In Lois Words
Remembering the foundation of the Guild
by Lois Morris, founder
After relocating from Toronto in 1973 where I had been teaching rug hooking since 1967, I began teaching this craft in my home in Beaconsfield to a group of neighbours.
In the Fall of 1974, the City of Beaconsfield placed this notice in the local West Island newspaper The News and Chronicle:
"Creative
Nineteenth Century Rug Hooking: an old craft as a new art form - with Lois Morris as instructor.
Mrs. Morris has had courses in creative design, including colour planning and dyeing. She has worked extensively in oils and is an accomplished ceramist.
She is past president of the Mississauga branch of the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild and is
a registered teacher with the Rittermere Craft Studio in Vineland, Ontario.
She taught rug hooking and design to students at the Queen Elizabeth Senior Public School in Port Credit, Ontario. She also taught private classes.
The course offered is fascinating and stimulating and unlimited in scope, said a Beaconsfield spokesman.
Beginners start with a floral rug or wall hanging, learning to shade all flowers and
leaves. Progressing
through a series of classes on stitching, colour planning,
dyeing and sculpting, these classes provide
an interesting new media for persons interested in the creative arts.”
Amongst those responding were Madeleine Bastien, Vera Kelly, Marg. O’Reilly, and
Ann Grimley. I
taught this first group basic shading and continued to guide their
progress with more advanced courses, as I
continued to teach beginners. The Lakeshore Woolgatherers Hooking Craft
Guild evolved
from the original group and met at Centennial
Hall or in the Chalet. Ann
Grimley,
my neighbour, who had collected a few others
for the first class in my house, became the first president.
The Guild was formed for the following purposes:
1. To encourage excellence of craftsmanship;
2. To foster a sense of beauty in colour and design;
3. To provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas and information among the
members of the Guild;
4. To co-operate with Guilds in other crafts.
The first biannual exhibition was held in the Fall of 1975. The name Lakeshore Hooking Craft Guild was adopted in l980. When I moved to Ottawa, Madeleine Bastien took over
teaching beginners as well as intermediate courses. Donna Bennet taught a course
on pictorials. At the request of the Guild, Margaret O’Reilly taught how to dye wool in her own home.
To keep things fresh and going, periodically the Guild asked me and a few other teachers
from Ontario for workshops. At monthly meetings they also had many guest speakers on other crafts and held many mini-workshops.
In 1993, my husband retired and we relocated to our renovated weekend home in Rawdon, northeast of Montreal. I returned to the Guild in
Beaconsfield, and continue to teach the
members. The Guild changed its name again when revising its constitution in 2003
to Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild.
While the City of Beaconsfield is celebrating its one hundred years, this year
the Guild is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a show full of new and old rugs depicting its history, and that
of rug hooking itself, with some antique pieces.
