UPCOMING EVENTS…

Our annual Rideau Valley Boots and Baskets auction of all things crafty (rughooking wool, patterns, books, frames, hooks; quilting fabric and tools and related items; knitting yarns and patterns and books, etc.) will be held in Burrits Rapids at the Community Centre on Grenville on April 19 starting at 11:30.  Please arrive prior to 11:30 to reserve your chair!!!! Bring cash and bags to take home all your goodies.  As in previous years, a small lunch (chili and coffee and tea) will be provided. Please note that the bridge on the Kemptville side is closed and you will need to take an alternate route. We look forward to welcoming you.

ALSO, Moira Matmakers is hosting a hookin on April 14 in Belleville at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre.  This is always a wonderful hookin in a bright, big location – lots of room to spread out your hooking.  and yes there will be Vendors (myself included) and lovely goodies!!!! So join us if you can.

And now. a few rugs to share…

Another of Louise’s punch needle pieces – so sweet…

And sheep seem to be the theme of the day – Scrappy Sheep (one of my kits) hooked by Sylvie (her first, beautifully hooked and finished, piece)…

Finally, I have listed some of the punch needle kits I carry (more to come!).  Simply go to my ONLINE STORE and page down to the bottom to find the punch needle supplies. These kits include pattern drawn on weavers cloth and the necessary beautiful Valdani threads to punch them. Colours may vary slightly from the picture but will always be luscious!

 

 

RUGS TO SHARE…

Thank you to everyone who sends me pix of their beautiful rugs and punch needle pieces and for allowing me to share them with everyone. We all love to see other people’s work and to be inspired – so here is today’s inspiration…

Louise’s lovely punch needle pieces – her own designs..

Jayne’s rugs for her grandchildren who got to pick the animals they wanted in their rugs – do you see the little hedgehog in each of the rugs?… Anne hooked these for her grandchildren… My friends, Jacques and Isabelle, make wonderful rughooking pins, buttons, key fobs and scissor fobs out of wood slices that they harvest themselves. These are the latest addition to the line… perfect for a good set of rughooking scissors…
and Chris has a floor stand and frame for sale for 100 plus travel 🙂 – if you are interested contact her at c.delaney@videotron.ca…

WONDERFUL DAY IN PETERBOROUGH…

The Fibre festival in Peterborough was wonderful. Busy from the minute the doors opened (well even a tad before that) until well after lunch with a short break in the action while everyone gathered their energy for more shopping! We had a wonderful time chatting with people we had not seen in a while or had not met in person before. What fun to put a face to an email name! So we, or rather Gord!,  took pix of a few of the vendors (there were MANY MORE) to share…

And a few rugs and punch needle pieces to share…

Joan sent me a picture of her Barn Scene – her first piece!!! Beautifully done… Now she is working on a companion piece – Sheep Farm which I have listed as a kit in my online store…

Janice’s lovely pillow finished with silk backing!…
Jane’s sweet little bunny punch needle…

 

and me – wellll I am working on a piece, based on a painting by John Sims, of the Crossroads (Glengarry Pioneer Museum). When Ruby passed away her family asked if I would finish hooking the piece that she had started hooking with the intention that it be donated in Ruby’s memory to the museum. I said I would love to and then realized how BIG the piece is and that I had to live up to Ruby’s beautiful hooking standards – Yikes. Well this is where I started – what Ruby had already completed –  and we will see, as I go along, how well I do (or don’t do 🙂 )… 

OHCG ANNUAL WORKSHOPS…

Off to Peterborough for the fibre arts show tomorrow. However, before I left I thought I would remind everyone from far and near about our Annual Rug show.

I am so excited about our show taking place in Ottawa this coming May 5 and 6. Our annual show is wonderful – 2 days of rug display, vendors and workshops. And this year I am even more excited because I am teaching Fish Bones. I think my workshop is almost full but if you feel like a funky fishy class check out the website.

