The Valley Forge Rug Braiding Guild
2011 Fairy Tale Challenge
The Fairy Tale Challenge was one of our more interesting and creative challenges! Unfortunately, I lost a lot of photos in a computer crash and don’t have photos of as many of the entries as I would like. I will update as I (hopefully) receive more photos.
Pam Rowan made this beautiful strip rug with meticulously pieced flowers, and the sculptural tortoise and hare. A small turtle buddy accompanies the big one!
Jenn Kiarsis made this “Rapunzel” rug with the long blonde braids on top. The grass, forest, tower, and sky are pieced in.
Val Galvin made this “Jack and the Beanstalk” hooked and braided rug. The braided vines have leaves prodded through the braids, adding dimension. The hooking shows Jack, the goose with the golden egg, the giant’s castle, and the beans.
Kris McDermet made this rug showing the fairy tale, “The Fir Tree.” This hooked and braided piece features the happy times of the somewhat somber tale, with Humpty Dumpty, a mouse, music, a bunny, and a beautiful tree.
Jill Temple braided her version of the Tortoise and the Hare. The tortoise is braided with several interesting elements — 9-loop centers add a burst of color on the turtle’s back, and a back-and-forth triple fancy braid makes up one of the rows. Another couple rows are pieced to have different colors. The head, tail, and feet are braided triangular shapes. The hare is hooked, and surrounded by braids.
Christine Manges braided and embellished this fairy tale: The Princess and the Pea. The princess is appliquéd on, and velvet curtains frame her bed. Note the many mattresses... and a pea!
Karen Drevyanko made this Thomas the Train rug with charming appliqued faces on the trains. Karen filled in the odd shapes between the circles perfectly.
Heidi Boldt Diefenderfer made this sculptural piece showing the fairy tale “Rapunzel.” The witch (a doll made by Heidi) has ahold of Rapunzel’s long braid. Look at the details of the tower: the picot edge crenellations of the gray row; the fancy and pointed round roof top, the whimsical colors of the braided tower.
Bobbie Mahler made this beautiful Easter Bunny, which is a pretty amazing rug. the bunny himself is made of two braided rounds plus some ears that have fringed pink braids for the fluffy ears. His feet are pieced into the green grass. His Easter Eggs are made of 9-looped centers stitched together and formed into eggs. His carrot is felted. Next to him are an Easter basket made of a large multistrand that continues as “grass” along the rug. More eggs fill the basket. The sky is of hand-dyed wool carefully braided to fill in and outline the space.
Delsie Hoyt made a rug showing Red Riding Hood walking on a trail through the dark forest. Red Riding Hood is created as a sheer overlay on the braids, and she is outlined with a tiny red braid around the overlay. The light glints through the trees, and there is no sign of the wolf just yet. A charming piece with Delsie’s signature pictorial style.
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Patsy Simon created Thumbelina, who is sleeping in her walnut shell under a flower petal for warmth. Cute!
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Barb Meyers made her version of, “The Tortoise and the Hare” with a very sweet braided tortoise. A bunny sits atop the tortoise. The bow is dashing.
Dottie Pepe made this charming piece of The Cat and the Fiddle. The colors are perfect to show a rakish cat playing a braided bow and fiddle. The braids are carefully shaped to create the slightly bent tail, the arms playing the fiddle, and of course the cat’s ears and brown fiddle. The face is appliqued on.
This piece created by Jan Watson and June Kittelson shows The Three Billy Goats Gruff. A braided and embellished mat is pieced to show the river across the center, with the green grass on the other side. The bridge — created with stacked and sewn pieces of wool — isn’t shown well in the photo, but a mean ugly troll is guarding the bridge. A tree is created with braids and a flocked fleece top.
This fellow wearing a sparkly crown is the frog prince of, “The Princess and the Frog.” Created by Nancy Young, the frog has large back legs, and short front webbed feet that are created with a series of angles. His face has large eyes with black centers of short braids. A crown of braided sparkle fabric sits atop his head.
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