Gene’s Rug Hooking Blog

Yesterday’s post was about  a visit to the home of  Sonoma County, CA resident, Emma Webber, a rug hooker in her early 90’s who is still going strong.  Besides the shots of the beautiful rugs she makes, I thought it might be interesting for you to learn about an odd, deja vu moment I had while viewing her rugs.

The story begins with this rug made by Emma from the classic  Double Cross design.  As it was hanging in a hall way, I didn’t really see it until I was moving from one room to another.  At first, I had just a little deja vu moment thinking:  this looks familiar … I wonder why? Then, it hit me …

Double Cross is the same pattern Miss Weigle used for one of her rugs – the one shown above, which lays on the floor in the second story of my studio.  If you are new to the blog, Miss Weigle gets mentioned here every so often as she is the Illinois lady I used to watch (when I was about 11 or 12)  hook rugs in her home.  (The earliest posts in the  Miss Weigle category tell our story if you are interested.) Although I did not pick up a hook for another 30 some years, she is the reason why I did begin hooking.  So, of course, when I saw Emma’s version, I thought this to be a neat little coincidence.

I must admit, Emma’s approach to rug hooking did remind me more than a little bit of Miss Weigle’s approach, as both used mainly found wool. Although Miss Weigle would have been about 8 years older than Emma, they both were hooking by the 1940’s, if not before.   As we chatted about Miss W, Emma started pointing out other Double Cross rugs and runners that she had made scattered at various locations in the house and outer building.

I particularly liked this version.  Somewhere in the general discussion about the pattern design,

Emma said:  You know, I got this pattern out of a magazine.

I said: You know …  I think Miss Weigle also got it out of a magazine!

Emma said:  I still have the clipping.

Daughter Laura Pierce said:  I think it’s a shot from  the house of some actors.

I said:  Really?  Is it where I can see it? You see, I still have Miss Weigle’s clipping as well.

This is a close up of the clipping Emma was talking about.  It is one of several clippings that she put into a framed photo collage.  Over the years, the colors have faded, but the Double Cross hooked rug is still clearly visible on the floor in front of the hearth.  I must confess, when she showed me this photo … it was a much bigger deja vu moment than I had expected.

You see, I was very familiar with the clipping Miss W had of this rug as it has been featured in a blog post about her idea scrapbook.  Consequently,  Emma’s was immediately recognized as being the very same one.  As Miss W’s clippings went into a closed book, their colors have not faded, as proved by this shot!  Can you agree that it’s worthy as a deja vu moment?  Unfortunately, the photo is glued in her scrap book in such a way that I can’t figure out which publication it came from, or when it appeared.  However, Miss W did pencil in this info directly under the clipping: January 1959 (9 wks – 38″ by 52 1/2″). As that is the exact size of the rug that she made, I am relatively certain that Miss W made my copy in 9 weeks, finishing in 1959.  Therefore, the clipping had to pre-date the rug by at least a while.  On the other margin of my copy is another penciled note:  Dorothy Stickney. Although that name meant absolutely nothing to me, it did to Google.  Dorothy Stickney was an accomplished Broadway actress, most notable for her role of Vinnie in Life with Father, which was written by her husband and co-star Howard Lindsay, who is seated next to her on the arm of the sofa.  Lindsay had several Broadway hits, but Life with Father, was his most successful non-musical one.  As an acting team, they would have been at their hey dey in the mid 40’s … which seems to agree with his tie!

All this leads me to ask … is there anyone else out there that has this clipping? Just for fun, I would like to know where it came from and if it inspired any other great rug hookers.  Who knows, it might be  deja vu all over again!