DATES TO REMEMBER

APRIL 5, OTTAWA OLD FORGE AREA 1 HOOK IN (For more information, please refer to post of January 31st.)

WHEN:  Saturday APRIL 5 TH, 2014, 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
WHERE: Maki House 19 Leeming Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

APRIL 7, HOOKING AT JANICE D'S -- Directions to follow by email.

WHAT'S ON PAT M'S HOOK?

 "I love primitive and wide cut!" notes Pat.  So this past January, she travelled to Kennebunk Maine, to take a class at Camp Wool, a retail store run by LeAnn Hodgson that offers classes all year round with a variety of teachers for all skill levels.  

Pat signed up for a class with Betsy Reed.  Betsy has been actively hooking for over 15 years and loves hooking wide cuts and hand torn strips.  She has created a collection of wonderful patterns and has an extensive stash of textured wool.  

Pat absolutely loved the class noting, "not only is it wide cut but also torn strips of wool which can be from 3/4'' to over 1'' wide. You need a wide shank hook so you will not hurt your wrist." Pat's rug "Matilda" is wonderfully textured and  it hooked up quickly.

If you are interested in Camp Wool please check out their website for more information and upcoming classes.  And note, Betsey Reed is returning to Camp Wool in September for another 3 day class "Having Fun with Primitives".

Thanks Pat for sharing your adventure and rug with us.

PERSONAL PLAIDS GALORE

Here are a few more samples of Personal Plaids hooked by our members.  Can you guess which one is Laura's?

PERSONAL PLAIDS

What a fantastic workshop we had last Monday.  A special thanks goes out to Gill W, Jill C and Nicole for all the work that they put into the Personal Plaids workshop.  We had such a big crowd and that we needed to find a way to squeeze in an extra table to accommodate everyone.

Personal Plaids are created based on your date of birth and your six chosen colours.  By hooking  in every other hole and every other ditch, you pick a colour to represent each number and hook the appropriate number of vertical rows ( e.g. 3 rows for number 3).  Then, turning your piece 90 degrees, you repeat your hooked pattern horizontally across your previously hooked vertical rows.

Gill hooked a sampler that was a great reference piece.  For demonstration purposes, the gold coloured square shows only the verticle rows hooked.  The remaining square are complete plaids.  The upper right hand square is a plaid that has been hooked using a piece of wool that transitions from one colour to another.

The gals were careful to give credit to Shirley Lyons for first introducing the rug hooking world to Personal Plaids.

Personal Plaids are not unique to rug hooking.  For anyone who was unable to attend the workshop but would like to know more about Personal Plaids, you can check out the blog 'Nuts about Needlepoint' by clicking here.  Creating a Personal Plaid 

WHAT'S ON ELEANOR'S HOOK?

Well, as you probably already know, our good friend and fellow artisan, Eleanor B has recovered from her first hip replacement and is now waiting to have her second hip operation.  We all wish her the very best and a very, very, speedy recovery as we are anxious to have her back in our company.

In the meantime though, Eleanor has not given up on her hooking.  She manages to find time most days to do a bit of rug hooking in the evening and as we all know, a bit each day soon adds up.  Eleanor is now in the process of finishing this rug which is for her daughter in honour of her family pet.  As Yvonne will be coming east to visit her parents soon,  Eleanor is moving quickly towards the completion of this rug which she will give to Yvonne when she visits. Oh my, there is nothing like a deadline to spur one on.

And yes, Eleanor is already planning her next rug. 

THE GREEN GECKO

There is a wonderful little shop in Lynhurst, Ontario, called The Green Gecko.  The owners, Terri Dawson and her husband, Peter, travel in the winter months to scope out unique one-of-a-kind items for us to purchase in their shop.  While they are away, Terri's mother, Rosemary, fills in keeping things going during the shop's winter hours, 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Satuarday.  This leaves Rosemary with time on Mondays to join us in Lansdowne and fill us in on Terri's adventures.

Recently, Terri was invited to visit a small silk production site in a little rural village in Thialand.  What she saw is absolutely amazing.  Check it out.  Visit her blog THE GREEN GECKO to read about her adventures and view her fantastic photos and videos to find out what Terri learned about small scale silk production.  Then, the next time you are using those lustrous silk threads and yarns in your hooking, think about how those fibres came to be.

FEATURED ARTIST - PENNY D - THE FLIGHT OF THE STAIR RISERS

In June of 2010 I went to Trent school of rug hooking to join Anne Boissinot's open class. I had in my mind to design and hook thirteen risers for our staircase in the country. Our property is a fifty acre bush lot on a little lake in Eastern Ontario. It was my plan to design and hook each riser independently and then worry about the treads later. Each riser was to depict an event at the lake home which reflect funny and happy memories of our life in retirement here.

There were bears, cows, butterflies, trilliums, sumac, house and workshop, canoes, Queen Anne,s lace, frogs, mice, daffodils, turtles and birds, all to be hooked in 6 by 22 inch panels. I began to draw (not a talent) I am noted for, but with encouragement and boldness I created some lie,likenesses. I didn't really worry much because each one was such fun. I really didn't care if the observer knew the story, I did and then in the summer of 2011 they were finished!!

However, we weren't, finished. How to install them and what about the treads. The choices seemed endless, there was industrial rubber that I had seen at Karen Kaiser's house, there was tile that my husband Richard wanted, there was grit which would maintain the integrity of the pine that I had seen of my friend Christine's log house and there was carpeting of the wall to wall kind. at first the carpeting seemed the least attractive from the view of a wannabe Arts and Crafts perspective however as we puzzled and argued it became the choice. Then there was the colour.  Again another decision. Finally, I won with a light green. When the installer came I was still pondering how it would all work, but work it did and we are so pleased. All I have to say is it was fun and worth it. PEN

MARCH 10th PROGRAM - PERSONAL PLAIDS

On Monday, March 10th, Gill W., Jill C. and Nicole W. will be giving a Personal Plaids workshop that is based on a Shirley Lyons' initiative.

Where:  Lansdowne
When:  11 a.m.

If you are interested in participating, please bring with you the following items:
- your hooking supplies
- a piece of open weave backing that will fit on your hoop or frame
- 6 different colours of wool (your choice) in a #3 cut

This promises to be an interesting workshop where one's age is no longer a secret.

COLOUR WHEEL THEORY DEMONSTRATION

February 10th was a beautiful, sunny day for travelling to Women Matters, Lansdowne, where Rhonda presented her Colour Wheel Theory demonstration using food colouring.  Twenty-Three participants enjoyed a colourful event, learning how to create 12 colours using only the 3 primaries.

Since this demonstration, Rhonda has received requests from individuals who want to dye this colour wheel in their home.  As a result, she will soon be posting additional home dyeing information on her personal blog ARTFUL MATTERS. A link to her blog can be found on the right side of our Women Matters blog home page.