Rug Hooking

Rug hooking is the art of creating rugs with strips of wool fabric pulled through a foundation fabric, such as burlap, linen, or monks cloth. In very basic terms, rug hooking consists of one stitch - pulling a loop of wool through a hole with a hook that resembles a crochet hook with a handle. It's an ancient art that dates back to the Egyptians.

Today, rug hooking is viewed as a way to balance our increasingly hectic lives with a creative outlet, while creating heirlooms and collectibles.

Rugs

Rugs/Carpet making in Afghanistan is a craft of great antiquity for which the country is justly famous. Before 1978 Afghanistan's Rugs/Carpets ranked fifth amongst the country's exports. Rich in form and color, the flat-woven, hand-knotted and felt creations woven by highly-skilled Turkmen, Uzbek, Hazara, Aimed, Kirghiz and Baluch craftsmen once represented the highest quality in Central Asia.

Daulatabad is a famous rug center just north of Maimana, and Shahkh, near Qaisar, to the west. In addition, one may often find good buys in other tribal Turkoman rugs such as the Mauri and the Qizil Ayak. They also display numbers of Donkey bags, bildow (narrow woven pieces used for yurt decorations) and namad, felt rugs. Ranging from black to grey, occasionally a prized white, namad are decorated with floral and geometric designs in bright, hot pink, yellow, orange, and white. When used as roffing for the yurts, the decorated side is turned toward the inside to enhance the colorful interior festooned with long strings of pompoms, woven bands, some narrow, some wide, all gayly exuberant.

Almost every walled compound in the suberbs of Maimana contains a yurt (prounonced ooy in Uzbaki) for summer living. The namad are made by specialists in the village of Wenchalat across the river from Maimana and are available in quanitity only on bazaar days when they may be purchased on almost any sidewalk and off the backs of numerous donkeys. Besides these various types of rugs the rug dealers also offer saddles and finely embroidered hats for sale.

Kelowna area rugs

Leopard Area Rug

Zebra Area Rug

Ultimate Shag

Giraffe Area Rug

Making A Quality Area Rug

Ernabella rugs

The three vibrant rugs are exhibited on Level 1 of the Spence Wing. Designed by Pantjiti McKenzie from Ernabella Arts Inc of the Pukatja Community. The rugs are an important part of the library's showcase of art and library treasures representing South Australia's social and cultural heritage.

The State Library has a longstanding relationship with Ernabella Arts Inc, working together to preserve their community's heritage. The women of the Pukatja Community have entrusted the library with a collection of crayon drawings created by school children attending the Ernabella mission school during the 1940s and 1950s. Anapalayaku walka, which has become the distinctive Ernabella style, reaches back to those early drawing classes in the mission school.

The State Library rug design commission, generously supported by the Myer Foundation, Perpetual Trustees, the State Library of South Australia Foundation, the Hon Diana Laidlaw and Ms Bronwyn Halliday, provided mentoring, training and promotional opportunities for the Ernabella artists.

Beauty of Quality Area Rugs

Modern Design Rugs

Oriental Rugs

Durable Area Rugs

Southwestern Rugs

The Rug Room

Artist Debuts Rug Collection Inspired by Maine

When artist Katy Allgeyer wanders the woods behind her studio, everything she sees informs her artistic vision. A piece of bark, a lichen encrusted rock, a granite sea wall--Maine's natural environment has inspired the artist's new "Organica Collection" of handcrafted rugs that will be shown at the High Point International Furniture Market in High Point, NC April 25-30.

"My new Organica Collection of rugs is directly related to my experience of Maine," Katy Allgeyer said. "I was able to simulate the texture of a tree in my design called "Bark" through combining Tibetan wool with hemp fibers as well as through sculptural trimming techniques that create a high/low pattern."

All of the rugs are made by hand in Kathmandu Nepal by skilled workers who've passed down their Tibetan rug making techniques for generations. The factory that makes the rugs belongs to "Rugmark", which insures that no child labor is involved.

