Oops!

 

The talk with Laura Kenney on March 2 starts at 1 pm, not 2 pm as previously stated!  Don’t miss out on this one!

Save the Date: Laura Kenney at the AGN

We’re soooo excited!  Laura Kenney, rug hooker extraordinaire from Nova Scotia, will be exhibiting her works at the Art Gallery of Northumberland this spring!  Details will be available shortly, but in the meantime, please save March 2 at 2 pm in your calendars for a very special event at the AGN in downtown Cobourg.

Here’s Laura’s bio, from her website:

Laura Kenney was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but her roots are in Nova Scotia. Kenney has been creating and exhibiting hooked rugs as a professional artist for 21 years in her studio in Truro, NS. While rug hooking has a long tradition of artistic production in Nova Scotia, it is often seen only as a form of decorative craft. Kenney's work bridges these lines of fine craft, contemporary art, and folk traditions.

Kenney received juried status with the Nova Scotia Craft Council in 2010. Her works Morning Routine and Waiting for the Cat to Let Her Out were purchased by the Nova Scotia Art Bank for their permanent collection. In 2016, Kenney had her first solo show at the Mary E. Black Gallery in Halifax, and a selection of Kenney's work was included in Terroir, a survey of art in Nova Scotia at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

If you’re not familiar with Laura’s work, here are several goodies that may be of interest:

- a interview from 2023 - Billie Magazine

- another interview on Ragged Life Blog

Here’s the image she currently features on her website (“Funeral Procession”):

You can find Laura on:

- her website,

- her blog, 

- facebook, and

- instagram.

The Art Gallery of Northumberland is located in Cobourg, in historic Victoria Hall.  Here’s a snippet from their website:   

The mandate of the Art Gallery of Northumberland is to promote and provide access to art and related programs as a community gallery for the enjoyment and education of the people of Northumberland County.

We exist to serve all of Northumberland County as a public gallery. We present intellectually stimulating exhibitions and programming, as well as maintain a permanent collection of visual arts. Along with exhibitions we fulfill our mandate through educational activities which encourage active dialogue between the Gallery audience and the visual arts; including lectures, films, workshops, artist talks and tours.

Hope to see you on March the 2nd!

Wet Felting with Resist

This past Thursday, our Laurie taught several others her wet felting technique…..it was a very physical class (see the video!), but looks like a good time was had by all!

Basically, you take wool roving/fleece and wrap it around a small balloon (the “resist”), encase it in pantyhose, and then apply friction, water, soap and a bunch of your energy to make the felted fabric.  The actual instructions are a whole lot more involved than that, but you get the general idea.   The end result was a small bowl/vessel.

Laurie did a great job of leading everyone through the process!

Durham Region Rugs Registered

We recently had the opportunity to register five rugs for a couple from just north of Orono in Durham Region.

Clare had lived on the family farm his entire life.  His great grandparents had farmed the land since the 1850’s.  He and his partner Penny had planned to bring us 4 rugs for registration, but they found a 5th rug that really caught my attention.

The 4 that formed the original plan for registration were hooked by Clare’s mother, likely in the 1930’s, 40’s or 50’s.  They were made from old clothes - you could clearly see fabric from skirts, trousers and shirts.

One of them is an oval one: check out how it was finished on the back!

The 5th rug was found when they were clearing out the drive shed.  It’s only a snippet of a rug, 36”x9”.  They believe it was used on the floor of the cutter that had been housed in that shed, and used to warm the floor as they travelled the county during the winter months.

Looking closely at this rug, it appears to have been cut down from something larger.  The outside edges are all bound in cotton shirt fabric.  The pattern is likely some sort of tumbling blocks design - the maker clearly understood how to use values to differentiate the sections.  They believe it was hooked by Clare’s grandmother: born Louisa Elizabeth Thornton 1866-1943.  She is buried in Orono Cemetery, with her husband Isaac Chapman.  

We registered all 5 rugs:  Penny & Clare competed the registration forms, Dianne sewed on labels, I photographed them and we sent the whole shebang to the OHCG Rug Registry folks.

As we learned at our hook-in this past October, rug registry is all about the stories! We did this registration during our regular Thursday morning  gathering, and everyone in attendance came over to see what we were up to, and loved to hear the stories of the rugs and the people who made them.

Nerd that i am, i was curious as to what the original tumbling blocks rug might have looked like, so here’s my guesstimate of what it might have been.

Public Service Announcement: Time to Clean Your Rugs

With the snow we have on the ground right now, it seems to be a good time to remind you to get cracking on cleaning your rugs, in the snow of course! 

Click here for instructions.

(And a big thank you to Brenda for letting us use this photo of a rug she bought in a thrift store!)

All About Rug Registry

 

Follow this link to read everything you could ever want to know about rug registries!  We had a successful event and registered 38 items…..do you have items that could be registered?  Or are you a member of a branch that could host a rug registry??  

Woolstock - Inspiration At Every Turn

[Today we have a special treat!  Our own Gwen Brice, photographer (& rug hooker) extraordinaire, visited Woolstock, and provided us with photos and an article about her experience.  Thanks, Gwen!]

My sisters are avid knitters, so when I suggested we make the trek to Paris for Woolstock, they agreed in a heartbeat. We arrived mid morning to find a somewhat soggy field already full of parked cars. Parking attendants in high-vis vests waving me onward toward one of the first parking rows where a vehicle had pulled out. The grey sky and on and off drizzle we drove through to arrive in Paris, Ontario could not dampen my spirits as we walked around mud puddles to arrive at Woolstock!

Woolstock is a fibre arts festival filling four buildings at the fair grounds offering workshops, demonstrations, venders, and artists. From llamas, sheep and angora rabbits in one building to Mary Maxim historical display in another; spinning wheels, knitting bowls, jewelry, knitting kits, rug hooking kits, wool, and lots and lots of beautiful yarn, Woolstock really did have something for everyone. I felt this was an adult version of a child in a candy store: so many offerings everywhere we looked. Oh, my poor wallet! It was a feast for the eyes, rows of colour beautifully displayed by the many vendors.

There were several rug hooking studios selling their wares, of which Martina Lessar Studio was one. I came prepared with my list of supplies I needed and happily chatted with Martina about my latest hooking project. In addition to the many cubbies of wool cloth, there were also bins of thick yarn that is wonderful to hook. Backing, hooks, patterns and kits, it was all there to peruse.

As we wandered through the crowd of happy creators, we also admired what people were wearing! What an added bonus to see the beautifully knit or crocheted sweaters, the hand woven jackets and felted hats.

Overall, attending the fibre festival was a joy. The buildings weren’t so large it felt overwhelming and we found we were able to visit each building without feeling rushed to ‘see it all’. I was inspired by the creativity on display both by the vendors and attendees. My list of projects for this winter has now grown considerably. Do I dare wish for a long cold winter to maximize my rug hooking time?

Submitted by Gwen Brice.

It’s About Time Hook-in

Want to read a bit more about our successful hook-in, It’s About Time?  Head on over to our hook-in blog here!

Almost ready?

 

Here’s another “things you need to know” post about our upcoming hook in on October 2! 

Click here to read the post!

Pumpkin Season!

It is indeed pumpkin season…..here’s a link to the pattern discussed at our September meeting.  One of them will be raffled off at the Oct 2 hook-in, It’s About Time.

The pattern was developed by Mary Ann Goetz and appeared in the Sept 2011 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine.

Click here to see the pattern.

Are you getting excited??

 

Are you getting excited in anticipation of our upcoming hook-in, October 2?  Check out this video for all the things you need to know!

Hope to see you there!

More details over on our other website:  cobourghookin.blogspot.com.