now mobile & iPad friendly, includes an updated Events Calendar, additions to the SWAP n SELL page and another Book Review by Miriam Miller.
Miriam Miller received a copy of ‘A Lifetime of Rug-Hooking‘ by Doris Eaton, from the TIGHR member who received Miriam’s hooked Friendship Square at the 2015 The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers Triennial Conference in Victoria, BC Canada.
Speaking of Canada – Miram and the Narrawilly Proggers enjoyed a visit from a group of Nova Scotia ruggers who were on a South Pacific cruise. Miriam (second from right) said ..
“it was brief a day and a half. but we managed to fit in many things. Walks on the beaches, a progressive dinner then a rug day, a visit to the milking for Cindy who comes from a dairy farm, and to see the kangaroos at the Conjola Caravan park, they come out each evening for the grass. Even a short bush walk to Granite Falls.”
I’m sure there’ll be more about this visit in the next issue of Miriam’s Narrawilly newsletter “Connecting Us“.
Miriam has also recently hosted a rug hooker from Darwin – who came on a Thursday for a private workshop and stayed overnight to take part in the Rug Day, held in the Rug Room at Narrawilly on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.
On the Guild’s SWAP n SELL page you will find a new frame with “substitute” grippers. These frames have been used by several guild members and reports are, the substitute works well. The frame is available on both the East and West Coast.
A very different frame made in South Australia and featured on Swap Sell was sold to a rughooker in Nova Scotia. Who’d have thought frames would be going from OZ to Canada when there is so much available in the way of rug hooking equipment over there.
“NETWORKING” – it’s happening on the Guilds Facebook page –
the post about a search for grey army blankets to finish off a large rug generated much interest. As soon as the post went up five members from across the country answered the call about the elusive blankets. After Ann’s had a chance to contact them I’ll let you know if any were suitable.
As you’ll see from a stack of her rugs shown here, Ann from Bellingen doesn’t only work with muted greys and blues.
Most of Ann’s rugs are hooked, however like the denim rug shown some are woven and there’s even a crocheted rug in the stack.
Queensland:
Judi Tompkins not only gives workshops at her Shed studio in Landsborough, QLD, she now has a student in the Netherlands – giving her rughooking lessons via Skype.
Read more about Judi’s background and her creations on her website.
And then there’s the Chook Follyor maybe it’ll become Judi’s Folly – more about this project in another blog.
Western Australia:
Another interesting online happening; the colourful works of Kira Mead from Albany Western Australia, were featured on Folt Bolt an inspiring website worth following.
Some of Kira’s recent pieces, will be displayed at Expertise Events Craft & Quilt Fair in Perth including this large wall hanging shown below – the oranges and tree created with quillies and the leaves crocheted.
Colour Abounds in WA :-
Robin Inkpen has been giving locker hooking workshops in the South West.
More workshops are scheduled and participants will be making this tote bag from a kit prepared by sold by Robin.
It’s not as elaborate as her bespoke carpet bags, but is an easier project for beginners.
From the Editor:
Don’t forget to click or tap on Current Events to see what’s happening in your area. Be sure and let us know if you have an event planned, or if you know of an upcoming associated textile event. Send details to Jo at rughookingaustralia@gmail.com
Until next time – Happy Hooking – Jo Franco; Editor/Membership
Rug Hooking events are being planned across Australia to celebrate International Rug Hooking Day on 4th December
Rug Hooking Magazine will post photos and brief descriptions of rug hooking events from around the world on the RHM Facebook page. To accommodate different time zones the page will be monitored from 3rd to 5th December with images posted on the 4th December – USA time.
So send in your photos, even if it’s just you and a friend getting together to hook rugs or talk about rug hooking.
Judi Tompkins from Queensland will be in Western Australia giving a workshop (3D Rughooking) on the 5th of December (the 4th in the USA) so her group the Sunshine Coast Rug Crafters had their own special celebration ahead of time.
