R.U.G. May 2017 part 1

I am so proud of myself. I am notorious for getting to R.U.G. either without my camera, or with failing batteries, but this time all worked well and I came home with 78 photos of the events of the day. Not all are good of course, but I can certainly share the events of the day and many of the great rugs on view.

But I’m getting ahead of myself….first….a quick update on my “Floating Blocks”. I was able to finish all the blocks while at R.U.G. on Saturday, so I’ve been experimenting with how I want to hook the background. Actually, I made my mind up quite quickly….eliminating straight lines and alternating rows of one colour and settling on this. It’s just underway, and it needs some tweaking as to to how I mix the colours, but here’s the start….

Now to R.U.G…..it’s an active day…..hooking, visiting, learning, shopping and of course eating. those wonderful snacks thanks to our hosts for the day, Grey Highlands.

When we arrived everyone quickly settled in to hook, eat and visit.…note the rug on the wall created by the Huronia Branch to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. Different individuals hooked the squares and then they were mounted on suitable “Canadian” fabric. What a great celebration rug. As you see , the upcoming sesquicentennial was well represented throughout the day. Marylou Justason modelled appropriate fashionwear to celebrate our country, as she explained the origins of R.U.G. (Ruggers United Gathering) and promoted the Rug Hooking Museum .

 

There were a number of vendors…and who doesn’t need to add to their stash?

Ann Hallett….

 

JoAnne Harris from Wool Gathering…. (I’m sorry for the facial expression  JoAnne, you were deep in conversation when I snapped several photos  and I never caught one with a smile)….the wool looks great though.

Karen Lediard of By The Bay Studio…..….who had lovely Canadian themed pillow patterns for sale …Ruth Emerson… …she too had Canadiana covered with these delightful beaver pins

 

……….Suzanne Hill who had many patterns for sale, including most of those shown in the afternoon feature on “Paisley” . Suzanne was also the presenter of that most interesting and informative presentation. (more on that to follow in the next post)

 

Marylou Justason , our tireless promoter for the Hooked Rug Museum of North America, was once more raising funds on their behalf. She had invited donations of good recycled wool,  to be sold at R.U.G.  I (and many others) purchased a number of great batches, and not only replenished my stash, but  helped out the museum in a small way at the same time.….and Chris Poole was there to sharpen scissors and cutting wheels and other repairs. My one regret of the day was that I forgot to bring my dull scissors to get them sharpened.There was a ‘Show and Tell’ to end the morning…..here are a few of the rugs we enjoyed seeing. I apologize that I didn’t get the names of the hookers.

..the new gender neutral words for O Canada are on the back..We heard a touching story of this hooker’s search for a suitably sized maple leaf to use as a pattern in this striking rug. Remarkably, in the middle of winter  it appeared as if by magic .

Next instalment will be about the afternoon ‘Paisley’ presentation and a remarkable rug which took up much of one wall in our meeting room.

Thanks for stopping by.