Hope to see you at Fall Fiber Fiesta
in Santa Fe this weekend.
Admission is free.
I’ll have rugs and mats of all sizes available.
Mention this blog article and get 10% off any rug!
Fall Fiber Fiesta – visit Santa Fe this Weekend!
Category: Santa Fe
A perfect, end-of-summer weekend
This past weekend was a busy one for me, particularly in the hooking department. It started early too. Thursday found me hooking with friends. That was good; it let me finish hemming up the Boucherouite. Yes, I finally finished it. It took longer than anticipated thanks to plenty of one-directional hooking – the orange and yellowish areas. That was to imitate the weaving of the real Moroccan rugs. But I have to admit that I love how this one came out. Your thoughts? Me, I’m thinking that I have to make a much bigger floor rug. Time to collect the bed sheets…
On to Friday: Cathy Kelly gave a class on microwave dyeing to four of us in the guild. Thanks to Darlene for providing the space in her own “dye garage”! (She won’t hear that as she’s about to jaunt off to London and Paris. Why, yes, I am envious. How could you tell?)
The class was great fun. Come on, who doesn’t enjoy playing with color? Rather than wool fabric, we dyed yarn. Except for Nan, who’s high on felting, not just hooking. Here you can see the three skeins I dyed. Guess I was in a pink-purple-yellow mood. Note to self: next time work in the blue-green zone. But aren’t they wonderful and color-full? Thanks so much to Cathy for the class!
Friday evening – Saturday: Time to update the inventory and pack the car for the Sunflower Festival in Mountainair. Then bed. We had to be up early given the hour-and-a-half drive. But, damn, it was worth it. We’d never been to Mountainair before. The ride was visually stunning: bright blue skies; wide, open spaces; long freight trains; mountain passes. The best part was the cooler weather. Mountainair’s up about 6500 feet. For the first time in a long while, I didn’t sweat setting up the booth. Always a plus when you’re hanging with the public. And the tent gave nice shade. Again: perfect, end-of-summer weekend.
I can’t say enough about the festival. I managed to sell a few things, certainly enough to get me back next year. There were plenty of art and food vendors. The bathrooms were near nearby and clean. You had your choice of the indoor type or the fancy porta potty type that I’ve seen out here. AC and everything! Plus there was full-on cell phone coverage when I’d been told not to expect it at all! The festival is obviously one of the big events in this tiny community, and it showed. Kudos to the Monzano Mountain Art Council!
Sunday dawns: We’re tired what with being outside all day Saturday not to mention the three hours of driving. Took the dog for a 45-minute walk then headed off on the weekly grocery shopping trip. I don’t know what I did between then and 5:00 when we left for Santa Fe’s Opera House. (That’s about an hour’s ride.) You see, I’ve always wanted to see an opera there, but Tom, not being into opera AT ALL, demurred at sharing such an experience with me. It’s wicked expensive, so I couldn’t fully blame him. He did, however, agree to see Garrison Keillor with me. Woohoo!
The experience met ALL expectations. Again, perfect weather. Then there’s the view. The Opera House has a fabulous vantage point and, therefore, a gorgeous view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east and the Jemez to the west. It’s an open-air theater (a word that doesn’t do it justice at all) so you can literally see for miles. We bought a ridiculously overpriced glass of wine to share and took it all in.
The show started about 15 minutes late. No matter. Folks drifted in toward their seats. If they hadn’t finished their cocktails, standing just outside the theater proper to watch was perfectly acceptable. (Only bottled water is permitted inside.) Keillor moved through the audience singing extemporaneously, shaking hands, and questioning our cell phone usage.
Making it to the stage eventually, he laughed at those of us who were “saluting.” I learned a valuable lesson: Next time I attend a show at the Opera House, I’ll bring sunglasses. The seats all face directly west, right into the glaring, setting sun behind the stage. Next time I won’t be such a newbie.
The show went on a full three hours. “Intermission” was a sing-along. While Keillor clearly didn’t have to pee, Tom and I certainly did. We didn’t head home till well after 10:00, arriving about 11:20. Bed called, and the perfect, end-of-summer weekend came to a close.
Now there’s just one big question: Whatever will we do for Labor Day?
Can’t there be another perfect, end-of-summer weekend? What do you have planned end the summer?
Whatever you do this weekend, make sure you take time to say a prayer for the folks of Houston who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey this past week. Their next days, weeks, and even years will be difficult.
