Frugal Friday with Marsha -- Rug Making

As I have been working to attempt to make a penny rug, rugs, and making them is on my mind.

Some say that just  like quilting, rug making is a "lost art".  They are probably right, but I have a great time making them.

I started out years ago by crocheting them with that huge crochet hook.  I made them out of t-shirts that I cut in big rounds of strips.  We still use these around the house all these years later.  I even still have on of them listed in My Zibbet Shop.

I'm long done making rugs this way.  Some years back now a lady in our church taught us how to make toothbrush rugs.  One of the men of the church took our toothbrushes and fashioned them into the needles for us.

Here are a few that I have made.  Some of these have sold and some of them you will find in my Zibbet and in My Etsy Shop.

I still love making the toothbrush rugs and have bags of materials ready to make more in my craft room.

I took a class at the quilt shop on how to make a lockerhook rug.  So much fun!!  I have made 2 now.  One has sold and the other one is still in my Etsy shop.   I have one more to make this size, but I have bought more canvas and intend to make a runner rug!

I got an idea that I could make a latchhook rug with little strips of t-shirt.  This one is still a work in progress....and one that I need to get out to work on!

The only picture I have of the penny rug is the one I shared in my WIP Wednesday blog with my progress on cutting out the felt circles.   I do have those cut out now and in hopes that as soon as I am done with this post I will be pinning the circles to the blanket that I am using for the backing of the rug.  I will give a report on how it's coming along both here and in next Wednesday's post.

Other than buying the canvas for the lockerhook rugs and the string for making those, most all of my materials are "handed down" to me as others clean out their sewing rooms.....edges of fabrics that I've used for other projects, bought at yard sales and such.    In the "olden days", as I call them, all rugs and other things were made with scraps of worn clothing, blankets and such.  Sometimes I think I would have made a good pioneer woman......LOL


Here are some books and supplies on amazon that may interest you:

Frugal Friday With Marsha--Free Ebook!

I'm wanting to get my Frugal Friday posts going again.  I hope to find deals for you as well as share different things I've done over the past week.

This past week what tops my list is cutting up old t-shirts that I will make into rugs.  I cut the top parts that I can't make in to strips up to be rags.  They work very well, can be thrown into the washer with a regular load of clothes.....and they save the environment over not using tons of papers towels!

I posted this picture in my WIP Wednesday post, but will post it again.  It's my huge pile of rags and also my pile of strips for rug making.

Now how about the free ebook!  Pinch Like You Mean It.   I downloaded my free copy to my Kindle app and can't wait to read it.  I don't know how long it's free, so get your copy now!

WIP Wednesday Into the New Year

I hope that 2016 is off to a good start for everyone.  So far so good sticking to my craft/sewing schedule that I set up for myself.  Some days are busier than others with lots less working time, but I have kept at it even if I only get to work for a couple of hours.

Wednesday is the day I have set to work on the color of the month for the soscrappy blog color challenge of the month.  I had no idea just how much I had in my box of squares!  I pressed and pinned.  It so happens that this months color is blue, and blue is what I pinned for sewing there on the side of the box.

Thursday is to work on any other UFO, but currently it's a pink patchwork quilt top that I am making for our community service project at quilt guild.  I only have until the 25th to have it done.  I have 5 inch squares cut so far.  I will work on this Friday night this week at sit n' sew for extra time.

Friday is working on yo-yo's but I chose to not take a picture this week of just the few I got done.

Saturday is hexagons, which I also chose to not take a picture since I only added 6 more to my quilt top.

Sunday is rugs.  I didn't want to get my machine out to sew strips together so I chose to finally cut up a stack of t-shirts I've had in my room.  We were low on rags anyway.  The big pile on the side is now the rag pile.  I cut the remainder of the t-shirts that I can't strip for rags.

Monday is working on the Arkansas Crossroads quilt.  I did cut some more squares but think I will save a picture for whenever I finally get all of the fabrics cut in to squares.  In the meantime I ended up with more strips to add to rug making as well as I cut what 10 inch squares I could to add to my microwave hotpad making pile.

Tuesday is my day to work on the doll sets.  I had hoped to finish 2 doll rugs.  I didn't quite make it, but got close.

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
Hexagon quilt
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
Brown half square triangle table runner
3 sets of doll blanket, pillows and rug--plus more to sell
Hexagon flower table runner
Wall hanging for quilt guild
yo-yo's that need to be made into projects
black and white rail fence quilt
Arkansas Crossroads scrap quilt


2015 Finishes:

Locker Hook Rug
re-do binding on blue and peach patchwork
9 lined fabric bags
yellow crazy quilt lined bag
Pink hexagon table topper
Blue hexagon table topper
Yo-Yo Table runner
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Fractured Pineapple quilt
Charming Stars quilt
Challenge quilt for quilt guild
Autumn wall hanging
18 Hot pad bowls for Christmas gifts

I am linking up with the following blogs: