News/Blog

Kingston, Ontario (May 24-26, 2013)_ Three lovely busy days all about hooking! The venue was easy to access and large enough for all events to be held under one roof.  Ontario Area 1 were in charge of organizing the event and they did a wonderful job. We were welcomed at the Registration Desk with a handmade bag containing our schedules among other goodies, We were given name tags held by cleverly made lanyards attached with a button. including our Name Tags held by. Recycling at its best! Saturday morning the Annual Meeting ran smoothly and finished exactly on time. We then visited the many vendors that were present, and once the rug display was open to members, we immediately visited the exquisite work done by so many of our fellow hookers. We took many  pictures as we toured the exhibit and went back again and again to certain rugs. Classes were ongoing during the day  and a gala dinner was held in the evening. Sunday morning, more visits to the vendors, also to th...

Reserve the date! 2013 Picnic Invitation

Thank you for visiting the Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild Website. Created in 2008, it continues to grow in capacity offering instruction into the various forms of rug hooking, the history of rug hooking in Canada and information about the Guild and its members.   We warmly welcome newcomers both experienced and non-experienced, not only to the website but also to the Guild (running since 1975) that meet weekly in the beautiful surroundings of Centennial Hall.   Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to learn more about any aspect of the Guild or rug hooking, we would be happy to help. As both newcomers to rug hooking and to Canada, we were warmly welcomed into the BHCG fold only a few short months ago.    Quickly jumping in to Lois Morris’s "Reflection, Transparency and Absorption" course as complete novices, we were hooked from the start.   Hungry to learn, the teachers here offer a wealth of knowledge, experience and advice …… We can...

Annual General Meeting at BHCG On April 29, 2013, the Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild held its Annual General Meeting at Centennial Hall. With a majority of members in attendance, we are pleased to announce that the following members have been elected to the Executive Committee: Riita Jackson and Ti Seymour as Co-Presidents, Denise Morissette as Vice-President, Pat Strike as Secretary and Jacqueline Bouchard as Treasurer. The new executive took up their respective duties immediately following the meeting. We wish them well for the coming year and thank them their willingness to manage the Guild for its members. Rose Kandy Editor Bottom row: from left to right, Denise Morissette, Pat Strike, Jacqueline Bouchard, Riita Jackson and Ti Seymour From left to right,:Denise Morissette, Riita Jackson,  Pat Strike,  Ti Seymour and Jacqueline Bouchard. *** Follow the link to see the photo Album: AGM 2013

Olde Forge Hook-In_ Six BHCG members (Brenda Ticehurst, Lucie Lambert, Lin Watson, Lois Morris, Jeanne Osler and Maria Romero) drove to Ottawa on a sunny and warm day to attend  the Olde Forge's Annual Spring Hook-In for the Ontario Area 1 members. Upon arrival, each one was given the choice of a piece of spot dyed wool from a selection of four colour schemes. Erin Ryan, President of Old Forge gave us a warm welcome and invited us to partake of the coffee and tea which was available to all throughout the day. About 80 people hooked, talked, shared tips and ate more delicious goodies served by the Olde Forge members. After lunch, everyone participated in a Show and Tell hosted by Lucie Deschamps. Lois Morris showed a rug she was hooking to go with a Baskets quilt, both of which  will be raffled in May to raise money for the RRA Bursaries for graduates  from the English High School . Tickets were snapped up in record time. The drawing will take place at a Mil...

In this Gallery, you can tour a selection of rugs from our September 2012 exhibition, held at the Beaconsfield Library. Thistle and Goldenrod, hooked by Kay Cousineau Thistle and Goldenrod by Kay Cousineau This piece was hooked and carved during a workshop given in May 1984 by Joan Boyle, an artist and teacher from Ontario . As this was a one-day workshop,  all the dyed wool and material was supplied by the teacher. The wool was cut in #3. Mushrooms hooked by Denise Morissette Mushrooms  by Denise Morissette This rug was hooked during a workshop on sculpting. I attended the classes given by Lois Morris who furnished all the material we needed. The wool was cut in #3. After hooking the mushrooms, I chose to do the background in dark green wool, cut #5. The piece measures 14" x 11". I liked doing this type of hooking and, at the moment, I am working on a Still Life sculpted piece. Midway Memories...

