About Me
Pondering the next restoration project and what needs to be done.
From the time I was 5 years old when my mother taught me how to embroider, I have been fascinated with fiber and color. In one way or another through the years my hands and mind have kept me occupied exploring all the possibilities that they both offer.
My first embroidery stitches soon graduated to sewing clothes for my dolls, and even for my toy fox terrier, Stubby, who endured being dressed up in my newest creations then placed in a small doll carriage and pushed around the neighborhood. By the time I was 11, I was sewing clothes for myself. I was also lucky enough to have an aunt and uncle who ran a successful upholstery shop and they always welcomed my visits. I loved going there looking at the bolts of material, ranging from fine brocades and silks to more functional and practical tweeds and plaids, and seeing what was created out of them. I also learned how to knit, do bargello, needlepoint and crewel and enjoyed doing all of them.
When I met my husband I met his mother and it was she who first introduced me to rug hooking. She was an avid collector of antique hooked rugs and also designed and made her own hooked rugs and home accessories. Somehow she found time to raise a family, help a partner to run an antique shop in Bucks County, PA, and to give frequent lectures and programs to groups in the area about her great passion, antique hooked rugs. Sensing my interest in the craft, she was happy to pass on all her knowledge about these rugs to me and it wasn't long before I was hooking away. During this period, she had started doing restoration and repair work for a number of hooked rug collectors in the area and over the years it grew to the point that it was consuming a lot of her time, giving her less time to do her own creations. It was at that point that she offered to make me part of her business if I was interested; I gladly accepted, and in time when she retired I took on all her clients.
After moving to Vermont, we began a family and I had less time to devote to hooked rugs in general. New ideas and opportunities came into play and eventually I partnered with a friend and we began designing, sewing and marketing a line of beautiful stuffed animals. The stuffed animals we made were made of interesting materials and were finely detailed. We soon found that the only people who could make them the way we wanted was in fact the two of us. Two years of that and we were both exhausted and stressed and decided it was time to try something else. It was not long before I found myself creating women's clothes for a local weaver out of the beautiful cloth she was making.
I was given an opportunity to work in the journalism field and enjoyed doing that for many years. I continued to hook a few rugs for family and friends and even did some restoration rug on antique rugs on occasion but it became more of a pastime than a job. There just didn't seem to be enough time, but I promised myself that some day I would make that the top priority again. There is time now and over the past two years I have been working steadily designing and hooking my own rugs and home accessories for sale as well as completing some commissions. A request by a friend to repair an heirloom hooked rug for her made me realize I had come full circle and I decided it was also time to reopen my restoration and repair service too.
My hope is to enable others to enjoy these beautiful and unique antique and vintage rugs as much as I do. I have so much respect and admiration for those unsung heroes who created these rugs and mats years ago. It is a pleasure to be able to restore them to their former glory.
My first embroidery stitches soon graduated to sewing clothes for my dolls, and even for my toy fox terrier, Stubby, who endured being dressed up in my newest creations then placed in a small doll carriage and pushed around the neighborhood. By the time I was 11, I was sewing clothes for myself. I was also lucky enough to have an aunt and uncle who ran a successful upholstery shop and they always welcomed my visits. I loved going there looking at the bolts of material, ranging from fine brocades and silks to more functional and practical tweeds and plaids, and seeing what was created out of them. I also learned how to knit, do bargello, needlepoint and crewel and enjoyed doing all of them.
When I met my husband I met his mother and it was she who first introduced me to rug hooking. She was an avid collector of antique hooked rugs and also designed and made her own hooked rugs and home accessories. Somehow she found time to raise a family, help a partner to run an antique shop in Bucks County, PA, and to give frequent lectures and programs to groups in the area about her great passion, antique hooked rugs. Sensing my interest in the craft, she was happy to pass on all her knowledge about these rugs to me and it wasn't long before I was hooking away. During this period, she had started doing restoration and repair work for a number of hooked rug collectors in the area and over the years it grew to the point that it was consuming a lot of her time, giving her less time to do her own creations. It was at that point that she offered to make me part of her business if I was interested; I gladly accepted, and in time when she retired I took on all her clients.
After moving to Vermont, we began a family and I had less time to devote to hooked rugs in general. New ideas and opportunities came into play and eventually I partnered with a friend and we began designing, sewing and marketing a line of beautiful stuffed animals. The stuffed animals we made were made of interesting materials and were finely detailed. We soon found that the only people who could make them the way we wanted was in fact the two of us. Two years of that and we were both exhausted and stressed and decided it was time to try something else. It was not long before I found myself creating women's clothes for a local weaver out of the beautiful cloth she was making.
I was given an opportunity to work in the journalism field and enjoyed doing that for many years. I continued to hook a few rugs for family and friends and even did some restoration rug on antique rugs on occasion but it became more of a pastime than a job. There just didn't seem to be enough time, but I promised myself that some day I would make that the top priority again. There is time now and over the past two years I have been working steadily designing and hooking my own rugs and home accessories for sale as well as completing some commissions. A request by a friend to repair an heirloom hooked rug for her made me realize I had come full circle and I decided it was also time to reopen my restoration and repair service too.
My hope is to enable others to enjoy these beautiful and unique antique and vintage rugs as much as I do. I have so much respect and admiration for those unsung heroes who created these rugs and mats years ago. It is a pleasure to be able to restore them to their former glory.
Antique Hooked Rug Restoration & Repair by Springhouse in the Meadow
CONTACT INFORMATION:
My studio is in my home located in beautiful Randolph, VT. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about a restoration project and to obtain a free estimate of what it will cost. My mailing address is: Jo Anne Meginnes, Springhouse in the Meadow, 37 Maple St., Randolph, VT 05060. Email: [email protected]: Phone: 802-431-5416. I check messages regularly and will always return your call promptly.
My studio is in my home located in beautiful Randolph, VT. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about a restoration project and to obtain a free estimate of what it will cost. My mailing address is: Jo Anne Meginnes, Springhouse in the Meadow, 37 Maple St., Randolph, VT 05060. Email: [email protected]: Phone: 802-431-5416. I check messages regularly and will always return your call promptly.
