jesus in the sand pit

Friday - my last day of this week's residency at The Old Sale Rooms. It has been such good fun and great to have the opportunity to meet people and talk about rug making memories. And Jane in the Tea Rooms has been feeding me delicious lunches!

I forgot to record here a memory offered to me a couple of days ago for sharing on the blog. A woman recalled going to the Salvation Army Sunday School in Scotts Lane ( I'm sorry I've forgotten your name - write and remind me if you are reading this!) In particular she remembered that if you were well behaved you were allowed to move a figure representing one of the bible characters across the sand pit. As the bible story was being told the children would act it out in the sand pit. She said that it really concentrated their attention! Yesterday, coincidentally, The Salvation Army Hall in Wellington closed down after 120 years. There's a good write up in this week's Wellington Weekly News.

Rick, Jane's husband, shared memories of well known characters from Mantle Street, including Ron Penny the road sweeper, who always had a kind word and a woodbine for the schoolboys! He also recalled Frank Webber walking up to town from Rockwell Green, in his hobnail boots and pushing a wheelbarrow full of vegetables from his allotment for trading.

Lee from Wellington Folk and Custom Society dropped by to advise of the bad weather that was playing havoc with the tables and chairs outside, and suggested I bring my rugs up to the 'Bishop Blaize and Bridgid coming of spring ceremony' to be held at the Green Dragon next Monday evening. It's a traditional custom in Wellington (home of weaving and spinning for so many hundreds of years)  to 'appoint' a new Bishop Blaize and a new Bridgid each year. Bishop Blaize was the protector of weavers, wool combers, while Bridgid protected and blessed spinners, smith craft, poets, lambs and all to do with hearth and home. To have my hearth rugs receive a blessing at the start of this new venture - how lovely!



                                   other end of rug with rolled up template

 

 

Jane has asked if I would like to continue using the space at The Old Sale Rooms to work in.

Of course I said "Yes please!" So for the next six months I am going to be based there every MONDAY between 10 and 5. If for any reason I can't make it one week I will let people know via my blog. While I am at The Old Sale Rooms, I will be working on another rug that will be inspired by customers' memories of Mantle Street. So I would love people to drop by and share their Mantle Street Memories with me. You will have the opportunity to write them down if you'd like them to be read and enjoyed by others. You might perhaps like to do a little rag rugging yourself and/or add a small piece of your own special fabric to the rug. For I'd like this rug to be made from - and represent on different levels - 'the fabric of our lives'. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Uncle Bill did embroidery on old flour sacks...

Fourth day of residency at The Old Sale Rooms and once again, lots of visitors with amazing anecdotes and stories to tell, relating to and spinning out from, the theme of textiles. Some are brief, some are more descriptive, but each sparks an image and ignites a colourful flame to brighten this grey January day.

Two cousins recalling and summoning to life again, the handiwork of relatives long gone:-

Anne: "My Uncle Bill did embroidery on old flour sacks."
Wendy: "Uncle Tom did samplers in the Navy - ships and anchors."

Yesterday I photographed the rug braiding tools that were manufactured in Maine, New England. Today I met Natalie who recalls spending time with her sister who lived in Maine. It was there that she learnt the craft of rug braiding which all the women did.  Her sister used to examine her rugs for gaps between the braiding, saying:
"you're not a good rug maker if you can shoot peas through it!"

 Natalie recalled tapping the maple for sap:
"If the sun was out, the sap would rise quickly and the bucket would have overflowed if you didn't collect it by midday."

She recalled maple sap being reduced in big pans to make fudge and another delicacy: maple syrup poured into the snow where it hardened and could be then eaten like sweets.

Talking of making do and mending, Natalie recommended looking at the quilts of The Gee's Bend Quilters: here is a link to a wonderful documentary. Not sure if it will lead to it by just clicking, but well worth copying and pasting if that's what you have to do to view!

 http://vimeo.com/50454661

Tricia who does rushwork was interested in the possibility of maybe combining techniques of rug braiding with rushwork. Tricia told us about going to pick the rushes at Isle Abbotts:

"The first time I  went it was a very wet summer and I capsized my boat"

The next time Tricia went prepared, and joined:

" a wonderful gang of ladies in wetsuits who plunged into the water singing 'green grow the rushes o!' "

Oh I almost forgot. The rug, here it is. Less rugging, more talking again!

sunshine corner

It's the third day of my residency at The Old Sale Rooms and today was very busy with visitors so I did considerably more talking than rag rugging. But that's what it's about too! And the relationship between textiles and talking: 'spinning a yarn', 'weaving a tale', 'embroidering the truth' runs deep, and continues with today's 'Knit and Natter' groups.

Met a woman who remembers attending chapel here (The Old Sale Rooms was originally a Methodist chapel). Her parents were the caretakers and she recalls coming in with them to stoke up the fires with coal before a service. She also recalled going to 'Sunshine Corner', a Sunday school held in the former Moose Hall just around the corner. She told us when she was young, she and her friends used to circulate around all the Sunday schools when it was getting close to 'trip' time, so that they got invited on all the summer charabanc trips!

