we made it!

We are relaxing in New Hampshire....and resting up for our visit to Dorr, Harrisville, and New England Fabrics tomorrow. We stopped by the Round Barn on our way by and had our first tour of the show (without cameras, sorry!) As usual, the show is wonderful....and there are lots of beautiful things at the vendors. We were able to exert tremendous self-control -- but I'm not sure how much longer it will last! ;-)

P.S. I did take a couple of pictures en route, but forgot my camera in the car....and it just seems too far right now to get it. I will try to add them to the post tomorrow....

Hooked Rug Seminar at TMC....

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Wendie and I were fortunate enough to take part in a Hooked Rug Seminar at the Textile Museum of Canada last week. There are too many pictures for just one post, so I've broken it down into two.

While I was thrilled at the opportunity to take pictures of the rugs, I will admit that my photos are less than stellar. We were not permitted to use a flash, and many of the pictures were taken while the rugs were being held up (rarely square to me...and moved on a dime to show various participants). If you want to see more perfect pictures of the entire rugs, much of the Museum's collection (including all of these rugs and more - 260 or so in total) can be viewed online here.

When we entered the room upstairs, this is what awaited us....


....a giant stack of rugs sat in the middle of the table. There were white cloth gloves available for anyone who wanted to touch the rugs (which I'm pretty sure included everyone)...and we all sat around the table, poised to feast.

One by one, Roxane and Natalia (curators at the museum) held up the rugs and pointed out interesting features and facts about the mats.

This incomplete rug dates from 1925-1935

Close-up. You can really see the variety of material used...

The edge was folded to the front and basted. I'm curious to know what the next step would have been.....


Beavers are so Canadian! What a simple design.....

This particular circle reminded me of a blouse my mum used to wear when I was very small....

Quebec

It's hard to tell in this picture, but this rug is hooked from handspun yarn...and the sheep is three dimensional, almost sculptured. My favourite part is the background....

From the back....

Georges Tremblay....from the front....

And a close-up from the back (much less faded)

Another Tremblay - front

and back

This was my FAVOURITE rug of the whole night. Two Grouse in Courtship. Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942) was a well-known painter and had a sort of hooked rug industry, similar to Tremblay. It's the only rug I've ever seen that is more faded on the back (above) than it is on the front (below)! I think it's because of the way the piece was framed....

Every motif and part is outlined in a different colour....

It was the rug that I would have liked to have taken more and better pictures of....but these will have to suffice.....

Hooked Rug Seminar at TMC Continued....

Close-up of a Grenfell Prayer Mat - an unusual design for a Grenfell.

A rather large Cheticamp Rug

I'm pretty sure this is the back...

I loved this inch mat from Skellerton NS. We were reminded about the importance of documentation and photographs....and how they really add to the collection when they accompany a rug. The other geometric rug hails from PEI

I loved the simple geometric design from Lunenberg County NS. It reminds me of a quilt with all of the arrows....

This flower basket rug is an Ontario rug from 1920-30...from the front

...and from the back.


I love the striped charcoal background and the simple orangey birds

The subtle striping in the wings and tails were created by the wool


Such a great hit and miss background on the Mennonite Bunny rug from 1884




How fun is this rug? I love the googly eyes and the simple background

In this picture you can see the random directional hooking on the horse's face

I loved the background in this rug - so many olivey greens. This rug likely dates from 1880-1890 and was hooked by Elizabeth Martin from Wallenstein ON


This is the back - you can see it hasn't faded too much....more with the flowers than the background....

This is the largest rug in the Museum's collection

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the back....

Eye Candy - Kaleidoscope of Quilts

If you read Wendie's blog, you probably already know that she and I hung out yesterday in the city. It was great fun! We picnicked on sushi in my car, we touched some very old rugs at the Museum, we did show and tell in her hooking room, we sat on the couch and knit...and we talked, and talked, and tawked....

I'm slowly deciphering my notes and editing the rug photos, and will post about them soon. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos I took of the amazing quilts that are currently on exhibit....and to encourage anyone who loves colour and geometrics in particular to do whatever they can to go and see them.

The exhibit, Kaleidoscope: Antique Quilts from the collection of Carole and Howard Tanenbaum, closes on March 21st, 2010.





