New Pattern "Crazy Neighbors" and Tutorial for "How to Clean a Wool Rug with Snow"

Do You Have "Crazy Neighbors"?  I'm not talking about the kind that live next door with the barking dogs.  I'm talking about the kind of neighbors you'll see in my latest release, "Crazy Neighbors", a wool applique pillow that features the crazy quilt technique!  I had so much fun making this 12" pillow that I plan to introduce this technique in other patterns too!  The crazy quilt technique is fun, it uses up small pieces of wool from your scrap basket, and it's forgiving (there's no hard-and-fast seam allowances, so you can jiggle the template pieces around).

The pattern comes with complete instructions, including detailed info on how to complete several decorative embroidery stitches such as the herringbone stitch, the blanket stitch, the french knot, and others. It's so new that's it is not quite on my website yet, so from now until Friday, February 15, 2013, I'm offering an INSTANT 10% OFF this pattern! Just drop me an email at melanie@americanpiedesigns.com and let me know you want it and I'll give you the 10% off!

I hope you enjoy "Crazy Neighbors"!  Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!

Special Tutorial for my Blog Followers:

How to Clean a Wool Rug with Snow

Have you ever spent weeks, months (or years!) hooking a rug, only to find yourself afraid to lay it on the floor, to let it be walked upon, because it will get dirty?  Have you ever cleaned a rug in the bathtub, only to find it weighs 800 pounds soaking wet and takes two weeks to dry?  Having your rugs  professionally cleaned can be costly, and many cleaners use petroleum distillates that may also remove the wool's natural oil content and your beautiful colors along with the dirt.

Lucky are those who live in areas where winter abounds!  The same cold, snowy weather that makes you want to snuggle up in wool provides a great way to clean your wool hooked rugs.  Here are the steps to cleaning your hooked rugs with snow:

• Cleaning is best done when it's verrrry cold outside, at least 25 degrees farenheight or colder.
• You need new, powdery snow (or powdery snow that has been in the shade).  Very fine, windblown powder that is several inches deep works well.  Although I don't usually get snow like that in my back yard, I don't live far from an a ski area that gets really great powder several times a year.
• Step 1:  Put your rug outside in the cold for half an hour or so. Why? Because the little bits of greasy dirt that have collected on your rug will harden and break up at below-freezing temps.  Also, snow won't melt on a chilly rug, which is important in a later step.
• Step 2:  Spread your rug out and cover it with clean snow. Tramp on the rug (yes, you want to tramp enough that the fine particles of snow work their way into the loops of wool).
• Step 3:  Turn the rug over, cover it with snow and beat the back broom.
• Step 4:  Turn the rug over and beat it with the broom again.
• Step 5:  Sweep the snow from the rug.
• Step 6:  Move the rug to a fresh area and repeat the process until you are satisfied with the result, making sure you clean both sides of the rug.  When finished, brush off any remaining snow and allow your rug to dry indoors.  Since your rug was not immersed in water, it will dry in a snap!

I understand the Scandinavians use this method for cleaning wool rugs during winter.  The deep freeze of the snow kills smelly bacteria and loosens dirt and grime.  Sweeping the tiny snow crystals from the rug removes grease and dirt buildup and results in a clean, deodorized rug.

So the next time I start to whine about how cold it gets here in Idaho, I'm going to remember the old adage,  There's a silver lining in every cloud (snow cloud, that is!).

That's it for today!  I hope you are enjoying these posts and getting some interesting information from them.  More to come later this week.  In the meantime, Happy Stitchin'!  xoxo--Melanie