The Arraiolos - Winter 2023 Story Collection is inspired by Tapete de Arraiolos - a regional rug making tradition from the village of Arraiolos, Portugal. Tapete de Arraiolos are hand embroidered rugs or carpets that are a central product of the Alentejo region of Portugal. View of vineyards, cork trees, hill towns, and open fields of the Alentejo region. Map of Alentejo region of Portugal. Source: Gifex.com Arraiolos rugs are the result of a unique regional interpretation of rug making, which developed in the village of Arraiolos by at least the 18th century, but likely dates back to around the 16th century. Local sheep and flax were farmed to provide the materials needed to make the rugs, and dye plants were imported or...
The Lost Apples - Fall 2022 Story Collection celebrates the colors of the autumnal apple harvest and is inspired by Shacksbury Cider’s Lost Apple Project, which preserves Vermont’s heritage apples by turning them into great cider.
The Arts & Crafts Broderer - Spring 2022 Story Collection is inspired by the work of May Morris and her embroidery designs of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. “Broderer” is an English term dating back to the Middle Ages referring to a hand embroidery worker. The collection celebrates an exceptional woman who influenced and elevated decorative needlework from the domestic realm into a celebrated artform.
The Embroiderer Story Collection Includes four colorways inspired by the embroidery traditions of the Kalotaszeg region of Romania/Transylvania and contemporary artist Sarah Pedlow. The collection celebrates the women who preserve the knowledge and practice of these craft traditions by continuing to stitch and teach the next generation.
The inspiration for the Sugaring Season - Winter 2021 Story Collection is drawn from the landscape that provides a dramatic backdrop for the Vermont sugaring season, which occurs at the threshold between winter and spring. The muted colors of the thawing landscape mark the conclusion of winter, when freezing nights and warming days encourage the sap to rise. Gathering sap in a maple sugar camp, Vermont, ca. 1906. Image source: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress) Maple sugaring has a long history in Vermont and the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is the official state tree. Early British and French settlers observed how to tap sugar maples by watching the Native American tribes, who used bark vessels to collect batches...
