Rug Of The Day - Old Scrolls and Roses

Today's rug is an antique adaptation that I call Old Scrolls and Roses.

Several years ago, I taught and vended at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee.  They have a wonderful collection of historic artifacts on display that capture the life and spirit of the area's heritage.  

Displayed amongst the various exhibitions are some wonderful old hooked rugs.  Several of us were lucky enough to also peek at their impressive antique quilt collection that is kept in storage.   

While strolling through the museum, I saw the Old Scrolls and Roses rug and immediately fell in love with it.  I talked to the director and decided to work in collaboration with the museum by adapting the design for us modern day rug hookers and then donating a portion of the proceeds back to the museum for their Textile Preservation Program.  This supports not only the rugs but the beautiful quilt collection. 

This rug was hooked by Brenda Reed and posted to Facebook.  She has really nailed the essence of the original rug.  The red scrolls were what originally made me love this design.  In the antique rugs, scrolls were rarely shaded.  They were merely outlined with one color and filled in with another.  Sometimes they had a "vein" running through the center of the scroll.  It was also typical for the objects to be outlined in a thin line of black or other dark color (another reason why I love this rug) and the center background was often hooked straight across. 

 The outside border of the original was darker but I think the texture that Brenda used works really well and she created a rug with a true vintage feel.  
Bravo, Brenda!

You can purchase the pattern on my website (under the Spruce Ridge Studios pattern tab) here:
https://www.spruceridgestudios.com/product/old-scrolls-roses-38-x-21/

I originally drew this pattern out to a 38" x 21" size but I found out later that the original rug was larger (52 " x 29"), so I added this larger size for all of the wide cut rug hookers out there.  You can find it here:
https://www.spruceridgestudios.com/product/old-scrolls-roses-large-52-x-29/

Happy Midsummer, everyone!