If you love traditional oriental rugs, I have some wonderful resources for you to explore.
Anne Stradal is going to adapt a traditional Kyrgystan bed hanging to NP.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/03/exploring-distant-land.html
She already has turned more traditional oriental rug patterns into NP.
http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com/2009/03/magic-carpet-ride.html
Jan Fitzpatrick is busily creating her own rug from motifs she has taken from Moroccan tiles. She's also worked up smaller patterns from henna tattoos.
http://threadmedley.wordpress.com
If you are at all interested in trying this on your own, I have three books in my library to recommend to you.
The first is Janet Granger's Miniature Needlepoint Carpets. This paperback book by a dollhouse miniature artist has 25 rug designs charted, from a tiger skin rug to an Art Deco style rug to dollhouse carpet runners. The introduction talks about how to design your own pattern and outlines how to stitch and finish a dollhouse carpet.
Frank M. Cooper's book Oriental Carpets in Miniature is also miniature rugs but this paperback concentrates on charting oriental rugs in various authentic styles. His chapters are grouped into Turkish Rugs, Caucasian Rugs and Persian Rugs. Each of the 24 charts has a brief description of the region where this rug style originated. The rugs are beautiful and more elaborate than the Granger ones but they are also harder to stitch the designs are for traditional oriental rugs only.
Finally, the immortal Maggie Lane has a book of rug charts that has very beautiful designs. Her book is called Chinese Rugs Designed for Needlepoint. I would love to have one of these! Her graphed rugs are adaptations of Chinese motifs into rug patterns and she does talk about how to finish your own rug. There are only ten designs in the book but reading it brings her personality to life and you will fall in love with Chinese rugs as you read what she has to say about them.
Needlepoint Fun has a book and several miniature rug kits for sale on their website.
http://www.needlepointfun.com/pix7.htm
To wrap up, let's visit Access Commodities' rug adventure. Perhaps there is a similar magic carpet in your future?
http://www.accesscommodities.com/orderforms/aMagicCarpet.pdf
Jane, who loves oriental rugs in CH
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
