Cozily situated in a quiet corner off Islesboro’s beaten path lives Bobby Pendleton, the island’s premiere “hooker.” Perhaps some clarification is in order here: Bobby is a fiber artist whose specialty is restoring damaged, vintage hooked rugs, as well as creating new rugs from her own designs, or those of customers. A native Californian, she has been living on Islesboro for eight years and has been hooking rugs for more then a decade.
Her introduction to hooking rugs came about when she wanted to find something to do with the yarn left over from her spinning. She taught herself how to do it by reading extensively on the craft, and by studying the work of an experienced hooker who was working the summer fair circuit. Many years’ experience as a felter and decorative artist – painting design work on floors, walls and furniture – also helped Bobby to master the skills needed in rug hooking.
Bobby’s reputation as a rug restorer/designer spread on Islesboro after she donated a rug she’d created to the island’s sewing circle to sell at one of their events. Since then, she’s worked on restoring family heirlooms from some of Islesboro’s bigger summer cottages. Her largest repair job to date was an intricate 18- by 20-foot geometric rug. The cost of restoring such rugs can be substantial, but the emotional attachment many people feel for these family heirlooms more than makes up for the cost of repair. There aren’t many rug restorers in the area, and Islesboro residents were gratified to discover the exquisite quality of Bobby’s work, so that they wouldn’t have to ship their rugs off to New York to be repaired.
Old rugs can be made of cotton or wool, and may need either yarn or fabric strips to repair, depending on the nature of the deterioration. Bobby often rummages through Goodwill stores in search of old fabric and faded cloth to match a damaged section of a rug on which she’s working. She finds an old jacket or shirt that matches perfectly, and then shreds or cuts the garment into strips to rehook a damaged area to blend into the rest of the rug. Old rugs were generally hooked on a foundation of burlap or gunny sacks, but today’s hookers use monk’s cloth or linen.
When Pendleton creates a new rug, it’s often at the request of someone who wants a special design or scene. She uses a computer to generate her design, enlarging it so she can work the design precisely as she envisions it at the size the customer has requested. Pendleton has created many animal rugs featuring scenes of favorite pet cats and dogs, specific houses, lighthouses and mermaids. One particularly striking rug features vivid red cherries on a white background. Her graceful, detailed work results in a rug of great and lasting beauty, a true work of art on which one might understandably hesitate to wipe one’s feet.
Pendleton has shown her new creations at Islesboro’s Double Door Gallery. She has taught two adult education classes on the island, and had a whole class of hookers, including the minister’s wife, hard at work learning the craft. She plans to teach another class on hooking rugs beginning in November through Islesboro’s adult education department.
For more information on having Bobby restore a hooked rug – or design one especially for your home – call her at 734-2003, or drop a line to Hooked Rug Restoration, 134 Marshall Cove Road, Islesboro, 04848.