And these ones aren't even my most favourites! (I was busy looking for no photography signs and didn't get a chance to go back to the beginning again before our seminar, and afterwards the exhibit was closed. By the way, I did not see any signs or notations....nor did I use a flash. I hope it's okay I went ahead and took the pictures...).

The quilts are very awesome. Go. See. Them. ;-) I'm going to try to go back again before it closes...

M.P. by O.P. (progress report from Manistee)

The last few days have brought a flurry of mail -- lots of e-mails and quite a few parcels, too. I was so happy when Joanne sent me some pictures of the girls' purses in progress. The group's first one is completely finished....and a couple look like they will soon follow. Since Joanne didn't provide an accompanying list of names, I am doing my best to remember back six weeks or so....fingers crossed my memory serves me well.

Jewelee's Cornflowers

Bee's BarJello

Jeanie's Skeleflora

Alaina's Pomegranates

Mary's Birds

Donna's Peonies

Joanne's finished purse - with the most perfect lining ever!

Don't they all look great? So many different colours, styles, interpretations....the possibilities are endless. I can't wait to see more of the finished products. ;-)

M.P. by O.P. (Pam's Peony Purse)

Have I said how fun it is to see people's finished purses? Whether in person or my inbox....I LOVE to see them. Naturally I was thrilled when Pam Langdon from Ottawa sent me a picture of her finished purse earlier this week....


I love all of the bright colours, set off by the dark background....and all of the many, many different colours and wools Pam used in hooking the flowers. Another favourite part is the orange around the top of the purse. Pam said that she wore the purse a couple of times knowing that a zing was still needed and then added the orange yarn that weaves through the top whipping. It unifies the purse - orange is in every flower and throughout the background.

Well done Pam - it's beautiful!

P.S. I am waaaay behind in posting about recent happenings....and trying to get all caught up soon. First I need to upload a whack of photos I took here last night.

P.P.S. It snowed today. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Yet.

where have all the rainbows gone?

When mum and I were driving over the bridge to PEI a couple of weeks ago, a rainbow appeared. It was the first rainbow I had seen in many years -- and it wasn't until I saw one that I realized it had been so long. I wasn't really missing them, but I wasn't seeing them either.

Imagine my surprise on Saturday, when I glanced up from my knitting and saw this out my window....


...within seconds, it had already fade to this....


....and less than a minute, it was gone.

I guess I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time. I seem to remember seeing them often when I was younger -- is this another sign of aging or it a problem of not really looking? When is the last time you saw one?

Fall back....

How did you spend your extra hour yesterday? I'm pretty sure I spent mine raking and hauling leaves at my folks (boy those trees have grown in the last 20+ year -- I'm sure there are twice as many as there used to be!), but maybe I spent it knitting....


I bought this yarn many years ago (and 4 locations ago for Sheepstrings!) and knit it into a sweater. This was back before I was adventurous enough to sew my knitting together - when I counted on my mother to help with this step. So the sweater pieces sat in a basket at her house for several years....I fell out of love with it....it finally got finished, but I never wore it. At the last R.U.G., I brought it to rip out...while I was sitting and listening. During the meeting, Helen was knitting a cute cardigan/shrug out of the same yarn (different colourway)....and I knew right away how my sweater would be reincarnated.

My mum kindly skeined the yarn and washed it....and I rewound it into balls again late last week. The knitting started on Friday night and I'm guessing I'm already at least a third done (I've knit more since I took this picture). Because Noro is a self-striping yarn, it's fun to play around with the colours....and this time around I decided to knit with two balls at once, switching every row. I'm really loving how it breaks up the bands of colour in a fun, yet subtle way. It's enjoyable to knit, because the colours are always changing -- and you keep knitting, just to see what happens next. If I can keep at this pace, I might be done in time to wear it when I'm in Vermont next week! ;-)

lucky me!

Did you know there's a new magazine out? It's called Uppercase and it's billed as "a magazine for the creative and the curious," which I think means me! While not quite as expensive as Selvedge, it's up there....so I was a little hesitant to dive right in upon first hearing about the premiere issue, in the Spring.

I'd somewhat forgotten all about it until a couple of weeks ago, when I saw an ad on a blog. So when I was at Deanne's last week, I asked the room full of creative (and mostly curious) ladies if anyone was familiar with it. Deanne said that if you get one good idea, then it's worth the $20. I agreed with her. From the little bit I had read (all good, I might add), I was pretty sure that I would get at least one good idea - and likely many more.