In this Gallery, you can tour a selection of rugs from our September 2012 exhibition, held at the Beaconsfield Library. Grandfather's Fox, original by Isabelle Rollin. Grandfather's Fox by Isabelle Rollin My first rug was inspired by my Mother who told me that her Father had designed and maybe even hooked a rug with a fox and flowers. Together, my Mom and I spent many precious moments trying to recreate this design. This has a great deal of 'doing and undoing' as I was learning to hook. Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. Thanks Mommy. The rug is 26-5/8"x38", wool cut no. 6. Original design hooked with recycled material from blazers, skirts and shared wool. Wolf Howling - Carolyn Ells Wolf Howling in a Winter Night-Time Landscape by Carolyn Ells I designed this mat for a course on Grenfell-style rug hooking that I took with teacher Joan Fraser. The wolf profile was inspired by my Yukon parka and by a photo of a wolf wh...

Ontario Hooking Craft Guild - Reports by Branch Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild (Area 1) This is the Quarterly Activities Report published in the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild Newsletter.  Click for a larger image. OHCG Newsletter Spring 2013, page 1 OHCG Newsletter Spring 2013, page 16 OHCG Newsletter Spring 2013, page 19 Keywords: Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild, 

Ginger, original by Carolyn Ells Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs XXIII "Ginger", an original design by Carolyn Ells,  is one of the 17 rugs that received  an Honorable Mention  by the judges: April DeConick, Jon Ciemiewicz, Laura Pierce, and Katie Hartner. The rug will appear in Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs XXIII , magazine to be published in August! Congratulations Carolyn! Follow this link: http://www.rughookingmagazine.com/product/celebration-23

Matty - Auctions Wool Auction_ The auction was a great success thanks to our President whose humorous spiel over the bits and pieces of wool kept us all laughing. Rug hookers, especially our new members, acquired wool for their future masterpieces.

Reflection, Transparency and Absorption Course_ by Rose Kandy Glass Bottles - Ailish O'Keefe This workshop given by Lois Morris was attended by four veteran rug hookers and three beginners who had just taken the Beginner's Course and were interested in learning more. The veterans first assignment, prior to taking the course, was to find a picture which contained optimally all three elements on which we would base our rugs. Next we had to round up the necessary colours from our stashes of wool. Of course, that also involved several days of dyeing wool to achieve the exact hues needed. Interestingly, everyone chose different elements to feature in their rugs - definitely reflection, then transparency, absorption was more difficult to define.  At the same time, the beginners, while continuing with their own rugs, were avidly listening to how to hook reflections and to achieve transparency. Lac de seize îles - Brenda Ticehurst By looking intensel...

Hook-In_ Saturday, February 16 2013 at Centennial Hall, a pair of bright eyed smiling twins, upon finishing their art class with Brenda, stopped by the rug hookers to see what was going on.  Romane and Renaud gladly accepted Maria's offer to try their hand at hooking on the rug she was doing, we all applauded each time they succeeded in pulling a loop. Good for you, kids!!! A surprise visit

Contact Vol.8 No.1 February 2013, page 1 (cover) Contact Vol.8 No.1 February 2013, page 23

Matty BeaconsfieldRugHooking.com When we launched our Website on January 28, 2008, we compared it to a little fish swimming in the huge Internet sea.  We are proud to say that our little fish has grown. In March 2012, we redesigned our Website in order to make it more functional and give it a new 'look'. We created a Blog and in April 2012 we introduced Matty, our mascot. We are happy to tell you that our little fish has made many friends thanks to all who visited out pages. We are glad to note that we have visitors from all over the world, with the greatest number coming from Canada, USA and UK. About a third of our monthly visitors return to read news and events.  We constantly receive e-mails about rug hooking and our site has been commented on in Facebook and Blogs. Some pictures of our hooked rugs and animated rug videos have appeared on Pinterest.  It is interesting to note that some Websites use our pages to reference their articl...

Other Techniques Many rug hookers also knit. Claire recommends cocoknits.com for interesting patterns (some free) for all the family and home decor. Site has tutorials, tips and when it comes to recycling,we especially like knitting rugs out of old bedsheets .   Follow the link to download the Rag Doily Rug Pattern. Rag Doily Rug Pattern by Cocoknits.com, knitted by Claire Fradette

Kick-Off Luncheon On Saturday, January 19th, ten Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters attended the 2013 Kick-Off Luncheon at the Elixor Restaurant on the West Island of Montreal. A most enjoyable event where all had time to meet informally and exchange on many subjects.

