When Paul's roommate quit at Bethany and transferred to another college, he had the audacity to take his rug and furniture with him! (Can you believe it?) Well, Paul was mentioning a while back that it would be nice to have a rug ... until he found out how much they cost.
It so happens that I have this well-loved woolen braid rug that my grandma made by hand. It has been stored for a very long time. But there are children o' mine that spent many hours using the braid rug as a track for Hotwheels racing.
In desperate need this afternoon of soaking up the last of the sun's rays [Mom, what was that book with the mouse who soaked up the sun so that he could tell the group in winter about the rainbows and the breezes and the sun?] I hauled the rug out to the driveway. I've dragged it out there before with intent to repair it, but never got around to it. (People can make some pretty bizarre comments when they stop by and find a "carpeted" driveway!) Today I sewed up many many places where the braids were unraveling from each other. It took hours and hours, but the rug is no longer falling apart!
(Hey, do any of us know the location of the little metal jobbies that Nanna used for folding in the unfinished edges of the wool strips while she was braiding? Like as if I have the time and inclination to be braiding rugs??? Still, I'd hate to see those get tossed in the current decluttering efforts in central Illinois.)
Now we have to decide whether Paul gets the rug in his dorm room or if I get it in the laundry room.
Susan,
ReplyDeleteThe book is Frederick by Leo Lionni. I just took my class to see that production at The Sharon Lynn Wilson Center in Brookfield.
Yes, Frederick was the mouse who soaked in the sun.
ReplyDeleteI have never had the rug braiding thingie. I think Mary worked with it. I have one rug Gram made that is coming apart(after only 60 years, maybe) and I have a terrible time mending it- even with a curved needle. How do you do it?
I was wishing I had a curved needle.
ReplyDeleteI spread out the rug, and then kind of humped it up near where a seam was undone. Then I zigzagged between the two braids, kinda sorta like stitches in skin. When I laid it flat, the reasonably sized stitches were kind of tucked in between the braids.
One problem that I see is that I just used thread. I didn't even have quilting thread, and I certainly didn't have the thick wool thread that was original to the rug. The other problem was that I only sewed the seams from one side, and I think originally it was sewed from the top side and the bottom side. So I don't know how soon this is going to come undone.
Maybe we should lay the rug out in the living room next time I visit, and I can have a go at sewing up another.
You think that rug you have is only 60 years old? I figured the one I have is nigh onto that old. On the other hand, I was old enough to remember Nanna making rugs, so there are some that are as new as 35-years-old.