Joyce Jones, 1925-2025

Sadly, our Joyce has passed away, just a few weeks short of her 100th birthday. She was an exceptionally kind and generous person who shared her love of rug hooking with all of us. In recent years her friend, Deb Patton, brought her to our hooking most Thursday’s - she certainly enjoyed the cameraderie of our gatherings and we loved listening to her insight to our questions. June was a special month when we could all gather at her home near Baltimore and enjoy a morning of hooking in amongst her many wonderful hooked rugs. 

Here is some more information from her obituary, published by Maccoubreys in Cobourg, augmented with a few photos from our archives:

Lillian Joyce Jones

August 23, 1925 - August 1, 2025

Joyce has passed away peacefully at Northumberland Hills Hospital after a short illness, in her 100th year. 

Born in Toronto, Joyce was the eldest daughter of Major John E. Finlay (MC) and Lillian Maude Finlay (Jackson). Joyce spent her childhood in Tory Hill, with her sister Joan, and formed a life long attachment to Haliburton. 

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Joyce hooked this image of the farm she grew up on. 

During the Depression, her family relocated to Toronto. After high school, Joyce attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1948 with a Fine Arts Degree, Art and Architecture. Following her graduation, Joyce worked in the University’s Rare Book Library. 

During her early college years, Joyce served with the Farmerettes, an organization of young women who worked on area farms while the men were overseas fighting the war. Joyce is featured in a new documentary called We Lend A Hand: The Forgotten Story of the Farmerettes, where she speaks of her service to her country. 

In 1950, she married Jack Jones, a Civil Engineer and started her family. Following Jack’s career in harbour planning, she relocated to small towns on the Great Lakes - Sarnia, Niagara Falls, Cornwall and her favourite, Little Current.

In 1956, after Jack became Chief Engineer for Toronto Harbour, the young family settled in Cooksville where she raised her three children. At this time, Joyce became involved with the University Women’s Group, and the local Rug Hooking Guild of Mississauga. 

Joyce hooked this image of her home in Mississauga. 

In 1983, following retirement, Jack and Joyce purchased their beloved farm north of Cobourg and set about enjoying the 1845 stone house and scenic Northumberland Hills.

Avid sailors and boat owners, Joyce would join Jack on many sailing adventures. Joyce’s great passion, however, was driving and she discovered every back road that could be explored. 

Widowed in 2004, Joyce continued to live at Willow Ridge Farm, on her own, for the rest of her life. She maintained an active and engaging lifestyle, continuing with her crafts and building her extensive collection of rare and unusual books. 

Her hand hooked rugs are legendary, winning awards and renown, many are of her own classic designs. Her contributions to the craft were inspirational and she was a valued and gifted member of the Rug Hookers of Northumberland Guild. 

Joyce was an avid researcher of history and enjoyed her involvement with the Antiquers Group of Cobourg, always with an intriguing awareness of historical events. She was a volunteer in period dress at Lang Pioneer Village, encompassing all her talents and interests, and a member of the Cobourg Library and The Art Gallery of Northumberland. 

As the keeper of family history, she was proud of her Scottish and Loyalist ancestors who carved out life in early Canada. Her home is filled with cherished family heirlooms and fascinating stories. Her quiet passions were many and her agile, intriguing and curious mind was enjoyed by all who knew her.

Joyce is survived by her daughter Nancy (Brian), sons Doug (Avril) and Peter (Donna). Her grandsons Alistair (Suzanne) and Andrew (Keisha) have given her five great grandchildren - Esben, Maisy-Bea, Breeze, Enid and Rhys. Her elegance and devotion will be lovingly missed by her family. 

She will be fondly remembered by many cherished friends and neighbours. 

Joyce was a remarkable woman, with a witty sense of humour, a wise, clever and generous spirit, an astonishing memory and a heartfelt love of country life. She remains a treasure to us all.

Visitation will be held from 1-2 pm. on Sunday August 17th at the MacCoubrey Funeral Home, 30 King St., E., Cobourg, followed by a funeral service at 2 pm. Interment will be held at Baltimore East Cemetery the following week Saturday August 23rd, which would have been her 100th birthday, all are invited to attend.

Pillows and more

 Laurie took a few photos today at Thursday hooking……

Here’s Greg’s latest!  An original, of course!

Here’s Gwen’s latest - a Martina Lesar pattern:

These are from Laurie - using the same process we learned from her last year to make felted bowls.  They are destined for a charity auction.

And finally, those pillows!  Linda’s, on the right, is a pattern from Carol Shewan, while Jennifer’s, on the left, is the Brook Trout from thehookingnest.com (our Val’s pattern collection!).

Instructions for bound edges on pillows can be found HERE.  

Gather 2025

Gather In The County was held again this year….and it was worth the drive to Picton!

This is a fibre/textile festival, held for the 2nd year in Picton.  We demonstrated at the event last year, but not this year.  Several members of our group were in attendance!

There were more than 80 participants - vendors, guilds and more.  So much fun stuff to see (and buy!).   LOTS of rug hooking this year, and fleece/roving.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Bugs in Rugs - this was a display of rugs thru Yvonne Iten Scott, originally conceived for TIGHR in 2024.  The full set made the trip to Picton, and they are gorgeous!

The Quinte Isle branch of the OHCG was there - with lots of wonderful rugs on display, including the prize winning rug by member Louise Powers from the Annual in Cobourg!

Robin Whitford was there with a great display of hooked and punched items, and kits for sale, too!

There was lots of yarn, and felted stuff, and embroidery!

Hard to see what this one is….but it’s a picture created via a sewing machine!

You could even get a tattoo! A real one, not a temporary one….all featuring textile-y themes.  I wonder if any of the folks from our group in attendance got one????

#gatherinthecounty

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!)