The group lunched at Secrets on the Lake, a rainforest resort, in Montville, Queensland, not far from Judi’s home.
No rug hooking took place, but just look at the inspirational surroundings.
Also in Queensland
Bec Andersen, is planning a morning tea and a Rughooking Show and Tell
on Friday the 4th December 10:00am – 12:00pm
at theTamborine Mountain Library,
Cnr. Main & Yuulong St
Works by The Happy Hookers are on exhibition.
Members of the public are welcome
RSVP Essential 55405473
While in New South Wales, the Narrawilly Proggers will be holding their annual “Fashion Show” on Friday the 4th of December.
This is a popular event held at Miriam Miller’s Rug Room. The Narrawilly Proggers receive donated garments which are cut up for rug making. Miriam says “All year we save anything unusual or interesting and the after the parade, some are used for rugs, others worn.”
Garments are modeled by members of the group and sold in an unusual manner amid much hilarity.
Funds raised go to support Heather Ritchie’s Rug Aid – a rughooking school for the blind in The Gambia.
Visitors are most welcome on this day – for details of the event contact Miriam Miller Tel: (02) 4455-6870 or
email: narrawillyfarm@shoal.net.au
In Western Australia, on Saturday 5th December,
the Wanneroo Rugmakers will hold their Saturday meeting in the main hall of Alexander Park Craft House, Cnr Elstree & Clyde Sts, Menora and will demonstrate various rugmaking techniques and Robin Inkpen will be visiting from Donnybrook
Invitations have gone out to Guild members and those who’ve expressed interest in learning about the craft, to bring their hooked creations for show and tell, or their rug making projects in need of help, and to share in a day of exchanging rugmaking and textile ideas.
Dont have a rughooking project to work on?
Frames will be set up and material available for you to try several different rugmaking techniques. Tools and kits for small projects will also be available for sale.
Bring your friends and join the fun
any time between 9:30am and 4:00pm
If you’re coming for the day bring some lunch for yourself – tea and coffee will be available.
After visiting Guild members in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia and thinking about rugs hooked by members in Victoria and Western Australia, I realized just how differently members of this Guild approach design and the creation of their rugmaking projects.
The question often asked –
“is rug hooking an art or craft?”
is hard to answer because it depends entirely on who you’re asking and what they’re aiming to express through their rugmaking.
The simple techniques used in the past to create floor coverings, are now used artistically to create wall hangings, home decor items and wearables; to make social commentary; express inner feelings; bring groups together to work on community projects; promote well-being or just provide an outlet for a person to relax while making something they feel is attractive and useful.
While staying with Jacqui Thomson in New South Wales I was thinking about this as I admired the art work and rugs on her walls, particularly a large 4ft (122cm) square wall-hanging on the wall of Jacqui’s study hooked by Ilka Landahl, a member of the Narrawilly Proggers.
Unfortunately this photo, taken with my phone (permission given by Ilka & Jacqui) kept turning sideways in this blog. No amount of editing would prevent that happening, so I resorted to printing and scanning it back to my computer and in doing so lost the high resolution of the original image. My apologies Ilka, the detail in your rug, traditionally hooked with recycled fabric is truly amazing.
Social Commentary features in many of Judith Stephens (South Australia) hooked wall- hangings. Her work below, traditionally hooked using 100% wool yarn (photographed by Malcolm Edward-Cole), is for an exhibition later this year or next, concerning immigrants and Australia’s double standard.
Artistic expression: Judi Tompkins (QLD) has taken the rug hooking technique of Waldobrough to another level in wall hangings of her own design that represent something unique and full of meaning for the recipient of the piece.
Judi also pushes the envelope when it comes to the shape and framing of her hooked creations, as in Costas Hummingbirds which is framed with cactus wood.
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Community Projects: Bec Andersen (QLD) has promoted several community projects using various rug hooking techniques in her fibre installations.
