RUGCRAFTERS AUSTRALIA GUILD

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1 RUGCRAFTERS AUSTRALIA GUILD NEWSLETTER JUNE/JULY 2009 GUILD NEWS: Plans are well under way for the Exhibition and Workshop weekend at Narrawilly in April so keep the weekend of 17th & 18th free. Bookings for the workshops will be taken later this year. It is time to RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP. The dues are still $10 for the coming year. For online payment information, rugcraftersaustralia@yahoo.com.au NEW SOUTH WALES: United Nations at Narrawilly - by Ann Kurts submitted by Lauren Heihir The United Nations descended on the workshop at Miriam Miller s home on the weekend of June. A group of 7 women hailing from origins as diverse Germany, Turkey, England and Australia joined forces for a weekend of rugging, spinning, dyeing and knitting and way too much food around the fire. Miriam is a wonderful hostess. We all enjoy her wonderful dry sense of humour as well as her guidance on our projects. The lovely Jackie joined us on Saturday morning. We all want to adopt her! This was our second weekend at Milton. We stayed at Cow House and once more when Sunday afternoon rolled around none of us wanted to go home. We treasure these brief weekends when we can get away to enjoy this special place, the camaraderie, the fresh air, magnificent views and a chance to be creative; not to mention Miriam s wonderful cheese scones. We all feel very lucky to have been introduced to Miriam and the world of rugging and spinning. Rugcrafters Australia News - June/July 2009

2 QUEENSLAND: Yet another group of Happy Hookers has been discovered.... Textile artist Bec Anderson who designs and produces handtufted rugs from 100% wool, hand-dyed using natural dyes has sent the following invitation - Come join me in my studio on Tamborine Mountain and learn the art of primitive rug hooking We meet once a month on the third Thursday of the month from 10am till 12pm, with morning tea provided cost is $15. I encourage and foster new and accomplished rug hookers WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Bec Andersen 8 Griffith St North Tamborine, Qld, Ph: becthor@bigpond.com BRADFORD EXHIBITION by Jane Cobb On Wednesday 20 th May 2009, my mother and I visited the Bradford Industrial Museum for the 21 st Birthday Exhibition of the West Riding Ruggers. We were met there by Diane West, one of the organizers of the exhibition who I had been in touch with by previously. Diane made us most welcome and was very informative. We had a good time there, arriving at 10am and not leaving until 2pm. A lot of hard work had been put into the exhibition, and it was certainly well worth a visit. Rugcrafters Australia News - June/July

3 ... more from Western Australia Kristin Reddin, who was a participant in a recent WA rug hooking Workshop, forwarded information regarding a studio exhibition by Artlinks held at Leederville Campus classroom on Wednesday 1st July. She invited us to come and look at what the students had produced in their classes this semester to get an idea of what is offered and who attends. Unfortunately due to the travels of your editor this issue of the newsletter was delayed and the exhibition date has past hopefully we will hear more from Kristin in the future. TASMANIA: Deloraine House Hook Rug Group We meet for six Thursday mornings a term in the community house in Deloraine in the Meander Valley in Northern Tasmania. Facilitated by textile artist Jo Wild, we make small latchet hook rugs together and welcome new residents to the community. Making a rug is a wonderful way to settle into a new home and make new friends. We enjoy a trip together once a term to Tascot Carpet Factory in East Devonport. There we purchase recycled carpet wool to make our colourful rugs. We swap colours of the day later on. Discussion is open and we chat about everything! Our youngest is April (12yrs) who attends as part of her home education. She is open to learning and has improved her knitting skills since Sue is a champion beanie knitter. Alex and Sue are old friends and musicians. They travel to from Launceston to be with us on their Thursday out together. Last week Alex sang folk songs from the seventies to entertain us while we hooked. Next week we are having a morning tea for Barbara who is preparing to travel overseas. As she is an experienced tea leaf reader we are bringing china tea cups for her farewell morning tea next week. There will also be a teapot so Barbara (a new resident to Elizabeth Town) can read our tea leaves! Others who have made rugs at Deloraine House with Jo have the opportunity to pop in and show off their finished work. They are all a part of the hook rug revolution in Tasmania! Rugcrafters Australia News - June/July

4 ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Rug Hooking in Canberra - by Maggie Whyte Decisions, decisions, where to next? I have started a hooky rug with magpies as the centre piece surrounded with flowers. Great idea I think to myself, I love those black and white birds that come to my garden stroll right up to me and ask if I would not mind sharing my lunchtime sandwich with them. Of course I always give in. Mum brings her babies to the garden each spring so that they can learn about the soft touch who lives at number 48. The rug started well; I managed to sketch the birds with great difficulty as my drawing abilities are not the greatest. Templates photocopied and drawn on my cloth I happily hook my birds. I did have the idea of putting proddy European cottage flowers at the forefront of the rug etc. etc. Sitting looking at my birds I suddenly decide that the flowers should be Australian natives. Woops!!! that puts all my planning up the creek as usual, I now must decide which plants. I then realise that magpies view of the world is vastly different from mine being that they are only 20cms tall. Should I go out into my garden and lay down so that I can see the world as maggies see it, is that not a bit extreme? This rug has now become totally different from my original idea. The foreground I think will be Australian grasses with the Australian bluebell dotted about. It is the ACT s flower emblem after all. As for the background, I haven t got that far yet. Bottlebrush and wattle maybe. My projects seem to start with one idea at the beginning and turn into something completely different at the other end. Should I just stick to the original idea? I think not. It feels great when I find the answer I am looking for, often in the middle of the night or while I am out walking through the beautiful bush that surrounds all the suburbs of Canberra. My rugs are just like my life always evolving and I would not want it any other way. Ed/note: I look forward to bringing you a picture of Maggie s rug when it is completed. Rugcrafters Australia News - June/July

5 SOUTH AUSTRALIA: "Strath Matters" are now meeting every fortnight (1st and 3rd Fridays between 11am and 3pm) at 20 Langhorne Ck Rd. Strathalbyn or phone: (08) Last Friday, we had a visit from Yvonne Dalton who is involved in directing a group of rug makers in a gallery in Kapunda on a regular monthly basis. She brought some lovely rugs to show us - all made with recycled fabrics - cottons and all sorts - and all influenced by the environment - particularly the river beds that are now receding because of the lack of rain. We discovered that Yvonne has some techniques to share with us that we haven't seen before, so a group of local ladies are planning a trip to the Barossa Valley to join in their session later in July. One of the lovely aspects of this craft is the sharing of information between groups and individuals. The two piece below were hooked by Judy Stephens Ingram - This fun piece was created as a recycle project it was prodded using old T-shirts. The balloon was also recycled. Grape leaves are hooked onto hessian to decorate the back of this vest which is lined with a purple fabric to highlight the grapes. EDITORS NOTE: My apologies for the lateness of this newsletter. I am currently accompanying my husband, we are in North Africa, Tripoli, Libya, on the shores of the Mediterranean. It's a fascinating place and the locals are friendly so it is fun to be out and about - that is if you can stand the heat! We've only recently arrived and I'm told the months of July/August are the worst. I have a good internet connection so will continue to gather news and information for future newsletters - please keep those articles coming in to rugcraftersaustralia@yahoo.com.au Cheers Jo Franco Rugcrafters Australia News - June/July