Patricia Merikallio: Class of 2018
Pat Merikallio acquired an interest in rug hooking when a friend was beginning to teach and persuaded her to give it a try. She took her friend’s advice and has been hooking and designing her own rugs since 1978. Pat has tried almost all the techniques, but after completing more than 50 rug hooking projects, she says she prefers using wide cuts. Her work has appeared in seven editions of Celebration and was exhibited at the Wenham Museum. Her rugs have also won “Best in Show” at the New England State Fair and the Cahoon Museum. She belongs to the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists and the McGown Guild.
Table of Contents
Peaceable Kingdom, Celebration I
This rug was featured as an honorable mention in Celebration I. Check out the rug.
New England Summer, Celebration III
"I wanted to do a clipper ship, but then I got carried away. I had to do above and below the ocean, put in people, our house, an outhouse, some dogs, cats, horses, and sheep. I started out..." Read more.
Wedding Rug, Celebration IV
Pat hooked this rug as a wedding present for her niece, Polly Draper, and her husband, Michael Woolf. Polly is an actress who is well-known for her role as Ellyn in the television series thirtySOMETHING. Polly met Michael, the band leader for The Arsenio Hall Show, when... Read more.
Toby, Celebration VI
"Marcy commissioned me to do a rug of her dog – why I don’t know because she is a wonderful rug hooker herself. Anyway, the day I saw Toby, he had rolled in something bad, and Mary had shampooed him..." Read more.
Alexandra & Stuart, Celebration VII
"I wanted to try doing a face and see if I could use my many scraps up in the process. I decided to adapt the painting done in 1810 using my granddaughter’s face (awake--not asleep). I added her..." Read more.
The Guardian, Celebration IX
"I made this rug for my niece. I tried making portraits of her children and their pet Labrador retriever. When my sister and I were children, besides each other, one of our major comforts was the unconditional love our dogs gave us, and..." Read more.
The Sea Otters, Celebration XIII
"I made this rug for my two oldest twin grandchildren, Katie and Sam. They live on Monterey Bay in California so I, having fallen in love with sea otters (they are so cute), did some research and came up..." Read more.