Will you be at Mountainair’s Sunflower Festival Saturday?
Bowyn will be sad if he doesn’t get to meet you at Saturday’s Sunflower Festival.
Unfortunately, last weekend’s textile art sale in Santa Fe was a bit of a logistical bust. But is it really a loss when you spend time hanging with a bunch of other talented fiber artists here in New Mexico or anywhere. NO! Fortunately, Cathy, my partner in crime, and I have the Sunflower Festival in just a few days. It’s always a fun time what with the arts, the music, the food… And Mountainairis a cool, little mountain town, very BIG sky country.
As you can see, I’m ready for the Sunflower Festival. Sunflowers are truly one of my favorite flowers, and if you’ve been following me for at least a year, you know that I like to hook some version of them annually. This year I went small, three wall hangings. And instead of keeping it all t-shirt all the time, I mixed it up. Each one has some amount of t-shirt, bed sheet, wool strips, and wool yarn. The variegated backgrounds were dyed by my own little hands during my “retreat week” back in June. Oh, and I included itty-bitty glass seed beads in the – what else? – sunflower seed heads!
Sunflower wall hanging. (Old t-shirts and bed sheets; wool strips and yarn; glass seed beads.)
It’s the end of summer here in New Mexico, and while the sunflowers are blooming and it’s still warm, you can see that fall’s on its way. Kids have been in school a couple of weeks. (Being from the East Coast, that’s still weird for me.) Already I’ve spied some turning leaves here and there. The Hatch chiles are roasting in the grocery store parking lots. That heavenly aroma!
Fall is a looking forward time for me. How to change up the house decor – pumpkins and candles, of course. The holidays! We just rented a house for a week’s vacation in Arizona (which lets us be self-sufficient in this unnecessarily continued time of Covid, but I digress). New rugs and other textile projects. Workshops.
On that workshop note, I want to remind everyone that In the Studio Workshop Week 3 will be here in two months. Less than that, actually. I’ll be teaching two sessions of Hooking with T-Shirts. The first will be Saturday, October 23. There are a few places still open in each class, so if you’re interested, email me at Laura@highonhooking.com. Some workshops are full but may have a waiting list available. Others still have room. Just contact the teacher of the class you’re interested in.
Lastly, a gentle reminder. The rug hooking week at Sauder Village just wrapped up. Trolling Facebook, I’ve seen wonderful photos of the gorgeous rugs that were on display. One thing, though, that I noticed about many of the posts was the lack of attribution. We need to remember that when we post pics of others’ artwork, we need to give the artists their due and provide their names. An easy way to get that info is to take a quick pic of the little card that’s invariably right next to or just below the rug, painting, quilt, or other piece of art you’re photographing. Then you’ll have everything together when you go to share the art porn.
As summer winds down here in the northern hemisphere, what plans are you making in order to really appreciate and enjoy the autumn? Maybe you’ll head out to Mountainair!
Summer’s been flying by, and I was gone for part of July. But the work of summer, first mentioned back in June – that’s been ongoing. Enjoy the project porn.
ABUNDANCE, the latest of the #happyrugseries rugs. Mixed fibers, many recycled. (15″x48″)
#happyrugseries
I started the #happyrugseries back at the end of last year so that I could concentrate on something other than all the overwhelmingly DOWNER news that we were (and continue to be) subject to. These pieces have to have a certain joy to them, most of which can be seen in their riot of colors. In June I finished a large-ish happy rug ABUNDANCE. She was hooked using a variety of fibers, mostly what I had on hand, in an “automatic” or stream of consciousness style. And, yes, she has holes!
New Mexico Cushion
In late June, Ruth and I finished New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. You can find more about that HERE. It was a relief to get it into the mail and up to Canada. I could finally work on my own projects and start adding to the Etsy shop.
New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. Design by Patricia Lowden. Hooed by Laura Salamy. All put together by Ruth Simpson. Thank you, ladies!
Retreat Week
You might remember that I claimed the last week in June for my personal retreat week after a class I was to teach at had to be postponed. I had a lot on tap for that week.
Write an article on 2020’s Ribbon Rug Journal. Check! It’s written, but I need to take some photographs and submit it. At least the words are done!