Below are pieces hooked by school children (11 year olds) using the Oxford Punchneedle hook. This was a special project of Bec’s which she shared with me and has given me permission to write a full report on in a future magazine article.
Expression of feelings: Our plans changed and I wasn’t able to visit Victoria (Aust) and meet up with Joy Marshall and Chris Noorbergen however they’d previously forwarded me photos of their rugs shown below.
Joy entered the work below in an exhibition which included works that depict loss, love and hope by those who have/are experiencing grief and depression.
Joy describes her Glimmers of Hope as –
My first rug using a linen backing and is approx 4 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. It uses recycled hand dyed blanketing and is my own design. It is a graphic representation of a phrase I woke up with in my head one morning a few years ago. “Glimmers of hope pierced the gloom” I then finished it with “like stars in the night sky”. After googling this phrase with no results I can only put it down to inspiration. I have long admired Van Gogh’s work and this piece is strongly reflective of Starry Sky. After the recent loss of my youngest son, this rug brought together the hope I have in God’s love that shines in the darkness of grief, Starry Night, and a hankering to try a design with cats paws.
Chris Noorbergen has used her creative rug hooking talents and the experience gained from a workshop with Heather Ritchie to hook a wall-hanging from a photograph of each of her six grandchildren, as they were completed, all have been featured on the Guild’s Facebook page. Chris has also lovingly created a hooked wall- hanging depicting members of her family and family events.
Marion Nefiodovas (South Australia) – subsequently took a Hooking a Portrait from a Photo workshop from Chris. Marion hooked a remarkable likeness of husband (George). Marion displayed the finished project at her visit to the Perth Craft and Quilt Fair when she and George were in Western Australia last May.
Chris also traveled to Western Australia at the same time and she visited Elizabeth (Lies) van Beem who lives in the South West of the state, and took this photo of the wall hanging Lies is working on. It’s Lies’s life story since arriving in Australia which she plans to enjoy on the wall of her home and hopes will become a family heirloom.
Wearables Robin Inkpen who also lives in the south west of Western Australia is creating more of her unique hooked bags. These one of a kind bags are now offered for sale in a high-end gift shop.
Community well-being: I (Jo Franco from West Aust) have been instrumental in bringing together a community group and teaching them to teach others.
Sue Gilmartin from the UK stayed with me after the 2012 TIGHR Conference and when she heard me talk of an idea for a hooked installation to depict the coming together of an inter-generational, multi-cultural group who are passing on the knowledge of a simple craft and using it to create artistic pieces, she encouraged me to enter a local sculptural exhibition we’d just come across online – it was closing day for entries, so we brainstormed a title Handing It On and I emailed my entry minutes before closing time.
After Sue returned to the UK I was pleased to be able tell her my entry had been accepted and then came the interesting part – putting it together.
For the base I utilized an old rug of unknown origin, probably made in the 1920 or 30’s from recycled clothing; connected to my new rug, made also with recycled fabrics however these were brightly coloured recycled sari-silk off-cuts and novelty yarn.
Circles made using an aboriginal basketry technique taught to me by Judith Stephens were incorporated in my rug and the same technique was used to make a group of arms and hands to represent the women from the community group. The hands were also were made of fabric representing old and new and from the same “coiling” method as the circles on which they sat. The hands held hooks from my collection of old and new rug hooking tools. The installation was the only textile exhibit and very colourful among sculptures of metal, iron and ceramic in a white gallery!
This same community group in Wanneroo worked together on an entry for a Wearable Art competition in 2014, and in 2015, a wall hanging in commemoration of the ANZACs.
Norma Hatchett (West Aust) has been teaching rug hooking with the use of a Rumplestiltskin tool, for almost 30 years, to blind and disabled members of the community. Over the last 10 years she has successfully run programs with residents suffering from dementia living in aged cared facilities.