I finally got around to subscribing on the weekend....and was thrilled to get an email yesterday informing me that I was their 800th subscriber. Is there anything better than winning a contest you didn't even know existed? I can't wait for my parcel to arrive.... so I can pour over the contents. In the meantime, I'll be sitting with my fingers crossed - hoping this is one of the times that Canada Post is super speedy.....

A beautiful day in Belfountain

Jen and Jan

On Saturday a lovely group of ladies got together and invited me to come down and help them complete their purses. They had finished the hooking part beforehand....so we spent the day doing all of the hardest steps in the assembly. By mid-afternoon, we were all starting to feel a little maxed out and decided to call it a day. Although no one left with their purse entirely finished, most everyone is very close to being done and they should all be easily able to finish the last couple of steps at home.

This is the first time I've taught a purse class that is focused on the hands-on finishing of the purses.....and I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to unfold. We had plenty of sewing machines and irons and more sewing supplies than we really needed. The only thing we could have used was a second zipper foot.....but it all worked out in the end. It always does, doesn't it?

Jen & Bonnie (with Lynn working hard n the background)

As per usual, I forgot to take pictures throughout the day (thank you Jan for sending the above pictures!), but I did manage to snap a few towards the end of the afternoon. Here are some the purses people were working on (a couple of ladies had left before I could capture their purse).....

Sue's Cornflowers

Jan's Birds of a Feather

Lynn's Cornflowers

Jean's Birds of a Feather

Bonnie's Leaving Home

The workshop was held at Martina Lesar's log cabin studio in Caledon....and it's a wonderful place, filled with lots of beautiful wools and materials and many hooked rugs and some cute footstools. I couldn't resist so much temptation.... and came home with a couple of skeins of yarn and some dyed fleece.

Three days in P.E.I.

For my first trip to P.E.I., the only thing that could have made it better was nicer weather (it was quite cold, damp, grey, windy, and wet). Well, maybe the weather and also a less up-close-and-personal view of the sidewalk outside the Eptek Centre (which wasn't even open! ....luckily there was only a little blood and my sprained wrist healed quickly ;-) )

While travelling in the off-season meant that quite a few attractions were closed -- the quiet roads more than made up for it. We drove around the whole island, just missing a couple of spots on the south-west corner and a few miles along the south/central shore (because of the stormy weather and poor visibility). I would love to go back in either May, June or September, and spend more time walking along the many beaches.

Here are some pictures that show a few of the places we visited and stopped to see....


























It may be our smallest province, but it sure makes up for it in pretty sights.

N.S. Day Five: third day of class

(this was one of my favourites in Deanne's studio....I love it!)

The last day of class is always a bit of a sad day...but Friday was a pretty good last day.

I'd already decided that I wasn't really in love with my piece (a direct consequence of making a rash decision about what to do on the first day -- I never decide so quickly....so I should have questioned my surprise at having my drawing on the backing so fast. It's just not the way I normally operate.) I wasn't unhappy with my decision - I felt more relieved than anything. Although I was liking what I had done so far, I just didn't feel connected enough to the idea to follow through and finish such a large piece.

Instead, I spend much of the day winding some skeins into balls, looking at some of the different books that people bought to share in class, leafing through Doris' magnificent journal, participating in the various exercises and listening to the presentations. Then, during one of Doris' walkabouts....she suggested that instead of abandoning my piece entirely, that I just shrink it (squaring it off around the section that I had done so that it would be about one tenth the size). It was a great idea and I was back hooking on it again...

Doris also shared another rug with the class - this one hooked almost entirely with sweaters from all over the world.


I haven't hooked with sweaters before, but seeing this rug makes me want to try. Doris said she cuts the sweaters in the same direction as the ribbing (i.e. if you were cutting the sleeves you would cut from wrist to shoulder).

Other highlights of the day included a trip to the Fibre Market (which should not be missed if you go next year! It's also best that you go early - even if it means leaving class for a little break before lunch :-) ) and listening to Deanne reading a couple of passages from her new book (due out next Fall). Oh, and there was one last supper at Duncan's ;-)

Trying to Track Tom....

I've been inundated by requests for contact information for Tom Ingalls, after posting a picture of a couple of his beautifully crafted hooks. Like many others, I've tried googling him....to no avail.

