well use it how I please.

My First Born Is 40! So...

The real colours are a bit softer. I liked it so much it was hard to give away (which is the best mark of a good present). All made using woollen blankets, the ducky blues hand-dyed.
Size: 2.5 metres square. Huge! Roll on winter. It was very hot making this beauty.

He looks happy. Is he happy?
Now I'm cutting a smaller one the same, for us, because we need those colours in our lounge-room and the OTL always pulls up a blanky and has a little sleep.

Tired, Sore neck, But Happy In Myself!

I've spent the last two days at the Melbourne Show, demonstrating mostly rug making (proddy). And the KIDS! They're gorgeous! I fell properly in love about a dozen times, with these little blossoms taking to proddy-rugging like earnest, determined, clever, darling little clever people... I know I said clever twice, but there it is. Usually their Mum's were ready to go before they were and I nearly ran after one little petal with presents and adoption papers.

Could be I like orange.

This is when I first set up, before people. When they arrived I didn't get away unless Ramona or Liz or Mandy or Annette came to boss me into a break (thanks for that guys, I didn't want to be impolite and found it hard to go). There were kids at the rug almost the whole time, and adults of course. People love to share their stories and I like to hear them. Win/win.

Below is a nice story. I always buy one of these from the show. I have some oldies too, and so it was nice to see their history.

Thanks Ramona for inviting me. It gives me a real buzz to evangelize the crafts. I also got quite a bit done!

Off To The Melbourne Show (22nd & 23rd Sept)

Come and see me in the Arts & Crafts Pavilion. Gonna have a ridiculous amount of stuff there... I'll be sharing and I'm always caring so that's a given.

My friends Rhonda's coming to visit!!

Phoenix

I made my son Rob a Wagga (blanket) for his 21st. It almost completely perished in a house fire and I stashed the remnants, years ago. Just now, or last December at his birthday, I had the idea to cover a skateboard and this was the perfect thing to do it with. I thought. I thought he'd be overcome with emotion and I'd have to lend him my hanky (even if it was a Crinoline Lady embroidered vintage hanky that I'd want back). But he laughed and laughed and was quite pleased instead.
The pieces are stitched in situ.
The flames went over the whole piece. Being wool, it resisted burning, but some of it is quite scorched and one flower is well burnt. 

The daffodil is thick and highly Trapunoed and worked in detached buttonhole.

This tweed sunflower was burnt almost all away. I had to carefull stitch through the embers.

1997 is the year the boy turned 21.

The original Wagga.

Sadly missed.

http://robynefmelia.blogspot.com.au/2006/04/robs-wagga-1996-7.html Go here for the original story.