Busy Spring

Spring can’t be far away, can it?  Judging by the Ontario weather I’m sure it seems pretty wintry. To warm you up, here’s a photo of some monkeys in our garden in Costa Rica.

Dianne posted some useful info yesterday from our January meeting and it’s worthwhile to immortalize it in the blog!  I’ll put this info in the calendar section shortly.

1.       New Cutters – We voted in favour of purchasing two new Bolivar cutters – YES!

2.       Upcoming Dates: 

(a)    Feb. 20 – Jillian will give a talk at the Art Gallery of Northumberland on the beautiful quilts of Dorothy Winters at 11 am. 

(b)   Feb. 26 – monthly meeting at Grace Church – hosts – Betty, Judy, Anne, Dora

(c)    March 24 – Oshawa Hook-In

(d)   April 14 – “The Gathering”, Port Hope Rec Centre (bring your hooking; volunteers needed)

(e)   April 14 – Belleville Hook-In (same day as the Gathering)

(f)     April 23 – monthly meeting at Grace Church (note change of usual date)

(g)    April 24 – Display and talk by Alice Williams of her aboriginal-themed quilts; Ruth Clarke Activity Centre, 7pm

(h)   May 4-6 – Annual Conference, Ottawa; Open House - May 6

3.       Annual Conference:

The Annual is being held in Ottawa May 4-6. We decided at Monday’s meeting to reserve one section for a display by the Northumberland Rug Hookers.  Rugs needed: Please let me know if you are able to submit a rug(s) for the display. They must be the work of an OHCG member and may not have been shown at previous Annuals. If you choose to have your rug(s) judged (your choice), there are several categories as follows: Fine Cut (up to five cut); Wide Cut (five cut and above); Multi Cut (combination of fine and wide); Primitive (simple design, no shading); Pictorial;  Oriental; Alternative Fibres/Techniques; Original; Theme (“Hooked on Waterways”; must be original). Iris and I will be putting up the display and will collect them at the April 23^rd meeting (or before).

FLORIDA BOUND

Hi Everyone from sunny, warm? Florida??? well????

There is definitely no snow and there are rug hookers so it's all good!

Here are a few pics on what we are working on!! Hope you are all enjoying the new digs at Grace Church, speaking of which next Monday is our monthly already, WOW!! time flies, enjoy!!!

                                            This is by Chris a new rug hooker

                                          This beauty is a Carol Feeney pattern hooked by Nancy

                                                           and here's Nancy

                                                           we have ladies that do braided rugs!

                                                                    Regina 's

                                                                      Mamie our leader

                                                           Ann admiring Regina's work

Seeing Red and Other Wondrous Things

Unku with staggered and linear designs, 500 AD - 700 AD (Collection: MALI, Museo de Arte de Lima)

There is a new website that is gaining a lot of interest.  It's not specifically about rug hooking, but is about art and culture.  If you're like me and enjoy looking at interesting art works and galleries, etc. then you might be interested in perusing the site.  It's called Google Arts and Culture.  You can click here to go to the site.  If you have an iPad, you can go to the app store and download the app.

One of the feature articles today is on the colour red - a very interesting read!  Click here to get to the article.

You can read the articles presented on the site (they change daily), or you can search for a topic of interest, like specific artists, or style of painting/sculpture (like impressionism), or art gallery (and get a virtual tour of a celebrated museum!).   It needs a bit better Canadian content, but there are certainly US, European and Asian stuff well represented.  This could be a very useful site when you're doing research for a rug based on a specific style (like oriental rugs!).

Of course I couldn't resist searching on Hooked Rugs and got a great selection of rugs that are in the Washington Gallery of Art, along with a number of photographs from Life Magazine taken in the 50's of what looks to be a very large hook-in.  It doesn't say where this is, but you can clearly see rugs, cheticamp frames and even a dyeing demonstration.  Here is a small sampling of the photos.

Enjoy!

68 days to spring!

yes!  Can you believe it? There are only sixty eight days until the arrival of spring....it can’t come soon enough!

