Exhibit at PNW Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum: Hand-Knotted Oriental Style Rugs
Name:
Exhibit at PNW Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum: Hand-Knotted Oriental Style Rugs
Date:
September 29, 2021 - October 31, 2021
Website:
http://qfamuseum.org
Event Description:
Thelma Verrill was six years old when she begged her mother to teach her to sew and by age 13 she was making clothes for her four sisters. Having a needle in her hands was Thelma’s lifelong love and passion. Between sewing for her family and her dressmaking business, Thelma mastered needle crafts and eventually became a teacher of traditional crewel embroidery, needlepoint, silk and metal threads, rug hooking, and braiding. She set up the Gentian Meadows School for Needlework and Rug Making in her small farm house in Maine.
One winter, Thelma discovered needle made Oriental rug work and immediately tried it out. The technique was very simple and materials very traditional: canvas, needle, scissors, a brush, and 3 ply Persian wool. Rather than using a loom for the warp and weft, a soft woven cotton canvas was used for the backing. A tapestry needle went between the woven threads to form the Ghiordes (or Turkish) knot. The end result was a beautiful handmade carpet of heirloom quality.
Thelma became fascinated with the craft and its history and in the late 1960s, long after the American heyday of Oriental rug-making had passed, Thelma bought out a rug designer’s business and began teaching, demonstrating, and exhibiting the craft throughout the U.S. She taught through national and local chapters of the Embroiders Guild of America and exhibited and demonstrated extensively at state and local fairs.
Her daughter, Dorna, learned the skills from her mother and is a renown rug maker and teacher in her own right. We welcome Dorna Stone and her friends and students from the Hand-knotted Oriental Rug Society and their exquisite rug work to the Museum for this show.
Exhibiting Artists:
Dorna Stone, Bellingham, WA
Thelma Verrill, Richmond, ME
Sara Caka, Seattle, WA
Barbara Garrett, Edmonds, WA
Eda Lee Haas, Issaquah, WA
Cynthia Jones, Kirkland, WA
Lynne Kirsten, Seattle, WA
Della Ramsden, Seattle, WA
Dan Smith, Broadmoor, WA
One winter, Thelma discovered needle made Oriental rug work and immediately tried it out. The technique was very simple and materials very traditional: canvas, needle, scissors, a brush, and 3 ply Persian wool. Rather than using a loom for the warp and weft, a soft woven cotton canvas was used for the backing. A tapestry needle went between the woven threads to form the Ghiordes (or Turkish) knot. The end result was a beautiful handmade carpet of heirloom quality.
Thelma became fascinated with the craft and its history and in the late 1960s, long after the American heyday of Oriental rug-making had passed, Thelma bought out a rug designer’s business and began teaching, demonstrating, and exhibiting the craft throughout the U.S. She taught through national and local chapters of the Embroiders Guild of America and exhibited and demonstrated extensively at state and local fairs.
Her daughter, Dorna, learned the skills from her mother and is a renown rug maker and teacher in her own right. We welcome Dorna Stone and her friends and students from the Hand-knotted Oriental Rug Society and their exquisite rug work to the Museum for this show.
Exhibiting Artists:
Dorna Stone, Bellingham, WA
Thelma Verrill, Richmond, ME
Sara Caka, Seattle, WA
Barbara Garrett, Edmonds, WA
Eda Lee Haas, Issaquah, WA
Cynthia Jones, Kirkland, WA
Lynne Kirsten, Seattle, WA
Della Ramsden, Seattle, WA
Dan Smith, Broadmoor, WA