The gospel of rug hooking successfully shared
My two-part class at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) finished up yesterday, and yes, peeps, we have welcomed at least one new acolyte to the fold. Woohoo! Felicity, who happens to also hail from Albuquerque, was already a fiberista first class: she knits, sews, weaves, dyes, and I don’t know what else. Except for rug hooking. She’s added that to her repertoire now. I suspect she’ll do some cool stuff with it all.
After an incredible drive up north that reminded me of why I moved to New Mexico – big, blue sky; purple mountains majesty; snow-covered peaks even in April… – I was unpacking and found that my other student had texted that she couldn’t make the class. (Fortunately, she lives near me too, so, hopefully, we can do a quick wrap-up here in ABQ.) When Felicity wasn’t there by 10:20, we got worried and called her. “Sorry! Be there soon!” She’d gotten caught in some traffic. Whoo, I thought wiping the sweat away, I’d been worried I’d turned two people off the craft.
Imagine my concern then when Felicity informed me that she hadn’t finished hooking her t-shirt mat, In fact, she’d not worked on it at all! Damn, what the hell had I done or said last week? But wait! I had it all wrong. She pulls out her monks’ cloth and tells me that she started a new rug! (I’d given them enough to do just that but figured it would happen after the first one.) She has all kinds of wool yarn sitting
around her house and decided she wanted to try hooking that! So, there she was trying different directions and textures. I though that it was very inspired of her to go all rogue like that. Sure, she couldn’t go through the finishing process, but I had a few small rugs on me that needed to be finished up; we used them as demos. Felicity’s clearly a quick study, so she’ll get hers done up, no prob. Even better, she was able to score a Puritan frame for just $70. It had been sitting around the store for months and was in great condition.
Because there’d been some issues getting the class online for sign-up, I was lucky to get two students, the minimum needed for a class to run. The good thing is that where our tiny class was located required folks to walk by us and naturally stop to check out what we were up to. Several women mentioned being interested. “Would they be running the class again?” It’s up to them to bug request that EVFAC do just that. I’m up for it. And since I joined the Center as a member (which amongst other things lets you sell in the shop and outside sales they sponsor plus provides discounts for classes and items for sale), I’ll be stopping by any time I’m up in that area. And there’s a wicked sounding, one-day photography class with my name on it.
EVFAC’s an hour and a half ride for me, but worth it. Do you have a fiber “facility” that’s not all that near to your home, but that inspires you to drive? Extol its virtues here.
And to those celebrating this week, Happy Easter and Passover! Tom, Tynan, and I will be taking some time off. It’s a good time to put away the social media for a bit and enjoy what we have.
Becoming a real part of my New Mexican community
This week’s been all about really pushing farther into my new “world,” the New Mexican community I’ve become a part of in the past year and a half since we moved to Albuquerque. Specifically, I was very fortunate to be invited to join two fine organizations: the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center and Susan’s Legacy. I said YES to both because, hey, if you don’t try something new, you’re never going to grow. Or meet new people!
The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center (EVFAC) is a unique resource for fiber artists and those who find beauty in the fiber arts. Visitors to the adobe storefront in the historic district of Española, New Mexico enter a world of looms, colorful yarns, beautiful handmade textiles, books, and supplies.
I stole that right off their website. EVFAC’s mission is to cultivate and support multi-generational participation in local, traditional and contemporary Fiber Arts. (Yep, lifted that too.) One way they do this is to provide a full educational program in many fiber arts, not just the weaving that started the whole shabang. A couple of weeks ago, they contacted me and asked if I was interested in teaching a class. Apparently, someone gave the educational coordinator my info. She liked what she saw on the website and emailed me. I was stunned because a few weeks ago, I headed up to Santa Fe with my compadre Melinda to check out EVFAC’s Fall Fiber Fiesta. Neither of us remembers me even talking about High on Hooking. We were more interested in admiring the artists’ work and, of course, buying things to bring home.
Regardless, I’m in the midst of creating my proposal. We’ll be saving the environment and using t-shirts and other donated fabrics to create our rugs. More on it all later. Because EVFAC is about 90 miles north of home, we’ll probably wait till spring when the snow stops flying up that way to run the class.
