There is a very long list of things I’d like to learn how to do. I’d like to learn to spin my own yarn. I’d like to raise chickens (which will never happen as long as we live downriver from a chemical plant, but I can dream). I’d love to learn how to throw pottery on a wheel. And it would be really good if I could learn how to take better pictures.
Everything that happens in my life is pretty much a crime of opportunity. Keeping chocolate morsels in the pantry significantly increases the likelihood of cookies, for example. I’ve gathered the supplies for painting on silk, painting lace, beading, machine embroidery, heirloom sewing and others just in case I have a dire need to paint, bead or embroider. It could happen. Over the last year or so I’ve been gathering the tools for rug hooking, or more precisely, punch needle rug hooking.
Several years ago (um, like maybe eight years ago, but who’s counting?) I started a rug with the traditional hook technique. I got as far as WE in “welcome” before I lost interest. Of course that hasn’t kept me from collecting wool to cut into strips. But still, I didn’t really enjoy using the hook to lift the strips to the front of the work, it hurt my hands. So, the base fabric hangs from the quilt hoop frame (that I bought thinking that I might like hand quilting someday), waiting.
After knitting myself crazy making the stranded projects for Christmas I decided the time was right to pull out those punchneedle supplies. I pushed a few lines around to create the design, snapped up a sharpie marker and set to work.

In no time at all I had the design traced and hooped, feeling very clever that I had the foresight to stash this stuff.

As with all things, there was a learning curve. My first leaves were too densely packed. The yarn was too thin for the punch needle, so I doubled it up. It didn’t occur to me to check the other punch needle I had stashed, trusting my memory that it was larger. (It isn’t.) But I found that I liked using two different shades at once, and the doubled strands filled the spaces faster.

Not bad for a first attempt. This thirteen inch circle took just a couple of hours and put a significant dent in my Christmas knitting leftover yarn. I guess it will become a pillow top, or something.
But what is an appliquist to do? The design just demanded that I applique it. I mean, really, how could I not?

Time to run to the stash and pull some fabrics the fine folks at Northcott sent me, gradation of shade and color across the width of the fabric, it’s an appliquist’s dream.

Here it is, laid out just as for the little rug thingie. It’s lovely, I really love it. I love the delicate shading that the fabric provides. I really like the circle showing through the background fabric, I’ve been thinking about how that should be incorporated into the design.
But now I have a problem. What do I do with this design? I’m sort of obsessing on the Block of the Month for this year. I was thinking that I’d really like to do a Baltimore Album style quilt. Or a series of little quilts. Or, ideally, a series of little quilts that could be combined to make a Baltimore album quilt. My default setting for quilt design is to start with a queen size. I’m too practical. Everything must be useful, have a purpose. So, what do you think? A series of circles? A series of circles with no other plan than to let you decide what you’re doing with the end product? Arggg! Help me out here!