Hex & Frex
Adapted from the designs of Lori Brechlin/Notforgotten Farm
Hooked by Kris Miller
Years ago, I took a class from Jayne Hester. I had always wanted to be in one of her classes because I love her extreme primitive style. I chose Hex & Frex because I knew she could do something really fun and prim with the color plan.
I love hooking animals and during this stage of my rug hooking life, all of them I created were hooked by following the contour of their body lines and with gentle curving rows. I still think that makes sense for most animals that I hook.
However Jayne told me to fill in some of the areas in the cats with straight lines. "Huh", I thought, "OK but that's a little out of the box for me." At that point, I thought straight lines were a little boring. Boy, was I wrong! I hooked the large spot in the rust cat with straight lines and the body of the black cat was straight lines too. The spot was relatively easy but the body was a different story! I outlined the black cat first so that gave me a starting and stopping point for my rows without having to guess. But hooking straight lines in a curved body was not as easy as I thought...and I LOVED the results!
Moral of the story: Try something that is a little out of your wheelhouse. If it is as simple as some straight lines or using wider cuts, or more complex as learning a new finishing technique or using all kinds of alternative materials and stitches. I always feel that if I learned one new thing in a class, then it was money and time well spent. If it makes you think, if it makes you squirm a little then that is good for your brain and your creativity! PS: Listen to your teacher too. :)
Just a comment on straight line hooking: I only do it occasionally but many of the antique rugs that we love and admire had lots of straight line hooking in the background and borders...so there is definitely a place for it and it can make our rugs look fabulous when we do it in the right places!
You can find the pattern here:
1 comment:
Well dang!!!!!! I've never done that and will put that on my TO DO list. Outline the motif and hook straight lines inside. Hopefully I choose just the right pattern for that in my next class with you. Thanks for the teaching moment Kris.
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