Frequently Asked Questions
More About Us
How did the Rug Braiders International get started?
In 2007, Nancy Young and Loretta Zvarick hosted a one-day braid gathering at the Grange in Trappe, Pennsylvania. That day, several braiders from the Lancaster and Lehigh areas of Pennsylvania decided to form a guild. Naki Godfrey was an administrator at the Arbour Square retirement community in Harleysville, and she volunteered to give us a free site to meet.
When did the Rug Braiders International get its non-profit status?
In the summer of 2020.
Where does the guild meet now?
All of our monthly meetings and special events and classes and braid help sessions are online. A core group of original Guild members in southeastern Pennsylvania get together every month or so in Coatesville, PA -- for more info contact Dottie Pepe:
The Guild was originally called Valley Forge Rug Braiding Guild. Why did the guild change its name in 2025?
The original name sounded too tied to a physical location, and it confused people into thinking we were a guild that met physically in southeastern Pennsylvania. The new name makes our status as an international group clear -- our meetings and events are online, and attended by members in the US, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand.