Exclusive Excerpt from Rug Hooking Through the Year

Exclusive Excerpt from Rug Hooking Through the Year

Old Apple Tree
by Joan Moshimer/W. Cushing & Co.

Old Apple Tree, 42 1/2" x 24 1/2", #3-, 4-, and 5-cut wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Joan Moshimer.

Hook this charming gnarled old apple tree to puton the threshold of your home. Can you think of a better way to say "welcome" to your guests? Or use it as an entry rug to a bedroom or in the kitchen—it will add a cheerful spot of color wherever you place it.

Hooking Old Apple Tree

There are many ways to hook the apples, leaves, trunk, and grass. You can shade or not as you wish. Some of you will prefer to use many tones and gradations and shade with lots of detail and values, while others will choose plain colors with no shading, and others will prefer a primitive look with muted colors or close values. And all of these approaches will produce a great rug, all very different from each other.

Apples: I like to think of the apples in varying tones: some red, some with red and orange-red, and still others orange-red with touches of yellow.

Leaves: Use a selection of greens, some yellow-greens, and some blue-greens.

Tree: Don't make the tree trunk too dark. Hook it with medium-value grays and gray-browns, or soft, dull golds.

Background: This can be light or dark. Cream; pale, soft gray-blue; tan; beige; soft celery green; brown; dark green; dark gray-blue; or wine are some possibilities to consider. How about cream or warm beige apples against a dark blue or navy background with the leaves in the soft blue family? Or you could plan the entire rug in warm wood tones with tan-colored apples, golden brown leaves, and a dull brown trunk against a dark brown background.

Finishing Up

Use your favorite finishing method. This rug was finished using Joan Moshimer's method for binding edges. You will find instructions for this simple finish on page 122.

Materials List

• Backing of your choice: 54" x 25"
• Background wool (in the model, a medium-dark blue)
• Tree wool: 1/2 yd. of mixed browns, including textures and ranging from medium-light to very dark. Include a wide range of values and colors (including grays/browns) to allow depicting texture and the dark hollow in the trunk.
• Leaves and grass: 1/4 yd. mixed greens, different values and colors. Include some very lightest yellow-green to use as leaf outlines against the medium blue background.
• Leaf veins: some of the reds used in the apples
• Apples: 1/4 yd. of 3–5 different reds, from very light to very dark. Include some reds that lean toward orange.
• Dragonfly: a few strips from your stash in whatever colors you choose