Yarn destined for punching.
DYEING! I know, you don’t hear much about dyeing from me, especially given that I hook with so many old bed sheets and t-shirts which come in all sorts of vivid colors. Nonetheless, I’ve been planning to dye some wool yarn for quite a while. I’ll use the bulk of it to punch with or sell/share with punch needle rug hooking students when I can host an in-person class. Had a great time doing it and will definitely do some more.
My first Kawandi project. Quilt scraps and recycled linens.
Kawandi Quilting – It’s a form of kantha-like quilting. While I have plenty of friends who are quilters, I am not. At all. Mostly, I don’t like how much room it takes and that you need a machine. But I’ve always loved kantha quilts and stitching by hand is more to my liking. After doing some research online about what I might actually be able to make, I was happy to find these Indian quilts which are pieced together using scraps of fabrics. Another form of recycling – yay! I had plenty of quilt scraps from Ruth; plus there are all kinds of old sheets in my “stable” that I can hook with. But I wasn’t done: I have a lot of old cloth napkins that have seen better days. Cut everything up and…I had a quilt. Sure I made some errors, but I was pretty happy with it in the end.
VOYAGE PLASTIQUE was hooked using plastic bags that might have otherwise made their way to the ocean.
#ECOHOOKING – Given all the wildfires, the melting tundras, violent storms, and ocean pollution, I decided to do my own little part and hook a piece with plastic bags that otherwise might have ended up caught in a tree. Having already hooked a larger such piece, I’d kept the most colorful bags I didn’t used. Despite the heavy environmental theme, I was hoping she might make some folks smile given her sunny disposition. It worked! Tom mailed VOYAGE PLASTIQUE off to her forever home in New Hampshire just this morning.
July travels
Last month Tom, Bowyn, and I saddled up the CR-V for a 2200-mile trip or so back East to see friends and family. (There were another 2200 miles to drive back, of course.) Tynan got a staycation with Ruth. Sitting in a car for several days does call for some handwork, and I was prepared.
Personal best crocheting project – I prefer not to hook in the car, but I will crochet. Before we left, I decided on a project that was NOT a shawl, my usual travel go-to. Nope, I searched and searched online for something.
Finished! “Easy crochet top down” by Modessa.
Some tops looked interesting, but I couldn’t deal with having to crochet up two identical halves. (Mostly because I doubt my ability to do that, especially on a distracting trip). I finally came upon the cool EASY (emphasis on easy) CROCHET TOP DOWN. Reading it, the syntax and directions are off a bit as the chick who created the pattern isn’t a native English speaker. If you choose to crochet the pattern, I’d advise that you watch the video. I did. Many times. Oh, and there’s not a lot of counting in this piece. A big bonus. BEST: I finished the top last week, and it even fits me. I’ll block it this week then post me wearing it on Instagram.
New rug – While I don’t hook in the car, if I’ve driven to my destination, I will hook when I get there. Usually more than I did on this particular journey. But before I left, I drew up a new pattern, sewed on my tape, and gathered up and stripped some old t-shirts. I find that hooking with t-shirts works best when I’m on the go. That wool allergy isn’t going anywhere, and bed sheets shed thread like the dickens.
Bowyn sharing the floor with the “travel” rug. He’s happy to be out of the car.
What’s on my plate at the moment
Since I like to crochet all patterns twice so that I know I’m proficient, that I didn’t just get lucky, I’m planning to do up the top in another color. It helped that JoAnn’s has a summer yarn clearance going on. (I spent a lovely hour there yesterday picking up some bamboo and hemp yarns. I hope to do a bag with the latter. All those colorful yarns; I couldn’t help myself.)
And because I have two sales coming up very soon, I decided to put the travel rug away and do a few small wall hangings. Sunflowers! I love sunflowers and try to hook at least one each year. Plus, one of the sales is the Sunflower Festival down in Mountainair, a mountain town south of Albuquerque.
Bowyn takes this chance to have a treat and bring you the sunflowers in this week’s WHAT’S ON THE FRAME.
