Step Away From That Rug!

Quite often at this time of year, I get caught up in the zeal and enthusiasm of rug hooking. This year the Olympics has had me glued to my rug hooking chair. I am often working on one particular object with glorious abandon, caught up in the moment of it all. This is when I have to remind myself of a basic truth...step away from the rug! You see, we are often hooking and focusing our attention on one small area and not stepping back to look at the big picture. Sometimes this sets us up for surprises. I usually pull my work-in-progress off of my frame for the night, and then spread it on the floor in the morning to see what's going on. There are several reasons why I do this. First of all, I pull my rug off the frame so it is not tight and stretched out all night. I learned this lesson the hard way on one of my early rugs as I had near-permanent "bends" and ripples from keeping it tight on my frame for days (or maybe weeks). The good news is that I did get it all steamed out to lay flat but it was quite a job! Now secondly, I do not look at my work until the morning because: A) I am a night owl and hook late into the night; B) if I'm tired and see something wrong before I go to bed, it will keep me awake thinking about how to fix it (you know you'd do the same thing!); C) a fresh eye and fresh mind in the morning can problem-solve much better if something needs to be tweaked.
Right now I am thinking "Spring" and hooking Ah Tis Spring (a Notforgotten Farm adaptation). I love hooking rabbits and I love using lavenders and aquas for spring colors! This morning I decided to really take a critical look at my work so far. What did I decide? The bottom button on the dress is just a little too far over to the left. (Need to move that over. Good thing I didn't hook around it too much.) Also, I originally thought I'd like the dusty purple pantaloons, however now I think that they look a little too "heavy" for this bunny's apparel. I'm going to rip it out and try something else. I could have lived with this for a few days but honestly, I don't think I would have changed my mind...
You've probably noticed that I used quilling again. I've done a lot of that lately and wasn't sure I wanted to repeat it in yet another rug. But the rabbit's dress was so plain and I think the quilling buttons added just the right touch of whimsy. Sometimes these rugs tell us what they want to be!