Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Penny Rug

I love wool applique and especially love to make penny rugs. I haven't been able to find out too much about the history of early penny rugs except that they probably originated in New England sometime in the 1800s. They may have descended from early bed ruggs (bed coverings) that eventually developed into smaller table coverings. Most antique penny rugs were made from recycled clothing or fabric scraps of wool or cotton. The height of their popularity seemed to be around 1870.

My penny rug is made from a pattern by Karyn Lord of Wool & Whimseys. I was lucky enough to take one of Karyn's classes a while back and was really inspired by her obvious love of the art of making penny rugs. It really was a fun class and I learned a whole lot (especially about the blanket stitch!)

I hope everyone is having a good summer so far. I have been catching up on gardening and housekeeping tasks so haven't had as much time as I'd like for stitching but still try to complete a few letters on my current sampler project everyday. Hopefully, I will have it finished soon :)

Sandy

11 comments:

marly said...

Wow Sandy your stitches are so uniform and neat! What a beautiful job and a lovely design. I would love to try this but need to start from scratch, so I think ordering a kit would be my best option. It will be a long time before I can accomplish something this nice!

annie said...

This is really so beautiful! Your stitching looks wonderful, and I love the colors.

Marguerite (Tina) Smith Hart said...

That is beautiful and so colorful and cozy looking! I have never made one but after seeing yours I might just have to give it a try one day soon, thanks for the inspiration!
Tina xo

Julie - My Primitive Heart said...

This is truly beautiful and thank you so much for sharing it! I too have been thinking about doing a penny rug, and yours has definitely inspired me to get busy!! The colors are so rich.....LOVE IT!!!

Blessings~~
Julie

jennifer768 said...

This is gorgeous ! Love the colors you chose.Have a great day,Jen

Karen said...

Your buttonhole stitching looks so even. Well done.

Annie Beez said...

Oh man this is gorgeous!

zinnia2020 said...

Beautiful! I love your pictures too..

iconrugs said...

This is a great blog. I appreciate your creativity. You have made attractive and pretty rug.
shaggy rugs

Linda Bell said...

Sandy, I too am a fan of Karyn Lord. I've been trying to reach her to order more patterns, but the phone number and email address I have seem to have been changed. Can you help me get in touch with Karyn?
Linda Bell
LBhookery@gmail.com

The Humble Stitcher said...

Linda...I took Karyn's class several years ago but have since lost touch. I'm not sure how to reach her anymore either. Sorry I can't be of more help :(