All in all I’ve been pretty productive this summer. And there are still a few weeks left! Perhaps it’s a byproduct of the pandemic; I realize that I’ve become a little less social. I like having more time to myself to create, to concentrate on projects that I deem worthwhile, whether they’re for my shop or my own growth. The challenge will be how to keep at least some of that time for myself once the Delta variant disappears and we can move back out into the world for real.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the project porn. How has Covid affected your art practice?
So, maybe a year and a half or two ago, I offered to hook New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. I finally started to hook it in April. As many worthwhile endeavors do, it took longer than expected.
USA50 poster courtesy of https://remileves.myportfolio.com/usa50.
For those not familiar with the USA50 project, it originated with another big, creative venture, the hooked cushion collection at the Barachois Historic Church in New Brunswick, Canada. The church, “the old whitewashed building on New Brunswick Road 133, will be 200 years old in 2026. This small church is among the oldest Acadian buildings still standing on its original site.” In order to celebrate the anniversary…“the committee thought then that a collection of 50 hooked cushions [on the church benches] would probably be feasible and would certainly arouse the interest of the population.” (Quotes from https://remileves.myportfolio.com/bonjourwelcome.)
The Barachois Historic Church is an ancient wooden building, which first opened its doors in 1826, and is still standing after nearly 200 years. The building was disaffected in the late 1970s, and reprieved from demolition in 1980. It has since been transformed into a local Museum, art gallery and summer classical concert venue. For over 40 years a wide variety of cultural events have been presented there. In order to be more comfortable on the old wooden pews, many event goers took too bringing a cushion to cultural presentations, and leaving it on the bench. Over time, this developed into a sort of tradition. This has inspired the Historic Church Preservation Committee. The “200 hooked cushions for my 200th” public art collection became the first permanent collection of the visual arts in the historic church. We cordially invite you to be part of the “USA50” collection to seal indefinitely our countries friendship and give the two collections the international destination status it deserves. (From the USA50 Facebook page.)
Poster for the Barachois Church’s 200th Anniversary and hooked cushions exhibit opening.
This [initial 200 cushions] collection, like others across America, proudly celebrates the volunteer work of artists in hooking. The project lives up to their community spirit and helping others, their creativity, their energy to work towards a common goal to meet the challenge. These artists, mostly women, gave in order to realize our dream. What is even more fascinating is that for many, our dream has become theirs too. Everyone had a reason to embark. That’s what created magic. Many artists pay tribute to their ancestors, a family member, Acadian friends, a colleague hooker, history, the art of hooking or just the cause.
The official opening of the cushion exhibit was on August 18, 2019. Over 1000 people came to view the cushions that day. American hookers were in attendance. They suggested the USA50 project, one cushion from each state.
One cushion per state representing memorabilia, landscape, bird, flower, or other representation particular to that state. Already rug hookers from all over the United-States have shown interest… (From the USA50 Facebook page.)
Hence my participation in the project. But, while a Hatch chile pepper or a hot air balloon would’ve been good representations for New Mexico, I preferred something more authentic. Something, perhaps, Native American as they were here long before the Spanish showed up in the 1500s.
A few years ago, during a visit to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center here in Albuquerque, I purchased a travel mug with artwork by potter Patricia Lowden, a member of the Acoma Pueblo about 40 miles west of the city. I use the mug all the time and thought that a design like hers might best represent New Mexico. Long story short, I was able to contact Patricia through the Cultural Center. After explaining the project and how I would NOT monetarily benefit from the cushion, she generously offered not to let me use the mug design but to send me a similar design! That made my life a LOT easier.
“Rainbird” travel mug; design by Patricia Lowden. They’re ceramic now. You can find it HERE.
I hooked it using different wool yarns. Ruth Simpson, friend and fellow member of the Adobe Wool Arts Guild, graciously put the whole thing together.
