I began hooking rugs while on vacation in Michigan. We went into town to “finger the goods” and I saw some finished pieces in the back of the store. I got a five minute lesson on pulling loops and bought a kit. It was a fine, shaded, floral piece that I turned into a pillow top. The next year, I bought a pattern and some precut #6 strips. It took me three years to finish it. Every year, I returned and bought some more of the precut strips. It was my most expensive rug ever! While I was buying a supply of strips in the third year, I picked up a Bliss cutter and asked how to use it. I had no idea you could cut your own wool! I bought the cutter and a beginner book on dyeing and went back to Pennsylvania.
Completely overwhelmed, I put everything away with my stained glass materials, ornamental plastering materials, decorative finishing materials, cross-stitch, and knitting materials… I think you get the idea. One day while carpooling to a Master Gardener class, the driver stopped at Rebecca Erb's and changed my life. She then invited me to join her rug hooking group and introduced me to my first teacher and mentor, Peggy Hannum. I have never looked back! From drawing a pattern, selecting the colors, dyeing the wool, and finally creating a rug that is completely unique, rug hooking satisfies every creative urge I have ever had.
DAD'S RUG
This rug is a tribute to my Dad who passed away five years. Dad is the boy in the far right lower corner and this is his first grade photo taken in front of the one room schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The children were in grades one through eight. My siblings and I also attended a one room schoolhouse along with Amish children. Dad's schoolhouse burned down in the 1960's and I did not have a good photo, so I decided to design and hook Dad's classroom in front of the schoolhouse I attended. They were both built around the same time in "Italianate" style.
This rug has become a sentimental family favorite. I used one of my Mother's skirts for Dad's pants, his favorite tie for his shirt, a piece of my sister's wedding gown and a strip of satin from my clothing for flowers, and my brother's sweater for shadows in the rug. The pump is from a photo of the pump behind my grandparent's home and the goat is in the schoolyard because my Dad raised goats.
This rug is a tribute to my Dad who passed away five years. Dad is the boy in the far right lower corner and this is his first grade photo taken in front of the one room schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The children were in grades one through eight. My siblings and I also attended a one room schoolhouse along with Amish children. Dad's schoolhouse burned down in the 1960's and I did not have a good photo, so I decided to design and hook Dad's classroom in front of the schoolhouse I attended. They were both built around the same time in "Italianate" style.
This rug has become a sentimental family favorite. I used one of my Mother's skirts for Dad's pants, his favorite tie for his shirt, a piece of my sister's wedding gown and a strip of satin from my clothing for flowers, and my brother's sweater for shadows in the rug. The pump is from a photo of the pump behind my grandparent's home and the goat is in the schoolyard because my Dad raised goats.
Contact Cindy for additional information or questions at: cindysrughooking@gmail.com.
