Where wool meets imagination
August 24th, 2010
Here’s another rug I got to see at Sauder Village. Janet was stuck on the hit and miss border. I hope the few tips I gave her will spur her on.
Special thanks to Mary McMaster for the photos.
Posted in Student Rugs | 1 Comment »
August 21st, 2010
I love seeing student’s completed rugs! Sherry asked me to design a pattern with a cabin, stream and lots of pine trees. If I remember right, she had a particular spot in mind so we also had to work within a particular size. Sherry took my class a few years ago in Ligonier, PA and she brought the rug to Sauder Village to show it to me in person.
I love the unusual choice of color for the sky. Notice that it is still lighter at the horizon which helps with the realism. The method Sherry used to hook the pine trees is described in my book, Pine Trees, Grass and Sky. The trees in the foreground have more detail and more variance in color than those in the background.
Can’t you just imagine sipping your coffee on the porch in the morning and catching lunch in the stream? Great job, Sherry.
Note: Sherry, Did you give this rug a name?
Posted in Student Rugs | 1 Comment »
August 20th, 2010
What a great week so far at Sauder Village! My teacher this week is Bea Brock and I am hooking one of her patterns, Creekside Blossoms.
I decided I wanted to use very bright colors. I had picked up a few treasures from Gail Dufresne in June at the Manistee Camp and I wanted to use them right away.
Sauder Village has four teachers this year, Bea Brock, Gene Shepherd, Jane Halliwell Green, and Helen Jeffrey. I will be teaching next year with Susan Quicksall, Jeanne Field, and Jen Lavoie. This is the first time I will be teaching at Sauder Village, but I have attended as a student for the last 11 years. I will post pictures of the show in my next post. It is unbelievable.
Posted in Rug Camps/Workshops | Click here to leave a comment »
July 20th, 2010
I had a wonderful time this year at the rug camp in Manistee, MI. I’ve taught there the last few years and this was the first time I had the experience as a student. My teacher was Tish Murphy who is a master at hooking faces, particularly those small enough for a pin.
These are the 3 treasures that I purchased from Tish:


Babooshka Woman (my name not Tish’s) is MIA. I think she saw this as her chance and took a walk about. I hope she came home with me but I haven’t seen her since the night before we left.

I fell in love with the pin idea because you can get it done in a short time frame and it is very portable. You can read more about Tish’s pins in Rug Hooking Magazine issue June/July/August 2009 page 58.
Here’s the face pins I hooked during the week. Their faces are a bit misshapen because they are not fully hooked yet.
Here’s another face I did during the week.


It is a bit larger and another challenge because it is a softer child’s face and not an imaginary person. I started this pattern several years ago at Sauder Village Rug Camp with Abby Vakay. I kept it mostly traditional but I did add some of the glitz and non-wool fibers that Abby was teaching in the dandelion blossoms.
I’ll post the finished pins when I get them done.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 25th, 2010
This past week I was at the Manistee Rug Camp. I had a great time. I passed out bookmarks from the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation. This is a deadly breast cancer that does not have a lump. Please visit their website to find out more. If you want a bookmark you can get it here.
I’ll post more about the class next week. Right now I am sitting in a Pizza Hut in western Michigan somewhere off I-96. After being delayed about 20 minutes by construction, I heard a ping and a thud. After a few moments I realized I had a flat tire. Took AAA about an hour to get there and to change it. Belle Tire is predicting a 90 wait.
As they say, just when you think it is bad it can always get worse.
Posted in Uncategorized, What's Happening | 1 Comment »
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