My Amherst Floral Rug

  The original Pennsylvania "Amhearst Floral" hooked rug by John Filker below...my adaptation above (39.5inches by 28inches on Linen)

   I started this rug last summer and I finally completed it this August. It was a real challenge in regards to color planning and I tried my best to stay as close to the original as I possible. I love reproducing antique rugs and this is one of my all time favorites!

 Numerous times I yanked out portions and redid them till they felt right...you can see in the above photo of the rug that it is different from the photo of my completed rug...little Jasper did his part in inspecting my work to.

One thing I decided early on was to stretch this rug onto a wooden stretcher frame...a frame like you would put a canvas painting on. I found this pattern so abstract and artsy that it deserved to be treated in a different way. Displaying it like a painting seems to elevate it to a higher level.

I had the wooden stretcher custom made (5mm bigger then the edge of the finished rug to account for stretch of the linen), you also need to order canvas pliers which you use to stretch and pull the edges of the rug over the edge of the wooden bars so you can then staple(staple gun) the fabric to the wooden bar. I also made sure that I laid down acid free Matt Board between the stretcher bars and the rug as the wood will eventually eat away the rug if you don't use a protective layer between them. All in all I am very pleased with how it turned out and I may get the hubby to make me a frame for it one day...although I think it looks nice without one.

If you would like to order this pattern you can go to Black Sheep Wool Designs she has a large selection of antique rug patterns to choose from. 

 

P.S. I am off for a little holiday with the husband...we are Montreal bound and while I am there I want to go to their textile museum and maybe haunt a few antique stores...fun!

Thanks for popping by my friends
Hugs Susan