As I may have mentioned before, some time ago, Mom requested that I design her a Christmas tree skirt to hook. You don't see that many of them out there, so I gave "Christmas in New England" to her for a Christmas gift. I really didn't plan on her getting it done so soon, figured she'd have all year to work on it, at the very least I thought she might have it done by summer. Well, she just couldn't "not" work on it. She would do a house here and there, a snowman, a sheep, in between doing other projects, but then I could see that she was becoming obsessed with it. So, this last week has been the real push to finish it. Background was the most monotonous part. For the background she took 6 yards of scrap wools she had and threw them all in some slate blue dye. The different wools gave her the different look you see in the sky. It kind of resembles a Magdalena Briner background and employs her method of using what you have. I love it. After all, if you've ever looked at a crisp clear night sky, notice the different hues of blue/black throughout and how one area might be lighter and then a different area can be so much darker. Just love it!! Thanks Mom for hooking my vision, it came out better than I envisioned. She will not sell this rug but says she can be commissioned if you are interested in purchasing a finished one. I also am toying with the idea of a wool applique version, but want to work on my "stars and flowers" one first. So, stay tuned on that. I have taken lots of pictures of the tree skirt for detailing. Enjoy!
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| "Christmas in New England" Tree skirt 52 inches in diameter, nearly 11 feet in circumference... |
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| She used our Red herringbone wool for the hooked border, then stitched an 11 foot corded binding edge around the whole edge of the skirt. |
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| ....from the back.... |
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| For the inner part she bound the rug with a blue wool edge... |
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| After showing you the tree skirt, I suddenly feel very inadequate showing you my Antique Horse punch needle..... |
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| I used different colors than Mom's hooked version and then sprayed it with walnut crystals. It's much more muted in person, darn flash.... |
I'm happy to share that my sister has opened her Etsy store for her folkart. Below are some of the items she has listed. They are so wonderfully folky and primitive, so much better in person than in the photos. I have posted the links to Etsy below the pictures if you'd like to take a closer look...
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Crow Snippet box, what a great idea for your scrap snippets and to hold your hook and scissors when not hooking and oh so very folky, here is the link:
Crow Snippet Box |
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| Primitive Sheep Snippet tray, love this, the sheep can sit in the tray or can be used for decorating separately...the link: Sheep Snippet Tray #1 |
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| "List Santa", these are such a great idea for grandparents, with all the grandchildren's names, here is the link:List Santa |
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| Coming soon to www.theoldtatteredflag.com, vintage heirloom inspired embroidering scissors. Let's face it, we all love "pretty". |
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| Mom is going to kill me for this!! Measuring the circumference of the tree skirt. Check out Ollie and Baxter, it looks like they are fighting!!! |
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| Peekaboo!!!! Baxter...... |
Until next time........
5 comments:
That tree skirt is a work of art. Just wonderful!
I'm heading over to check your sister's etsy shop. I guess you are one talented family!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren
Thanks very much Lauren!
What a gorgeous xmas tree skirt, both design and hooking. I've been watching its progress all along, and it only gets better with each milestone. Congratulations to you both! ... jan
I have your tree skirt pattern to hook... it will be a big project for me. Can you let me know what colors you used for the background? I have plenty of scraps to do the houses and trees but will need to purchase some wools for that HUGE background. I hope my tree skirt looks half as good as the one your Mom did...its beautiful.
Ellen
Hi Ellen,
The background took six yards of wool. Mom threw six yards of scrap wool into some slate blue dye. So, we could do that for you, but, we also just purchased some bolts of blue with the intent of offering some as is wools for the background. The as is wools would be significantly less expensive than all hand dyed. It would actually be 2 yds of our sailboat blue, 2 yds of our federal blue and then 2 yds. of the hand dyed slate blue. They go together beautifully and will really make that sky interesting. If you are interested you can email me directly at theoldtatteredflag@yahoo.com and I can put them together and send a picture to you....
Thanks!
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