The Rug Maker - A True Story - . . .by Kay Graves

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 1945, during that era known as the Great Depression, you could classify my grandmother as a typical homemaker.

There were no television sets in those days, and even if they had existed at that time, very few people could have afforded them. So summer evenings, after supper, entire families would stroll down the well-kept sidewalks to chat with neighbors who were out watering their lawns, working in their vegetable gardens, or cooling off on their front porches.

Conversations centered around home remedies, how much milk the personal cows in small sheds behind the garages were producing, and brainstorming about new ways to save a penny.

Families learned to survive by making use of every scrap of anything that could be turned into something useful, that did not have to be purchased from the store. String from store wrappings was wound into large balls, fat drippings were saved for soap, and when clothing, sheets, bedspreads, and curtains could no longer be handed down or passed on, they were stored away in a cupboard in the attic for rug making.

Because color selection was limited, Grandmother usually dyed her materials in a color that would complement home furnishings, before tearing them into strips, sewing the strips together, and winding the long strands into balls for the weaver.

I was just a girl when Grandmother taught me how to prepare material for rag rugs. I bought my first loom after I married in the early 70s and as materials became more readily available, began teaching classes in rug design and preparation. My students then brought their materials to me to be woven.

However, in 1999, I discovered something even better than woven rugs--EVERLASTING RUG ART .

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