Make A Wish Rug Design

The Make A Wish Foundation of Maine asked me to design a rug for their upcoming auction in July. Of course I was thrilled to be asked and really glad to do so. I did the same a couple of years ago and was really proud that my rug ended up making about $3000 for the Foundation.....I was aghast!! Of course I couldn't have done that rug without the amazing work of my friends Maine Wool and Design who take my rug design and actually turn it into a rug...BY HAND!! right here in Lewiston, Maine. Their work is incredible and they are one of a handful of companies still left in America who hand tuft rugs. The process is quite elaborate and time consuming. After I have designed the rug I need to make a full scale black and white layout for Cliff to work from, he has to transfer the full scale image to brown layout paper, then electric pounce the design and then transfer that onto a cotton backing, then he fills in the design with wool by hand using an electric tufting gun, then the rug needs to be sheared and finished and finally have a latex backing applied to finish the edges and hold the wool in place...YIKES, it is not a quick process and I can tell you right now Cliff really knows what he's doing!! Thanks Cliff!!!

Above you see the design at it's very beginning...we choose a circular design as the starting point for this rug...I reworked it into a rectangle (with the invaluable help of Eleanor my artistic assistant) as circular rugs are harder to place in a room and rectangles are an easier 'sell' Here's the finished design....in pencil on tracing paper. I'll certainly post a picture here of the finished piece...in about 5 weeks time. Only one rug of this design will be made so that the rug has more value for the auction and it will be signed and dated by me.

The Make A Wish Foundation helps kids like Electron Boy realize their lifelong dreams...yea!!! for Electron Boy.