Rug Hooking - I'm Hooked!

Pat Probst was the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Columbus Star Quilters Guild.  Pat is also a quilter and does fabulous painting on eggs (there's a name for what she does with egg painting that escapes me at the moment).  She's quite a talented lady.

I found her talk quite interesting.  She didn't describe the rug hooking technique and mentioned it only in passing.  She talked briefly about her introduction into hooking and what she looks for in classes (teachers that assist with technique and use of color, not so much on completing a pre-specified pattern).  She focused on where she gets her inspiration for the rugs she's hooked through the years.  Those stories and the things she learned about using different types of wools were what made this a fascinating program.

Not a clear picture but Pat is holding the first rug she hooked.  She found this at  Sans Souci - a local thrift store.  It was a partially completed rug that she finished.  She shops at Sans Souci quite often for wool skirts, pants and other items that she can cut into strips for her hooking.

The larger rug in the center of this picture is one that was an inspiration from a turn of the century shawl she owns.  Wonderful color and placement with designs that she created for use in this rug.

This gives you an idea of the variety of rugs, seat cushions (the round items), mug rugs (small square items) , wall hangings and rugs that she's hooked.  Because this picture isn't focused on a single item, the thing that strikes me is the range of colors that she's used in her hooking.  Pastel colors as in the larger rug toward the top right, blues and greens in the rug on the left, and darker colors in some of the smaller pieces.  She overdyes alot of the wool that she uses - a lesson for another time!

While I don't know that I need to add another creative endeavor at the moment, Pat's work and her talk really has me thinking about getting into rug hooking.  The only thing is I'm going to have to figure out how to get those woolen items before she does!

Cheers!

Margaret