Spin-Offs: Rugs Inspired by Beloved Textiles

Hooked Braided Mat, 11” X 21”, #7-cut wool on linen, inspired by a braided rug, designed and hooked by Anita White, Overland Park, Kansas, 2007. “I found it helpful to make an actual braid with my wool strips,” Anita said, “so that I could see the angle and color sequence."

Today, I'm reaching back into the archives of articles I wrote for Rug Hooking Magazine, which has now become We Like Rug Hooking, a wholly digital publication. I was a regular contributor from 2009 to 2026, when the print version ended. I wrote pretty much constantly for the magazine in the twenty-teens--so many ideas! I was particularly excited about this one, and sadly some of these rug hookers are no longer with us. Join me in remembering dear Jane Scott and the prolific Barbara Carroll!

Here, you'll find hooked rugs inspired by wool braiding, the molas of Panama, antique coverlets, African weaving and embroidery, an old quilt, paisley fabric, the American flag, and an ancient tapestry.

Parrot Mola, 18” X 18”, #4 and 5-cut wool on linen, adapted from a mola by Norma Batastini and hooked by Jane Scott, Plattsmouth, Nebraska, 2010.  “I started this rug in Ohio,” Jane said, “and finished it in Nebraska.  Norma had a variety of molas, and I picked the parrot.  I really had to concentrate on the background lines and their colors, and I did make mistakes and had to reverse hook.  It taught me to be patient!

I happen to have the hard copy of this article in a binder: published in the November/December issue of 2015. Here's an excerpt and some lovely examples of hooked rugs inspired by the textile arts:

The RHM headline, back in 2015

"A few years ago, I discovered the glorious paisley-inspired rugs of Anita White.  Around that same time, my friend Lou Ann Ayres hooked a Native American runner that looked like woven fabric.  Of course I had also encountered the charming rugs of Polly Minnick, hooked as companion pieces to her sister’s lovely quilts, Pearl McGown designs that imitate crewel embroidery, and antique rugs that mimicked jewel-colored crazy quilts.

Country Gentlemen,  69” X 25”, #9-cut wool on linen, adaptation of a woven coverlet, designed and hooked by Barbara Carroll, Ligonier, Pennsylvania, 2015. Barbara explained that this particular pattern “Country Gentlemen” is from a coverlet owned by two wonderful gentlemen who are “grand friends” of her sister.  She hooked the rug as a gift for them, and “No,” she said, “I don’t hook rugs this size as gifts very often.  Theirs is a blue and white winter coverlet, and they choose the hooking to be done in the winter colors. The blue is a single blue, but there are about fifteen light wools in the white area in the rug."

Kuba Quadrilateral, 20” X 23”, #4-cut wool on linen, inspired by Kuba weaving and embroidery, designed and hooked by Beth Zerweck-Tembo, Bridgewater, Virginia, 2015. “Maybe I should call this an adaptation,” Beth said.  “The center part is inspired by several cut-pile embroidery weaving designs.  I just made up the abstract shapes in the left and right borders, but they are inspired by shapes embroidered on Kuba weavings. The bottom three shapes on the left border are actually my initials, BZT."

"But the idea of a genre of textile-inspired rug designs occurred to me gradually.  I recently took a long look at the antique coverlet rugs of Barbara Carroll—Wow!  Old textiles!  The Mola my friend Jane Scott had hooked imitates a textile art of the Kuna women of Panama.  At a workshop, I saw Anita’s intricate braided-rug design in hooked form.  Suddenly I was encountering textile-inspired rugs almost weekly: Janet Conner’s ancient tapestry adaptation, Beth Tembo’s take on exotic African-cloth rugs, Lois Morris’s quilt-like mat, Val Flannigan’s gorgeous batik-inspired rug (published in “The Blue Period,” November/December 2015 issue), and many more, far too many to include here.

"If you haven’t yet looked to your favorite textiles for inspiration, maybe it’s time.  One place to find textile inspiration is your favorite used bookstore.  My most recent find is The Mountain Artisan’s Quilting Book by Alfred Allan Lewis, who chronicles the quilt-making of some extraordinary folk artists.  The book is out of print, but available from used booksellers.  Though books like this feature works of textile art that are not yet in the public domain, they can help us to consider and explore new styles, to try new color schemes, or to incorporate textures into our rugs in a new way.

Flower Baskets, 42” X 30”, #3- and 4-cut wool on linen, adapted from a quilt pattern, designed, and hooked by Lois Morris, Rawdon, Ontario, 2013.  “I don’t have much time for quilting,” Lois said, “but I made the rug as a companion piece to a Flower Baskets quilt. 

Paisley Hex, 12” X 29”, #5 through 8.5-cut wool and antique paisley on linen, designed by Jane McGown Flynn, hooked by Anita White, Overland Park, Kansas, 2011. “This is one of my favorite mats,” Anita said.  “I have taught this piece at many workshops around the country, and it’s a piece that I would like to hook again for myself.”

Olde Stars and Stripes, 34” X 36”, #6 through #9-cut wool on linen, designed by Janice Johnson, hooked by Annette Cochrane, Blair, Nebraska, 2015.

King William’s Ship, 50” X 36”, hand-cut wool (variable in width, but equal to a #5 through 7-cut) on linen, adapted from the embroidery of the Bayeaux Tapestry from the years 1066-70, designed and hooked by Janet Conner, Hiram, Maine, 2014. Janet used all hand-dyed and heirloom wools in this project. “My rug shows only one scene from the tapestry.  I wanted to do a whole series of these rugs, but I learn the same lesson over and over:  my dreams exceed my production schedule.  I wish I could hook, only hook, every day.”  

"As rug hookers, are we not, by definition, lovers of textiles?  What type of textiles attract and inspire you?  Vintage botanical prints?  A faded Hudson Bay blanket?  The silks and velvets in a crazy quilt?  Ponder, read, explore, and take inspiration from the hookers featured here. Ultimately, hook your own homage to a favorite textile and to textile lovers like us. 

Thank you for reading my Noodlings today, friends. These old issues of Rug Hooking Magazine are gone now, and I hope it's useful to revive some of the content and that it's still inspiring for us now. Happy Hooking!