The Rug Hook Project

About Us

In the small village of Agustin Gonzales located in the central Mexican highlands near San Miguel de Allende, 18 people spend what little free time they have hooking rugs. You will find them working late at night by kitchen tables after children are asleep or perhaps you will see them sitting under a tree in the hillside tending the cows and working on their rugs.
Their subject matter is the life around them, mountains, cactus, cows, horses, burros, flowers, a small house, a church, ducks, rabbits, chickens, roosters or fish.
   The people of the area are subsistence farmers who grow corn, beans and squash. The proceeds from selling these art pieces help with paying for additional food, children's schooling, doctor visits and other family needs. Many of the women are the sole support of their families.

    Each art piece is entirely unique as is the skill of rug hooking in Mexico.

To view a an introduction to the group and a sample of the DVD visit:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4mal0_rugs-short_people

History:
In 1993 Georgeanne Johnson one of the founders of Mujeres en Cambio was searching for a way that women in the rural area of San Miguel could earn money. She and other women of the area began the project. One of these women was MK Maudsley.

This is a quote from MK Maudsley

" I didn't actually start the rancheritas down the rug-hooking path. Other woman pitched in to help them when they apparently expressed the desire to do something different from the embroidery, etc that other villages were doing. Sadly, this woman died shortly after and the rancheritas were left with no help or guidance in the craft. A Canadian woman I know remembered that I did rug hooking and asked me if I would go down to SMA to help. She also knew that I speak Spanish, having been raised in Cuba--which made the task even easier. I accepted her invitation right away and started canvassing other hookers in various groups in Nova Scotia for donation, primarily of wool, but also of cash so that I could buy backing, etc for the amigas. I continued to go each year for several years and was amazed at what the rancheritas were beginning to produce. I brought back pictures of their work, and that helped increase the donations (including one largish cash donation from a Public School teachers' union!!--someone had read a short article
about the project in a local arts center publication)
I bought them scissors. The backing I assume they still use is not unlike a material called monk's cloth that many hookers in the US and Canada use. Georgie and I drove all over Guanajuato area trying to find a decent burlap, but failed to find any that was available all year round--so I went to a shop in SMA and found the cotton fabric that is used there for slipcovers/ drapes, etc. The weaving master at the Instituto offered them all the rug yarn left over from his courses, but I don't think they liked working with it. Working with yarn, rather than strips, requires getting used to, for sure, I also encouraged the rancheritas to use knitted fabric of whatever kind they could find, but their ability to access that may be limited. I used to trot around to second-handshops looking for T shirts, etc. Such material CAN be used to good effect, especially since they don't make many pieces for the floor. Folks up here used to use Grandpa's old long johns, satin from coat/jacket linings, etc--pretty much whatever came to hand.