Category: Fiber Arts Fiesta

June 8, 2017

Damn, you found me…spreading the gospel…of hooking

CHeryl Bollenbach's workshop where she shared the gospel of hooking. — Me presenting my piece at the end of our workshop with Cheryl Bollenbach. Those with sharp eyes and a ***Rug Hooking Magazine*** subscription will recognize the pattern I used. Thank you for sharing this with the hooking world, **Brigitte Webb**! I hope to do it justice.

It’s been almost a month, and I’m a day or two late, but I had to come back sometime. Not going to apologize for loving time off from the blog, but logging into WordPress for the first time in weeks, I realize how much updating I have to do on the entire freakin’ site. Along with some other electronic “toilette.” Sigh. Work is never done.

Note, I may not have been blogging, but I have been hooking. That is rarely a chore. Oh, maybe it is for those of you who whip-stitch. Yeah, I hardly ever do that crap.

What have I been doing? Funny you should ask.

May started with a bang. The Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) invited Cheryl Bollenbach back to conduct a three-day workshop. As usual we learned a lot and bought even more…wool. My project was unusual, though only for me. It’s very…traditional. I’m working with wool strips – no t-shirts! I’m trying out linen for the first time. And see in the picture – no rug binding sewn on before hooking commenced. Don’t get too excited. There will be no whip-stitching. I’ll have it framed when I’m done. A girl can only go so traditional.

AWAG's booth at Fiesta 2017 where we share the gospel of rug hooking. — A view of our guild booth at Fiber Arts Fiesta.

Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta went down May 19-21. Of course, there was A LOT of work to be done before that. AWAG ran a successful booth. We had many visitors and several ladies who signed up for more information. In fact, I just gave a lesson this week to one of them. Ah, to spread the gospel of hooking. Below is a montage of pics taken by Melinda’s husband Gary of Gary Lamott Photography. Enjoy! And thank you again, Gary!!!
https://garylamott.smugmug.com/Fiber-Arts-517/n-phKqGb/#
Our “shop” at the Rail Yards is open. Here we share the gospel of hooking with folks who have never seen the art form. Others tell me tales of parents and grandparents who hooked. Come on down! Great fruits and veggies, plus arts, music, and yummy food.

High on Hooking started our selling season at Albuquerque’s Rail Yards. Despite it being Memorial Day weekend (holidays are notorious for slow sales) and thanks to a woman visiting from Las Cruces who loves textiles, we had a good day. Come visit; we’re there every other weekend till mid-October.

Sadly, those of us from AWAG who do demos at the Biopark’s Botanical Garden gave our last spiel till August. We had over a hundred kids in talking about what we do and trying their little hands at hooking. The park kicks us out for two months to use the Heritage farmhouse for summer camp programs. I guess it’s a good enough reason. In the meantime, in addition to our guild meetings, we’re meeting at members’ homes because we refuse to give up that whole social thing.

Finally had the chance to do all the planting and potting that I’d been putting off till after Fiesta. Now I’m just waiting for my first crop of basil. I make A LOT of pesto to freeze for winter, but there’s nothing that says summer’s arrived like the aroma of basil.
Summertime and the living is easy. If you have a floatie. And a big rubber duckie.

And the pool’s up! I’ve even had a chance to chill in it on my floatie. Which pretty much takes up most of the pool when you add in my bulk-ritude. It is only 10 feet in diameter. But it works, especially for the hot flashes.

Then there were visits from family members back east. And this and that. You know, the usual life “stuff.” You remember John Lennon saying how life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. (Actually, any number of people may have said that. You can read all about that here.) Actually, I’m already planning another week off from the blog in a few weeks when Tom and I and the dog motor up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for some R&R (read: hiking and hanging on the patio with a beverage or three and a book or five).

What are your plans this summer? Do they involve hooking or other kinds of fun? Some form of escape? Travel? Getting together with friends? Share what you’re up to and make me jealous!

Sharing the gospel of hooking with a winning rug. — Congratulations, Melinda Lamott on receiving the Peoples’ Choice Award for rug hooking at Fiesta 2017!

May 4, 2017

Summer sales – be there!

Summer selling at ABQ Recycled Art Fair. — Summer selling and festivals start… The view from right in front of my booth. Could easily watch the musical groups, the watermelon seed spitting contest, and the doggie costume contest.

