The Oxford Punch Needle

This is 'Harvest Blessings' done with the Amy Oxford #14 punch needle and my worsted single ply wool yarn. It measures 11" x 20 1/2". I have been selling these little patterns as kits. This is a fourth pattern and it is based on my punch needle embroidery pattern, 'Harvest Blessings.'

Many months ago, I was working on a little punch needle piece with some Valdani thread and the Cameo punch needle. As I working, I was wishing that I could just dye those threads myself. When I am working on something and I visualize it, I like being able to just create it- and that goes for color as well. So, I was thinking on how to do that when I began remembering a few years ago working with the Oxford Punch Needle and yarn from a local fiber store. I wondered if I could get my hands on some natural wool- something like I used to use- with a little thick and thin to it- could I dye it myself and create that variation that we all enjoy while punching with Valdani embroidery floss?

The answer was YES!

Soooo.... I have been dyeing up single strand wool yarn and using a #14 Oxford punch needle and enjoying myself thoroughly!

Look at all that beautiful color!! 

That same color in the pot is shown here second from the left. 

Years ago, right before I found rug hooking, I had a brief couple years of using the Amy Oxford punch needle. At the time, I was using a #10 and a thicker yarn- Halcyon's rug yarn. I will have to share later some photographs of some of the things I did back then.

Gold, Champagne and Soft Huckleberry

I have been really enjoying doing some punching and dyeing the yarn.

Have you ever used an Oxford punch needle? I would love to hear your experience!

Valentine's Give Away! Lots of Good Stuff! FREE!

I am sitting out in my shop dyeing yarn and wool for kits today. It is so cold! My toes and fingers hurt with cold! Ah! Summer please come!

I need a break from all the negativity out there! Do you? Everyone has an opinion (including myself) and in the middle of it all we are forgetting LOVE! 

So, I want to do something from my chilly little corner of the world to bring a little sunshine to you- no matter your opinions!

So, I am copying and pasting my little contest 'requirements' below:

A VALENTINE"S GIVE-AWAY from me to YOU!! DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON VALENTINE'S DAY!

Please read this all. There are three requirements!

I am GIVING AWAY my:

'Lavender Lady' rug hooking pattern (small version),
'Shepherdess' punch needle pattern,
2 balls of Valdani embroidery floss,
1 skein of Vintage Heart Hand-Dyed Wool Yarn (dyed by me, yes, indeed!)
3 FULL Fat Quarters of wool
~ a red,
~ a purple that I snow-dyed (it has some blue spots in it- beautiful!) and
~ a primitive gold.
I am also including 4 yard length pieces of my very, very favorite Sari ribbon- a blue, a gold, a rust and a pink.

Am I CRAZY??? No! LOL!

To win this entire 'package', 1) YOU MUST SHARE THIS (get the word around!), and 2) MAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS AND NAME. I will draw a name on Valentine's Day. I will NOT use your name or address ever- all mail will be shredded after the drawing. My mailing address is below.

3) The most important 'requirement' of all is to spread to some cheer! Call a friend, bring someone a gift, read to a child, speak a kind word, have your own Valentine drawing!- bottom line - let's change the 'atmosphere' of Facebook and spread some Valentine LOVE!

OK! So share this PLEASE and then mail me your name and address to:

Yvonne Buus
Vintage Heart Rug Design
524- 3rd Street South
PMB 176
Nampa, Idaho 83651

So for you that are following me through a blog- share this blog to your Facebook or your own blog and send me your mailing address and just do one kind thing this week- let's bring the sunshine out!!

~Yvonne

A Little Bit of Everything

 I had to stop hooking tonight. I dyed my background wool and I will wait until I have day-light to see if I want to darken it a smidge or leave it as it is. This picture was taken in pretty bright light and I want those soft swirls to show but I also want them to be subtle. I will decide in the morning.

Both girls are going to be holding bouquets of , I think, lilacs. I have been thinking back into my days painting thinking on how I would paint lilacs and how I could do something similar here. 

 This is from a few days ago when I was trying to decide if I wanted a red dress or not. I really thought of doing a dress in a different shade of blue. I don't ever like too many colors in one rug- I am always worried about it looking too busy. I like to use different shades of the same color but never using more than three or four colors in a rug. By the way, this was taken in my little wool shop where I spend a few hours every day preparing orders and dyeing wool.

 My first and only 'selfie.' I am pretty exited about this issue of 'Wool Works' Magazine. It's me! And a two page article about my little rug hooking business. My heart has been very happy this week! I will be doing another project for Wool Works later this year and it is one I am especially exited for!

 Have you ever worked with the Amy Oxford punch needle? This I did with her #14 punch needle- the one for fine work. I hand dyed all the yarn for it- hoping to give it a variegated look and sure enough- there it is! Below is yarn I did for an order. I am very exited about doing more of these. 

