Social Distancing – Changes to Groups Meetings

ISSN 2207-001X  March 2020

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, for health and safety reasons and to be socially responsible, most groups have made the decision to close studios and group meetings for the time being and review the situation at the a later date.

As the Editor and Membership Chair I have been in contact with members, and group leaders around the country and have made some suggestions as to how guild members can come together, online, if not in person.   Others are also thinking about ways to do this which you’ll see below along with some location changes for meetings when things get back to normal:

Queensland – Landsborough:  The Sunshine Coast Rugcrafters have a new name and a new meeting place.

Now known as the Sunshine Coast Fibre/Textile Artists, they meet at Judi Tompkin’s “Palimpsest” studio in Landsborough.  This group will hold off meeting in April and will reassess the situation in May.

Judi says;     Indications are that we could be dealing with this pandemic until September and I guess I would rather err on the side of caution.  We are not in quarantine … just trying to minimize our exposure and yours …. so …. what to do?

You can phone …  and just check in (if you don’t have my phone number contact rughookingaustralia@gmail.com)

You can Skype me … send me a contact request if we don’t already Skype…(again email rughookingaustralia@gmail.com for my Skype name)

You can download the free app for Zoom and we can chat.

You can FaceTime me…I’m on Facebook a lot so “friend me” and if you see me on you can use that video service.

You can still stop by…but call Just in case…

Those of you who know Judi will appreciate these posts she shared on Facebook –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New South Wales – Sydney/Epping:

Martha Birch was pleased to learn her group, growing in number, were invited to have a space at the Royal Agricultural Show – but …. the RAS is now cancelled and Martha thinks the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair will be too, no word yet.

Martha said;

“Our group, “From Rags to Rugs Sydney Rug Makers”  met in March but I think our April meeting will have to be cancelled as we use a small room that doesn’t allow enough space under the new regulations of 4 m square per person. I’ll contact the Epping Centre for advice on this.”

You can follow this Sydney group on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/387146415123046/

It’s an open group where they share images of what they are working on –

 

 

 

New South Wales – Milton:  Narrawilly Proggy Rugmakers  – Miriam Miller, who was recently impacted by the devastating bushfires sent this message to her rug hooking group members;

“I have cancelled our rug days.  I was warned this week by my cancer doctor that I am very vulnerable, and I know that, so I will be staying home doing lots of rugging and only going very occasionally to the local supermarket.  Even the Anglican church has cancelled services. I am sure this has not happened before. 

So, it has been decided not to hold the regular Rug Days on 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month, until the Coronavirus time is over. I would ask all members to send me a photo or a few lines a day or two before our regular meeting day, so I can collate the items and send out to all our members to keep us in touch with what everyone is doing. It maybe you are not rugging, but knitting, crocheting, painting, gardening, reading, and recommending a book. Or even want to share a recipe. I look forward to your contributions.”

The image below was taken from the March issue of Miriam’s newsletter “Connecting Us” – emailed to all Guild members and her rug hooking friends overseas; it’s easy to see what Miriam will be working on during the next few months.

New South Wales – Braidwood:

Gail Nichols who fought bushfires for months and witnessed first hand all the devastation, has posted this image of a burnt waratah, sprouting anew.

Gail says: “As we move ever faster into the COVID-19 crisis it’s comforting to know our recent bushfire emergency is now in recovery stage. One crisis at a time please.”

Victoria – Yarra Valley Rugmakers: 

The monthly meeting for this group usually takes place at Anne’s home in Warrandyte, but changes occasionally to another group member’s home – they live an hour’s drive from each other. I understand they are also considering not getting together in April.

For more information on their group you can contact them through their website http://victorianrugmakers.blogspot.com/   or their new Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1013471425693050/

I understand Chris’s beautiful work (Tehran) was for sale – or maybe it has already sold?   Here is an image of Anne’s proddy rug (also form the March issue of “Connecting Us”)

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Australia – Strathalbyn:  The StrathMatters group will not meet during the month of April and will update members about future rug making sessions at the end of that month.

In the meantime if you are stuck and need advice about your rug making projects, email Judith Stephens studioblue20@gmail.com

You can meet the StrathMatters members, see images of their work and read more about the group on their Blog

Northern Territory – Finke; 

At the moment with the NT borders having just been closed, Sue, from South Australia, who works in the indigenous Community of Finke (just off the righthand edge of the map, directly above the NT/ SA border – accessed via the first track you see going right off the main road north)  is feeling very isolated.Sue is a new member of the Guild and new to rug hooking which she wants to teach to the women and children in the community.  We’re hoping the shared guild news and images will be inspirational and of comfort to her.

Western Australia – Wanneroo:

The Wanneroo Rugmakers meet every Saturday at the Wanneroo Library. The Wanneroo library is open however, in light of COVID-19, group events at the Library have been cancelled until further notice as they do not want to risk compromising the health of anyone in the community, especially the most vulnerable.

The Wanneroo Rugmakers had much planned for this year – if members have any questions about the current projects they can leave a comment on the Wanneroo Rugmakers website or email rughookingaustralia@gmail.com.  Among a number of cancellations is the Alice Springs Beanies Festival – so our stash of Beanies will be sent next year.

There is one event still in doubt for the 7th June – for the Wanneroo group members, here is a peek at an almost finished block which Peta is working on (hooked by Anna using Tshirts) only 19 more to go – we’d definitely be ready for next year!

 

This year we’ve had new members join the Guild who are solo rugmakers:

  Jennifer who lives in Queensland  on the Atherton Tablelands,  says;  My dear friend Robyne from the Yarra Valley Rug makers introduced me to rag art. Robyne sent me a copy of Miriam Miller’s book, Proggy and Hooky Rugs and a proggy.
I have boxes of fabrics, lace, trims, old blankets, bags of clothes etc… l liked the idea of recycling/up cycling.

In Western Australia  there’s a new solo Guild member, who because of location, does not belong to a group.  Wink’s home is on the edge of a national park that abounds with wildflowers. Here is what a self-taught rughooker in isolation has produced from this photo she took on the road side – wonderful !

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Editor:      During these unprecedented times the Guild Committee would like to help members and groups stay connected with each other. 

So  reach out to us online at rughookingaustralia@gmail.com  and share your news and questions and we’ll keep trying to find interesting ways to keep the rughooking connections going. 

In the meantime,  finish all those UFO’s – stay safe – and look out yourselves, your families and friends –    Cheers