Had our first summer sales opportunity – okay, late spring – this weekend at the Albuquerque Recycled Art Fair at the Open Space VIsitors’ Center on Coors. Not sure if you saw my Facebook posts; the first pic I took Saturday afternoon once the sun had come out, but, baby, it was still chilly out! At least the slush and rain had ended. Yes, slush and rain, but at least it wasn’t the 8-12 inches they had on the other side of the mountain.

We’ve been pretty warm since February, had lovely weekends. Hell, I even took in an outdoor quilt show last weekend. The fair staff had asked us to set up our tents (generally needed for SHADE her in New Mexico) Friday, but once it started to pour that afternoon, Tom and I took a pass on that, deciding it was better not to completely wet-out the tent. Judging by the foul weather report, we’d need it to keep rain out on Saturday…when we woke up to a temperature of 36ºF. Fun times! Fortunately, I received an email saying that the show would start an hour late, 11:00 instead of 10:00. At 9:30 we were approaching 40º. Hey, it was better than the 30s.

But the question remained: who in their right mind was going to come to the fair to see the exhibits and buy from all of us no matter how wonderful our recycled art was? And they were calling for sun on Sunday. But bless some big, old hearts. It shows what a great art city ABQ is. There were actually quite a few folks who showed up that morning and then later when the rain dried up and blew away. In fact, I sold more items Saturday morning to those die-hards than I did the rest of the fair. Amazing. And while Sunday indeed dawned shiny and bright, those New Mexican spring winds were galing away at full blast. Still, it was a fun fair – lots of good music and things to see. I’ve already told the organizers that I want the same spot next year. And they said YES!

In the meantime, I wanted to post where High on Hooking will be the next few months. I’m hoping to add in a few dates and shows here and there, so more info to follow as it comes in.

Albuquerque Rail Yards Market
Albuquerque, Sundays, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

May 28
June 11, 25
Need a rug? call High on Hooking.
July 9, 23
August 6,20
September 10, 24
October 15

ART in the Park and Ice Cream Social
Amigos de Cerillos Hills Park, Cerillos (just off the Turquoise Trail)

Saturday, June 17, 10:00 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The next few weeks are busy ones:

The Adobe Wool Arts Guild is hosting Cheryl Bollenbach again this year for a class. That starts Friday and runs through Sunday late afternoon.
Sunday early afternoon we have family coming in for a first-time visit to New Mexico. The Sunday after that: more company!
Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta sets up Thursday, May 18, and then runs from the 19th-21st. I’m still sewing binding on my big rug that’ll show. Have to sleeve it and another one for hanging.
The Rail Yards Market opens the 28th, and I have to make more inventory! Summer sales do take work.

“Mama’s Kitchen” Mug Rug Set: sold! By Tom!

Something’s got to give for a few weeks, and, in this case, it’s the blog. So, no more entries till June, peeps. But I will definitely put updates and photos – especially of Cheryl’s class and Fiesta – on the Facebook page. Check in there.

I hope that your spring is going well and that it’s warming up wherever you call home!

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April 25, 2017

Meet the Thimbleweeds

I still can’t believe that I got Tom to go to the Thimbleweeds quilt show on Sunday. But it was a beautiful day: blue sky, a breeze, not too warm. And we needed to get out. But what finally got him was “And we can take the dog.” Tynan’s always up for a field trip.

We headed up to Rio Rancho where the Thimbleweed Quilters are based (about 20 minutes from the house). The Great Outdoor Quilt Show is held annually, but that doesn’t mean that it runs annually. If there’s one thing I’ve learned living here in New Mexico, it’s that spring can be a bit tricky. And almost always windy; windy enough to take down a quilt show. But not this year. So off we went.

Enjoy the pics. Sadly, there was no way for me to record the artists.

I would definitely NOT kick this baby off my bed!

I tell myself that I’d like to learn to quilt, but it looks like SO MUCH WORK! Rug hooking is much more “Zen” to me.

In the end, Tom agreed that checking out the Thimbleweeds’ quilts on a sunny, spring afternoon was a pleasant way to pass some time. And Tynan was a rock star! Lots of complements. Who says 9-year old dogs can’t be “cute”?

Now if the weather can just make it a repeat performance this coming weekend when High on Hooking’s 2017 selling season starts up again, this time at the ABQ Recycled Art Fair. If you’re in the area, please stop by and say hi. Mention this blog post and I’ll give you a 10% discount. See you there!