Before I sign off, I want to show you a picture that was taken this last October up in McCall, Idaho. I went on a rug hooking retreat with the Treasure Valley Rug Hookers. I had the time of my life! We stayed in a retreat center, all our meals were prepared for us. We did venture into town to a fiber store and for dinner. We had so much good conversation- my favorite conversation was about our dogs. Yes, that was my favorite conversation!

In my dreams, I live up in this area. I would love a little cabin where I could live very simply- very simply! This is a real fun bunch of ladies. I am the one holding my coffee cup. It was a brisk fall day-beautiful!

A Face Like Kim's

           I have a couple pattern ideas rolling around in my head. I have been thinking on them and drawing them out over and over. One I am just not sure about and the other I am having a difficult time figuring out how to keep it fairly simple as I try to do when I design a pattern. Anyway, so I have been feeling very 'in-between' projects. Well, I have not worked on a face for quite a while...so why not practice faces again while I mentally sort out those patterns I want to do? I put two faces on paper and thought that was all I was going to do but decided to add dresses and take them over to my printer where I could have them blown up to pretty large.

      This is the largest face I have ever tried and I am pretty convinced that's why I had an OK time with it. Got it in first try! (For anyone wondering, I am using #6 cut strips for this whole rug.) To my amazement, this girl I hooked looks incredibly similar, if not, just like my daughter Kim. The eyes and the mouth are HER! I told her last night that someday I am going to give it to her. It is so her.

 Close up over my coffee this morning. I used dip-dyed wool as I often do for this dress. In fact, this is the color I call in my Etsy shop, Midnight in Paris' blue.

I love this angle! She looks as beautiful upside down as she does right side up!

Now on to the girl that 'Kimberly' is standing next to. Thinking on what color to make her dress.

I have to share again with you my rug that is on the cover of the Premiere issue of 'Wool Works' Magazine. This pattern is in the pages. This is a beautiful publication full of a variety of wool projects- applique, rug hooking, punch needle and quilting. Subscribe! You will not be sorry! I can sell the pattern on linen or a full kit. Contact me at hooknwool@gmail.com for information.

~Yvonne

'A Little Dancer'

    I am a terrible blogger. I never know what to say. Today I am in my wool shop dyeing up wool for a couple kits, some wool orders and a rug I am working on. And I have not given a thought as to what I am making for dinner. I did get a lot of housework done this morning. I used a technique that we used when I grew up in a very large family. I am the oldest of 14, but when I left home at 19, mom was on about number nine or so. My brother, Greg, would set a timer for thirty minutes and we would go to town picking up and straightening. I always liked that method. I knew there was going to be an end! So, to this day I do that myself. This morning I set the timer for a full hour! I felt so much better!

When I come out to my wool shop I never set a timer. I love it out here!

     This little ballerina I did (available as a pattern or kit) because I wanted to make a pattern available that would be based off my ballerina rug, 'Tutus.' I have been procrastinating finishing that rug for TWO years. Well I am almost finished. I have about a foot and a half to go and I will have the edge finished. Would you like to see it?

     These are from left to right. They are all on the same rug which measure 5' across and 3' tall. It too pretty for it to be rolled up in a 'pile' of rugs to finished! I am so close!

     Have you heard of the new magazine 'Wool Works?' It went out in the mail yesterday and I have a pattern in the magazine and it is featured on the cover. It is called 'Garden Tea.' If you interested in the pattern on linen or a kit- contact me (hooknwool@gmail.com) and I will happy to get you set up.

     It is an awesome issue! There are women on this issue that I am in complete admiration of. There are so many wonderful projects- a little bit for everyone. There are articles included that are informational as well. I truly think you will love it! Subscribe! You won't be disappointed!

Signing off,

Yvonne

P.S. What is for dinner? sigh.....

Forget Me Not

"Please come to Boston for the springtime

I'm staying here with some friends

And they've got lots of room

You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk

By a cafe I hope to be working soon

Please come to Boston

She said, 'No, David, you come home to me."

~ Dave Loggins, 1974

For Neil

The Song I Hummed Every Time I Hooked This Rug
(Click on this link to hear the song! You can listen to the song while you read the blog!)

I am a hummer. I hum. I hum most especially when my heart is happy and sometimes when my heart is broke. Most every one of my rugs has a song that I attach to it. Most of the songs are classical music. Music is highly inspirational to me and when I listen to music as I hook, it seems my 'creation' springs a little heartbeat. The last few weeks I have been hooking the 'Forget Me Not' Rug. I have either hummed Dave Loggin's lyrics or I listened to his song over and over and as I do, so many memories have begun to surface.

This design started as a suggestion my husband made after we went up to our favorite mountain spot and walked this last April. I was still reliving the sunlit snow that hemmed in the path we walked that day. The air so crisp and full of pine- nothing to be heard for miles around except the sound of birds singing.

