Wool Remembers, Volume II – a leather collection for Guild, New Hampshire

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world places.

An August study.

This is Wool Remembers – Volume II of our leather collections for Guild, New Hampshire, the village where the Sugar River once turned water into wool. Five new stamps, pressed into leather for the hands that still pull loops through backing.

First, the whole village on one upright tag. The Sugar River runs at the top, drops onto a water wheel, the wheel gives a bolt of cloth, the cloth is cut into strips, and the strips end as hooked loops – RIVER above, TO RUG below.

Black-and-white River to Rug stamp artwork from the Wool Remembers leather collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

The wine tag comes first and the pine green follows. The last one wears a honeyed russet, the closest a leather gets to autumn wool.

A sangria leather luggage tag stamped with River to Rug, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A forest-green leather luggage tag stamped with River to Rug, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A honeyed russet leather luggage tag stamped with River to Rug, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Next, the design the collection takes its name from. A folded remnant lets one strip go, and the strip rises into a hooked loop – the wool still remembers the work. We pressed it small into the corner of the toiletry bag, honeyed russet over dark espresso.

Black-and-white Wool Remembers stamp artwork from the leather collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Honeyed russet and dark espresso leather toiletry bags stamped with Wool Remembers for Guild, New Hampshire.

Then, a penny rug the size of a thumb – circles of saved coat wool, stacked and rimmed with blanket stitch, PENNY BY PENNY underneath. One keychain in warm red, one in black.

Keychains with the penny stamp look just awesome.

Black-and-white Penny by Penny stamp artwork from the Wool Remembers leather collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A warm red leather keychain stamped Penny by Penny, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A black leather keychain stamped Penny by Penny, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

Then the catchall tray, which does nightly what a hooked rug does across years – it keeps what you saved. A border of hooked loops with a blossom in each corner frames the motto: SAVED THINGS MAKE THE PATTERN.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the golden tan.

Black-and-white Saved Things Make the Pattern artwork from the Wool Remembers leather collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped Saved Things Make the Pattern for Guild, New Hampshire.

And finally, the journals. Every rug begins as a line in a notebook, so we drew a line that learns to loop halfway across – DRAW IT FIRST. One journal in pale greige, like pattern paper. One in navy, like ink.

Black-and-white Draw It First stamp artwork from the Wool Remembers leather collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A pale greige leather journal stamped Draw It First, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

A navy leather journal stamped Draw It First, from the Wool Remembers collection of Guild, New Hampshire.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.