Hooking

There were over 500 pieces in the Hooked in the Mountains rug show in Burlington Vermont this year and there were many, many exceptional pieces. I’ve included just a very small sample here. The first two pieces are designed and hooked by Diane Phillips. The interplay of patterns in each piece is complex and challenging, creating pieces I went back to again and again.

Colleen Faulkner describes her Poppies as ‘a labour of love to be certified for the Oxford School Certification class’. As well as wool, Colleen used felt strips, embroidery floss and ribbon. A stunning use of complementary colours. 

Sue Burton-Kelly created a dynamic rug using Deanne Fitzpatrick pattern, For All We Have Under the Sky.

Dale Young-Wheeler used Karla Gerard’s Abstract Sheep to create a delightful piece. 

And again a dynamic interplay of colour and pattern in Genghis by Rae Harrell.

And finally, a wonderful Sharp-shinned Hawk by Peg Irish. Peg is an inventive rug hooker who combines many techniques in her work. The hawk is hooked and felted.

First, Peg Irish. This piece, Fall Mosaic, has over 2000 1″ squares, some recycled from other hooked pieces, glued on to a backing. I’ve included a close-up so you can see the textures and variety including embellishments. Below that is another fall scene. You need to stand back to truly appreciate these wonderful pieces. 

Rachelle LeBlanc’s pieces are suberb portraits–but I love the backgrounds as much as the faces. You could study these pieces for ages and still not see it all, such skilled use of colour and texture.

And finally Roslyn Logsdon’s wonderful architectural pieces.

I have been  at Hooked in the Mountains in Burlington Vermont this week. This is a spectacular rug show in a spectacular part of the coutry. There are over 500 rugs in the show! Doing a post on the ipad is a tedious process, so for now I’ll just give you a taste.  This  is Davey DeGraff’s marvellous depiction of her grandaughter, Ava Blossom.

For the third year in a row, the sun shone on the Campbellford hook-in. This hook-in in this charming town on the Trent Canal is one of my favourites. It is a beautiful venue, the host group is generous with food and prizes, and lots of rug hookers with inspiring rugs are in attendance. I didn’t get a chance to photograph all of the rugs I admired, but here are a few.

First are Jane Holland’s frog and Marg Dooher’s geometric. Both pieces use colour and texture to great advantage. The turquoise in Marg’s piece is dazzling–it demonstrates how a familiar pattern can be made extraordinary by thoughtful use of colour.

A piece that caught everyone’s eye was this calendar rug by Rosemary Malone. The pattern comes from Christine Little in Mahone Bay. Each month Christine sends a pattern to participating rug hookers who hook it and add it to their calendar. Rosemary has won the contest for best month twice and is waiting to hear about June. Her personalized details like the railway tracks in the June piece and the red high heels in March are what makes it so delightful.

Thank you again Cambellford Rug Hookers for an inspiring and enjoyable day.

Fifteen Moira Mat makers took a Kilim workshop with Anne Boissinot this past weekend. Anne provided us with an amazing array of examples, an overview of the history of Kilims, and a full package of templates to help us design our own Kilim patterns. It was a busy three days with lots of colour planning and problem solving. By Sunday, everyone had a design on their backing — each one with a story and each one different.

Above is a portion of an award-winning Kilim designed and hooked by Anne and below are a few of the many Kilim examples she brought to inspire us.

Templates are carefully cut out, traced on the backing and then the hooking begins. Anne was there to support and inspire through every step. The Moira Mat Makers say a big thank you to a wonderful teacher. I am sure there will be some incredible Kilim rugs at the next annual!

I am just home from the annual meeting of the Ontario rug hooking guild held in Oshawa this weekend and I wanted to share some of the winners of the rug display. There were so many wonderful rugs but, as always, it was hard to do justice to them in photographs. Here are some I managed to take. Our local rug hooking group was very proud that Mary Anne Keast’s wonderful piece was the winner in the pictorial category. Some of the other winners are pictured below: Barbara Lucas in the Mad About Texture theme category, Pat Lawson in the wide-cut category, Susan Clarke’s carpet bag in the original category and Jocelyn Gordon’s Animal Puzzle won the Craft Ontario Affiliate Award.