The meeting this month included a talk about yarn sewn and reed stitched rugs. The Kopps thought that these early rugs were some of the most beautiful, and we were set a challenge to see how to use the stitches in contemporary rug making. Joel and Kate Copps book “American Hooked and sewn rugs” includes a section on these rugs. To read more about these rugs online, in amongst the papers and articles of the Old Sturbridge Village Museum in Massachusetts there is a publication by Nina Fletcher Little called “Floor Coverings in New England before 1850″ which includes information about these rugs.

Our show and tell this month is a mix of techniques and styles.

The first three all use proddy, but look so different. The rainbow is a test piece for a larger rug, the two wreaths represent spring and Christmas. The flowers on the spring wreath are recycled from serviette rings.

The next show and tell is a small fine needle locker hook maple leaf.

A few meetings ago some members of the group explored wiggly crochet, this small mat was made following instructions in Susan Lowmans book “Wiggly Crochet rugs”.

The last rug is one made with the toothbrush technique. This is always a bit confusing but this one is the technique used by Aunt Philly, and alternatively described as Amish Knot.

The group also had quite a few rugs in progress this month, but I will wait until they are finished before posting them. This next month we are off for our rug retreat at Cober Hill near Scarborough, so hopefully there will be interesting rugs to show. If the weather is good we are also hoping to do some wool dyeing.