8-Cut Rose - Homewood Retirement Centers

COMMERCIAL DESIGNS
8-Cut Rose
E
llen Jensen enjoys working with the very largest strips,
anywhere from a #8-cut to a #10-cut wool. This pattern by Jane Olson allowed her to test her shading
skills while using wide cuts.
Ellen admits to spending quite a bit of time looking at
swatches dyed by Nancy Blood before choosing one for the
rose. “We decided on Hot Pink—bright enough to keep me
excited and calm enough that Nancy didn’t go blind dyeing
the wool,” she says. “I remember Nancy saying that some
days she needed to wear sunglasses in her kitchen.”
In the Judges’ Words
• Well-executed shading skill. Looks so real.
• Good example of how to shade a rose with
many values in an 8-cut!
• Dramatic as all get-out. I love being surprised,
and these colors with this execution and this
daring choice of background do it.
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• Celebration XXII 2012
Nancy dyed all new wool, including one textured wool
from England. The swatches for the leaves used the same
three dyes as the background and were dyed over a Dorr
green, a Dorr bright turquoise, and a Dorr British green
tweed.
Those leaves turned out to be the most challenging part
of completing the rug. Ellen drew them on paper and
worked out the shading with colored pencils before she
hooked them into the backing. “This method saved me a lot
of pulling out wool,” she says, “which I really dislike doing.”
The center of the rose was also a difficult area to envision and then hook. She wanted her use of the swatches to
convey the depth at the center of the rose so that overall
the entire rose would appear three-dimensional.
Ellen needed 15 skeins of tapestry wool to bind the rug.
She chose to combine three colors from DMC—Ultra Dark
Bright Khaki, Ultra Very Dark Brown, and Ultra Very Dark
Pecan. The finished rug hangs in her sunroom where she
does most of her rug hooking.
8-Cut Rose, 36" x 36", #8- and 9-cut wool on monk’s cloth.
Pattern by Jane Olson; hooked by Ellen M. Jensen, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, 2011. LEIDY STUDIO
Ellen M. Jensen
Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
Ellen said no to rug hooking for many months until one day she decided to see firsthand what it
was about this new craft that had her dear friend so excited. “Needless to say, I was hooked as
soon as I entered the classroom.” Ellen has completed more than 90 pieces since 1978. She
currently uses wider cuts almost exclusively and prefers a “folk art” look rather than a true
primitive. Her work appeared in Celebration XVIII as an honorable mention.
Celebration XXII 2012 •
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