Hand woven Rug

Area Rugs Can smart Up Your Living Room

Choosing the correct area rug know how to live a intimidating chore in itself, as fine as situation. Naturally, you’ll desire to go through a unbiased color, although if you are a bit on the odd side, a model and a bright rug strength irritate your imagine.

Typically, the majority area rugs are located below a coffee bench or the attraction of the living room, but it may outfit you improved to set it separately of any additional furniture in the room to, once more, provide it a fuller result.

On one occasion you discover the area rug that suits your qualities and the nature of your home, you’ll locate that your living room resolve appear that much more full.

Ashan runner from the Shirvan district Caucasus

This wool and cotton Afshan rug is from the Kuba region of the northern Caucasus. The term Afshan refers to a particular design, derived from 17th and 18th century Persian and Indian floral and arabesque sources, rather than a group of people or a geographical area. Rugs like this one were made throughout most of the 19th century and possibly earlier, and sit within the broader category of Shirvan rugs.

Carpet weaving in the Caucasus has a long history, the earliest known group being the so-called 'dragon' rugs which date back to the 17th century. The Afshan design is related in structure and colour to dragon rugs, and is in turn an obvious design source for many later Shirvan rugs.

This rug belongs to a collection of five rugs and three nomadic trappings covering the main carpet making regions of Asia, from western Turkey across Iran (Persia) into Central Asia. The collection was given to the Powerhouse Museum by Dr George Soutter to acknowledge the achievements of the Oriental Rug Society of NSW, an affiliated society of the Museum, to emphasise the significance of the Museum's rug collection and to encourage its growth. The collection, which includes floor coverings and tent partitions, horse decorations and saddle bags, documents different types of rugs and trappings and highlights their varying functions.

Rug Hooking

Rugs have been made in the Maritimes since Europeans first settled here. There is evidence to suggest that rugs were made in Great Britain during the eighteenth century and it is known that rugs were made in Nova Scotia in the nineteenth century.

Rug hooking came from thrumming, which is a process in which yarn (thrum) is inserted into canvas. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the craft was already well developed, but by the end of the century the art of homemade rugs was in decline because of the availability of commercially made rugs.

There are two tools needed for rug hooking: a frame and a hook. The hook, which is used for pulling the nap (surface cloth) up through the backing, is similar to a heavy crochet hook. Hooks of the nineteenth century were made from a thin nail inserted into a wooden handle. The point of the nail was rounded and then barbed.

The frame consisted of four wooden slats. Canvas was tacked to the two longest slats and the backing for the rug was sewn to it. Some rug hookers also attached the rug to the smaller sides of the frame with yarn. Iron clamps were used to hold the frame together in a rectangle shape and it was set on wooden legs so that the rug hooker could sit down to work.

The backing that was used for rugs was almost exclusively made of burlap from old feed bags. These were easy to get and the burlap was strong. Weak burlap could seriously shorten the life of a rug.

Designs were draw on the burlap with “firecoal” - a piece of charcoal from the wood stove. To hook a rug, a strip of material is held under the burlap and then hooked up through with the hook. Four to ten loops per inch are common, with six or seven being the best for floor rugs. Our craftspeople make rugs in this traditional fashion at the Temperance Hall. The rugs are used in many of the buildings on site and may also be purchased by visitors to the Village.

Canal boat Astra

Handmade rag rugs were some of the many canal related crafts available for visitors to buy on the towpath

State Drawing Room

This room is used for greeting official visitors and for posed photos with the Governor.

The rug is an exact replica of the original Aubusson Tapestry Weave made by Lacey Champion Mill of Fairmont, Georgia. The rug was added during Governor Zell Miller’s administration and many restorations in the room have occurred during Governor Perdue’s administration.

The gentleman in the portrait on the far wall is Robert Augustus Alston a Georgia State legislator from Decatur during the post Civil War period. He was regarded for his fairness during reconstruction and was shot tragically by a detractor in Atlanta. The lady is Lillian Henderson who was the director of Confederate pensions and records in Georgia.

