The story of Penny Rugs

Going back to the 19th century it is belived that penny rugs were made as a way of using up remnants of used woolen clothing that was not big enough to cut into strips for rug hooking.
The term "penny rug" came to be because of using coins of that era as templates for the "pennies". On older penny rugs the circles were stitched onto feed sacks or pieces of burlap.
Not all penny rugs were made up of circles- there are many that are wool applique scenes, fruits, animals and many other scenes.
Many penny rugs were made with decorative edging pieces in elongated pieces of wool that resembled " tongues" or "lamb's ears".
Penny rugs in the early days were not used on the floor but rather used on beds for warmth or to decorate table tops or hearths and mantles.