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Rug Braiders International
formerly known as the Valley Forge Rug Braiding Guild
Contemporary Braided Art Rugs
2018
Curators: Kris McDermet, Christine Manges
The first exhibit of "Contemporary Braided Art Rugs" was shown in Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio in August 2018. Curated by Kris McDermet and Christine Manges, the show travelled to the Vermont Rug Hooking Guild's Conference in October 2018, and then to the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center in Pennsburg, PA for February - April, 2019. Each time the show was exhibited, the content changed a bit! Enjoy.
Left to Right: Christine Manges, Kris McDermet, and Dianne Tobias (who was our right-hand organizer for this exhibit).
At Sauder Village, here are Christine and Kris in front of the exhibit, giving a "Gallery Talk" on the featured exhibit that year.
Above are two photos showing an overview of the main exhibit. There were other braided rugs and a "Chair Pad Pageant" also featured, as well as a volunteer rug braider section, a display of antique braided rugs, and a vendor booth with braided items.
Kris McDermet of Dummerston, Vermont made "Having Seen the Moon" and its upper companion piece, "Having Seen the Stars." The 13 named moons of the year are shown in braiding, wet felting, and rug hooking, using silk, wool, and sparkle fabric. Titles are from a quote by Mary Anne Radmacher.
Joyce Krueger of Waukesha, Wisconsin made this piece, "Double Take."
She writes: "My first love is hooking, but I have found that braiding is coming in second. Other techniques using wool have been introduced to us recently. In this piece I have braided a section and endeavored to show another technique using the same colorway. My color plan came from the velvet rectangle in the middle. The piece has rug hooking that looks like braiding, standing wool, quillies, shirred strips, and plaiting."
Val Galvin of Chemainus, British Columbia made this piece, "Underwater Wilderness." She writes, I am an Island girl with two passions, the Ocean and Fibre Art. In this piece, I have reflected both." The piece features rug hooking, braiding, and proddy to make the waving fronds of seaweed and its flowers.
Kim Miczek of Leicester, Massachusetts made this piece, "Quiet Dreams." This serene piece shows off a gorgeous border of diamond-patterned braids! She writes, "This design is about the wonderful dreams of the potential held close to your heart, and the immediate dreams of getting some sleep!
Sandy Kub of Grafton, Wisconsin made "The Wise Ole Tree." She writes: I love owls and decided to add a twist to the Celtic tree of life by inserting one, hence the name... The tree is made from 3-, 4-, and 9-strand braids of dip-dyed wool with a border of a 6-strand braid. The owl is hooked with velvet and the background is hooked wool.
Sandy Kub of Grafton, Wisconsin made "Four Seasons." She writes: The rug was created in response to the Valley Forge Braid-in Challenge for 2017. The rug is a combination of hooking using #4 cut and decorative braiding surrounding each hooked piece. The braiding was used to join the four seasons into one overall piece. The trees represent the four seasons.
Dorothy Pepe of Glenmoore, Pennsylvania made this rug titled, "Dianes' Dream." She writes: Cousin Diane asked if I would make her a rug in maroon. I didn't have that color wool in my possession so this is made from acquired wool (bought from or given by other braiders). It has been over a year in construction due to a death in the family. Diane is not aware this is being braided as she probably thinks I forgot the request. Will be a surprise!
Marjorie Kauffman of Manheim, Pennsylvania made this beautiful rug called simply, "Snow Star." The second in a series of Marjorie's hexagonal snowflake designs, this rug is truly unique and beautiful. The strong contrast between dark, light, and vibrant cobalt braids makes this rug sparkle.
Bobbi Mahler of Belgrade, Maine made this rug she called, "Tic Tac Toe." She writes: The Tic Tac Toe rug is a fun braiding project that provides the game of tic tac toe for anyone wanting to play it. It's made up of nine braided squares with a large border. The X and O pieces are also braided. The idea came from a braiding challenge addressing "Just for Kids" and is original.
Dianne Tobias of Davis, California made this hooked and braided rug titled, "Fan." She writes, My goal was to create an Asian fan using braids and hooked elements. The hooked fabric is hand-dyed. The black ribs are braided, as is the head and pivot.
Deb Lynch of Kittery Point, Maine made this vibrant rug titled, "Waves of Mandela." She says, "This rug started out as a continuous braid as a hot plate, and I liked the colors so much that I decided to make it into a rug.... I love bright happy colors, so this one has some of my favorite colors in it. Pam Rowan of Lebanon, ME is my teacher, and she is such a talented person!" Deb used 3-, 5-, and 7-strand braids, and arranged her colors into arrowhead and ribbon patterns.
Mary Bird of Higganum, Connecticut made this rug, "Kaleidoscope." She says, "I have always been drawn to circles. I wanted to step out of my creative box and create an interesting and unusual mix of colors and circles... with the end result being a one-of-a-kind contemporary and eye-catching useful braided rug." Mary used felted wool to fill in the spaces between her many butted circles.
