RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Friday, April 15, 2011

MY GRANDMOTHER'S TRUNK CREATIVE CHALLENGE AT LAST

Finally, I just got done wrapping a side of beef and thank goodness my husband helped me or I would still be wrapping until midnight.   As promised here are some photos of my new rug done in haste and still needs tweaking, I even forgot to put an accent on the word Grandmere.  Grandmere Cherie translates to Darling Grandmother.  You can click on the picture and hopefully you can see it closer. I need to fix a few little  details as usual.

This rug is designed  and hooked by moi, Julia Bourque, on jute burlap, is 24"x18" 100% wool except a tiny bit of very dark green between the yellow flowers.  All hand dyed wool except the hair and the blue sleeves and darkest green. I used a sheer gold ribbon given to me by my daughter as I couldn't find a narrow ribbon at the mall or at the fabric store.

This  challenge was to get us to do something that we remembered from our grandmother and we had to use two different brown and some wording. Although it was called Grandmother's Trunk Creative Challenge we were free to interpret this in our own way.  Everyone's rugs are totally different.

Thanks for your patience...

This is the picture that I used to draw the face and because my grandmother said that it was a windy day that day I changed her hair just because she would approve.  She always like to look her best even though she was poor like a lot of the folks at that time.

 Here is a rough drawing. I had even forgot to add the words on the design.   I used some pastels and wiped the dust off so it looks kind of washed off.



This was taken at night with the light on so it looks darker.  Notice the eyes are not even as per the photo. 

This is a close up of the necklace hooked with a ribbon that I had to sew folded and because of the color nuances in the ribbon it also shows nuances in the necklace. In this close up, the colors are more as they are on the rug.

Here is a close up of the face
I dyed most of the colors except the hair and the blue on the sleeves and the tiny bit of dark green.
I really enjoyed doing this piece but I think that if I would have more time to think and prepare, my rug would probably would have been of a different design.  I thought that since I painted faces on ceramics, I should be able to do the same on my rug.   I choose flowers because my grandma had those flowers growing in front of her house. It's where I got my love of flowers.

Today I also started another first, I started my first primitive rug.  This is the one I won from Rugs and Pugs a while back.  It didn't fit my frame so I sewed a piece of wool to make it fit.




This is what I managed to get done this afternoon. I took this picture in the dark a few minutes ago.

I hope that you will understand a bit how I went about to do my Grandmother's trunk Creative Challenge.   Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.  JB

20 comments:

  1. Julia, I love your challenge rug!!!
    What a lovely portrait of your grandmother! She's a beautiful lady.
    You did an excellent job, especially with all the hand-dyed wools and the gold ribbon is a special touch.
    It is such a nice way to remember your beloved family member.

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  2. What a wonderful rug - faces are so challenging and you really captures your grandmother! Wonderful!

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  3. Julia,
    Your rug is wonderful! I am in awe of how you hooked the face and captured your Grandmother's beautiful countenance! I love how you used the ribbon for her necklace. Congratulations on completing another successful challenge!
    Cathy G

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  4. Your rug is absolutely beautiful. The face is amazing, wow!!! I've never tried a face and not sure I ever want to!!!

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  5. What a great rug and a special remembrance. I really love the ribbon that you used for the necklace....even better that you got it from your daughter instead of from the store....kind of weaves 3 generations together into your rug.

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  6. WOW!!! What a wonderful likeness of your beautiful grandmother. I'm so impressed with your talent Julia :-)
    Blessings,
    Marcia

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  7. When I opened this post, I gasped! It blows me away! It is just amazing! It not only is an amazing likeness, but it is beautiful. You even have multiple colors on her face...so lifelike! Her necklace is just phenomenal! This is truly an amazing work of art! Just beautiful, Julia!!!

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  8. Oh Julia you are amazing! She would love it it is so beautiful! I am in complete awe of you. No wonder you have children and grandchildren with artistic talent your talent is just over flowing.
    they all had to pick up some. I just love it.
    Cathy

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  9. Julia,
    I am awed by your rug! You have done a masterful job on this portrait. My grandmothers were extra special to me so I love the idea of honoring Gradmas everywhere! I love your treatment of the face, eyes, and especially the necklace. You are one talented lady! Thanks for sharing all of the process with us as well.
    Courtney

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  10. Julia,
    It's amazing. The shading and details on her face and eyes are beautiful. You have done a wonderful job capturing her in wool. The necklace looks great too. I always love the bling.

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  11. Wow Julia, your rug is amazing. You certainly did an awesome job on your grandma's face. I haven't attempted faces yet, but I would sure love to. Congrats girl on a job well done.

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  12. Julia, Julia, I am totally amazed by you. You are continuing to grow in rug hooking
    with every rug. I Loved your grandmother rug you captured the softness and beauty of your grandmother so well. You have outdone yourself. Cheri

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  13. Nice looking woman, she was. I even see some of her face in her great granddaughter, whose face I look at every day.

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  14. Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I forgot to mention in my haste to post this last night that I used a small projector to project the photo on the wall but it was difficult to make out the details from this old black and white photo. The details were hazy.
    It's just a cheap $40. kid projector. The real thing is more expensive. I could only do a small section at a time and had to move the projector on the photo. JB

    Maybe I should invest in a good one. Michael's want about $400.I'm sure that I could find one cheaper online.

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  15. That is a beautiful rug! Last night I couldn't wait to see it. My husband even sat as we enlarged it and stared at it. It is fantastic. I have about a million questions I will ask later. The gold for the necklace is incredible. I think your grandmother had a very sweet face. Such a pretty young girl. I wish I had known her. I will write later.

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  16. Oh my goodness that is amazing. Your rug looks so much like the picture. You did wonderful. The necklace is so special. What a wonderful keepsake

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  17. What a lovely Grandmère Chérie rug. You did a great job Julia. I should try something like that someday of my Grandparents.

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  18. Julia~ I am so impressed with your creativity. The rug is lovely, I am sure you have made your beautiful grandmother proud. It is a wonderful keepsake.

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  19. Julia, what a wonderful portriat! You have created a wonderful rug. Your hooking of the face is exceptional and the necklace is a wonderful touch. You should be very proud of this piece - I know you will cherish it.

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  20. Looks great mom! I'm glad that you could use the ribbon even though it sounds like it was a bit of a pain. She looks great!

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