N&B

Indigo Workshop with Valerie by L.G. de Tonnancour Indigo with Valerie Walker   Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 9 AM , I met Yanick Duchesne (from St-Henri Crafters) at Espace Fibre on Augustin-Cantin St. , in Montreal . We went there to learn how to dye with indigo, in a course especially tailored for rug hookers. After a warm welcome and a quick tour of the studio and gallery, our teacher, Valerie Walker, began by teaching us what protective measures we must take when handling such volatile materials as natural and chemical dyestuffs. Valerie is a trained engineer and we appreciated both her scientific knowledge and practical advice. Only one day to experiment with natural indigo is very little time,however, Yanick and I were spellbound by these...

Report on Carolyn Ells' Needle-Felting Workshop by Candace Fradette Carolyn Ells On Saturday, November 19 th , our fellow rug-hooker, Carolyn Ells, was kind enough to offer a workshop on Needle Felting. After seeing some of Carolyn's creations last year using this technique, we were more than pleased to accept her offer to give us a lesson. Having distributed to us individual packages of sample wool, foam pieces and a very sharp needle, Carolyn gave us clear instructions enabling each of us to create some lovely Christmas decorations, broaches and 3-D animals. Her demonstration on Power Point allowed us to see how creative we can all be using this new and different craft. Definitely an enjoyable day - a big Thank You, Carolyn! Needle Felting Course by L.H. On November 19, 2011 our very own multi-talented guild member, Caroline Ells, offered a workshop on needle felting. Displaying a variety of her own creations and sharing her books as wel...

Our day trip to Shelburne, Vermont By Maria Romero By 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, November 12, 2011, Louise G. de Tonnancour, Denise Morissette, Carolyn Ells and myself were on the road to Vermont to go to the Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild's bi-annual exhibition at the Shelburne Museum. The theme was "All the live long day - A celebration of working, industry and innovation"; Betty Bouchard (Richmond), Bev Conway (Middlebury) and Helen Wolfel (Georgia) were the guests of honour. We admired about 450 rugs of various styles and sizes, some quite captivating. In the exhibition were displayed rugs from our BHCG members: Judith Dallegret, Maureen Rowe, Louise G. de Tonnancour and myself. The creativity at this much anticipated event more than met our expectations, which made filling out the "visitor's choice" form difficult. The quality and variety of products on offer by the vendors were most attractive. We were more than delight...