N&B

Olde Forge Hook-In by Denise Vandenbemden On Saturday April 4 th we were invited to a hook-in hosted by the Olde Forge in Ottawa . Rug hookers from Ontario and Montreal ’s West Island hooked together and shared the stories behind the rugs they were making. A sale of hooking supplies had been organized and we felt like children in a Christmas store, looking, touching and buying beautiful wool.   The hosting ladies had baked delicious goodies for their guests and raffled a basket with desirable hooking supplies for charity as well as the flowers decorating the buffet table.  We had a wonderful time. A big thank you to the ladies of the Olde Forge. Follow the Link to see the Photo Album: Olde Forge 2009

© Jen Tabangcura   If you're planning to create a portrait or you want to design a human character, take a look at Jen Tabangcura's   drawing  tutorial  at Anatomy plz!

Round trip to New Mexico Designed and hooked by Louise G. de Tonnancour I always wanted to see New Mexico .   My dream became reality during a March school break.   Upon my return, I designed and decided to make this rug in the punchneedle technique.  60" in diameter Sudoku Designed and Hooked by Brenda Ticehurst When planning my next rug, I wanted to do something that would be more interactive for viewers.  In the summer at the cottage our family does Sudoku contests.  It gave me the idea to hook one.  I chose a puzzle that was symmetrical.  It is a medium difficult one.  To make it more colorful I assigned a consistent colour to each number.  At the bottom I made a pocket to hold pencils and a paper copy of the puzzle for those who wanted to try it.  I also hooked a few individual numbers that could be pinned in place when viewing the work. It is hooked on burlap with #6 Wool strips. Mau...

Show & Share_ A teacher is born by Louise G. de Tonnancour  Brenda Ticehurst On  Monday, March 30 th 2009 a group of rug hookers met at 10:00am at Centennial Hall in Beaconsfield for a workshop on braiding rugs given by Brenda Ticehurst.  There was a lot of  excitement in the air and we just couldn’t wait to start. Our teacher was very well prepared.  In a matter of minutes, we all received a kit with clamps, needles, wool strips and a “How To” booklet that she had put together especially for us.  With a smiling face and a lot of patience she guided each and every one of us through the different steps.  It was a first and very successful experience for Brenda, as a teacher, whose love for braided rugs is very contagious.  Thank you Brenda, for a wonderful day and a job well done! Folow the link to see our Photo Album :  Braiding Rugs

A great visit by Rose Kandy On Monday, March 23 rd , The Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild hosted Karen Kaiser, Penelope Deering and Julie Ridler, members of the Thousand Islands Rug Hooking Group. Karen spoke to us of the Summer Rug Hooking Retreats at her home near Belleville , Ontario and invited us all to come for one of the weekends. For biographies of the teachers and a summary of the classes as well as a registration form, email her at woody.kaiser@gmail.com or call 613-966-2658. Left to Right: Karen Kaiser and Jeanne Osler The classes will run from April to October end. Along with 7 other teachers, each weekend will be devoted to a different aspects or rug hooking and wool art. Karen, who is a graphic designer by trade, has an especially good eye for original design, as we saw from the rugs she demonstrated. All these ladies are very talented and it was a real pleasure to chat with them.  Hooed Rug by Karen Kaiser The other topic which the...

by Louise G. de Tonnancour This very old technique is still well used by ruggers in England especially the Yorkshire where Heather Ritchie  lives. I learned the Proddy   technique with   her in a workshop I took with her 3 years ago.  You will need a plyer or a sharp. Cut the strips. On the right side of the rug ...

Do you want to prolong the life of your rug? Click on the link to visit The Canadian Conservation Institut Web site and read  How to care for carpets and rugs . http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/caringfor-prendresoindes/articles/430-eng.aspx

The covered bridge Designed by Maud Lewis and hooked by Marion Hood This is a rug hooking pattern from a Maud Lewis painting, purchased from Highland Heart Hooking School, N.S.  The scene reminds me of River John, Nova Scotia , 100 years ago and of the covered bridge and my grandfather Murray M.D, making calls in his sleigh and Trixie, his horse. Hooked in # 4 and # 6 . The sparkly snow is a skein of mohair and wool, acrylic and nylon (sparkle) Pond Hockey Club Designed and Hooked by Alice Hamilton The idea behind the picture came from 3 sources. My great nephew Alex was learning to skate and spent a lot of time laying flat on the ice, refusing to get up. Can you find him in the picture? You're right. He is the one flat on his tummy. The second source was an article I read in Canadian Geographic Magazine about pond hockey tournaments in New Brunswick . That triggered a memory of my father cleaning the snow off a section of the river at our far...