Below Norma is shown giving a presentation at WAFTA about facilitating these projects and the benefits received by the residents as they sit together hooking. Norma designs the piece and transfers it onto the backing in 16inc x 11inc segments (the size of her frames) then each person hooks their individual piece of the wall hanging and when all are complete Norma sews them together. You can see this in the second image which I photographed from the back – this image also gives a good indication of the overall size of the piece.
In a nutshell; Norma said this program is successful because while residents are “together” no interaction is needed between the rug hookers each one has their own carer to help them with their part of the project. This provides an enjoyable social activity in a non-threatening environment. There is much more involved in setting up and facilitating the project and I have visited one of Norma’s sessions to see how it all comes together – it is amazing. One of her successes was a resident who wasn’t to be part of the group because she hadn’t spoken for 2 years – Norma encouraged her inclusion and at the conclusion of the 12 week rug hooking project this same lady had begun to talk again.
While I was traveling, Kira Mead from Albany West Australia whose quillie wall-hangings created such a stir on the Guild Facebook page, sent me an image of her latest rug. She is experimenting again! this rug was hooked with a traditional hook using chain stitch on the wide open-grid backing used for locker hooking.
The local Wanneroo group also sent me images of a new member’s work.
Margaret is new to the group and likes to work, not necessarily on miniatures, but on small pieces. Below is her first piece of “toothbrush” rugmaking finished after returning home from her first day with the group. Not quite sure how to overcome the fact that her rug was curling up, Margaret turned it into a birds nest. With some further instruction from the group the following week, she made a rug base for the nest and her bird, that I’m guessing is a Blue Fairy Wren from the south west of WA.
Eight members of the Australian Rugmakers Guild who are also members of TIGHR will be traveling to this year’s Conference. Miriam and Jacqui have already left and have visited a rug hooking friend in Israel. They were thrilled to see Pamela’s hooked rugs, which will undoubtedly feature in Miriam’s next newsletter on her return home. Their travels will take them through Europe, to the Outer Hebrides and across the USA before we meet again in Victoria.
A few weeks ago when I was in New South Wales we talked about how amazing it is that this simple, old-fashioned craft has taken us on journeys across Australia and around the world and bought us in contact with so many interesting, sharing and caring people.
I have just realized that Miriam will be giving a talk on this very subject at the Conference; the different techniques of rug making in Australia, and has taken some samples to show. Hopefully she will include an article about her experience at the Conference in her newsletter at the end of the end of the year.
Now I must away and pack my bag, as I too will soon be leaving for Canada.
Judith Stephens and I have planned a short road trip in British Columbia prior to the Conference on Vancouver Island. The scenery will be vastly different from what I recently drove through on my trip across Australia – we definitely won’t be seeing any road signs like these……..
I just had to include this image which I took on our return trip as we approached the West Australia border having driven across the Nullabor Plain. This part of the coastline shows on the map as the Great Australian Bight.
We’ve made this trip before on Eyre Highway the southern East/West road but have never pulled off to at any of the vantage points to take photos. It wasn’t far to drive from the main road and I was glad we took the time the view was spectacular!
Well this blog started with a rug hooking image on a grand scale – ending with almost a miniature,
and here I am finishing with my own personal travel pics.
I feel fortunate indeed to be able to travel and enjoy my craft through meeting other rug hookers and seeing their creations.
Karen Kaiser, of the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild, and her husband Kurt, from Belleville, Ontario, were visiting the Milton-Ulladulla area and while at Narrawilly Karen held two workshops. On design and colour in rugs and the other, dyeing and backgrounds.
(Above) Karen, preparing dye pots and
(Right) Karen with Miriam Miller and Jacqui Thomson who organized the workshops in Miriam’s Rug Room at Narrawilly
Both workshops were attended by enthusiastic rugmakers who were pleased to have the opportunity to learn from an international instructor.
Local rugmakers were amazed to hear the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild has over 1,000 members and fascinated to hear about the differences in their rugmaking.
Canadians and Americans tend to use new wool fabric, whereas most Australians use recycled fabrics. While recycled fabrics make rugmaking very inexpensive, it is sometimes a challenge to find just the right colour to create the desired effect.
