{"id":3072,"date":"2016-03-02T15:42:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T21:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=3072"},"modified":"2016-04-14T12:32:09","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T17:32:09","slug":"now-for-something-completely-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=3072","title":{"rendered":"Now for something completely different….."},"content":{"rendered":"

After reading Mary Etherington’s blog Country Threads\"SAMSUNG Chicken Scratch<\/a>, I noticed she offers a booklet and DVD with instructions for making rugs from scrap fabric.\u00a0 Upon reading through her blog archives, I decided to order.\u00a0 ‘Rugs from Rags’ and the accompanying DVD arrived quickly.<\/p>\n

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve not derived great satisfaction recently from quilting.\u00a0 I needed a change and since we also can use some new rugs, it seemed a perfect match.\u00a0 DH immediately began gathering materials to build the simple frame as I dug out fabric.<\/p>\n

I was astonished to find a large stash of ‘why did I purchase this?’ fabric…. stuff I would never use for clothing or include in quilts.\u00a0 Yes, I have purchased extremely marked-down fabric without a purpose and it is \"SAMSUNG<\/a>often set aside and never used.\u00a0 I’ve also received ‘frequent customer’ free bundles of fabric I won’t sew.\u00a0 These are all perfect for rug making!<\/p>\n

I rotary cut (with a pinking blade) an old, faded bed sheet into 2″ strips for the warp and various mostly-cotton or blends for the ‘twining’ (the part of the rug that shows).\u00a0 I aimed for a good mix of colors as I wanted the rug to be ‘scrappy’.<\/p>\n

The instructions for the frame were very easy to follow.\u00a0 Thanks to DH, it was assembled in less than a day and I quickly became completely absorbed in the rhythm of rug-making.<\/p>\n

In 2 days, I was nearly half finished with a rug measuring 38″ x 25″.\u00a0 I was surprised how tired and achy my arms, shoulders and hands became.\u00a0 Though I often use these same joints and muscles in quilt-making, they were being used differently…. a shock to this old body!<\/p>\n

I slowed down over the next few days and included doing other things around the house (cleaning!!) to allow my shoulders to rest.\u00a0 I only worked several rows on the rug each night and the work went quickly.<\/p>\n

After only 8 days, I have a beautiful completed rug that will last at least a lifetime.\u00a0 It is completely machine washable because I used all washable fabrics.\u00a0 The colors are bright and fun and it is comfortable to walk upon.\u00a0 I plan to make several more!\"SAMSUNG<\/a><\/p>\n

The next rug on the frame will be very similar to this one to use the leftover strips (and more).\u00a0 I then plan to make a rug for outside the kitchen door using rip-stop nylon I already have in abundance.\u00a0 I’m anxious to see how well the nylon performs.<\/p>\n

DH has tilled the garden and today is out planting the first few dozen tomato and bell pepper plants.\u00a0 My fingers are crossed we have timely rains this growing season.<\/p>\n

Shirl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After reading Mary Etherington’s blog Country Threads Chicken Scratch, I noticed she offers a booklet and DVD with instructions for making rugs from scrap fabric.\u00a0 Upon reading through her blog archives, I decided to order.\u00a0 ‘Rugs from Rags’ and the accompanying DVD arrived quickly. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve not derived great satisfaction recently from quilting.\u00a0 (continue reading…) <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3072"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3133,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions\/3133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}