2015 Utah Hook In

Another successful yearly event has come and gone for our Guild. The Hook-In had great rugs, lots of friends, good food, door prizes, make & takes, swag bags, and much much more.

This rug won 1st place in the Viewers Choice voting.

This won 2nd place.

And this was the 3rd place winner.

The rugs below were all shared in the rug show - each of them deserving of recognition.

About 35 people were in attendance.

A wide variety of scissor fobs were assembled in a make & take project.

Many different projects were being worked on throughout the day.

Woolton Abbey!

The guild had the opportunity to visit Jane's Home in Salt Lake City for the day, and we decided to call it Woolton Abbey.  The house is beautiful, and the furnishings and artwork are spectacular.  We worked on our rugs, visited, had a wonderful lunch and a lesson from Londi on composition in art and how to apply that in our rugs. The caretaker, Michael, came to visit and shared some stories and insights into Jane's life that were fascinating. Capping it off was a wonderful tea party with treats provided by members of the board.  

May 16, 2015

We had a great time at our Guild Meeting on Saturday. Marianne taught us the basics for embellishing wool applique using fancy threads and stitches similar to what Sue Spargo specializes in. There were about 16 of us in attendance and we were each provided with a kit to make the cover for a composition book - which can be used for a notebook, a journal, or lists - the class sample is below.

Various progress was made by the attendees - we learned couching, a boullion stitch & a chain stitch.

The classroom was very cozy and no one left early.

Thanks so much to the Board who planned this exceptional day for us!

Rugs from the Workshop

As promised, here are photos of the rugs from the Diane Stoffel Workshop. Not all are pictured - some of the gals declined having them published - and a couple were missed. Apologies.

Jennifer designed a Shabby Chic Sheep wearing a hat, gloves and even a string of pearls.

A close up of the 3D flowers that were part of the embellishments.

Marianne was working on a Karla Gerard pattern - fun vibrant colors.

A close up of her face.

Angela started a great folk art floral and dyed all the wool for it using Diane's recipes.

Marliss started a mermaid in underwater colors.

Leisa designed a Tree of Life to add to a gallery wall in her living room.

Shelley is the newest member of our group and she raises Alpacas. This is one of her favorites - a very ambitious project for a beginner and it's great - just look at that sweet face!

Coralee is hooking a story rug that depicts events from her family history .

Kim's son drew this rug pattern for her that shows her home and other buildings that have special significance to her.

Terri is just about finished with this vibrant sunflower rug that she began in the Sharon Smith class.

Tonia is really stretching herself by hooking this landscape - much different from what she usually does.

Michelle is hooking a Tin Man rug dedicated to the memory of her infant son - can't wait to see some of the Emerald City added to this one.

Nancy is doing a geometric-type rug in the style of those made in the UK.

Gayle's urn with flowers and birds is an old pattern.

And Myra is doing a beautiful floral that reflects the watercolor art that she also creates.

 Our group is full of talented rug hookers who are sharing and supportive - it was a great weekend!

Diane Stoffel Workshop

Our Guild sponsored a three day workshop with Diane Stoffel on March 19, 20, & 21 and it was a great experience for all who attended. Diane teaches without holding anything back, and is an artist who can advise on fine cuts, primitives, landscapes, portraits and everything else that can be imagined. Everyone made great progress on their projects. Below, she is demonstrating some techniques for the class.

Because Diane is from Cape Cod, the goodies that we received were all related to a sea theme which made it fun. First day we received a paper cone filled with salt water taffy and tied up with a darling cluster of seashell & fish charms - which Kim promptly displayed on her purse  - so cute!

The second day we received sugar cookies shaped like sand dollars and a clever tool to measure the size of the strips used for rug hooking. (cookie picture unavailable)

Final day we were treated to yummy cupcakes on their own cake stands ...

 ...and some combs for cleaning the gripper strips on our frames - fun stuff!

Diane gave a great demonstration on dyeing in electric pots.

Using the same three primary colors she came up with two totally different results as seen below - amazing and beautiful!

There were 21 students in the class and the facility had great light and plenty of room to spread out.

Class projects will be shared in a future post. Thanks go out to the Guild Board who worked so hard to make this event a huge success!

Meeting Pictures

The Guild held a work meeting on Saturday at the Pleasant Valley branch of the Weber County Library. Jennifer kindly shared her design for a Valentine Heart pillow and that's what most people were working on during the day. Jennifer's finished project is shown below, followed by various versions that developed as time progressed....