Parma resident Carole Welch holds one of her favorite penny rugs, one which depicts autumn leaves. This rug is one of twenty nine that Carole created that was on display at the Parma Town Library during the month of August.
Penny rugs originated around the time of the Civil War, women used pieces of wool to make rugs that were used to clean boots. Pennies were bigger in those days and were used as patterns and also were sewn into the rugs.
Carole has been doing needlework and painting “all my life” and has made about 100 penny rugs in the past eight years. She exclaimed: “I am teaching my friends how to make them. All the patterns are made from my head; I used to see them at craft shows and now I use them for gifts and around the house.”
Photo by Walter Horylev