Shag-rug Aeolis, Aeolidia papillosa

The shag-rug Aeolis, Aeolidia papillosa, a sea-slug or nudibranch, is a mollusc in the family Aeolidiidae. It ranges from as far north as Cook Inlet, Alaska, from central California, and it is found in low intertidal and subtidal zones. The shag-rug sea slug is not common in our area. They eat sea anemones such as Urticina crassicornis and Metridum senile. Their secretions serve to discharge the anemone's nematocysts before they start to take bites from the anemone's column. The Order Nudibranchia are carnivores and are often brightly colored, which serves to warn away predators. Some species apparently secrete sulfuric acid, which makes them distasteful to predators. Sea slugs are also hermaphroditic, both male and female at the same time.

Impressive Mt. Vernon comfort aluminum open-air dining set

Beautiful Mt. Vernon set of aluminum outdoor dining furniture fashioned under an restricted contract with the Mount Vernon Ladies organization who Are caretakers of the estate since 1858. The luxury aluminum Mt. Vernon collection features ribbon-back support chairs and side chairs that are encouraged by the same plan used in the Washingtons dining room. The table design of the glass top dining table is a copy of an oval casement on the third ground of the home. Every one of the pieces of the dining set are constructed of shed and extruded aluminum with a fair finish. Cushions are obtainable in numerous choices of color options including; Pacific Blue, traditional Beige and light brown with many others. All pieces of this set is constructed of direct aluminum with long life and consistency in mind and each piece comes with an private warranty.

Quality Area Rugs

Area Rugs can carry colourful designs and models into your area without awesome it.

Modern fashionable furniture

Single Area Rugs add fashion to your residence - Interior decoration

Area rugs are a huge way to add attraction and stylishness to your home decoration. Floors looks dry and dull when they use same coloured. Rugs plays an important place to colour the room flour in your residence. Rugs not only add colour to the floor but also liveliness in your residence. Eventhough you don’t have any theme for area rugs but at a particular point of time you will find the correct rug to match your home decoration.

Types of area rugs are

Persian Rugs:

Persian Rugs have been an everlasting traditional and out of fashion. Their sophistication and luxury of color make them special in living and dining rooms. Persian rugs have been the most gorgeous rugs in the world, which are made in Iran.

Outdoor Rugs:

Whether you have a terrace, a swimming pool or a floor, you can make some extremely interesting seating spaces with the use of outdoor rugs. They will finally add to your comfort.

Kitchen Rugs:

Choose from, standard, nation, fashionable, you can choose from a large collection of rugs to add a slight attraction to your kitchen with. Frequently to be found close to the sink, believe the comfort of kitchen rugs below your feet.

Bath Rugs:

Extremely attractive and very functional, bath rugs are very stylish these days and will certainly add a small individuality to your restroom.

Las Vegas, Nevada

A delegation of 10 Afghan rug businesses will be showing their products at this winter’s Las Vegas Market at the World Center Market in Las Vegas, Nevada. The market is a semiannual event devoted to furniture, decorative accessories, lighting, area rugs, and home textiles.

The Afghan delegation will participate in a special exhibit at the show, “Afghan Inspirations: Rug Renaissance, Coveted Traditions.” The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, in conjunction with the Afghan Ministry of Commerce’s Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan; the Afghan Embassy in Washington, D.C.; and the U.S. Agency for International Development, created the special exhibit.

Afghanistan was long recognized as a global leader in the production of hand-woven carpets, using centuries-old weaving techniques passed down through generations. The country’s resources, including its domestic supply of wool and natural dyes, helped to make the Afghan hand-woven rug a national treasure.

Afghanistan is now reasserting its revered carpet industry, which is proving to be a key element in the country’s economic reconstruction. Under the Generalized System of Preferences trade program, Afghan rugs can be imported into the United States duty free.