If you know Tom's number and/or have an e-mail address for him, I know that it would make many people very happy....thanks!

home sweet home

With all of the last-minute preparation that is usually required before going away, making sure my place is left clean and neat is often the last thing that I feel like doing. Still, I try my best (and I am always amazed at how the job seems to fit the time I have to spend) ....and usually manage to pull it off. Apart from morbid thoughts of not making it home from my trip (and my sisters having to sort through the sty), my other motivation is that it is just oh, so much better to come home to a tidy place. It's also easier to tame the chaos that always accompanies unpacking....

Ever since I arrived home just after two o-clock today, I've hardly stopped. I unpacked all the suitcases, put (mostly) everything away, realized just how much I contributed to the local Maritime economy ($$$), bought groceries, sorted the laundry, read the mail, cooked supper (and lunch for tomorrow!), responded to almost all of the emails....and now I've finally got a moment to rest -- oops, I mean post! ;-) I will be taking some time in the next few days to complete the rest of my travel report.....in the meantime, here's a full confession of what I purchased. I must preface this to say that I was shocked (horrified might be a better word) to discover how much I had bought -- any and all of the room available following the purse class was filled (and then some!) -- I wasn't joking about doing my part to contribute to the economy!

At the same time, I don't regret buying any of the items I purchased from local artists, craftspeople and small businesses (which is pretty much everything) -- I just wish that I'd spent a little less money. On with the show and tell....

Fabric from Sande Gunning and PEI Bargain Fabric Outlet

Yarn from Deanne Fitzpatrick, Heidi Wulfraat • London Wul, The Wool Fairy, Little Frog Pond, Belfast Mini Mills and one other....

Roving from Heidi Wulfraat • London Wul, Belfast Mini Mills

Gorgeous hand-dyed cotton (for Sashiko) and needles from Sande Gunning

Bag by Christine Stanley, Basket from Basket Weavers of PEI, Pewter from Basic Spirit

Hi from PEI

We've been having a great time in PEI, after arriving on Saturday morning. Things have been so busy that I haven't had much time to post. That, and I also (finally!) finished reading my book ;-)

I did try to post once from my iphone, but it never showed up....since we're heading home tomorrow, I will catch you up on the rest of our trip once I get back. For now, we are off to this cool place -- as recommended by Doris Eaton...

N.S. Day Four: second day of class

Our second day of class was another fine day. We spent a bit more time hooking (I forgot to take a picture of my progress - sorry!)...with a few more exercises thrown in the mix, too. At lunchtime we went to a paperbag theatre, where we picked up a bagged lunch upon entering and were treated to a performance of "The Hooker and the Handyman" and had lots of laughs.

After lunch, we zipped over to the library to take in a little show of Heidi Wulfraat recent works. Her newest hooked rug - hooked entirely with yarn, I think - was my favourite of the day....



She also had many felted pieces on display. The expressions she is able to capture in felting are amazing....





(All of my photos are a little skewed because they were mounted quite high up on the wall -- and I am not that tall.... ;-) )

In the evening, we went to a dinner and art show (featuring some of Doris Eaton's hooked mats) at nearby Bella's Cafe. The dinner was delicious and of course, the scenery was pretty great, too. I wasn't able to take many photos (and none of them great), because of the lights hanging down in front of the rugs. You will just have to try to imagine how great they were....

Another great day.....and now we're off to start day 5.

N.S. Day Three: first day of class

Today was a wonderful day. The class was amazing....and many other great things happened, too. One of the most interesting things for me (and I think I've mentioned it before) is seeing where a person's ideas for their art originate. Doris Eaton has one of the best scrapbooks for this -- including pictures of the finished piece alongside her original sketches and any inspirational images or photos.

In today's class, she shared with the class her streamlined approach to sketching the design for a recent rug....and we were also able to see the finished piece: Tall Trees and Hollyhocks.




Doris also shared a wonderful work that was designed and created by her daughter, Mary Vaughan. This picture gives some idea of the size - it is massive! Originally designed to be a stair runner, she later opted to hang it on the wall so that the design wasn't broken up. It is stunning.



We also had a special visitor in class: Mama Mansour! Are you familiar with Mama's video? Deanne and Donny will be offering a class together next year during the Fibre Arts Festival.


