ISSN 2207-001X October 2025
These vibrant rugs designed and hooked by Bea Nitschke from Queensland, 
were inspired by the colourful bark of the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees growing at Judi Tompkins Studio Palimpsest on the Sunshine Coast, where Bea meets with other textile artists.
While experimenting with ‘brights’ Bea planned her colour palette as she went. With a large quantity of leftover “worms” (previously cut fabric & yarn) in her stash Bea decided to create designs that would use up the different colours before sourcing any more fabric or yarn.
Both rugs, approximately 94 x 48 cm (37×19 inches) were created especially for family members and shipped to Austria.
The Rainbow Eucalyptus trees on Judi’s property are smaller 
than the tree in this image shared from a Facebook post by Ancient Forests & Champion Trees
Rainbow Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta) is a species of tall tree, that is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is the only Eucalyptus species that usually lives in rainforest, with a natural range that extends into the northern hemisphere. It is characterized by multi-coloured bark
With a design reminiscent of the Rainbow Bark, Bea covered the advertising on this hessian bag purchased from one of the major grocery store chains. The bags were sold at the check-out counters some years ago when single-use plastic bags were banned in Australia.
Many of us have used an inexpensive embroidery hoop to slide into one of these bags and hook or prod directly into the hessian. The bags are well made with strong handles; some hookers utilise the loop at the top meant for hanging the bag onto the shopping trolley, to create a closure with the addition of a button on the other side. Bea hooked a combination of high and low loops to allow for sculpting.
On to bigger projects – utilizing small amounts of different coloured wool, Bea gave new meaning to “hit & miss” by incorporating short sections of various embroidery stitches.
In this piece; a chain stitched inner border of yellow and short sections of colourful long stitch in both the centre and outside border of the floor rug.
To match the floor rug, staying with the same colour palette, came a traditionally hooked cushion.
While a little hard to see in these images there are some indented areas worked into the beige background of this cushion to add interest. Bea uses a stretcher frame; the top and bottom bars define the width of her works.
As it turns out, it was the perfect size to create a backrest for her chair.
Continuing with bright colours and geometric shapes
Bea turned her attention
to locker hooking –
here’s a couple of images of her trunk topper taking shape
Living on the other side of the country I occaisionally join the Sunshine Coast Fibre & Textile Artists online and enjoy being part of the group; seeing their works taking shape and how they’re learning to create their own designs and overcome the lack of traditional supplies. There are rug hookers, knitters, crocheters and embroiderers in the group, all happy to share their knowledge of the various disciplines and offer positive critiques. Members of the group also do a good job passing on knowledge of this traditional craft to younger people interested in textiles so I’m happy to share their work here. 