This show will be the third U.S. visit for Afghan rug producers that has been sponsored by the Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force. One previous visit was to the AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia, in January 2007, and the other was a multicity tour in July 2006. Formed in 2003, the task force is an interagency body that promotes concrete initiatives to strengthen bilateral business ties between the United States and Afghanistan.

Treasures Wall Area

The dramatic and spacious Treasures Wall Area featuring the "Ernabella Rugs" and the 24 metre long showcase of Library treasures is ideal for cocktail parties and product launches.

Must-Have Area Rug Accessories

Protect your floors and keep your new area rugs clean with area rug accessories.

• Area rug pads: Area rug pads prevent area rugs from slipping on hardwood or tile surfaces and protect wood floors from abrasions. Area rug pads may also provide added cushion to the area rug, giving it a nicer feel.

• Vacuums: Regular, simple care maintains the good looks of your area rug. You may want to vacuum rugs that get a lot of foot traffic, such as those in the family room, frequently. Area rugs in rooms used less often, such as the guest bedroom, may only need vacuuming once a week.

• Spot cleaners: Even stain-resistant area rugs need help looking their best. Invest in spot treatments that come either in powder or liquid form. Before using anything on your area rug, make sure to spot test the product on a small area on the back of the rug.

Always have high-quality area rugs, hand-made Persian area rugs, Oriental area rugs, and antique area rugs professionally cleaned.

Living room has Circular Rug

Living room has circular rug, open fireplace, built in cupboards with shelving for books

DECORATIVE ARTS

As objects for daily use, works of decorative art allow a close insight into cultures of the past. Among its holdings, the National Gallery has an extensive collection of European furniture, tapestries, and ceramics from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as well as medieval church vessels. In addition, the museum possesses a fine selection of eighteenth- century French furniture and a large group of Chinese porcelains, primarily from the Qing Dynasty of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Most of these objects were gifts of the Widener family of Philadelphia.

The medieval examples are primarily ecclesiastical objects, their beauty intended to lend honor and solemnity to religious rituals. A Limoges reliquary chasse, richly enameled in blues and greens, originally held the relics of a holy site or saint. The masterpiece of the Gallery's collection of medieval art is an ancient sardonyx chalice for which the twelfth-century Abbot Suger of Saint Denis provided a jeweled silver-gilt setting.

The tapestry hall is dominated by a large fifteenth-century stone fireplace and includes French and Italian furniture. Tapestry weaving was held in high esteem in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. By the fifteenth century the leading tapestry production center in Europe was Brussels, where most of the Gallery's pieces were woven. Major court painters supplied full- scale designs, called cartoons, to the weavers' workshops, where several craftsmen collaborated on most productions, ranging from the skilled masters who wove the faces through specialists in architecture, foliage, or border patterns.

The production of tin-glazed earthenware, known as maiolica, constituted a lively industry in Renaissance Italy. Retaining the full freshness of their original colors, maiolica plates and bowls show the remarkable talents of the artists who painted them. Often their designs reflect the influence of paintings and prints by famous masters.

A fine collection of eighteenth-century French furniture is installed in a suite of rooms adorned with carved oak wall paneling, its curving forms and foliate patterns reflecting the rococo taste of Louis XV's Paris. Much of the furniture, whether of rococo or neoclassical style, is signed by court cabinetmakers. A lady's delicate writing table by Jean-Henri Riesener is listed as part of the 1784 royal inventories of the Tuileries Palace, in the queen's apartment where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned after the French Revolution.

Interior decoration

Family room with polished wooden floor, white area rugs and yellow and white print curtains

View All Hooked Rugs: The Mary Sheppard Burton Collection

Cutting a rug

“Mary Sheppard Burton is a storyteller, a treasured tradition-bearer who recounts the history and heritage of rural life in the early years of the 20th century. Mary has taken a utilitarian craft and elaborated upon it to create works of art that are both personal and communal: vibrantly visual, exquisitely designed and crafted hooked rugs. Like all great folk artists, she creates for the pure joy of creativity,” Peggy Bulger, director of the Library’s American Folklife Center, has said.

