You are invited to visit our latest exhibit-

                                                 

 

Reviving a Tradition: Penny Rugs at the MVTM
What’s a penny rug?
 
Penny rugs emerged in the mid-nineteenth century when thrifty homemakers used wool scraps from old clothing to create decorative table toppers, seat covers and rugs. The wool was boiled in water and, when dry, the felted wool was cut using coins as templates—hence the name. These were then stitched onto a cloth backing and embellished with embroidery. A penny would often be sewn in for luck.

Come and discover these wonderful pieces of Folk art in Danielle Potvin’s exhibition “A Penny Rug,” which runs from October 4 to December 10 at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum. Meet the artist at the vernissage on October 8 from to 2 pm to 4 pm.

 Eco-Artisan
Gatineau artist Danielle Potvin began to revive this traditional folk art in 2004 using time-honoured techniques. She refers to herself as an “eco-artisan” because she uses only recycled wool in her creations (e.g., coats, sweaters, blankets, vests, and scarves). She can often be found at thrift stores and flea markets searching for that perfect piece of wool! Inspired by the natural beauty of the Gatineau Hills, she creates naïve designs and shares her passion at events in Canada and abroad. Her work can be found in public and private collections, such as the Canadiana Fund, created to enhance Canada’s official residences, such as those of the Prime Minister and Governor General.

Make your own penny rug
Danielle Potvin will offer two one-day workshops at the Museum: on Saturday October 22 and on November 12. No previous experience is required. Students will use simple techniques to create wool appliqués from felted, recycled wool that are then blanket-stitched with embroidery pearl cotton thread. As tradition demands, students will hide Canadian coins in their artwork.

Workshops will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a maximum of six participants per workshop. Students will receive full kits for their creation. Cost is $75, including the kit. More details can be found on the Museum’s website at mvtm.ca. For more information or to register call the Museum at 613 256-3754. The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is located at 3 Rosamond St. E. in Almonte.

Ottawa Guild of Lacemakers

September 19-22 2016 Workshop
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

   “Invisible Starts and Finishes
      in Bobbin Lace Making”

The Ottawa Guild of  Lacemakers with the assistance of a grant from the Ontario Arts Council is sponsoring a workshop for National Capital Region lacemakers to learn and master specialized techniques useful to bobbin lacemaking.

To paraphrase Elizabeth Kurella, author of Guide to Lace and Linens ‘bobbin lace making is a form of weaving with no fixed warp or weft.  Because the threads are all free to travel in any direction at any time there are infinite possibilities for decorative stitches.  All the stitches in bobbin lace are based on weaving, braiding and twisting the threads.’  When working, two pairs or four bobbins are usually being used so the process is systematic yet infinitely variable in how it is executed to create the lace.  It is made on a stabilizing platform, using pins to hold the threads in position.  These ‘cushions, bolsters or pillows’ as they are called vary in shape from flat rounded or oval discs to cylinders or flattened cylinders mounted like a roller or held in baskets or held on the knee or lain on a table or holder.  The shapes are  ‘stuffed’ or made with traditional materials such as wool felt, straw or sawdust or in more modern times are made from foams such as ethafoam.

The origins of bobbin lace date back to very early times, however it started its ascendance to prominence as an art/ industry in the 16^th century.  It progressed and expanded globally onward and outward into the 18^th century when its ‘multinational economic status’ declined by supplanting the cottage workers with the introduction of lace making machinery.  The machines never replicated the array or quality of laces nor did they capture the multitude of regional variations and styles. Bobbin lacemaking has since evolved into an artistic art form or leisure activity.  This is why the participants in this workshop are gathered here at the Museum: to learn more techniques of the art, to preserve it as a real and integral art form and as pleasant pastime for those who like to do it.

The workshop leader is Martina Wolter-Kampmann an internationally renowned German lace artist and teacher.  She is the author of book and CD “Invisible Starts and Finishes in Bobbin Lace ”  (2011 – ISBN/EAN 978-3-9802279-6-4).  She is fluent in the techniques of traditional and modern laces in Europe and is an expert in designing and mending lace.  She teaches internationally her innovative and invisible methods of joining finishes to starts so that the joining threads disappear completely.  This is quite technically challenging to do.  She has a Diploma in Pedagogics and Textile Arts from the University of Dortmund, Germany and a doctorate from the Kantcentrum in Brugge, Belgium that is a renowned centre for the teaching of lacemaking,