(Left) Maggie Whyte (Canberra, ACT) and Elke Smith-Hill (NSW) are members of the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers and also The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers. (TIGHR) Images of work by both Maggie and Elke are shown on the TIGHR website along with a translation into German by Elke – “Why Join TIGHR“.
Karen, Miriam and Jacqui are also TIGHR members.
(Below)Setting up Karen’s rugs for display at the workshop; note Poppies by Karen on the back wall.
If you are interested in seeing some of the Narrawilly Proggy Ruggers work, they are holding a rug exhibition as part of Milton’s Artfest during the weekend of 27th/28th September, 2014 from 10a.m. to 4p.m.
The Venue: “The Rug Room” 35 Stony Hill Lane, Milton
Since the last newsletter was published mid-June, several rug hooking events have take place around Australia. This is just a quick round-up by Jo Franco, Editor.
In QLD Judi Tompkins facilitated a workshop for a group of members to discuss and learn how to go from design to the completion of the project; design their own rug, choose fabrics, colours and finish techniques. This was an all-day event held over a shared lunch and I’m told was very successful and enjoyed by all. To read more click on http://www.rugcraftingaustralia.com.au/
Judi also hosted a rug hooking visitor from Canberra – Maggie Whyte. I would like to have been a fly on the wall as these two creative rug hookers talked about projects they’ve recently finished and are planning to do.
Bec Andersen held a workshop on Saturday 13th July. Go to Bec’s website http://www.becandersen.com/ and contact her for details about her regular rug days and details for future workshops.
NSW: Rugmaking will be a little difficult for Miriam Miller of the Narrawilly Proggers for a couple of months – while hiking with her son up Mt. Bushwalker to the head of the Miller Falls named for Miriam and her husband, she slipped and broke her wrist. Miriam tells me this spectacular view (image taken on a mobile phone) is enough to encourage anyone to keep walking.
VIC: The Victorian Rugmakers July meeting was at Chris Noorbergen’s home in Lock. The group is overcoming their travel distance by rotating their monthly meetings at members’ homes. It seems as though rughooking and good food goes hand in hand as you will read on their blog…… http://victorianrugmakers.blogspot.com.au/
SA: Strath Matters rug group took a break from rug making in June and hired a Murray River houseboat – besides the scenery, they too enjoyed good food and wine and knitted ponchos. Here they model their weekend’s work.
On the INTERNATIONAL SCENE – South Australian rug maker Yvonne Dalton is featured in the current issue of Fiber Art Now. A full-page picture of some of Yvonne’s eco dyed fabric graces the lead in to the article. Yvonne is shown here wrapping eucalyptus trees to create the interesting results on recycled cotton, wool and silk fabric and garments.
More of Yvonne’s work can be seen in the last issue for 2012 of The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers newsletter and in an article by India Flint at http://handeyemagazine.com/content/wrapping-trees
WA: Following the interest generated in this craft at the May Craft & Quilt Fair, several workshops have been held in the Perth metropolitan area and also in the South West of the state. The most recent was a workshop with a difference – children’s school holiday workshop held last week. Sixteen girls and boys aged 7 – 12 busily created prodded baskets using pretty fabrics and WA football colours. The creations were completed in the morning session and all went home very pleased with their new found skill. Some of the baskets were put to a different use.
The current issue of the Guild’s newsletter is now available in the Member Area. Log-in and read Miriam Miller’s article “Inspiration for Making Rugs”.
and …… just so you don’t miss any items of interest before the next issue of the Newsletter comes out in September; scroll down to the “Subscribe” box (half-way down the screen on the right-hand side) add your email address and click [Subscribe]. Then anytime there is a blog update you will be notified by email.
REMEMBER – to get information out to other Guild members through this website – email text to me at rugcraftersaustralia@yahoo.com.au – Cheers Jo
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