Rugs, glorious rugs

The Heritage guild's hook-in in Fredericton (New Brunswick) was wonderful last weekend, as hook-ins tend to be. We saw some amazing rugs in the making, and ogled a display of finished rugs that were brought for 'show and tell'.


I apologize for not having names to go with these rugs [or rughookers], but it was a great day of sharing and hooking, buying and looking.

Great hook-in by the Heritage Guild

Six Quoddy Loopers travelled to Fredericton to the Heritage Rughooking Guild's Hook-in -- a day of hooking and looking, eating and shopping from the River Gallery's wares. Sande was off in Saint John at a quilting show today, so her husband David did the honours, bringing a vanload of yummy wools, patterns, dyes, hooks and books... and managed to lighten the load considerably, going home. It seems there is never too much wool; any rughooker worth her/his salt can always find another colour or texture to round out their stash. Two of our group [Sandra and myself] won door prizes, which were pretty little baskets stuffed with... wool! How lucky is that?

There were all sorts of wonderful rugs being hooked today - from little trivets, chair pads, small and medium sized hangings and mats to area rugs - a glorious variety of styles, colours and designs.

This is another of Sandra's many mats - a commercial pattern with shaded flowers and leaves.

More rugs from Sandra

Sandra is one of our most prolific rughookers -- and has been at it for longer than most of us. I inadvertently missed posting some of Sandra's mats, so here are a few for today:

Two different lighthouses, of which there are many on Canada's east coast [both commercial designs: Searsport on left and unknown origin on the right], and a fun SmokeyJak Penguins mat [Pam McIsaac-Adams design].

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"A silk purse from a sow's ear"

Hella has been rughooking for three years... or is it four? In any case, she is a master of the fine work that is so admired for precision and subtlety of colour. But her granddaughter Catrina is of a more vivid stripe, so Hella created this very finely hooked panel to dress up a utilitarian PC tote bag. You would never notice its humble origins. As Catrina is unique, so is her gift from Hella!

Our group is already talking about our own "Hurricane hook-in" this fall, as some of us plan this weekend to attend:

Hooking By The River

St Peter’s Parish Hall

2365 Woodstock Road

Fredericton (NB)

April 25

10 am to 3:00pm

Hair with Flair

Mary J, one of our Quoddy Loopers group, made this lovely mat for her sister Barb's hair salon-- Hair with Flair--here in St Andrews.

Deb Carr designed it, based on Barb's business card. It came out great--#3 cut for details and #5 for background. You could just about pick up the scissors and start snipping!
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April is here - and so is the snow...

It is hard to believe that we are a good way into April and Mother Nature has seen fit to give us more snow -- just when we had nearly gotten rid of the winter pile-up, which was unusually generous this year. So, with winter on the way out an spring surely just around the corner, I have just finished a traditional holly mat for a friend [who is doing her holiday shopping very early] and adapted another mat for a much-needed burst of spring and flowers.

Having been 'out of the loop' lately, I don't have any photos from other Quoddy Loopers, but hope to redress that situation this week! I'm sure they've been up to some wonderful work while I've been away.

If you love rughooking and haven't found it yet, there is another relatively new web forum called The Welcome Mat, started by Wanda Kerr, the wool dyeing maven from Wiarton, Ontario [Canada]. Do drop by and take a look - sign up if you are a fibre enthusiast, crafter or artist. Delightful array of rugs, mats and other hooked items - bags, purses, 3D creations, a bit of felting, some great braided/hooked rugs... loads to wander through and get inspired by.

Wanda's website has a full description of her classes, hook-ins, etc. www.wandaworks.ca
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