Our Hook-In & I Had to Laugh!

Our hook-in on Saturday was so much fun. When I got home I fixed dinner & cleaned up, then spent about an hour working on my rug. I had to laugh when I realized that I accomplished more during that hour than I did all day long at the hook-in! Was just to busy visiting, looking & listening to get much hooking done. Maybe that's normal? I'm still new to this hook-in business so I don't have a clue. LOL We had a demonstration on crock pot dyeing which was eye opening to me - Lisa actually dyed leftover worms which was great cuz they could all be used together in a design after being treated to the same dye bath - I have worms coming out my ears so I'm definitely going to be doing this (as soon as I find a good crock pot at the thrift store). Arline shared different ways to finish the edges of rugs and different ways to hang them and/or display them. I think the most educational part of the day was when Londi gave a short impromptu lesson on color theory - she taught us about "Mother Color" - not sure if that a proper term, or if it's something she coined herself, but it sure made a lot of sense to me. She's a professional artist, but explained it all in terms that we could understand and relate to - awesome! Lunch was catered Mexican food - so delicious! There were enough door prizes donated that every single attendee received one - people were so generous in their support!

Anyway, here are some pictures I took during the day - not all-encompassing, but a glimpse of what went on.

I really liked this rug that Tami made - she's a new hooker and this was her very first attempt at making a rug - took her only two weeks from start to finish! She used all as-is wool from thrift store clothing, and designed it herself using her love of quilting for the inspiration - she did a great job and I think she will accomplish a lot with her rug hooking. Oh, and she cut all her strips with a rotary cutter! Her 16 year old daughter was there with her working on a locker hooking project - so fun that mother and daughter share the same interests.


Tami brought this rug that she had borrowed from a neighbor, hoping that someone would know something about it. It's a shirred rug made of bias cut wool strips - so thick and cushy on the feet! One of the gals in attendance has made these before and explained a little bit about how they are made. She's never seen one with a design worked into like this - I guess usually they're just done with concentric rows.


LeeAnn designed and made this small rug - how fun that it's in a frame. And I think it appealed to me because of the quilting influence I could see in it - so fun to combine two loves.


Victoria made this for a little granddaughter - we all loved the soft colors - the background had the palest hint of pink in it.

This is MaryJo's first ever rug - she's moved on to fine cut rugs after taking a class from Jane Olsen at Cambria Pines last year.


Marianne made these two sheep rugs - the one laying flat is HUGE! And I love how she framed the long skinny one. She works at a local quilt shop and dyes all the wool they sell there. I would say she is a wool expert because she also makes wool quilts.


Marianne is also making this brightly colored geometric - each square is about 6" I think.



These next two rugs were made by Jennifer - she designed them herself - I love the braided border around the edges.



Marilyn got her flower pokes all attached to sticks from her backyard. I think she plans on adding green leaves to them - most she will give away, but I hope she keeps a couple for herself. So many fun colors - great way to use up scraps!


Lisa designed this beach rug to symbolize the time she spends with her Grandma on the beaches of Florida - she had it published in Create & Decorate during the summer. The aqua wool is so perfect for the ocean, and you can't tell from the picture, but the starfish is sculpted a bit.


Here is Angela's newest rug - a wonderful Lady Liberty design - I love the movement she hooked into the background. I'm sure the design is available for purchase on her website if anyone is interested.

This is a terrible picture, but these rug hooks were so beautiful - made of blown glass! This one is more of a pencil hook, but there was a ball handled one too. The weight of it was so comfortable in the hand. They are made by a local guy so if anyone is interested I can get the information for you.


So - that was our day. We're discussing now whether or not to create a State Guild, and how often to schedule the hook-ins. Utah is starting to arrive in the rug hooking world! Yay!