There is a little gal at church that wanted to learn to do a rag rug.
It has been a while since I made one, so I wanted to refresh my memory. When I was a teenager, I made one for a boyfriend for his birthday. He probably looked at it and went...oh, thanks!
I am sure if he knew the amount of work that went into it he would feel differently? Maybe...ok, maybe not!
Anyways, when I made mine, I tied all of the strip ends together so on the back you would have like a shag rug, but sparsely shagged. That was a lot of work tying all those knots. Then crocheted it.
This one, I sewed the ends together. I found some 108 inch strips left over from backings, some pieces I cut off of my finished quilts.
I have to tell ya, this little rug sucked up a lot of fabric.
I cut 2" strips the length of the fabric, I did not care if it was straight of grain or not, just longer the better. Then started crocheting. There are many you tube videos out there on how to go about doing this, if you are interested.
I got some ugly fabric (if there is such a word), less favorable fabric from my stash, it is the red, black, and gray. The outer border is from about three yards of fabric.
I need to learn to tie off better but otherwise I am very pleased.
This rug is 32" in diameter, it looks small in the picture but it is a nice size rug.
I do have to tell you that my hands started hurting part way through, then my lower arms and upper arms.
I went to bed last night with bio freeze rubbed all over my hands and arms.
This morning they ache some but not to where I am miserable. So...
can I consider that exercise?
Then I am blanket stitching around 12 reindeer (Accuquilt Go Die). I have four left. I should be done by now but well....
you know, something else came up.
The reindeer is the "Check It Out" fabric by Island Batik.
I also have cut a bazillion 1" x 7" strips for my girls at church Activity Days, we are going to make wreaths this next Wednesday. Took me about 3 days doing that. I used up my Christmas Scraps.
If some of you are reading this and think, wow, Barb has gone through a lot of scraps....
I can truly say I have but they keep multiplying. Do you have the same problem?
Can you believe it is November already? I can not!
10 comments:
Sounds more like the rug is hazardous to your health than exercise!
Yes, aching body parts is a warning sign that those particular muscles are not accustomed to being used so hard. Exercise? Hmmm...only if you do it regularly and build up gradually. I could never do this ever again with my aging hands. Mr. Arthur Itis has moved in permanently. The rug looks fabulous! I love your reindeer, and your blanket stitching is extraordinary! I can’t do that anymore either, Lol.
I can't beleive it is already November. This year is going by faster than any other. Your rug is beautiful. Sounds like it really is hard exercise to make (I've never made one, but want to). Your reindeers are so cute. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create with them.
Love that little mug rug. Interesting about how much fabric it took. Maybe I'll just stick to my quilted ones. Thanks for sharing.
Sure, we can call it exercise. It really does look like you went through quite a bit of scraps. But I know how they multiply way quicker than we use them. I’ll just leave the bit about the boyfriend alone. LOL. The reindeer is pretty. I like the checkered batik very much. I’ll be watching for some of that.
Nope, you cannot count it as exercise ... looks like it was pure torture! :)
Curious? how did you do this? crocheted? how wide of strips?
You're really into scrap usage with those wreaths.
For sure, they suck up a lot of fabric, and can look quite pretty.
Most exciting though is your reindeer teaser ......... oh hurry, please! :)
Love your rug! And YES - any repetitive activity that makes your body hurt is definitely considered EXERCISE in my book - LOL. Your reindeer is great - and cutting a bazillion strips for making wreaths sounds like something I should do - I need new wreaths for my door during the various holidays. Scraps? - Oh, yeah - I have the same problem - and when they aren't multiplying all by themselves - they're busy leaving "crumbs" all over the place - LOL - ;))
I would consider sewing the strips together rather than tying them. I think it would be faster and leave less bulk.
Are you doing the blanket stitch on the reindeer by hand or on the machine?
It sounds like exercise to me!!! I wonder if the old boyfriend still has his rug. That looks so nice. I keep saying that I am going to make one of those jelly roll rugs, but haven't done it yet. Cute reindeer too!
This is amazing creative work. I appreciated your crafting ideas for DIY. I really love your blog. You always come up with new ideas.
Thanks for sharing!
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