There are a few (very few) spots left in other workshops – this is an amazing opportunity to take advantage of a fabulous weekend.  Check out the website at https://ohcgannual2018.wordpress.com/sessions/   for more info on the various workshops and BOOK NOW! as they are filling up so quickly that some have been doubled…

One of the  workshops I am very excited about is Meryl Cook’s full weekend workshop Hook a Healing Mat. Meryl visited our guild last year and talked about her journey through recovery from cancer using her hooking to explore her innermost feelings. It was wonderful – and so appropriate since so many of us are dealing with health and elder care issues. Here are some details…

This workshop is about learning to write and hook yourself a love letter in both rug hooking and journalling. You’ll learn practical tips for discovering what makes your heart sing, and move through difficult situations as you play with colours and textures to create a 16” x 16” mat.  ✤A Nova Scotia rug hooker who explores the use of contemporary rug hooking as a healing art, Meryl has been teaching writing and rug hooking since 2016.

Additional info:

Meryl brings her lifetime of work in the healing arts together with her experience as an artist and contemporary rug hooker to her exploration of rug hooking as a healing art. She has developed a process which includes writing on the linen around her design to highlight the inspiration for each mat, selection of colours based on Chakra Colour theory, and a technique of following the healing energy to design her healing mats. Meryl uses new and recycled wool and yarns in her hooking.  Her style is loose and organic, with each piece evolving as she hooks.

Hooking since 2008, Meryl’s work is inspired by Deanne Fitzpatrick. She is the author of two books One Loop at a Time, a story of rug hooking, healing and creativity and One Loop at a Time, The Creativity Workbook. Meryl’s first book has been featured in the July 2017 Rug Hooking Magazine Good Read’s section. Her article Hook a Healing Mat appeared in the August/September Issue 226 ATHA Magazine. Meryl’s healing mats will be part of a special exhibit at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week in 2018.

 

A FEW NEW PATTERNS…

I have listed a few new Karla patterns on my online store. Nice, Bright, Colourful and ready for spring. Think of alternative fibres in some of these as they would add texture and zing! Gosh hmmm, there is a lot of blue in those patterns – I may be moving to the dark side 🙂 …

WHERE HAVE I BEEN…

Well nowhere actually :-). Busy painting another room and wow, getting rid of more “stuff” – I am in a clearing out mood! Gord – BEWARE!

Actually, I have been drawing patterns and dyeing wool and getting ready for Peterborough next Saturday because after that wow, things get busy – Moira Matmakers Hookin in Belleville in April, OHCG Annual Rug Show in Ottawa in May and lots more! With a few classes thrown in there as well! But I did take a little break this week as we had company – finished hooking and binding a piece for a friend whose mother was a hooker who hmmm, didn’t finish a lot of pieces. Sooooo I offered to finish hooking and binding one but YIKES number 3 cut! It has been 20 years since I hooked with a number 3 = and now I remember why it has been so long 🙂 . But it did get finished and it did not kill me!

Plus I worked on 2 centrepieces for the Annual Rug Show and hmmm I must have done something else??? However, if I have not wellll others certainly have, so here are a few lovely rugs and punch needle pieces for show and tell…

Diane finished this punch needle and attached it to an antique spoon…

Tanya finished hooking her lovely rug and is now just waiting for wool to show bind it…Louise finished hooking another Tea cosy – her own design. These are soooo lovely…
Linda finished two sweet punch needle pieces… Helen finished the top punch needle piece while she was here (one of the designs I carry by A Piece of work)… The bottom one she started punching yesterday – her own design which I will be carrying as I love it – reminds me of when we went to Skye…
and while Helen was here I showed her how to dye yarn and she did all these – are they not yummy?…

and of course while we had company we HAD to do a little junkin! So yesterday after a stressful dentist appointment we relieved the stress with a trip to Gallery 15 in Smiths Falls and Hoffman’s in Perth. Helen’s fabulous finds!…

And mine… a vintage shaving mirror and some lovely Eastlake frames (won’t be keeping those pictures 🙂 )…

and someone else was busy!!! As we were coming home last week I noticed 2 ice fisherman out on the lake catching nothing while just around the corner this little guy was chowing down on his catch of the day… wish I knew how to zoom in with an iPhone!!!!