Another visitor told me he remembered his grandmother in Yorkshire rag rugging a stair carpet. It's not the first time I've been told of such an ambitious endeavour. One woman recently told me that her father used to joke that they'd have to move into the shed to make room for the increasing amount of space that the stair carpet was taking up, as her mother neared its completion!

And I heard about rug making traditions on the canal narrow boats and Pauline, a narrow boat owner brought in to show me her lovely vintage braid making clamp and 'braid aids'.

Pauline's vintage braiding clamp (with braid aids)

Also talked with mother and daughter, Sarah and Anne. Sarah, told me what her daughter was too modest to mention: that her daughter had won a first prize for the 'rag rug' chair seat cover she had made!

Rag Rug Residency @ The Old Sale Rooms: Day 2

 

 

My second day at The Old Sale Rooms. Today I've been re-hooking some sections I haven't been satisfied with, and experimenting with neutral colours. And talking to lots of people. Visitors have come from outside Wellington (!) to see my demonstration which is most encouraging. One woman who would like to learn rag rug making is particularly interested in rug making as a way of telling her family's history; incorporating worn garments and fabrics that might trigger memories and the re-telling of family stories. Other customers shared anecdotes of rug making during their early married life. Neb, the dog belonging to the owner of The Old Sale Rooms didn't sit on my feet under the rug frame today, but joined me for lunch instead!

 



progress with rug on the frame plus rugs on the floor for display



                         

Interesting discussion in the Tea Rooms this afternoon, about handed down recipes for rice pudding (my grandmother would put a bay leaf in hers) and junket, and just how difficult it is to buy rennet and sterilised cream these days (a trip to "Trumps" of Sidmouth was recommended for the purchasing of rennet).



 

 

 

 

Mark Hearld - An Introduction

Inspiring collages and lino prints.

Neb the footwarmer.

Finished my first day of the residency at The Old Sale Rooms. Really great to meet customers and have the opportunity to demonstrate rag rugging. Enjoyed meeting Laura who works in the Tea Rooms (can recommend her homemade chocolate cake!) and hearing about her memories of when this building was an auctioneers (Laura's father was the auctioneer). What an interesting history this old chapel has. Took bookings for my workshops. One woman commented on how the colours of the clothes I was wearing echoed those that I was using in the rug. She said that she has noticed I've colour co-ordinated with my rugs before! Quite unconscious, but then my rugs are made from recycled garments (some of them mine), so I guess the colours that I like wearing will eventually turn up in my rugs! What was really impressive though was that Neb (the owner's dog) also colour co-ordinated with the rug I was working on. He posed for a photo whilst sitting on my feet under the rug frame, and his fleecy doggy coat matched exactly the green I was using!

Here is the rug I have started today based upon the design of one of the stained glass windows on the top  floor of The Old Sale Rooms:

And here is a photo of progress made today:

 

 

Hmm, I can see a little bit that I'll need to redo tomorrow. The blue curve on the RH side isn't quite right....

The Old Sale Rooms - Residency: Day 1

 

 

 

My first day of the Rag Rug Residency and I'm buzzing with ideas for designs. The photographs I have taken of the building, and some of the decorative artefacts for sale within it, have provided more inspiration than I even hoped for. This beautiful stained glass window from the top floor, I love for the fact that each fleur-de-lis is a different shade of green. It gives the design a simple vitality, so that your eyes move from flower to flower. I didn't know that the fleur-de-lis is thought to have been based upon the iris, not the lily, and that some historians think it 's original source was the yellow flag.

 

 

 

 

Another window. This time no plant motifs in the design itself, but with tracery of tendrilled stems dancing across the glass outside:-

 

 

With Valentines Day coming up, is it a coincidence that I keep finding heart motifs carved/inlaid/fused into so many items of furniture here?!

 

 

 

 

 

Today I will be starting a rug based upon the design of the stained glass window. I've altered the shape and removed some of the detail. While I think I know how I will handle the central section (using the hooky method to render the detail and line) I'm not sure yet what I will do for the outer section of the rug. Perhaps a braided border? But I like not knowing and leaving room for the rug to grow itself. It's more interesting that way!

peggy petals

Today I ran a workshop for a lovely group of women at "Heidi's Sewing Room".

We used rag rug techniques to grow our own 'Fantasy Flowers'. One woman brought a ready fashioned prodder (rug making tool) made from a dolly peg. I'd seen these used in County Durham where their mat/rugs are often called "Peggy Mats". She also brought with her a hook that looked as though it had been made from a bottle opener - intriguing!

 

 

 

clootie Rugs.

Met some wonderful people at a nursing home in Taunton today. I showed them my rugs and in return, two women showed me items they had made: exquisitely hand-hemmed floor length curtains and a Readicut type cushion cover, depicting a tabby cat and its kitten.

