Creating a Peaceable Kingdom

Peaceable Kingdom, 56" x 69", #3- to 5-cut wool on linen.  Designed and hooked by Susan M. Cunningham, Laramie, Wyoming, 2011. 

My Peaceable Kingdom rug derives from my long-time association with the antiques business. Before we moved to Wyoming, my husband and I bought and sold fine 18th- and 19th-century antiques (quilts, hooked rugs, dower chests, paintings, fraktur, folk art, etc.) for 30 years while living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

My rug hooking career began with a colorful issue of Rug Hooking magazine I picked up at the local newsstand in 2003. I was immediately “hooked” and began to envision various antiques as hooked rug patterns. After practicing my rug hooking technique on a footstool cover of self-designed paisley shapes, my first real project was an adaptation of an 1820 watercolor portrait. My rugs since then have mainly been self-drawn designs or adaptations inspired by antiques or paintings. 

This article is from the November/December 2012 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.