A lovely day

Well today my daughter Jessie and I have had a lovely day, we have been to Nostell Priory on a rag rug making day.  I can remember my dad saying he used to make them with his mum out of sacks and old clothes.  The lady that was in charge of the course explained how to start and what the colours used  meant.  Apparently they always had a dark edge to hide the dirt and if it had a red diamond in the middle it was to stop the devil coming down the chimney!  As successive rugs were made they got moved around the house with the new one in the parlour and the oldest ending up as a doormat.

The older ladies on the course all remember making them as children and old maiden aunts having houses full of them.  We were given a large piece of hessian and a dolly peg with one of the legs cut off and whittled into a sharper shape.  We had taken some old clothes with us and cut these up into 3 inch by 1 inch strips.  We drew a pattern on the back of the hessian and started pegging.  It is quite a time consuming job and we brought our work home with us to complete,  I think it may be this time next year before it's finished.

It was a lovely day with a group of equally lovely ladies, they were 12 of us in all.  We all had different crafting experience, but there were quite a few quilters there.  This is something anyone can do though, even children.  I am sure there are many of you out there who have memories of making these rugs in your younger days (even if they aren't fond memories!).  The day cost us £25 each but included a really good 2 course lunch and a very large piece of hessian.  I would recommend this course to anyone as a good day out, maybe booking with friends.  They have the courses throughout the year, as well as a range of others.  We enjoyed it so much that we as well as others on the course booked for a knitting and crocheting course for beginners that's in a couple of weeks.  Again this is for the day with lunch included and one to one tuition with National Trust volunteers who are knitters or crocheters and is again £25. We have also booked on a wreath making course in December, this is a Christmas course including mulled wine and a mince pie, all for £15 .

So we have had a lovely full day, my fingers are a bit sore (the calluses must come with practice!) and I'm definitely tired.  Paul's going to have to get his own tea because I'm still full from my lunch and now I have yet another project to finish.  But it's nice to learn something new and nice to meet new people.  Nostell Priory is a great property to visit and it's right on the doorstep, the volunteers and people who work there are genuine people who have a passion for what they do.  I shall be keeping an eye out from now on for what courses they are offering and visiting the craft fairs they hold. You can find details on the National Trust website. Carolyn has asked me to show her what we have done and how we did it, so watch out for rug making supplies appearing in her shop (Make Me Fabrics) if she takes to it !

Talked to you all again soon, 

lots of love

Louise xx