"Why do the smell of pine needles make me cry?" 
My Journal, April 2016

One of our first dates took place thirty years ago along a mountain river. We walked and talked as we got to know each other. He was on leave from the US Army and that was a prelude to our early married days that were full of long absences. Months and even two years at a time. All those times the only contact we had was through the written letters that I have hundreds of. Every time he would come back, the time was filled with laughter and disorientation as we had to settle in together...again.

Some of the letters. See the grungy one in the back? That one one was carried out on a field mission.

As I hooked this rug, the same song I hummed over and over- listening to it over and over. Over each loop, memories of all the letters we wrote back and forth, all the phone calls. All our mountain walks rushing through my mind. 

"Please come to Denver with the snowfall

We'll move up to the mountains

So far we can't be found."

For Neil and I it was not Denver or Boston- but Ft. Hood, Texas, Ft. Knox, Kentucky and Frankfort, Germany.  Home being Boise, Idaho. 

In my original plans for this design, I was hoping to extend the grass out pretty far and then have a treeline in the distance. That presented a problem as I realized that all that green would cause me to lose the bouquet and would not allow the couple to stand out as I wanted.

Would you like to know a little about this design as a pattern? Yes, it is available as a rug hooking pattern in my Etsy shop.

A Link:
My Vintage Heart Etsy Shop

This rug was made using both #8 and #5 cuts. The Forget Me Not Flowers were #5's as well as the bouquet stems. I also used a #5 for the little heart shaped stamp, postmark, and lettering. As always, I will gladly make a kit for you but DO KNOW that at any given time, I am working kits and they take TIME. I believe strongly in hand-dyeing each and every piece my self.  I really believe that color makes the rug and I see hand dyed wool as I once saw my paints- critical to 'painting' with deep expression- most literally a work from the heart and hands. That's just the way I see it.

"Are you the reason my happy heart sings? But definitely." ~Shirley Temple

Do you have a love story?

God bless you,

Yvonne

P.S. I love my guy. Can you tell?

Here he is sewing my patterns! Yes, he is my in house pattern finisher! 

Isn't he a gem?

A 'Compilation' of Photographs of Creating 'Dream'

Saturday morning was marvelous. I got to start the morning with my son, Justin, over breakfast and lots of coffee at a local cafe. I love well established cafes- I love people watching and the accompanying sounds and smells- clanking plates, wafts of bacon and coffee, and observing people as they arrive. Over our toast and eggs, we talked about art, art and more art. I spoke of what a lousy blogger I am. "I don't know what to say!" Justin told me that that is because I am an artist and the things I really have to say are made with my hands. He told me to just post pictures- so, OK!

This rug is about a dream I had early last summer. I had experienced a broken heart in magnitude I could never explain earlier in the year. For months, I worked through the stages of grief that we all know. One morning I awoke from a dream so real and so meaningful that in the days to follow, I knew I needed to 'record' it with wool- one loop at a time. This is the very beginning and possibly my very favorite place to start- the face. It is always a surprise to me when a face is hooked in and my hooked piece from the onset carries personality and  helps me 'feel' the rest as I work away.

Rug hanging in wool studio where I can look at it as I come in and out- spotting problem areas or ideas. Here I have pieces of 'Midnight Blue' placed around to try to imagine what she will look like on the night sky.

I'm liking the night sky! A blend of my 'Midnight Blue' and 'Midnight in Paris.' The clouds and dress are both shades of Midnight Blue. I began hooking in segments of Sari ribbon through-out the sash.

At this point, I was trying to figure out how I was going to add the other details that I dreamed about.

In my dream, there was a cream colored 'globe' that represented the 'conflict' that I was so heart-sick over. My rug sat at this stage for quite some time until I decided to 'edit' what I actually saw. I was concerned that someone looking at it would not be able to figure out what was going on. What you see above is what I saw in my dream- soon to be 'edited.'

Do you see how I changed that globe to a moon? Oh, there is Mercedes who is at my feet every moment. She is a bit of a 'rug hooker' herself- she watches me dye and plan and hook and I actually talk to her as I work. 

"Girl, I love you, Girl! 

What do you think?

 Should I make a moon instead? 

Yeah, I thought so." 

Besides my dream, Mercedes (name meaning, ironically is 'Mercy, Pity, and Favor and no, I did not name her- she came to me with that name during 2015 while I was working through grief.) She has been the sweetest and most comical friend. OH! At this point, I noticed that the lady's neck looked like it had been scratched! I meant to suggest creases in her neck as she turned it but quickly saw that she looked like she had got in a tussle with an angry cat! Those lines were taken out and softened.

'Dream' hanging on my easel outside my shop. It will hang over my desk where I will always remember that dream that spoke to me about detachment and rising above.

So what is next? A pattern that I am actively working on only because I was dying to use a new color I have, 'A Rose By Any Other Name.' I simply think it is beautiful and want to use various shades of it to show how pretty it is and I am loving the whole idea...which was another topic of yesterday's breakfast with Justin. 

God bless you from my heart! Please visit my website at vintageheartrugdesign.com .