Amazingly enough, my involvement with Susan’s Legacy (SL) also came about because of hooking. (It does seem to have become the center of my New Mexican universe…) Anywho – every two years when Albuquerque’s Fiber Arts Fiesta is held, a local charity is picked to receive funding from “doo-da” sales. “Doo-das” are small gifts made by the various guilds. Guests donate $5 to the featured charity, then get to pick a doo-da. Apparently, it’s a very popular part of Fiesta.The Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) – my guild – will be hooking mug rugs as our doo-dahs.
Kathryn Weil, who happens to be a quilter, is the executive director of SL. Her presentation to the guild reps struck home with me. The organization is small, but mighty. We chose it as our charity for Fiesta 2017 (May 19-21).
Susan’s Legacy is a small, non-profit agency that provides intensive recovery support for women with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders. The goal for clients is to move from surviving to thriving as self-sufficient, contributing community members. Clients must be committed to recovery and actively engage in the services provided by SL to support the goals of becoming mentally stable and substance free. …Susan’s Legacy addresses these needs by providing case management, individual mental health and addiction counseling, and psycho-educational groups. Susan’s Legacy provides services to clients free of charge. Because clients don’t pay for these services, Susan’s Legacy is dependent upon grants, donations, and fundraising to continue its work with co-occurring women.
(That was “borrowed” from the Fiber Arts Council’s December Newsletter edited by Cathy Kelly, a fellow AWAG member.
Mental illness and addiction runs in my family, so I’ve had some experience with SL’s charge. In addition, many of my food pantry clients faced these same challenges. (For those who are new to High on Hooking, one of my past lives involved running a couple of pantries.) Little did I know when I contacted SL to volunteer in some capacity – like helping with paperwork or grant-
writing – that Kathryn would propose something else. This week I became a Board member. I was so impressed with the women I met at the meeting; I only hope that I can offer as half as much as they do.
Of course, Tom’s wondering how I’ll keep everything straight and have enough time. I figure that God always provides… Well, almost. 🙂 I’ve got my eye out for a part time job too. We’ll see what happens.
How have fiber arts
widened your world?
Current state of affairs…always hooking…
Damn, I wrote that headline and realized that it looked vaguely political, something I try to avoid on social media especially these days. At least the freaking election is finally over, and we can only wait to see what January will bring. In the meantime, the holidays are rushing at us like there’s no tomorrow. A portend? (Sorry. I said I wouldn’t say anything political. I won’t.) And there is hooking, always hooking.
So, what am I working on these days (always hooking)? In hopes that I’ll get a call from the waiting list at the Rail Yards for the holiday market next month, I’m still creating rug mugs. I’ve also come up with a new item; it’ll be a great stocking stuffer, gift card holder, hostess gift, or little girl’s purse. Here’s a pic of the prototype. Like it?
I plan on filling them with candy canes for Christmas time and maybe some faux flowers or something next spring. The bags are from Hobby Lobby, too inexpensive for me to bother making. The hooking’s a bit tricky since there’s no frame involved, just your hand to stick in and hold it all. (I don’t know how Rachelle LeBlanc hooks without a frame ALL THE TIME and then gets those beautiful results.)
Albuquerque’s Fiber Fiesta is also keeping me busy and not just because I’m a guild rep to the Fiber Arts Council. I think I know what I want to create for next May’s show, and I’m doing some research, though I’m not ready to share just yet. But I better get a move on as it has to be pretty much finished by the March 1 entry deadline. For those who are interested, the Call-For-Entries is open and waiting. Consider joining us.
In between projects, I’m still working on my “fall” tree of life rug, the one I started last month. It’s coming along despite being thrown to the side on a regular basis. Always hooking….
As an aside, how many of you saw this rug on page 56 of the newest ATHA magazine?
I was flipping through it the evening my copy came, when I caught sight of “Kenya Flora and Fauna.” That’s really familiar,” I said then looked a little closer. “Ha, I do know this rug!” Nancy Huntington submitted the pic; it’s a large mat that her mother-in-law Sylvia hooked after an adventure in Africa. Nan brought the rug to one of the demonstrations our guild does at the Albuquerque BioPark a couple of months ago. Kids loved it! Here are a couple of close-ups I snapped at the BioPark. (Nancy generously shared the photo above.) Fabulous rug!
What’s your current state of affairs? On your frame, that is.
PS – Before I let you go, for anyone in the general New Mexican area, if you’re in the mood for a field trip this coming weekend (Friday-Sunday), make sure you look into the Santa Fe Fiber Festival brought to us by the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. My partner in crime, fellow native New Englander and new New Mexican, Melinda, and I are heading up there Saturday. Hope to see you!