Hooked rug registry planned for N.B.

A group of volunteers is hoping to save an art form unique to the region by establishing a New Brunswick mat registry to catalogue all the old hooked rugs that were made in the province.

As the volunteers begin setting up the hooked mat registry, they are also searching for the stories behind those rugs.

Doreen Battis, who has registered her old hooked mats, said she was told about the patterns her great grandmother used. Battis said she's also learned how other mats were madein the early 1900sand how theywere used to keep their drafty floors somewhat warm.

'New Brunswick did not have[a registry]and mat hookers in the province really felt we were losing our history and the stories about the people who made the mats.' Judy Morison

"When I went to the university to register these mats they became very alive for me, [it was]very emotional. I thought 'wow,'" Battis said.

The mats were made by using strips of wool from old pants or underwear and hooking the material through the holes in burlap bags such as flour or feed bags.

Judy Morison is part of the group that wants to register the colourful mats from across the province.

"Currently there's registries in every other Atlantic province. New Brunswick did not have one and mat hookers in the province really felt we were losing our history and the stories about the people who made the mats," Morison said.

"Mats are textiles. They wear out, they're discarded and the history and the stories are lost."

100 rugs registered

Morison said 100 mats have already been registered. The group is recording the stories behind the rugs and taking pictures of them for a new website.

Danielle Ouellet, who has been making rugs for more than 30 years, said the old mats were often made for practical purposes. But now, these mats have transformed into heirlooms and newer rugs are often works of art.

Ouellet said these mats should be saved and the stories preserved.

"[The rug registry] is really necessary and I'm just thinking of all the rugs that we've already loss really," Ouellet said.

The volunteers plan to hold meetings across the province next summer for people to register their mats.