15
Mar 10

Rugs on the beach!

Posted by Whitney

Last Monday, Maegan and I drove down to the South Shore for a photo shoot to showcase our new Thrive collection of wool area rugs, which was designed in collaboration with Artists For Humanity. AFH’s Executive Director, Susan Rodgerson, graciously offered her home for the shoot, which provided a beautiful seaside setting for the day. We were able to photograph two of the three rug designs in Susan’s beautifully curated space, and we even took the rugs out to the beach for a couple of conceptual shots to highlight the natural inspiration behind the designs.

AFH's photography mentor, Haidon, sets up a shot of the Flourish rug in the living room.

Oz the dog found the Micro rug pretty comfy.

Maegan set up the Flourish rug for a shot on the rocky beach.

Later in the day we headed into the city to take some more shots at AFH’s studios. The young designers were thrilled to see the rugs for the first time!

Later this week we are headed to New York to debut the Thrive Collection at the Architectural Digest Home show! Click here to get your FREE tickets for Thursday’s preview day! Just enter the word “EXHIBITOR” in the promotional code box.

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14
Mar 10

Liberty of London Blooms

Posted by Maegan

It’s finally here! Liberty of London launched it’s limited edition collection of blooming florals today at Target. Everything from pretty, flirty spring dresses to bold, graphic beach cruiser bicycles! I had to check it out myself, as I’m always up for a Target trip, especially when it’s to shop the newest designer launches!

As a textile designer, how could you not be inspired by the incredible variety that Liberty prints offer? I’ve been through their beautiful store in London a handful of times and always left feeling invigorated! With the launch of it’s line at Target, it’s incredibly exciting to see how those prints can translate onto almost any object you can think of!

The colors are just perfect for the season, shocking fuchsia and purple coverlets, peacock turquoise throw pillows, lemon and tangerine lamp shades, they all fit into the trends for spring.

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Check it out for yourself, but be sure to get there soon as the collection was flying off the racks when I arrived! I was lucky enough to find a sweet floral, pleated dress (perfect for summer) that I can’t wait to wear!

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10
Mar 10

Knitted items for charity

Posted by Zairo

As the days get shorter and the weather becomes colder, the need for knit hats, socks, scarves, and blankets becomes greater for people in need. Merida always has left over yarn in our Fall River facility where we weave tufted and viewpoint rugs. Our yarns are 100% New Zealand wool which is a renewable, biodegradable fiber that has natural insulating properties to retain heat and increase cooling effectiveness.

Debbie Bozak from the Dartmouth YMCA knitting group approached us if we wanted to donate our scrap yarns to Charity Knitting. So far, they have donated 26 hats, 17 scarves, 7 blankets, a pair of slippers and a headband to the Solanus Casey Food Pantry in New Bedford, serving residents in southcoast Massachusetts and Bristol County. In the past, blankets have been given to Women’s Center, hats and scarves to Market Ministry, various homeless shelters, battered women shelters, and food pantries in their local area. In all, this wonderful group has donated well over 200 items. Debbie says, “I never expect to see the items I make ever again. I just hope they help someone out and keep them warm and safe and lets them know someone was thinking about them.”

These women ranging from young to old, with varying skill level love creating knitted items that keep people feeling warm and dry, especially during the holiday and winter months. They meet at the Dartmouth YMCA, 276 Gulf Road, Dartmouth, MA during the school year on Mondays 1-2pm to socialize and knit. They are happy to invite new members and teach beginners how to knit.

Donna Edberg, the director of the knitting group says, “I have to say that the yarn [Merida] donates to us is the most beautiful and lovely yarn to work with. We are all a bit of yarn snobs and using acrylic is doable but real wool is so much better. We also know that the real wool will make the items we make that much warmer. When Debbie brings in the yarn we all crowd around oohing and ahhing. We thank you so much for the generous donation that helps supply us with beautiful quality yarn that helps our neighbors who need it.”

Other than knitting winter accessories, yarn can have more of a function in the home than on the body. Holly from Decor8 posted a blog about making yarn wreaths, inspired from Katie Runnels who posted a tutorial on her blog. These DIY yarn wreaths can be made to match any décor and can also be a thoughtful gift for friends and family. So if you have scrap yarn from your knitting projects, definitely head to your local crafts store to pick up yarn wreath supplies.

From left to right: Debra Bozak, Stacy Lague, Brenda Macedo, Susan Ferguson, Rose Amaral, Nancy MacEachern and Donna Edberg

From left to right: Debra Bozak, Stacy Lague, Brenda Macedo, Susan Ferguson, Rose Amaral, Nancy MacEachern and Donna Edberg

knitting ladies

Top Left: Donna Edberg Top Right: Ann Hull Bottom Left: Nancy MacEachem Bottom Right: Rose Amaral

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05
Mar 10

Developing our new Thrive Collection

Posted by Whitney

Over the last few months we’ve been talking about our partnership with Artists For Humanity and the rug design contest that the youth designers worked so hard on. We’ve been making steady progress on turning these amazing designs into beautiful wool area rugs, and things have really gotten moving in the last few weeks. I’m excited to announce that we will be introducing the Thrive Collection with AFH in mid-March at the Architectural Digest Home show in New York!

We’re calling the collection Thrive to symbolize our commitment to maintaining a vibrant arts community, preserving textile manufacturing in our home state, and sustaining a healthy environment. The three distinctive designs are described below.

  • Flourish is a repeating kaleidoscope of petals that evokes a lush, vibrant garden. Our cyclical environment and the repetitious imagery of flames and leaves inspired designer Kelsey Arbona to think about the infinite nature of patterns, leading her to this design.
  • Micro is a landscape of large, imperfect shapes that paradoxically reflects a tiny, delicate, and highly structured part of our world. Designer Alland Torchon wanted to create something to remind us that our planet is as fragile as it is nurturing. Although this rug is made to be walked on, it reminds us to tread lightly on the earth.
  • Pavo draws its name from the genus of the peacock, which is clearly the inspiration for this design by Massiel Grullon. Animal-inspired prints represent pride and natural beauty, and call to mind the other living things that we share our planet with.

The young designers who were selected to have their creations turned into area rugs did an amazing job designing beautiful motifs to represent their own personal views on sustainability. Our Creative Director, Maegan Fee, used her tufting and color trend expertise to modify the designs to work with our  equipment, and she also selected color combinations that are either trend-right for 2010, or simpler and easier to live with.

Here are a couple of shots from the tufting screen during our color and design tests this week. We can’t wait to reveal the full collection!

Samples of our new Thrive Collection (pre-shearing!) on the tufter in Fall River. Pavo on the left and top right, Micro on bottom right.

Testing out another colorway of the Micro design. The long strands will be sheared off after the samples are finished and cut off the screen.

Stay tuned next week for a “behind the scenes” look at our Thrive Collection photo shoot!

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