One of the things we did in class today was a little challenge piece. Everyone was provided with a little bag of wool - including small amounts of cut and uncut fabric, yarns, ribbons, fleece, etc. - and we were challenged to hook a little landscape using only the contents of our bag -- in just an hour! What amazed me the most about the exercise is that by limiting my choices, I hooked much faster than usual. I didn't have a lot to choose from, so I didn't spend (waste?) a lot of time selecting each strip or color.

The following picture shows what I hooked, as well as the remaining contents of my scrap bag. I will admit that I had a particularly good bag....


At lunchtime, we went for a quick walk over to Bella's Cafe, where there is little show of Doris' work on display. Since people were eating their lunch at the time, we didn't feel comfortable taking pictures.....but we will have that luxury tomorrow night, when there is a special dinner at Bella's as part of the Fibre Arts Festival.



I love these hockey rugs - even though I'm not really a hockey fan...unless it's the Olympics!



It is so interesting to see all of the different colours, values, textures and fibres that were used in this piece (this is a close-up of the above mat)....


We had a quick trip to Heidi's after class - where decision making is always difficult, because there are so many lovely things. Then it was off to Duncan's (again!) for supper. So far I've been able to keep to my "eat seafood every day" diet... ;-)

In the evening, we had the fortunate opportunity to be introduced to Newfoundland author, Donna Morrissey, at her book reading. There is nothing quite like hearing an author read sections of her book aloud -- it makes me wish that all books could talk. I picked up an autographed copy of Kit's Law....and can't wait to read it (as soon as I finish An Echo in the Bone, of course!)

I cannot wait to see what we do in our second day of class....

N.S. Day Two: Purse Workshop

Today was a great day. Apart from forgetting to take any pictures, and the fact that I still have my cold....all of the rest was pretty great.

My class was full - full of lovely people, including two bloggers, people from 3 provinces (4 if you count Ontario!), and one lady from the US. Everyone got along famously, and the day zoomed by, as it always does when you're having fun. Having everyone working on the same basic shape (their choice of my Bala bag patterns) made it a lot easier for me and certainly a little less chaotic.


Three ladies came with their hooking complete and the finishing started -- one was able to leave class with a finished purse, which is definitely a first for me ;-)

(Thank you for the photos Carmella! ;-) )

After class was finished, we headed over to Deanne's new studio/shop for a quick visit. It's a wonderful space....and I must say that her new dye kitchen gave me a serious case of green-eye. I did a little bit of shopping, including a couple of skeins dyed by the Wool Fairy and a very cool looking hook (that I tried out by pulling a few loops on Deanne's hooking frame -- I ripped them out, of course!)

We had a quick trip to Sackville for supper at Joey's - they make awesome pizza! Then it was back to Amherst for the Fibre Arts Festival's opening reception. It was a great chance to reconnect with some friends I met last year - and meet some new folks, too. On display were several beautiful art quilts by fibre artist and writer Laurie Swim. I happily added her newest book to my library...

I know that it will be one of those books that I keep coming back to, and never get tired of looking at....so many beautiful pictures -- and I haven't even peeked at the stories yet!

Tomorrow is the first day of our class....I'm still not sure how it will all unfold, but hopefully I can pull together a new project that is inspiring -- and one for which I brought the right wools!

N.S. Day One: Sunrise Trail

I heart Nova Scotia! Have I said that before? It's so great to return to a place you've already been to a few times before....except for the part where you already have a long list of all of your favourite places you want to visit again. Not to worry though, we've visited a couple of new places already.





The fall colours are not quite the same as we have at home (it looks like maybe they had a big storm? that caused many of them to fall already....because there are still lots waiting to turn). It's not quite as lovely as last year, but still quite pretty none-the-less.

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, many places were closed for the day....and we decided to drive around for a bit instead. We drove along part of the Sunrise Trail, stopping in Pugwash to pick out some beautiful pewter.


We also had a bit of time to walk along the beach at Heather Beach....and I found some pretty rocks, including a few more heart shaped ones - they are my favourite. (This picture is not the best -- it was taken while they were laying on the floor in the back seat of our rental car...)


We capped off the day with another delicious dinner at Duncan's (the local pub which has featured prominently in all of my previous trips to Amherst)...and then it was early to bed, in an attempt to get rid of my cold.

...and we're off!

Just sitting at the airport, waiting to board -- and armed with my
coffee and my book. If you're a Diana Gabaldon fan...the new book is
great so far (and makes me wish I could just sit and read it for a
couple of days). I will be posting from the road as time permits...

Happy thanksgiving!