A little about Patricia:
I am full Acoma. My great grandmother is Lupe Chavez who lived to be 105 yo. She was a potter, piki maker. Both my grandmother’s on my mom and dad’s side were potters as well. …My mother was Anita Lowden. She was a famous potter in the Indian market and won a lot of blue ribbons for her work. She made pots, animals and pitchers. She and grandmother Jesse have pottery in the Smithsonian. My oldest sister and I do the pottery making now. We learned from our grandma Andrea as we grew up closer to this side of the family. I am a 4th generation potter. I use the coil method to build my pottery. I grind my clay after soaking it. There are several steps to making and painting the pottery. I use a yucca brush to outline n paint my pieces. I make water jars, seed pots, canteens, vases, and wedding vases. I make various sizes. When people order they usually tell me how much they want to spend or I make a variety if they want more than one piece. I use traditional paints. I have been painting and making since I was 15 yo when my grandmother asked if I would outline for her, but I played with the clay when I was younger like 8 when my grandmother asked if I would like to make something to sell as she was getting ready for a feast to sell her pottery. I helped my grandmother as she was getting older and couldn’t see very well but she could still make pottery. My grandmother always encouraged me to try new designs… I love what I do and now I have a 14 year old daughter, Destiny, who I am teaching. She has made a few pieces and has sold them on her own. I am very proud of her because she will carry on my designs and the old style of making pottery.
“Rainbird,” New Mexico’s contribution to the USA50 project. All wool yarn on monk’s cloth. Design by Patricia Lowden. Hooked by Laura Salamy. All put together by Ruth Simpson. Thank you ladies!
Patricia has seen the cushion and told me that she and her family really love how it turned out. I’m hoping to hook up a smaller version for her to hang in her home.
Make sure you go onto Remi’s site and the Facebook page to see pics of the various cushions created for both projects. There are still a few states that are unaccounted for. As of May, they included: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah. Do you live in or are you from one of these? Perhaps you can help finish up the USA50 Collection. Contact Remi Levesque through his website or the Facebook page.
Note: Please respect Patricia’s traditional design. Do not copy.
I really do miss – and prefer – teaching in person, but one of the Coronacootie’s most pernicious side effects is how it’s kept us all from one another. From family members, from friends, from students and teachers, you get the idea. But humans do adapt, and makers still gotta make, so Zoom entered all our lives. Truthfully, I think that we all understand that that hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing. Many more folks were able to “get together” through Zoom talks and workshops than would’ve been possible pre-Corona. And Zoom will continue well into our futures even when we’re all vaccinated up and, hopefully, have achieved herd immunity and get back to meeting each other in real life. But till then…
If you or someone you know would like to learn how to rug hook, in June I’ll be teaching a class through the online textile arts festival CREATE DIY. In fact, there will be several workshops and a couple of lectures going on during the event. General info can be found HERE. Topics include:
Quiltfest presents … Create DIY, a comprehensive journey into the magical world of the textile arts. Indulge yourself with Create DIY! This online festival includes educational workshops, studio tours, live presentations, and more.
Quilting ■ Needle Felting ■ Stampwork ■ Crochet ■ Wearable Art Japanese Boro Stitching ■ Jewelry ■ Paper Weaving ■ Dollmaking ■ Dyeing ■
Thread Painting ■ Dorset Buttons ■ Embroidery ■ Rug Hooking■ Macrame ■ Knitting ■
Modern Weaving ■ and more!
Join us online: Thursday through Saturday, June 10-12, 2021
Introduction to Rug Hooking – Not So Traditional
Friday, June 11
Half-Day Workshop
12 pm – 3 pm EDT, Friday, June 11
Learn the basics of traditional rug hooking with a bit of a twist. Not only will we use the usual wool fabric strips (more about that in class), but we’ll also try old t-shirts, yarn, ribbon, and anything else you might have in your house that you can pull a loop with. We will:
Discuss the history of rug hooking and where it is today, including its various forms;
Learn how to prep our materials;
Begin hooking a “mug rug,” a small table mat, or wall hanging; and
Discuss the ways we can finish the piece when the hooking is done.
While big brother Tynan snoozes, Bowyn brings you “What’s on the frame.” “Abundance,” part of the #happyrugseries, is an adventure in mark-making with all kinds of fibers. And she has three holes!
There’s more info online HERE. Kits are optional, but participants need to contact me to make sure they have everything. Contact me at Laura@highonhooking.com if you have any questions.
Hoping to have a new and very special venue announcement in the next week or so. Stay tuned!
