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!)