ATHA Dye Book

I just received the ATHA Dye Book.  It is really neat, and a great concept!

For those of you who haven't seen it or heard about it, this is a project that the ATHA Biennial committee put together this year.  Different teachers supplied original dye recipes that they used in their rugs, a photo of their rugs, an inch sample of the dyed wool, and instructions for dyeing the wool.  These were all put together in a blue binder and are being offered for sale to help support the upcoming Biennial.   They only printed about 400 copies.  The last time I heard, there are about 140 left for sale.  There will not be a second printing.

If you want to purchase one, the book costs $38 pluse $5 shipping and handling in the U.S.  For Canadian shipping costs, you need to contact Gail Dufresne at gailduf@aol.com. 

The check should be made payable to "2011 Biennial, The Woolrights", and mailed to Gail Dufresne, 247 Goat Hill Road, Lambertville, NJ 08530.

ATHA Newsletter for October

I just received my ATHA Newsletter for October.  My second article in the series "Got Wool? Alternative Fabrics" appears on p. 43.  The subject?  "What is it like to hook with velvet?".

There are many fine articles in the magazine, including a number from ruggers in Texas.  Congratulations to Melinda Smith who wrote about her beautiful rug Open Heart which I have had the pleasure of watching unfold and seeing in person.  It is a gorgeous rug that emerged out of a powerful dream Melinda had experienced.  See "Open Heart," pp. 20-21. 

Tj Johnmartin, a fellow Stash Sister, has a feature on her rug Scaredy Cat which she hooked during her family's evacuation a recent hurricane.  Once the ordeal was over, she had a new rug for Halloween to grace her door.  See "Scaredy Cat" pp. 18-19.

Tricia Travis, of Country Gatherings in San Antonio, has a great feature on hooking turkey rugs.  See the spread on pp. 24-26.

Bea Brock, of Hill Country Rug Works, has another dyeing article in her recent series, this one on value dyeing.  See pp. 36-38.

Congratulations to the other Texan ruggers whom I have not yet met: Cindi McCullough and Teena Mills, who also had great rugs featured.

Hooking Rugs with Deanne Fitzpatrick

Today Deanne's new video arrived in the mail. So Alexander popped it in the dvd player and we watched it this afternoon. Alexander was working on his rug while he watched Deanne hook her rug and he kept asking me, "How does she do that so fast?!" I told him that I didn't know. I'm such a slow poke myself.

It was so much fun to watch Deanne share her vibrant artistic process as she creates a rug from start to finish. I was surprised by the variety of materials she uses since I didn't notice this variety in the photos of her rugs that I have viewed previously. I would love to see her rugs in person. I imagine them to be much more 3-dimensional than the photographs reveal.

The video is inspiring - especially her vibrancy and artistic ease - and I recommend adding it to your collection of rug videos, books, and magazines. I am envious of her studio. Wow! The light and space. It sure beats my closet and chair!

December 2009/January 2010 ATHA Newsletter

Check it out. Sharon Oppengard's Santa Flip designed by Frank Bielec, Martha Lowry's Christmas purses, and my piece on Alexander's backpack are all featured in this newsletter - all with Houston associations!

Laurie Lausen in Wool Steet Journal, and an unrelated tale of Alex

My copy of The Wool Street Journal just arrived this afternoon and I smiled to see fellow blogger Laurie Lausen and The Wooly Red Rug featured. I have never visited The Wooly Red Rug because I have never visited Minneapolis. But if I ever get to Minneapolis, her shop will be one of my destinations!

For those of us in Texas, there was also a feature on Tricia Travis' second annual hooked rug wool gathering in Fredericksburg. Being a mom of a kindergartner and a professor, the end of August is a bad time for me. So I didn't make it, but sure wish I had.

Hum. There appears to be a theme of longing in this post...

While I have been writing this, my five-year old is drawing with his best friend who is also five and who he has known since he was three. He just told her that he wished he could marry her one day. She replied, "Maybe you will." He said to her, "I thought you wanted to live with your mom." She said, "Maybe I will get married."

Melinda Smith and the Texas Horned Toad

In the October/November issue of ATHA magazine (pp. 14-15), Melinda Smith's fabulous horned toad rug is featured. I have seen this rug in person and the pictures just don't do it justice. The markings are all hooked raised and the effect is "awesome" as my son would say (this is his new favorite word). Melinda has not even been hooking for a year and the rugs she is already creating are pieces of art. I hope to see more of her rugs in person at future Kirby Hooking Circles. Congratulations Melinda!

The Stash Sisters have been busy

I am amazed at how much creativity there is among the Stash Sisters ATHA guild here in Houston. Just in the last month, three of the sisters have had rugs published in hooking magazines. Congratulations all!

Martha Lowry has a story in the ATHA Newsletter 177 (June/July 2009):10-13 about the wooly sheep rug that she designed for her craft room. She even includes the pattern which features a darling sheep, antique roses, and log cabin quilt blocks.

Terry Johnmartin tells about designing and hooking a mat for a Stash Sisters challenge 2008 which depicts her grandmother on the beach showing off her legs. She created it based on an old photo she had come across which changed the way she perceived her grandmother. Her story with full color photos on a separate page is published in The Wool Street Journal 8:2 (July 2009): 24.

Anne Elizabeth Ore's daughter Julie Marko wrote a piece about Annie's first rug "Molly Belle." The rug is very personal - a memory rug - and Julie captures its story well. It is published in The Wool Street Journal 8:2 (July 2009): 30-31, with a separate page of full color photographs.

Also in same issue of The Wool Street Journal, there is a full page of color photographs of the Stash Sisters Hook-In that took place in early April 2009. Gosh we had a lot of fun!