Course: Transparency, Reflections and Absorption Place:    Centennial Hall, Beaconsfield, QC Day and Time: Over 5 Mondays from January 21 to February 25, 2013 (no class Feb. 4th – Guild meeting day) Cost: $100 – Registration: December 17, 2012 latest Teacher: Lois Morris tel. 450-834-6912 or e-mail: lomohook@bell.net This is an open class in Transparency, Reflections and Absorption. Students will do a piece of their own choice. It must contain Transparency (which presents well alone in a contemporary type of work) or do a piece showing all three. Check out pictures of Still Life, scenes with water, etc., or pictures with bottles or glassware that you may like to copy. I will have a few pictures of Transparency alone, which works well for a beginner. Those willing to bite the bullet and stretch their minds will enjoy incorporating all three in their work. You will dye your own colours, where necessary, over white, natural or any material yo...

Show & Tell  by BHCG rug hookers of rugs in progress during Hook-In of January 7, 2013. Sylvia Solomon Louise G. de Tonnancour Kay Cousineau Elizabeth Kimoff Claire Fradette Pat Strike Ailish O'Keefe Jacqueline Bouchard

Shelly Atkinson  is a self-taught visual artist and crafter from Nova-Scotia, Canada. She loves experimenting with styles, colours, textures and techniques in her paintings and illustrations. Shelly offers rug hooking patterns of animals, flowers, people, the four seasons, etc. She can create custom drawings of your pet or family and even revise her patterns, if requested. Her work can be found on greeting cards, journals, prints, rug hooking patterns, coasters. needlepoint patterns, calendars, posters, and a child's book. Go to  http://users.eastlink.ca/~shellyatkinson/rughooking/rughooking.html http://shellyatkinson.blogspot.ca/ Music Is Good For The Soul A Good Book Dog & 2 Birds Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe

Winter - Denise Morissette After our video of animated rugs was so warmly received, we created another one to celebrate the Christmas Holidays. Over the month of December 2012,  we tallied 1,473 visits to the new video. We also received e-mails and comments on Facebook, on Forums such as Rug Hooking Daily and on a few Blogs as well as Pinterest. A very big thank you to everyone.

Dye Course - November 2012 given by Lois Morris_ Nov. 19th,  26th, & Dec. 3rd. 2012    at Centennial Hall, Beaconsfield, QC    Over four Mondays, students learned to dye using onions skins, to dip dye, to brush dye and how to remove colour. They learned to dye an 8 value swatch (3" x 9") and an 8 value transitional swatch using a mixture of natural, white and coloured, textured wool. Students participated actively and took home samples. Dye Course  with Lois J. Morris *** Follow the lionk to see the Photo Album: Dye Course

Winter - Denise Morissette Animated Rugs To share with you the magic and joy of Holiday Season, Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild extend to you our best wishes and invites you to visit our Website to view a clip of rugs animated for the season. Please follow this link  http://www.beaconsfieldrughooking.com/animated-rugs.html Maria Romero Webmaster - Beaconsfield Hooking Crafters Guild

Dye Course: Over 3 Mondays 10AM - NOON Nov. 19th,  26th, & Dec. 3rd. at Centennial Hall, Beaconsfield, QC   Cost:   Course: $90.00    +     Materials:  $60.00    =    TOTAL: $150.00 Teacher : Lois Morris To register please contact Lois Morris, latest November 5th, via e-mail at: lomohook@bell.net or by phone at 450-834-6912   On Monday  Nov. 19th students will participate in class.  You will each receive a selection of 12 Cushing dyes and a Colour Chart.   Day 1 :  We will learn -- 2 ways to use onion skins, to dip dye, to spot dye,  to paint brush dye, and how to remove colour.  Students will take home a sample of each.   Day 2 :  We will dye an 8 value swatch. (wool pieces 3" x 9"). You will each take home a swatch.   Day 3 :  We will dye an 8 value transitional swatch (one that goes from one colour to another). Using a mixture of...

Time and Motion at GMRHG 16th Exhibition_ by Carolyn Ells The Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild held its 16th Hooked in the Mountains exhibit, November 10-17, 2012, at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Members of our Beaconsfield guild participated in various ways. Louise G. de Tonnancour exhibited the hooked portrait of her ancestor. It looked very distinguished amid the more than 450 hooked pieces of art on display. Judith Dallegret taught a 2-day "Design and Colour Planning" class and she gave a lecture on "Folk Art to Knit Bombing". Lin Watson also presented a lecture on "Mat Making in the UK". Several members visited the exhibit to admire and be inspired. Maria Romero and I, and one of our St Henri rug-hooking friends, made our trip down to Vermont on the last day of the exhibit. What did we notice first? The round barn exhibit space was heated this year!! We admired our favorite rugs, which won people's choice awards in last ...