As I pulled some hessian sacking out of my bag to show them the base fabric that I use for my rugs, I had a spine tingling moment when a woman told me that she used to be a jute weaver in Scotland. She had been in charge of six looms. They were good looms, she told me, because they were automatic, so would stop if a thread broke. She also knew the rugs by their delightful Scottish name; "Clootie rugs". "Clootie" meaning clothing, or cloth, as in "Ne-er cast a clout till May be out".





http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/taysideandcentralscotland/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8390000/8390747.stm

new workshop programme

been planning my new workshop programme, still have more to add!
See 'workshops' page for details.

rag rug residency

 

 

Really excited about my upcoming "R.R.R." (Rag Rug Residency) It's going to take place at The Old Sale Rooms, Mantle Street, Wellington, Somerset (Tel. 07909 544 552).  I will be working there Mon 27 Jan - Frid 31 Jan, 10am - 5pm. The idea behind the residency is to give people the opportunity not only to watch a Rag Rug being made, but also to see something of the whole creative process; from where to look for inspiration and how to translate sketches/photographic references into working rug designs.
The decorative antiques and collectibles to be found at The Old Sale Rooms, can't fail to provide me with lots of ideas for motifs! Customers may enjoy the challenge of trying to trace my design references back to their sources by going on a 'treasure hunt' throughout the sale rooms, and for this I will have illustrated hand outs that people may like to take around with them. The residency coincides with The Old Sale Rooms becoming a stockist of the Farrow and Ball range of paints. I wonder if I will be inspired also by wondrous paint names such as: "Moles Breath", and "Nancy's Blushes"! The residency allows me to "set out my stall" so to speak, in my local patch, right at the start of my new venture. People can find out more about my workshop and talks programme, as well as the more therapeutic textile sessions that I offer in the community and will be able to book places on workshops that appeal to them. I also feel that this is the right venue in which to introduce my work to customers who may potentially be interested in purchasing or commissioning new rugs.

Each day I will upload photos and notes on to my blog to record the development of my designs and ideas. If you are in the area drop by and say hello (BTW there's good tea and cakes to be had in the Tea Rooms as well!)

Old Sale Rooms (Tel. 07909 544 552). 

darning over a jam jar

This morning the weather was kind as I travelled to a Nursing Home in Taunton to do a Rag Rug Demo/Reminiscence session. I find these sessions thrilling for the images that rise to the surface as individuals begin to recall either making rag rugs themselves or having watched them being made.
One woman recalled her carpenter grandfather fashioning a rag rug cutting gauge from a piece of wood and slicing a groove along its length with a sharp razor. Another woman remembered using a jam jar in place of a darning mushroom. There used to be competitions for darning, she said, you could win prizes for it! And then there were those who remembered the carpet beater by its other name: "bottom spanker"!

cold lino... warmer than the stone floor underneath!

  

 

What a lovely sign welcomed me when I arrived to do my demo. at  Heidi's Sewing Room  this morning! Heidi's mother Beryl (who used to own the shop before Heidi took it over) said that the boards were bought when she first purchased the premises, over thirty years ago - back when there was a bakery in North Street.
Really enjoyed meeting customers and spending time in this busy little shop listening to people purchasing their ribbons and their wool, their knitting patterns and needle threaders, and bringing garments in for alterations. What a useful service and how lucky we are in Wellington to have our own haberdashery!

 

 

I like this write up that was in the Wellington Weekly News a few months ago:

Heidi comes out in buttons & bows

  

  

It was probably the last place in the Wellington area where you could still buy spare knicker elastic but Haberdashery Plus, in North St, closed a few months ago and has now re-emerged as Heidi’s Sewing Room.

And Heidi is none other than the daughter of Beryl Griffiths, founder and owner of H-Plus for over 30 years.  Now Heidi Jenkinson she began her involvement with sewing as a seven-year-old around her mum’s shop before moving on after school to industrial sewing at Relyon and  then wedding dresses with Sassi Holford.

The old shop was nothing if not well-stocked but Heidi has made it seem very light and contemporary with  her renovations and new ranges of wools, ribbons and cottons. “Mum’s very pleased that someone is carrying it on,” said Heidi.

 

 

'raggy rose' on braided clutch bag

 

 

While I sat at the lovely old oak gate-leg table, making floral brooches, customers shared their own memories of making rag rugs with their grandmothers and mothers. There are fascinating details contained within these memories from the 1930s and '40s and they spark vivid images. I'm collecting such memories, and, where I have people's permission, share them through my blog and in a memory book that I read with residents in Homes where I do rag rug sessions.

 

Today, a customer called Ulanda told me that she remembered using old potato sacking and old grain sacks that had been used for chicken feed, as a base to make the rugs upon and that every scrap of old worn clothing was used, including her grandmother's underwear which meant that the rug contained "nice shiny pink bits" !
 

"In those days", Ulanda said, "we used to jump from mat to mat so as not to stand on the cold lino, which was warmer than the stone floor underneath"!