Anne Morton Caldwell of Marietta, Georgia called her rug, "This Is Not Your Grandmother's Flower Garden." She writes, "I have combined my love for braiding with my love for quilting. I have incorporated some hand-dyed wool that I have been saving for a special project such as this." Note the hooked bee in the center of the flower garden pattern.
Cathy Winship of North Berwick, Maine, made this rug called, "Fiddleheads." She writes: "Every spring, I find myself thinking of my dad, who looked forward to harvesting wild edibles. It was only natural that visions of fiddleheads would merge with my love of braiding. The small button, from my mother's button tin, is added in memory of her. She was blind yet learned to braid rugs."
Peggyann Watts of Belfast, New York made this piece titled, "Braiding Sampler." She combined multiple techniques to make this piece: continuous and butted braids, a 3-braid spiral, butted patterns, and a picot edge.
Cheryl Hanline of Heathsville, Virginia made this rug called, "Rose Garden." She writes, "This rug is entirely butted from 9-loop center to picot edge. It includes an 8-strand striped braid and patterning throughout."
Nancy Young of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania titled her rug, "Especially Red." She writes: "I love the color red and had been toying with the idea of braiding a rug with every color a red of some kind... so I collected fabrics as I found them, and finally had enough to 'do something.' I introduced the colors randomly and was pleased with the result. I love the variety and now that is is more and more difficult to obtain wool in different colors, putting them all together makes a lot of sense."
Karen Levendusky of North Easton, Massachusetts made "Kaleidoscope." This octagonal, all-butted design features brilliant colors set against a black background, and it sparkles like the shards of stained glass in a kaleidoscope. The border is a 7-strand braid of the same colors.
Jennifer Kiarsis of Plaistow, New Hampshire made this rug, "Bedroom Buddies." She writes, "Comfy slippers, cozy cats. Perfect companions for a braided rug."
Joyce Krueger of Waukesha, Wisconsin made "Paisley Flower." She writes, "Since childhood I have been intrigued with the paisley shape. As an adult I started to collect paisley shawls, in all conditions. They needed to be saved! Then came the time that they needed to be used or find another home. I found that I did not like to hook with them, but why not use one to braid with? This rug is the result of that inspiration."
Sandy Luckury of Bradford, New Hampshire made "The 9 Ombres." These all-butted braided squares seem to scintillate with the transitioning colors. Each square includes one of Dorr Mill's ombre fabrics.
Pam Rowan of Lebanon, Maine, made this rug called, "Hugs and Kisses XXOO." This complex rug features a central woven square surrounded by rows of aligned multistrand braids, 3-strand braids, and an outer 9-strand braid. The butted embellishments (close-up, below) feature beaded centers. Look for the "X" and "O" designs in the rug!
Pam Landry of Somersworth, New Hampshire made this rug titled, "Tropical Beach." This rectangle in beach-y colors is continuously braided until the first dark border. The 5-strand braid makes a pretty edge to this design.
Rosemary Robertson-Smith of Madison, Tennessee made this rug, "On Golden Path." This 5-circle design was so large it continued onto the other side of the display wedge! She writes that the rug, "[is an] entryway rug for an 1874 historic home in Nashville. The rug features multiple braiding techniques: 5 center spiral rounds, framed by 3-strand, 4-strand, and 8-strand braids, the latter two creating a striped appearance. All banding rows are butted. Made with all new wool collected from coast to coast."
Delsie Hoyt of West Fairlee, Vermont made "Colonnade -- with a nod to M.C. Escher." A recipient of the Vermont Governor's Heritage Award, Delsie is the fourth generation of women in her family to braid rugs. Experimental and playful, her work challenges conventional notions of what a braided rug can be. The rug designs are not graphed out, but rely on the varied "palette" and pattern scale of the wool fabric's solids, heathers, plaids and tweeds to suggest the composition, and achieve depth and texture.
Hilary Farquhar of Brattleboro, Vermont made "Shaker Garden." She writes, "My rug was inspired by the herb gardens at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA. I loved their soft colors and neat layout, with stone paths running between them."
Christine Manges of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania made, "Swirls of Persia." She writes, "This rug was inspired by teaching a class on 2-braid spiral rounds, and my husband's love of oriental carpets. This design requires braids of sharply contrasting colors. " The center is double spiral of 6 braids, and additional swirls are found throughout the rug.
Debra Weinhold of Stevens, Pennsylvania braided this rug titled,
"Be Mine." The center is appliquéd wool hearts, and the border includes an entire row of 9-loop centers, then a frilly picot-edge border. A fancy valentine!
Susan Lathrop of Cambridgeport, Vermont, braided this piece titled "Elsie," with a hooked center.
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