No rules in rag rugs

On occasion, I will run into someone who is looking at my rugs who will say, I didn't think you could do it this way.  Or even more strongly, you can't do it this way, or use that fibre, or that pattern, or etc etc etc.

I am self taught.  I got the loom at an auction sale.  I figured out how to warp on my own, prep rags, weave,  finish, etc.

That being said, I do a lot of reading, looking around asking of questions.  So I'm not TOTALLY self taught.  I didn't recreate the wheel or anything!

I've always been the type of person who is willing to try something, to see if it works.

Or to do something another way, since I might not have the 'right' tool, or material, or technique.

I think it's freeing to not have such artificial constraints on me!

Sometimes I have a good result, some times not so much.  But I learn something and can apply it to the next big experiment!

These are rugs that I finished this weekend wouldn't have come into being if I had followed all my own 'rules'.

They are made out of polyester.   Strike one.
They are stretchy.  Strike two.
They are not your normal rug making fabric.  Strike 3.

But I liked the color, and from experiencing another fuzzy type material in a rug (that was a request to use from a friend)  I decided it was worth trying it out.

They make some really squishy, fuzzy, delightful rugs.

They aren't very heavy.  They aren't stiff.  And I don't think i would use them in a heavy traffic area because they would probably get matted and not look great pretty quickly.  But I think they would be heavenly beside a bed or other such area that could use a soft and warm place for some toes.

I pretty much live my life the same way.

I am a person who wants to know the rules so I can follow them -  but if the 'rules' are arbitrary or don't make sense to me, I do my best to find out why they don't make sense and if I can't, I do my best to work around them, or get them changed. 

I think I drive some people crazy, because I 'do things differently'.   But I also hear from many people that "Julie is good at everything".   I don't agree with that, but I do agree that I am good at trying new things.

That is something I have tried to instill in my children, and also in the many 4-H club members I have interacted with over the last 30+ years.

So the takeaway from this is this.

"No rules" doesn't mean to be a rule breaker.

It means to me 'Be an innovator'.

All for now,
JULIE