A resident of Germantown, Md., Burton is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities and lecturers on the art of rug-hooking. For Burton, rug-hooking is more than simply an artistic medium, it is a treasured family heirloom; one pioneered by her grandmother and great-grandmother.

Burton has authored three books, the first two – “Judging by Merit” and “Educational Standards” – used extensively by home economists as guides when judging county and state fair rug-hooking competitions. Her third book, “A Passion for the Creative Life: Textiles to Lift the Spirit,” has been lauded for capturing the joy and beauty of not only her own work but also of the art of rug-hooking. She has taught numerous classes and workshops throughout North America and has a long list of awards and accolades, including winning Best of Show in the Crafts Collection presented by the Creative Crafts Council of Greater Washington D.C.

Beauty of area rugs

Government House

Main Floor - Entrance Hall

Visitors to Government House are attracted immediately by the beauty and charm of the Entrance Hall, Main Hall and Grand Staircase, and the ornate woodwork and plaster in this area of the residence. The entire area was refurbished and redecorated in the first major renovations to Government House in decades, which occurred in 1999 at the beginning of the term of The Honourable Peter M. Liba.

In a project initiated by Her Honour Shirley Liba, the Chatelaine of Government House at the time of the 1999 renovations, the wall-to-wall carpeting in this area was pulled up to expose the beautiful Manitoba oak flooring. The flooring was refurbished to its original state and now is complemented by area rugs which add to the richness and warmth of the halls. The wallcovering has a traditional design dating back to the early use of wallcovering.

Grand Staircase - The elegant oak staircase curves up to the Second Floor, and the carpet on the staircase and upstairs hallways reflects the primary blue colour on the frieze surrounding the skylight area.

Buffalo Painting by Frederic Verner - Found in flag tower by son of Lieutenant Governor Errick Willis (1960-65), and was cleaned and restored.

Small Victorian Table is walnut, has interesting fret-work design typical of Early Victorian. Larger Table, which is later Victorian, features an incised design on the stretcher and feet. Incising (or cutting a design into) utilized the new tools used by the craftsmen of that time.

Grandfather Clock - One of the original pieces brought to Government House, this clock, made of mahogany, was crafted in England about 1870 or slightly later. It is termed a "Westminster Eight Bells". Although many of these clocks were produced during the latter part of the 1800's in England, and can still be found there, very few have found their way to Canada. They are extra large, very heavy and difficult to service. A distinctive feature is the picture on the top face that moves with the change of the moon. The pendulums are solid brass and so heavy that, if dropped, would go right through the floor. The quality and fine craftsmanship of this clock belongs to another era. It is simply not found today. The calibre of watchmakers able to service this type of clock is also a dying art.

Wardrobe - Fine Early English Victorian; a combination of plain and burl walnut, hand forged steel decorative hooks. In the mid 1970's the back was extended to give more depth so that it could be used for coat storage.

2 Chairs flanking entrance arch - circa 1910-15 – carved oak.

Afghan Trade Delegation Finds Success, Sales at Major Trade Show

A delegation of 10 Afghan rug producers, with the support of the Department of Commerce’s Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, brought their products to Atlanta, Georgia, to participate in the AmericasMart Atlanta International Area Rug Show. The trade show is the largest wholesale marketplace of its kind in the world, showcasing a wide variety of consumer goods and attracting more than 548,000 attendees from every U.S. state and 80 different countries.

A feature of the Atlanta show was a special exhibit of Afghan rugs, titled “Afghan Impressions: Area Rug Artistry and Inspiration.” Keynote speakers for the exhibit opening included Dr. Mir Muhammad Amin Farhang, Afghan minister of commerce and industries, and David Sampson, U.S. deputy secretary of commerce. They delivered remarks to an audience of more than 200 prospective buyers, prominent sector investors, and community and government leaders.

