Penny Rug Process

Let me start this by saying "MY TAXES ARE AT THE ACCOUNTANT'S!!! WOOHOO! I finally finished up everything and took it last night. I was not leaving work until they were ready!
Tomorrow is Hysterectomy Day and almost everything on my BH (Before Hysterectomy) list is done. I have to finish the list at work today and then pack some things tonight and drag all my Recovery projects downstairs to the family room so that everything will be ready for my return home.
Yesterday morning, in the insomniac mode that I am in...I started this project and thought that I would document the process. I have had this frame hanging around for awhile and finally painted and crackled it. The wool came from the Dirtiest Yard Sale EVER (at least the dirtiest one I was ever at) but they had lots of wool blankets and I washed and washed and finally my daughter suggested washing them in white vinegar and sure enough that took the smell out. Several people have suggested that I was not in my right mind bringing ANYTHING home from that sale, but we won't go there. Sunday night, I sat and sketched until I came up with something that I liked, then I retraced the bold lines with a Sharpie, (I LOVE Sharpies..all colors, all sizes)

Then I numbered all the flowers and leaves and so on and then retraced them onto freezer paper. The Sharpie makes the lines bold enough to see through the freezer paper, eliminating the need for tracing and transfer paper and all that stuff....shortcuts...gotta love shortcuts!

On to the wool. I have this suitcase of "pieces", well actually I have two suitcases of pieces, this is the suitcase of bigger pieces and the other one, a typewriter case actually is the suitcase of littler pieces. This is the manic mode that my girls have seen and wondered about. I sit on the floor and throw pieces all over the place. In normal mode, I would have thrown them all over, matching colors here and there and thinking of fifteen more penny rugs that I could make and then leave them all over the floor for a week or so, but in this pre-hospital stage, I am trying to keep everything relatively neat and calm, soooo...

I found the colors that I wanted to try and cleaned everything up and put it all away.

I just knew that lime Koolaid and Easter Egg dyed wool would come in handy some day. Not exactly in the primitive color scheme, but I kept it and it is working perfectly for this project. For all I love primitive, I love bright colors even more!

I ironed the design pieces on to their respective colors and cut them out. Cutting out is close to my favorite part of penny rugs. It must remind me of cutting out paper dolls. As a little girl, I loved a new book of paper dolls and really like the ones that the clothes all had to be cut out and did not punch out. Seems as though the cutting out of the clothes was the best part of the paper dolls, but I digress.

Next, I piece it all back together like a puzzle and dig through the floss stash to find coordinating colors.

I baste all the pieces into place and then I like to felt the smaller pieces in place. A little light felting over all holds everything a little more secure.

And it is ready for stitching. It is already sitting in a tray in the family room waiting for my return and the Recovery Time.