Spring has Sprung!

Christine's Tulips

Yes!  According to the experts, spring arrived at 5:58 today! The weather was certainly typical of spring....so hopefully it will stick around!


Before we launch into our usual collection of "assorted" items, please head over to our "other" site, if you haven't already done so, to check out our upcoming gala event on September 30.  It's a combined Hook-In and Regional East Workshops, titled "The Heat Is ON".  

There are some fantastic workshops to choose from, including one from Susan Clarke that will focus on our theme of climate change.  She has chosen several patterns to feature in this class, including some patterns available from Willow Creek Rug Hooking.  

As it happens, one of our own, Nancy, has completed one of them, by artist Barbel Smith.  Nancy started this pattern well before our plans for the workshops had taken shape, and she's done a fantastic job.  See the other patterns for this class available here, or check out some of the other classes.  Remember that registration closes June 28.

Nancy's Barbel Smith pattern

*******

In the spirit of spring and renewal, our assortment today focuses on re-use and renewal.  As usual, I'm snaffling these links from a variety of sites - OHCG, and the Australian Rug Hooking Guild, among others.

• There's a talented artist who is using old books to make cups and other items.  Her name is Cecilia Levy and her website is available here.  Here's a link showing more of her work.  I love the things made with comic books!

• In keeping with the "tea" theme, there's another artist who is painting on used tea bags - really lovely works of art.  Her name is Ruby Silvious and her website is well worth a look.

• Check out this lovely "painting" below of a sheep, made from recycled textiles.  The artist, Barbara Shaw, has used wool locks, lace, organza and lots of other bits to make this piece.  Her site can be found here, where there are many other images of her creations.

If you're interested, she's posted several videos detailing how she created this work.  Here's the first one in the series.

• Here's an article and video about a company that is making bags and purses from discarded fire hoses - it's amazing to see what they've done with something that was considered trash!

• ...and finally, some rug hooking content!  Here's the newsletter of the Australian Rug Hooking Guild.  There are some great hooked items to ogle here.  We'll be talking more about them in our meeting on Monday.  Stay tuned!