Poser for ABQ Recycled Art Fair

April 5, 2017

“Hatch Chile” rug

Another busy, busy week. There are acceptance letters to get out for the Fiber Arts Fiesta happening here in Albuquerque – GASP! – next month. Yesterday was a demo day at the BioPark. The second part of the class I’m teaching up at Española Valley Fiber Arts Center meets Saturday. We’ll be finishing up the little rugs we started last weekend. And I really need to whip the larger, blue rug I’ve entered in Fiesta. Not a small job. Sewing through t-shirt is definitely harder on the hands than sewing through soft-as-butter wool. The RA doesn’t exactly help.

Best news: Tom and I haven’t been able to get away from home alone in almost 9 years when we vacationed on Jamaica’s quieter southwest coast (skip Montego Bay; it’s far more interesting down south.) We’ve recently – and rather suddenly – become empty-nesters. Not being sure how long it’ll last, next week we’re trying to take a few days down in Silver City (New Mexico) south of here. There’s food, artsy-fartsy stuff, and mountains to hike. Yes, Tynan is insisting on coming. He’ll appreciate the hiking most of all. (We keep having to tell him “No green chilies for dogs! Not even on burgers.”) Now I have hotels and such to research. No worries; I’ll have plenty of pics and southwestern inspiration to share when we get back. Hopefully, we’ll get a full week to vacation…somewhere TBD after Fiesta.

In the meantime, “Hatch Chile” is still the current rug on the frame. (Though I did start another small mat last weekend during my class. More on that later.)

Dog on hand-hooked rug "Hatch Chile" rug — Tynan resting on “Hatch Chile.” No, he’s not relaxing. It was much too close to the magical dinner hour last evening. “Hatch Chile” is being hooked in up-cycled t-shirts and bed-sheets.

So, other than Jean Ottosen over at JLT Studios who heads off on a South Korean adventure soon and my fellow guild member Nancy Huntington who’ll soon be in Indonesia diving with the fishes, where have you been and/or where are you going to find new inspirations for your artwork? Share with us!

March 22, 2017

Inspiration: Springing back to life

Flowers springing back to life in New Mexico. — “Welcome, spring!” exclaim the purple lilac and rosemary flowers in the common area behind our house.

After a rough weekend (involving the dreaded norovirus), I managed to get out to take a few pics of New Mexico springing back to life, at least around our house. Maybe it’ll give hope to those back east who’ve been smacked by those last nasty vestiges of winter. And truth be told, much like last year, spring has come early to Albuquerque by about three weeks. We’ve been spoiled since we moved here.

Lilacs — I love lilacs – their colors, their perfume – and was so excited to find that we had a bush in our yard here.

I laugh that I can take these photos of spring in March which, to someone from New England, seems too freaking early for flowers of any kind. That we’ve been in New Mexico for almost two years matters not at all. Sure, Deb down in the Carolinas, of A Daily Dose of Fiber, you showing daffodils in practically January I get, but it’s still amazing to me to have lilacs before Mothers’ Day.

Pear tree bloom — The pear trees have been blooming for a week and a half at least! What a shame that I recently read that they’re bad for the environment. Apparently, they cross-pollinate with other ornamental pears and create a super invasive wild species. Poo!

So, you’ve got all these beautiful trees blooming like crazy. You know what blooming trees bring? Pollen! Lots of poisonous powder. And pollen brings…sinus infections. I still maintain that, much as I hate what the pollen does to my sinuses, it’s a hell of an improvement over unending cold and snow.

Flowering tree springin back to life in NM. — Spectacular, yes? As I’m not up on a lot of desert botany yet, one of my ABQ peeps will have to tell me if this is a plum or red bud. (I suspect the latter.)

Hope you enjoyed the floral show. If you were here, you’d smell them whenever you walked out the door. Then rush back in for the saline and Flonase and such.

Allergies forcing me indoors isn’t such a bad thing. I have plenty of hooking to do. Fiesta work is ramping up. The class I’m teaching at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center starts in less than two weeks. Time to work on that. Then the selling season starts with the Recycled Art Fair the last weekend in April. And in my “spare time” there’s the novel I’ve been hired to edit. So, in most every way, we are springing back to life here at High on Hooking.

Are you springing back to life these days?

Hooked rugs, mug rugs. — Finally, a peek at what’s on the frame these days. Mug rugs! (Sorry for those looking for the dog. Tynan was unavailable at publishing time to have his photo taken with the rugs. He will be back next week.)

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