A day in the life of the Yarra Valley Rug Makers

Sunday 29^th September 2019

Today was the most wonderful get together ever. Not that we don't enjoy other get togethers, we most certainly do, but it's always great to have new members as well as an international visitor come nd join us.

We welcomed three new members to our little group; Lynne, Lee and Veronica who had met both Robyne and Anne at the Gembrook show and the Melbourne show last week, and our guest Trish Johnson from Canada who visited for the day, while on holiday in Victoria.

So there were ten of us present and as some of us showed the newbies the how and wherefore's of rug hooking, Trish showed us a slide show of her wonderful rugs, each with their own story to tell, and the memories that go with them. Trish told us a little of her life as a child with old photos of grandparents and pictorial rugs depicting their childhood memories of her mother’s and grandmother’s homes which included the use of text.

She grew up in Capreol, Ontario but now calls Toronto home.

Some of her rugs that stood out for us [and it was hard picking one above any other], were her 

“Portrait of the artist” rug- a hooked reflection of Trish in a kettle, in her grandmother’s kitchen at Oak Point, New Brunswick.

“Chris and Blackie-  a delightful rug of her mother, with the text “Our house is very quiet, as Fred forgets to talk most of the time and lets the tv do it for him. The kittens have their eyes open and soon should be allowed to climb up the sheer curtains in the living room, as they need sunshine to grow.”  Ha ha ha, don’t you love it?

Trish shared that she remembered her mum as always having a towel draped over her chair. At the time Trish thought it a bit odd, but now realises how like her mother she really is, as she

now does the same. She also looks very much
like her mum as you can see in the rug.

 "Honest Eds”, which was one of her favorite places in the city of Toronto. Always being able to count on getting a bargain there.

“Bucknam Benson House” [below]-  the home of her great great grandfather at Seal Cove on Manan Island.

Then there's "Gannet rock" [bottom right], based on a lighthouse 13 km south of Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy (Province of New Brunswick, Canada). Gannet Rock is where Trish's grandmother Elsie Maria Harvey lived when she was a little girl (aged 6 - 13). Her grandmother told her stories about her childhood on Gannet Rock. Trish says; "I feel that my grandmother's lonely and isolated upbringing has had an 

influence on her, on my family and on me. We all enjoy our time alone but we're also excited when we have company."

Off course there were many more beautiful rugs, and you can see some of them in Robyne’s previous post.

Lynne practiced her first proggy rug, while Lee practiced hooky with sock waste, giving a delightful textured look to hooked fabric. Chris is in the process of decluttering her home and craftroom so brought wool bundles for sale to the delight of our new members. It looks like they are with us to stay.

Unfortunately, much to our disappointment, no one was able to attend the rugging get together at Strathalbyn this year, maybe next time. We all have busy lives.

Then we had lunch. Everyone brought a wonderful plate of goodies to share. Around the lunch table, our conversations continued, we then reluctantly finished and moved on to the rug room, until one by one as the time dictated we took off, each to our individual homes.