Braided rugs, like jazz, baseball, the martini and the musical, are uniquely American.   While they had household value, braided rugs were quickly set aside with the advent of manufactured and mass produced carpets, though there were a few short revivals.  Rag rugs such as braided rugs, remained the provenance of the rural and poorer households living mostly in the south and the midwest, and seem more popular with groups that eschewed industrilization such as the Mennonites, Shakers, and Amish.  Wool was used, of course, but fabrics such as  flour and feed sacks, silk and cotton stockings,  old clothing also made it to the list of materials. It is from these thrifty, enterprising, creative women (and it was mostly women who worked with textiles for the home), I take my inspiration and take as my launching point.

In our heavily manufactured and overly commercial world, my work offers an opportunity to slow down, become connected to the past of thrift, reuse, handmade, and to invite traditionally handcrafted goods into your home.  I also strive to make beautiful and useful things from castaways and materials that would otherwise be headed to landfills.

My rag rugs span a variety of techniques from around the world and across time--braiding, proddy or pegged rug, twinned, crochet among them., and everything is made completely by hand.  In keeping with the spirit of rag rugs, I use fabric that I find everywhere--except fabric stores.  All my work  is completely made from material utilizes only fabric that has had another life, or sometimes was part of some stash of unused vintage and antique fabric. In any case, I don’t buy new, not only because we are awash in consumer goods but because my rugs are, in fact, rag rugs.

 

I search out rag rug makers to learn time honored techniques and variations, but incorporate innovations as well, such as my use of less “precious” fabrics than wool such as polyesters , acetate,  terrycloth, chenille, flannel, and burlap. Unlikely combinations, such as burlap and flannel, or silk, acetate and cotton push my techniques and jeep it joyful.  And once in a while, the fabric itself can have a story, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant.   

 

With a nod to past rug makers, I bring history and a sense of connection to the past, which I make to become heirlooms to be passed down through the generations, but mostly, they are wonderful to make and meant to be lived and loved in the present.