A Winning Weekend

yes, indeed….it was a winning weekend all ‘round in Cobourg.  First of all, we hosted the OHCG 2025 Annual Conference at Victoria Hall, and a good time was had by all!  Click HERE to read the blog post with a few photos, and links to videos from the event.

As a bonus, several of our members won prizes in the judged competition.  Congrats to them!

Francine Birket:  First Place, Pictorial

Dolores Skelly, First Place, Oriental

Lynda Johnston, First Place, Multi Cut

Dianne Algera, Honourable Mention, 3 Dimensional

(I didn’t have a chance to get them to pose in front of their winning works, so i found some photos way back in my archives & pasted them on!)

Art Gallery Display

Join us for the opening of Peace, Love & Rug’n Roll at the Art Gallery of Northumberland, Saturday April 26 at 1 pm.

This display is in conjunction with the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild’s Annual Conference, taking place at Cobourg’s Victoria Hall on May 10.  The display will feature the works of Ontario artists entering their work for judging by the Guild.  Winners will be announced May 10, and rosettes awarded.

Rug-hooking has come a long way in the past 200 years: from a craft born out of practicality and necessity in the form of rugs to stops drafts and cover cold floors to being designated in recent years as a Fine Art. Today it has evolved into an art form offering endless possibilities for exploring texture, colour and design. Visitors to the Gallery will be wowed by the breadth of complexity on display.

The Ontario Hooking Craft Guild was established in 1966 to promote the art and craft of rug hooking across Ontario. It currently has a membership of over 1000 fibre artists supported by 80 certified teachers. The local branch of the guild, Northumberland Rug Hookers, is hosting the event and working with the Art Gallery and the Town of Cobourg to welcome conference attendees.  Cobourg will be bustling with activity when the Rug Hookers arrive on May 10 for a full day of speakers, displays and vendors.  The May 10 event is open only to registered OHCG members, but the public is invited to take in the Art Gallery display in the 2 weeks leading up to the conference - April 26-May10.  

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Fri 10-4, Saturday 12-4, closed Sunday and Monday.  It is located in Victoria Hall, 55 King Street West, Cobourg.

Visit artgalleryofnorthumberland.ca, ohcg.org, 2025annual.blogspot.com for more information.

Fishy ideas

Our group is aiming to have a bunch of fishy rugs, bags, mats, hangings….in time for the Port Hope Fall Fair in September.

Here are some potential ideas to consider…..please remember, however, these are only for inspiration.   This set of fish was compiled via Pinterest.   A simple reverse image search will show you the source  - see me if you want a lesson on this.  Also, check out your favourite vendors to see if the offer any fish patterns  I know Loretta Moore has at least one!

(There are some non fish in there, but they could still be included in a fishy theme!)

Textile Takeover!

We participated in a Textile Takeover, organized by the same folks behind the very successful “Gathering the County” event we participated in last June in Picton.  We were one of many groups/individuals all demonstrating some kind of textile art. Here’s some of the promotional text for the event:

Get ready for a total textile takeover! The historic Macaulay House (circa 1830) is being transformed into a vibrant hub of creativity as local textile artists and makers bring their craft to life.

Explore two floors bursting with color, texture, and imagination, where every room is filled with contemporary artists putting their own spin on traditional textile arts. See how these talented creators turn age-old techniques into something fresh, modern, and totally inspiring.

Chat with the artists, catch live demos, browse the wares for sale and dive into the rich, lively world of textile arts right here in Prince Edward County. It’s hands-on, interactive, and a whole lot of fun—don’t miss it!

The Takeover was held in MacCauley House, a lovely historic museum in the town of Picton, last weekend. The hope was that it would happen on Saturday and Sunday….but the weather (wasn’t that something??) forced the cancellation of the Sunday. 

A HUGE thank you goes to Lynn and Judy who trekked to Picton, set everything up and manned our display. ❤👏👏❤  It was in a lovely room called the Guest Bedroom.

Here are some photos supplied by Lynn, along with a video of the actual room they were in!

#gatherinthecounty

3 Takes on 1 Pattern

Check out these 3 rugs.  We’ve known the middle one for some time - completed by Joyce Jones many years ago, based on a rug someone found in an abandoned building.  Her friend Deb Patton had admired it and decided to do her own version of it.  I asked way back when if they could find the original rug and put all 3 together for a photo opportunity.

Here’s Joyce’s rug.  It sits front & centre in her kitchen.

And here’s Deb’s interpretation of the pattern:

And finally, here’s the “original”.  It has been much used and repaired, but still quite vibrant.

Felted Dryer Balls

Here’s a great way to use up all of those snippets you cut off when making your rugs…..put them into felted dryer balls!

Our Laurie McRae takes a large handful of snippets and wraps them with roving. 

That ball is then wrapped with roving style yarn.  The ends of that yarn are lightly felted into the ball to hold it all in place.

That yarn wrapped ball is then covered with floofed up roving - thin wispy bits are best.  It’s then felted into a ball.

Next up, it’s placed into a discarded stocking and it’s knotted to hold it in place.  Usually you put several balls together into one stocking, with knots in between them.  The whole shebang is then put into the washing machine on the highest heat  setting with the greatest agitation.  Following that is a run in the dryer on high heat.

The stocking is removed et voilà….you have a dryer ball!

Thank you to Laurie and Carrie for their help in putting this post together!

TIGHR Report!

The Photo Booth was enjoyed by many of the attendees!

The fall is always a busy season in rug-hooking land, and this year was extra special, as there was a TIGHR (The International Guild of HandHooking RugMakers) gathering.  This is a group dedicated to rug hooking all over the world, and they get together every 3 years.

Our Susan Hartwell is a member and she made the trek to Niagara and provided us with this report:

The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers (TIGHR) held its triennial conference from September 29 to Oct 2 in Niagara Falls.  This was my first TIGHR conference and it was outstanding!

From the welcome reception to the end of classes on Wednesday, the entire conference had so many highlights. I wished I could be in two places at once on many occasions. There were several speakers, panel discussions, workshops, and excursions. The delegates were from Australia, Bermuda, Canada (10 provinces), England, Ireland, Japan, Norway, and 25 states of the United States.

This is a collection of Sue Waddington’s rug hooking that was in the rug display.  Sue and her husband, Jim, were guest speakers after lunch on Monday.

These lovely quillie pendants were made during a workshop.

The theme for the Friendship Mat Exchange was “A Place to Grow”.  There were well over 100 people who participated in the exchange.  It was fun to see the many interpretations of the theme.

A highlight of the conference were the hundreds of people who participated in the Parade of Wearable Art.  Jean Jackets with rug hooked backs were very popular.  the designs were brilliant and very inspiring!

The next TIGHR conference will be October 2027 in Newport, Rhode Island,, US.  Looking forward to more fun!

 

Sue Hartwell

* Hint Hint….if you, too, have something to report to our group (maybe a trip to something textile-y or a museum??)….why not provide us with a quick report and/or a few photos….and we will take care of posting it to the blog to be shared with all of our members and followers??  No techie skills are required!  (A big thank you to Susan!)