ISSN 2207-001X January 1, 2023
Without fail, on the 1st day of the month “Connecting Us” Miriam Miller’s newsletter arrives in my INBOX. Today, the first day of January 2023, was no different.
Images in this issue, No. 84, reminded me of visitors to Miriam’s Narrawilly Rug Room shared five years ago…
RUG HOOKING VISITORS FROM NEAR AND FAR: April 2017 No.19
On 7th April 2017, Rug Day at Narrawilly, Maggie Whyte, accompanied by Sonja and Janet from Canberra made the 3-hour journey each way to join in for the day… that was the “near”.
From “further away” came Irene Bruninghausen, who lives in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, but spends some each year in Sydney. Irene brought her nearly completed first rug to discuss with Miriam.
“My Rug was conceived in Ormiston Gorge Central Australia, physically commenced under Miriam’s tutelage at Milton N.S.W. Contributions were made at roadside stops in Queensland and it was almost completed in Darwin N.T. Now back at Milton trying to get a lesson in corner edging. It’s been a scenic journey for us. One thing I have learned about rugging you have to be comfy. In hot sweaty Darwin, I stripped down to a cossie, and set the stretcher frame down on a day bed. Then set up an enormous pedestal fan behind me. Fantastic – it blew all the loose threads and scraps all over the house.”
It’s a long drive from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Narrawilly in Milton, New South Wales, through the “outback” to the South Central East Coast, approximately 4,567km (2,838miles). These images were taken back when Irene first began her rug. I am in awe of the isolation and distances between stopovers, so have noted them on the images.
And from “far away”, in that same issue from long ago… Sally Gilbert of New Hampshire, USA, who had travelled to Australia and visited with Miriam and the Narrawilly Proggy Rugmakers Group, shared images of chair pads she designed with Australian motifs and hooked with a combination of new and repurposed 100% wool strips.
Now in this new, 2023 issue, is an image of a door pocket that Sally hooked to fill with Christmas greens and give to her daughter-in-law as a gift. The pattern purchased from Two Old Crows, is 13 inches long and hooked with wool from Sally’s stash on linen foundation cloth.
Miriam’s Rug Room, Narrawilly, 2017 – Sally (second from the left) with members of the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers; Sue (Sally) Miriam, Margaret, Christine, Judy and Janet.
FROM THE EDITOR:
It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone, let 
alone 5 years since the images in this report were taken!
2022 saw the loss of many of our rug hooking friends, horrendous floods on the East Coast of Australia, the Northern Hemisphere hit with hurricanes and now extreme cold and snow! a continuing assault on Ukraine and COVID still a problem. Hopefully this New Year will see things come under control so once again we can plan to travel.
Best Wishes to everyone for a peaceful, safe and happy New Year.
