Let kids be kids...

Let kids be kids...that is why I support Goodweave in their efforts to prevent child labor in the rug making industry!

A child in India celebrating the Festival of Colors...what a beautiful site!

Today is the Festival of Colors!

Today is the Festival of Colors, a national holiday in Nepal and India...2 countries where our rugs are produced.  The holiday is also called Festival Holi and has many purposes.  It celebrates spring first and foremost and originally signified fertile land and favorable harvests.  As a way to say farewell to winter, the festival is a time of enjoying spring's beautiful colors.  In addition to this, the holiday commemorates events from Hindu mythology and has a religious purpose.  Today...participants will hold a bonfire, throw colored powder and celebrate in a grand way!

People throwing colored powder to celebrate the holiday

Colored Powder

White Tiger

This traditional Nepalese tiger design was custom colored for a client who loves WHITE TIGERS.  It always amazes me how much color can influence a design.

White Tiger--Custom-Colored in grey and white tones

Tiger in traditional Nepalese colors

The Art of the Custom Rug

Take a look at this video which shows the process of making a handmade rug in Nepal.  From shearing the sheep to dyeing the wool to weaving, cutting, stretching and washing the rug, each rug is a work of art that represents thousands of hours of craftsmanship.  Thanks so much to my manufacturers in Kathmandu, Nepal for supplying the great video clips and to the sheep at the Minnesota State Fair for holding still long enough to get their wool sheared.  Enjoy!

Contact us for a free colored rendering in a custom size and color palette of one of our over 300 rug designs.

Rug for ASID Showcase Home

I recently had the wonderful experience of working with Angela Parker, owner of Interior Places and Spaces, in Minneapolis.  Angela and I worked together to design a custom rug for the ASID Showcase Home on Lake of the Isles.  A home with a view of the lake was the inspiration for 2 fish in the center of the 8 foot round rug...surrounded by sea scroll and fish scale borders and traditional lotus flowers in the gold, sage and lavender tones of the library in the home.  Here are a few pictures of the process and the finished space.

Angela's sketch for the rug

Angela's inspirations for borders on the rug

Kenyan fish bowl from Angela's collection...used for inspiration

The rendering of the rug design

The rug on the loom in Nepal

The rug just taken off the loom in Nepal.  Notice how the weavers use leftover wool yarn to complete the rectangle/square on the loom.  This yarn is cut away in the finishing process.

Finishing stages in Nepal.

The library at the ASID Showcase Home
Designed by Angela Parker

Recycling Turkish Treasures for Contemporary Interiors

On a recent trip to Turkey, I spent time visiting bazaars, halis and old palaces and everywhere you turned was an overdyed rug.  No overdyed rugs in the Sultans' palaces of course but rather old Hereke rugs worn down to the nubs.

Particularly popular in Turkey are the overdyed patchwork rugs in a number of varieties.   One of the most intriguing techniques to me are the antique wool rugs, shaved down almost to the warp and weft strands and then overdyed in pieces which are patched together...like a quilt.  The pieces are assembled and then the craftspeople hand sew a blanket stitch around each patched piece.  It's a fun way to add a vintage look in an updated colorway and at the same time, take advantage of a process that is using recycled materials.  This technique appealed to my sensibilities as a lifelong quilter as I have often added a blanket stitch on my sewing machine to an applique on one of my quilts.

If you'd like to see the patchwork samples, we have them in our showroom in 20 beautiful colors!  Suite 542 at International Market Square in Minneapolis.

Showroom in Turkey Featuring Overdyed Rugs

Turkish Overdyed Patchwork Rug at a showroom in Turkey
Color: Citron

Turkish Overdyed Patchwork Rug at a Showroom in Turkey
Color: Jean Blue

Suite 542 at International Market Square in Minneapolis

Making rug samples in Nepal

As a rug designer, it is very exciting for me to see pictures of my rug samples being woven in Nepal.  In most cases, we order a sample, call a strike-off, usually 1 X 1 or 2 X 2 feet, to confirm color and pattern in the client's rug.  Once the strike off is approved, we proceed with the rug.

2 X 2 foot rug samples on the loom in Nepal

As you can see in the picture below, multiple samples are typically made in a row on the loom with the same warp strands connecting all the samples.  When the samples are completed on the loom, they are removed and disconnected from each other by cutting the warp strands in between each sample.  My clients prefer no fringes so the fringes are turned under and covered with a cloth strip on the back of the sample.  All of this work is done by hand and the outcome is a beautiful hand-knotted rug sample to confirm the choice of their rug.

Rug Samples in Nepal

More samples in Nepal--fringes will be turned under and covered with cloth