That was the theme behind a cake that Margaret Eindhoven brought to our inaugural meeting at Grace Church today. It was delicious, and a wonderful way for us to kick off our first meeting.

We have in a good-sized basement room at the church with good lighting and a small kitchen area. It should work out quite well for us.

If you’re available any Thursday, please join us at 440 King East from 9:30 to 11:30.

Gearing up for Grace

....Grace Church, that is.  The Thursday folks (aka the "Day Hookers") are gearing up to move their weekly gathering to Grace Church located at 440 King Street East.

Here's a photo of the last gathering at Halcyon Place.  It's been a great location for us and many good times were had there!

Thursday Changes

The Thursday gathering of rug hookers is moving!  We have been meeting at Halcyon Place for quite some time now, but as of January 11, 2018 we will be moving to a new location!  

Greg's latest - behind the 8 ball

Dianne has gotten permission for us to use the lounge at Grace Church on Thursdays from 9:30-11:30.  She will be announcing this in the church bulletin shortly, and will be inviting other crafty folk from the congregation to join us.  Most of us are "multi-craftual", doing other things like knitting, quilting, embroidery etc, so I think it will be a good gathering.

The room we are going to be using is very similar to the one we're leaving - it even has a mini kitchen.

There will be one final visit to Halcyon place on January 4, and then as of January 11 we will be meeting at Grace Church.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Calling all Canadians

Did you see the Sept/Oct 2017 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine?  There was a request on the Editor's page for photos of rugs created to celebrate Canada's Sesquicentennial.

They've set up a web page to feature these rugs, and ask that we upload them to their site before June 30, 2018.

I'm pretty sure we have a rug or two among our group that may qualify!  To upload, you need to go to THIS page.  Scroll down until you get to the section shown below, enter your info and include a photo.

If you aren't comfortable doing this, email me your photos & a brief description and I will upload them on your behalf.

(PS - there's also a great deal on page 4 of the OHCG newsletter, for a reduced price subscription to Rug Hooking Magazine - check it out!)

How to Sew a Spacesuit

(file this one under "and now for something completely different".....)  In the lead up to the busy holiday season, it's always good to have something that allows you to relax and unwind, even if only for a few minutes.  Of course, there's always hooking, but sometimes an interesting story will do the trick.

This link (click here) takes you to an interesting article on 'How to Sew a Spacesuit'.  It details the efforts of seamstresses from Playtex (you know, the girdle people!) who were responsible for designing and creating the spacesuits worn by NASA astronauts, including those used on the moon!

The article is excerpted from a book called Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo by Nicholas de Monchaux published by MIT Press in 2011.  

Extra special stocking stuffer

Ooooh.....just saw these on Deanne Fitzpatrick’s website....while they’re a tad out of my price range, they are indeed lovely.....

Perhaps you could drop a hint to Santa (aka the person who fills your stocking) that one of these would go well in there.....

Click here for pricing

....edited to add.....

For a different kind of stocking stuffer, hows about one of these?....a gift pass for a visit to the textile museum in Toronto?? Includes a discount in the gift shop....

Click here for details.

NOVEMBER POTLUCK FIND

WE all had such a great time at the November Potluck visiting everybody that someone left behind this beautiful scarf that Dianne is wearing.  She loves it ..........maybe someone left it behind as an early Christmas gift, Santa?
Anyway Dianne will hold onto it, or wear it until someone claims it.
Happy Hollidays!!!!!

YARN IT!!!

YES YES!! 
There is a new business in Cobourg called Yarn it!!! The owner Cathy Witlox has a yummy selection of wool, knitting needles and is really interested in rug hooking. She is located at 513 Division St. Unit 3B, Cobourg, On phone 289 252-1200 or email   cathy@yarnitcobourg.ca.  It is right across from No Frills grocery store.
Please join her today at her grand opening!!! It's going to be fabulous! I saw some yummy cupcakes being brought in!!!