Let's continue our theme of "Houses" with the wonderful My House Sampler
My House Sampler
Adapted from the artwork of Lori Brechlin/Notforgotten Farm
Hooked by Kathy Simmons
Hooked by Rebecca Erb
This is another one of my favorite rug hooking designs. I have never hooked it for myself but I have color-planned it many times in my head. It's a really wonderful pattern to personalize for yourself. I have seen folks hook the words "Our House" or "est." (for established) and then a date. I have seen last names hooked instead, and names of cities. The point is that you can commemorate any special occasion, name or date very easily and make it your own.
So let's do a little daydreaming and color plan this rug!
My son just moved into a new house and the siding is yellow with white trim. Since his house is more of a soft yellow, I would definitely outline the house so it will stand out nicely from the background. I would look in my stash and see if there is a funky texture that might work for the outline. Maybe some sort of boucle or unusual weave. I believe a light background would be the best, maybe a winter wheat herringbone or a subtle light khaki plaid. I have a lovely red/yellow/green plaid so I will choose that for the border. Since his new house doesn't have a lot of flowers out front, I think I'd change the flower pot to a little tree, just like Rebecca did in her rug. I can hook the tulips in a couple different values of red because they will balance with the red in the border...however, I might throw in a stronger yellow texture for the center of the tulip.
I would get my color clues from the border wool to choose the colors of the letters. Again, perhaps a combination of red, green, and I'd throw a blue in there (using yellow might make the letters hard to read so I'm going to avoid yellow). I could use the blue again in the door of the house and in the bird to create my color triangle. I'd use a nice shade of green for the ground (I tend to like more olive and yellow greens) and I'd probably change the phrase to say "Our House" with a yellow or yellow gold box, surrounded by red triangles. I'd be playful and fill each triangle with a different color...maybe dip into my endless assortment of left-over strips. The numbers and letters on the ground would probably have to be hooked with a darker color...maybe the same sort of brown value that I use for the tree trunks.
Another trick I might use when hooking the trees: choose three values of green for your leaves; one being a light value, one being medium, and one being dark. Then divide up each tree into three parts. Hook one third of the leaves that are closer to the tip of the tree in the lightest value, then the middle third would be hooked in the medium value, and the bottom third (closest to the actual tree trunk) would be in the darkest value. I have done this in other rugs and it makes a beautiful transition!
Again, remember when hooking the letters and numbers to hook directly on the line, pulling your loops up as high as the background. Just hook one letter at a time and then immediately work one row of background around the entire letter/number so it will hold its shape. You can mix the size of your cuts if you want some thicker parts to your letters. You will have instant success and will never have to pull them out and hook them twice.
I LOVE HOOKING LETTERS!
As with all rugs, there will probably be some tweaking when I start hooking and getting all the colors in there. There might be some spots that need a stronger color or a darker value but that is the fun of trying to figure it out! Sometimes I leave a questionable spot in there until I get more hooked around it. I have learned that sometimes when you rip out too early, you will end up going back to the original color...so learn to live with those little stinkers for a little while. Get some more area hooked around it and then come back to it later. Put it on the floor and step away. Or hold it up to a mirror. You will know whether it will need to be changed or not.
You can find the My House Sampler pattern here:
PS: This is a large pattern (32" x 41.5")
1 comment:
Love this one!
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