So, after a year, what’s your stance on Zoom workshops?
A few folks who follow High on Hooking’s Instagram account, got a peek at my offering to The Violet Protest last week. Today I packaged my 8″ x 8″ square up and mailed it off to Phoenix where it will be part of an exhibit and then sent on to lawmakers in Washington.
For those in the dark who have never heard of the Violet Protest, it’s a project that was conceived of by Ann Morton, a textile artist, educator, and “social practitioner” in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Driven by a desire to make right, the work she does reflects her own handwork, but also orchestrates handwork of interested community members through public interventions that seek to socially engage the hands of many to harness the power of making for social purpose.”
Textile artists across the country have been asked to make these 8″x8″ squares using whatever techniques they wish. My M.O., of course, is hooking. I might have used crochet or embroidery as well, but I opted to commit to only one square (knowing the project and teaching backlog that I’m already juggling). The squares are to be made using pretty much equal parts blue and red. As you know, BLUE + RED = VIOLET/PURPLE. The point is to create an “overall presentation of violet in the final display” of all the squares made.
My hooked square of wool strips and yarn and recycled silk blouse strips.
“The Violet Protest is a public effort to send 50 hand-made textile squares to each and every member of Congress
in support of these core American values:
•Respect for the other •Citizenship •Compromise •Country over party and corporate influence •Courage •Candor •Compassion •Creativity
Whether we weave, knit, crochet, quilt, or embroider all 26,750 of these squares — through this social action, and from every corner of America; we as makers of all political persuasions, believe we can employ our willing spirit and our talents to contribute to healing divisions that threaten our country. This collection of textile squares will be first displayed at Phoenix Art Museum, in the Spring of 2021, before they are sent to the new 117th Congress by late 2021.
Focused on the values we hold dear as Americans, rather than any political beliefs, the color violet symbolizes the literal combination of red and blue, long held as symbols of our nation’s differing ideologies. Our common goal is to send a physical message of friendly protest through this colossal visual expression to demonstrate that if we as citizens are willing to come together, so then must our elected officials.”
There’s still plenty of time for you to get involved with this project. In fact, Ann could use a lot more squares, all total 26,750! Maybe your rug queue isn’t as long as mine is, and you’re looking for away to resist the winter doldrums. These squares hardly take any time to hook…or crochet…or sew…or whatever. While there is a February 1 deadline for squares to be exhibited in the Phoenix Art Museum, you’ve got plenty of time – till August 1! – to get some to Ann to be sent to members of Congress later in 2021. I’m hoping that I might be able to do some more once High on Hooking’s rug obligations are fulfilled.
The tag attached to my square.
Getting involved in the Violet Protest is easy, really. Ann mails out a tag to you. You attach it to your square(s) and mail it all back. Done! For more info click HERE. You can see examples of squares on the Violet Protest Instagram page.
In other news, we had another fine Zoom gathering last Saturday for the Build a Baby Boucherouite workshop. There were five of us. If you’re interested in the class, please contact me. I will say that this is one that works better and is more fun with the energy of a small group of folks working together and bringing all kinds of ideas. If you think your guild or a klatch of friends might want to get together to explore hooking some BBs, give a yell.
A reminder, that there are a few more spaces left in In the Studio’s WORKSHOP WEEK 2. I believe that Karen Miller, Beth Miller, and Meryl Cook have a couple of “seats.” Contact them directly. (To do that follow the WW2 link above) I have some more room in my second Intro to Punch Needle Rug Hooking session on February 20. Let me know if you’d like to be join us.
Tynan and Bowyn bring you this week’s “What’s on the frame.” (Mostly because they want the Beggin’ Strips BAD.)
And lastly, Tynan and Bowyn bring you “What’s on the frame” this week. If you remember, they showed what this rug looked like when I started hooking it back in December. It’s almost done. Hope my aunt likes it. It was inspired by her color choices and a drawing she made. More on that when I finish it. Till then, be warm and stay safe. May our Covid vaccine shot(s) happen soon!
Might you be able to make a square for THE VIOLET PROTEST?
e in the dark who have never heard of the Violet Protest, it’s a project that was conceived of by 