The trade show was a success for the Afghan participants. Virtually all of the rugs on display were sold, and many orders were placed by major wholesalers and retailers from across the United States.

The task force has been working since 2002 to increase bilateral business ties and to stimulate trade between the United States and Afghanistan. Two-way trade between the countries reached $372 million in 2006, a 91 percent increase over 2005. Afghan rugs are allowed duty-free access to the United States.

Afghanistan Carpet Industry Prepares for Global Market

Increased sales could reduce lures of terrorism, poppy growing

Washington -- Afghanistan’s drive to resurrect its fabled carpet industry with U.S. assistance is a key element in the economic reconstruction of the land-locked Central Asian country, according to U.S. officials.

The Afghan carpet industry employs more than 1 million people, about 3 percent of the population. Millions more work in related industries, such as wool production, cutting, washing and design. Because these dominant industries have significant growth and export potential, the carpet sector has become a major focus for Afghanistan’s government and private-sector support organizations.

In 2005, Afghanistan sold abroad $140 million worth of carpets, its largest official export. If the country could repatriate the portion of its carpet industry that has migrated to Pakistan, the size of the industry would double, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Projected to grow 11 percent a year, Afghan carpet exports could reach $350 million by 2015, according to the study.

For centuries, Afghanistan was recognized as a global leader in carpet production. But after the Taliban took power, many Afghan carpet makers fled to Pakistan. Since the Taliban were defeated in 2001, some 60 percent of the carpet makers who fled have returned to their homeland and are producing goods of exquisite beauty.

A recent article published by a newspaper in Pittsburgh described how Afghan women weavers are channeling their artistic talents into carpets because weaving is one of their few outlets for expression. The article described one woman weaver who created the design of a falling leaf to symbolize her loss of a child.

Unfortunately, just a small fraction of Afghanistan's intricate and beautiful rugs are sold abroad as Afghan products. The reason for this is that more than 90 percent are sent to Pakistan for cutting, washing and finishing. Those carpets are exported to foreign markets with labels that say "made in Pakistan."

The Commerce Department's director of the Iraq and Afghanistan investment and reconstruction task force, Susan Hamrock Mann, says, "We're helping Afghanistan get its identity back and return the entire production to Afghanistan so that they can start stamping the carpets made in Afghanistan."

In January, the Commerce Department orchestrated the first Afghan carpet exhibition in the United States in Atlanta.

A media commentator wrote afterwards, "I've never seen anything quite like what I saw in Atlanta last week at the January rug show. Because it wasn't just another bunch of people selling another bunch of products. It was a group of people trying to change the world."

Carpet makers changing the world? As the commentator explains, his assertion was not far-fetched.

"It doesn't take an economics major to figure out that if the business climate improves over there because we are buying more of their products, then perhaps the Afghan people will be more focused on business than on some of the other things that have torn that country apart over the past 25 years," he writes. "Making rugs is a lot easier, safer and productive than making war or making drugs."

To burnish the allure of Afghan carpets at the Atlanta show, the Commerce Department arranged for rug merchants to exhibit artifacts, art work, and other textiles along with rugs to give the customers a flavor of the country's exotic culture.

Working with the Afghan government, the department helps Afghan rug merchants and government officials deal with import procedures into the United States, marketing, wholesalers, financing, transport and other issues, according to Hamrock Mann. The director and her colleagues played a key role in supporting the first Afghan International Carpet Fair, which took place in Kabul August 26-28. By the end of the third day of the fair, $3 million in sales had been rung up. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who led the U.S. delegation, said, "The industry is expected to grow substantially over the coming years, and this event is a truly historic moment in the re-emergence of Afghanistan in the global carpet market."

The next major event in the Commerce Department's efforts to integrate the Afghan carpet industry into the global market is an international rug show in Las Vegas January 28-February 1, 2008.

"There is a lot of money and many Afghan Americans in the West of the United States," Hamrock Mann said. "We're working on having Afghanistan as a key feature of the show."