PENNY RUGS what are they?

First they are not rugs! They are little runners that go on tables. They are ALWAYS circles of felted material done in threes of decreasing size. About the size of an old penny (a fifty cent piece nowadays) for the bottom one working up to the smallest which would be about the size of a penny now.

HOW DID THEY COME TO BE

Homemakers many moons ago wanted to dress up their homes and since they didn't have a lot to work with, they used old coats and whatever other material they had on hand to make penny rugs. Thus the older ones have strikingly dramatic darker colors in them because of this.

They are easy to make. Take any circle, cut out a piece of felted material, sew another circle on top with a blanket stitch, then sew another on top of that. Take the 3 circles and sew them to your pattern piece. This was usually a piece of flour sacking back when. Now it could be anything.

Penny Quilts on ebay