By Maureen Rowe Try hooking lettering with a plaid if your background is flat. Pick one of the colours, which picks up the background  colour or from another flat colour used elsewhere in the rug. Also when hooking letters, hook a row of background at the top and at the bottom of the letters to be hooked, then hook the letters snugly up to the hooked background rows. After hooking with your head bent forward for awhile, put your feet flat on the floor and let your head hang backwards for a few moments for relief of neck tension. When whipping the corner of a rug, hold a small piece of matching wool over...

Candles In The Window Hooked by Denise Vandenbemden We wanted to do something special for our 2008 exhibition and the first idea was to create a small piece with candles. I love stained glass and downloaded, from the Internet, a free stained glass pattern reminding me of the beautiful windows in art deco houses. I adapted it to my own taste by making it a double window and choosing the pastel colors I like, although these are more often seen in church windows than in art deco houses. I added the candles and that was it. The result is what you see here. The size is 16 x 16" hooked on burlap with cut #4. The colors are dyed on new natural wool.    Memory Of My Wedding Day Designed and Hooked by Maureen Rowe Our wedding photographer made a composite photograph of my husband Hugh and me, kissing inside a brandy glass on a table next to a candle and a rose. So this rug is my recreation of a wonderful memory of May 21, 1977 . Christmas Ca...

Denise Morissette. Laurierville, Quebec, my village. Laurierville, Quebec, my village Designed and Hooked by Denise Morissette The landscape reproduces the countryside where I grew up. These images are a product of my imagination and memory of the beautiful Appalachian region where I lived my youngest years. I choose to recreate the color of spring when nature wakens after the winter. Photos are used as model for the design of houses and the church of the village. The dimension is 39 x 26 ½ inches. This work is made with number 6 and 3 cuts. The wool used is from clothes bought in second hand stores. For the sky I used wool bought by the meter. The graduated blue color was done under the supervision of Lois Morris in a workshop on dyeing. Sylvia Solomon. Floral Fantasy #1. Original. Floral Fantasy # 1 Designed and Hooked by Sylvia Salomon I like crewel-type florals and I like to draw my own pattern. This is an asymmetrical design with different kinds of flowers wit...

Beaconsfield Rug Hooking Exhibition    September 27th-28th, 2008 at Centennial Hall by Maureen Rowe Every two years, our Guild hosts an exhibition of our members’ most recent rugs. This year, we had 53 new pieces and there were approximately 100 visitors who signed our guest book. It was held on a Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, Centennial Hall was part of Beaconsfield’s Culture Day whereby 11 different artists’ studios were on display including our own venue. Our pieces were arranged in two rooms on the first floor and two rooms on the second floor. Coffee and cookies were available while visitors could watch a rug hooking how-to video and/or play an interactive Sudoku game on Brenda Ticehurst’s rug. A Guild challenge had been offered to do a rose rug and/or a candle rug, so some of these were on display as well.

Lois J. Morris exhibits her rugs at Rawdon        On October 5th, the exhibition will take place at CIM (Centre d'nterprétation Multhiethnique de Rawdon). The solo exhibition will be available for public display on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 4 pm, until the end of December. L'Express Montcalm, September 27th 2008 L'Action, Joliette, September 2008

Demonstration    This year again, Centennial Hall was the meeting place for the Fête nationale du Québec in Beaconsfield. Sylvia Solomon, Claire Fradette, Denise Vandenbemden et Denise Morissette of the Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild gave rug hooking demonstrations throughout the event. Sylvia Solomon Denise Vandenbemden and Sylvia Solomon Claire Fradette, Denise Vandenbemden and Sylvia Solomon Denise Morissette, Denise Vandenbemden and Sylvia Solomon

For the launching of our Web site, we chose an aquatic theme inspired by the Lac St-Louis -which is a door step of our guild house-, the Internet navigation and the concept of being "hooked". Fisherman Hooked by Lorayne Charenko This is a rug I made with Lois Morris in one of her portrait workshops. I learned a lot about shadows and portraits and I was very excited. After this course, I was looking at people differently, observing shadows skins tones, people’s noses and other features. I was looking for an inspiration for my portrait and I found it in a National Geographic Magazine. I saw a male portrait and I decided to do one fisherman smoking a pipe. So, this is an adaptation from a picture in an old National Geographic Magazine. I used a number 3 and 4 cut. I over dyed old pieces and material reclaim and I dyed the background myself. Lois J. Morris. A Fish in your Dish.  A fish in your dish Designed and hooked by Lois J. Morris My daughter and her f...

