March Meeting of the Yarra Valley Rug Makers

It was a beautiful autumn day in Loch as six of us met at the March meeting of the Yarra Valley Rug Makers. And what a wonderful day we had. 

Jen continued working on her 'carpet' rug for her daughter

 

Joy was working on her beautiful Anne of Green Gables rug, which is coming along  fabulously.

Jo was working on some lovely applique she brought along and Anne on her fruit rug.

Leanne brought her knitting along but here having a cuppa break. We don't need an excuse for those.

 Always lots to talk about, we also spent time organising a bulk purchase of wool fabric from the US. Such a pity that it is not possible to buy the Drs Flannel Wool we are so keen on for our rugs here in Australia. As yet Rug making is not practiced on a large enough scale to warrant the manufacture of it. Chris got the job of ordering  and is seen here looking very official.

We talked about patterns for the Rug Hooking challenge in Strathalbyn at the end of the year. Most of us keen to enter a rug in the competition with lots of ideas flying around.

We also went through a bag of fabric scraps given to us by Isabel Foster, the fibre artist who had her exhibition in Upwey recently. All types of fabric were in this bag; silk, satin, cotton and ribbon; a bit of everything. Most of it usable. Isabel encouraged us to look outside the square and we only need to look at her wonderful work to see that indeed she used whatever she had on hand and recyclable, nothing wasted.

After a lovely lunch of zucchini soup and whatever everyone brought along we hooked some more, with people leaving at about 4pm, until our next meeting in April at Anne’s in Warrandyte.

Till then, cheers from the Yarra Valley Rug makers.

Next meeting of the Yarra Valley Rug makers

Hello to all Rug Makers and would be Rug Makers.

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday 8th March in Loch, Sth Gippsland. If you have never been before you can fill out the contact form on the right of the page and we will get back to you asap with the details.

Please bring a plate to share. Cuppas will be available

All welcome.

Strathalbyn Rug Making Expo

I would like to bring to the attention of all Rug Makers and potential Rug Makers an advanced notice of an exciting Rug Hooking event which will take place in the beautiful historic town of Strathalbyn in S.A, on 11^th and 12^th October this year.

A variety of workshops will be available for both beginners and the more experienced rug hookers.

Traditional rug hooking; Proddy; 3D / Sculptural hooking; Toothbrush rug making; Hooking an A3 facial portrait from a photograph; Fibre Sculptures; Dyeing Safely in the Kitchen; Braiding Techniques.

Sessions will be at : 9:00am-12noon & 1:00pm- 4:00pm   at the cost of $65 per session.

Enquiries & Bookings:

Phone: Judith (08)8536-33451                              

Email : studioblue20@gmail.com

Web: http://www.rughookingaustralia.com.au/calendar-of-events/

Make sure to mark it on your calendar now. It promises to be an eventful weekend.

As part of the weekend you might be interested in entering the Rug Making challenge. So get those hooks polished, your wool stash organised and your imaginations active.

Details are on the right.

February Meeting of the Yarra Valley Rugmakers

On a very hot 40⁰ day, six brave souls struggled from their air-conditioned car into an lovely air-conditioned cafe at the Burrinja Gallery in Upwey. We had a wonderful day together despite all that. May people wandered in to say Hi and checked out what we were doing. Many questions asked and stories told. It was great day. Robyne's daughter Ruby dropped in to join us for some lunch, dropping of her budding artist daughter, Sadie to stay with grand-ma for the weekend. 

 We talked about a bulk buy of white wool from the US. This will happen a little further down the track. 

We also chatted about upcoming events such as the Strathalbyn Rug Hooking Expo in October, the Narrawilly weekend of rugging and sharing in Milton, NSW and the Beautiful Botanics Rug making challenge and competition, organised for the Strath Expo. More about some of these in another post.

 

But at three in the afternoon we were ready to go home, having decided that we do miss the cosyness of home meetings. So there's some food for thought for the next meeting.

Blessings to all our rug makers and potential rug makers. Please be encouraged to come along next month. 

Next meeting of the Yarra Valley Rug Makers

Good day fellow Rug Makers and would be rug makers

Just letting everyone know that the next meeting of the Yarra Valley rug makers will be next Saturday 8th February, 10.30AM at the Burrinja Gallery Upwey. All welcome. We will be meeting as last month in the Gallery Cafe.
Hope you'll drop in and say hi, better still, bring a project, rug or other craft and join us.
If you would like to learn how to hook a rug we would love to help you get started.
See you there. :)

Jacob completed

Second grandson completed, only four more to go. I finished him off with wool piping. I love this method as it is fast and ties in beautifully with the background. I will use this method on all my portrait rugs I think. 

Jacob

Hello fellow rug makers,
I am hoping to see a lot of your beautiful work here as it will encourage rug makers around the world in their quest for more knowledge and more beautiful rugs as a result to learn from.
As I am now working on my third portrait rug and my second Grand Child rug, I am posting an update on Jacob.
I have had a lot of problems with the background on this rug and it took me a while to get the colours  just right. However I am finally getting there and now looking forward to getting it finished.
Here is a photo.