Picnic A nice Picnic...indoors! Follow the link to see the Photo Album:   BHCG 2008 Picnic

Tips by Lois Morris_ 1 When hooking in a small area with a limited amount of space or when shading in a small area, remember this:  if you zig-zag your loops, it will appear to have more colour and the next colours will fit between the previous loops and you will not get a striped look. 2 The selvedge of your wool is not always good to hook with. Tear the selvedge off. Keep the strip and when you are making a dye formula, cut a few short pieces, soak them well and dip them in your solution and squeeze the water out and you will see the approximate light shade you will achieve. This will help you know if you have the colour you want and whether you need to make adjustments.    N.B.   Remember when you remove the selvedge to make some slashes in the top of your wool so you rip and cut it in the proper direction. 3 If you are hooking a piece that you plan to hang, this is a good idea:  by having it mounted on a stretcher frame, you can atta...

How to hook a stained glass piece _  by Denise Vandenbemden Hooking stained glass is actually very easy. The best thing to do is to go to a stained glass supply store and have a good look at the different kinds of glass. Some is mottled, some is spotted and some looks hammered and the choice is endless. Explain your interest to the store keeper and ask if you can take a few pictures. I would suggest you spot-dye your wool. Outline the "glass pieces" on the lines of your pattern and fill in hooking straight or in diagonal or circles to achieve the  desired effect. The outline should be black if you are using strong colors, with light colors charcoal looks better.  For a pattern you can use Ed Sibbet Jr.'s " Stained glass coloring books " from an art and craft store. The patterns may be used without special authorization. Special Show & Tell / Stained Glass Stained Glass. Denise Vandenbemden Stained Glass Denise Vandenbemden Stained glass...

This is our current flyer! BHCG Flyer (2008)

Our Website The Beaconsfield Rug Hooking Web site is a new little fish in the Internet Sea. We need to feed it and help it to grow. Our little fish will swim from our club house into Lac St-Louis and he will go to the ocean of his dreams and imagination.   We are open to new ideas and suggestions to develop this Internet project. We are continuously updating this site. One month after the opening we have created a French version of this site (February 19th). We also added three sections called "Works in progress" and "Glossary of terms", as well as the "Recipes" page. Members of the Guild can collaborate in many ways: adding your comments, writing rug hooking tips, sending pictures of your rugs or helping us to update the Events Calendar section. Website committee: Denise Vandenbemden / President Maria M. Romero, Designer / Webmaster Maureen Rowe, Writer / Translator

It is as easy or as difficult as you want. The technique is easy and the pattern is up to you. A simple pattern can be just as pretty as a complicated one. There are no rug hooking rules, just a few guidelines, that is all. If you never hooked before and don't know anything about it, choose a small rug in a simple geometric pattern and you will not be disappointed. Any of our members will be more than happy to help and guide you.

A little fish on the Web_ For the launching of our Web site, we chose an aquatic theme inspired by the Lac St-Louis -which is a door step of our guild house-, the Internet navigation and the concept of being "hooked". Judith Dallegret. Kiss the Cod, Goodbye. Kiss the Cod, Goodbye Designed and Hooked by Judith Dallegret The story of my Cod Fish rug This rug is hooked in very wide strips of number 9 and 10 (1/2”) wool, all hand dyed by myself. I like a primitive textured antique look for my own work. The bright colours will disappear over time, but it won’t matter, as that is the life of a hooked mat. The rainbow design was used in the old days for quilt and rugs. Why a Cod Fish? Having strong roots to Nova Scotia and being a great, great granddaughter of sailing captains who ventured around the world on the tall seas, I have always had a love and respect of the sea and all that lives in the oceans. My most notorious great, great, great-grandfather, was Capt. Da...