A Little Showtime

Rug hooking isn't as prevalent in my area of the country, so the opportunity to attend rug hooking events are few and far between. When I had the opportunity to attend a local event last week, I jumped at the chance!

Beth Anne Smiley, owner and operator of one of our Bee Line Art Tools Distributors, Wheaten Woolens, had a rug hooking event in her store last Friday and needed a cassette, so got to leave the office and make a delivery.  When I arrived, not only were there rug hookers in Wheaten Woolens, but also Fran Riley, a reporter for our local Channel 6 station.  Fran was doing a story on rug hooking, and had Beth Anne show him the tricks of the trade.

Beth Anne Smiley, showing a pattern and explaining
what types of backing are used in rug hooking.

Some of Beth Anne's beautiful wool she sells from her shop.

The cameraman getting footage of rug hooking.

Beth Anne's personal assistant and public relations guru,
and the namesakes for the shop.

The outside of Wheaten Woolens - we just had a fresh
snowfall the night before. Isn't it pretty?

The segment aired on TV last night, and assuredly informed more people in our area about rug hooking, so thanks for spreading the good word, Beth Anne!

Sauder Village Recap

I'm finally caught up with the paperwork from Sauder Village, so now it's time to post pictures of the rugs.  And Oh, were there a lot of terrific rugs!  Let's get to it!

First, let me say that the amazing Katie Lane from Townsend was unable to make it to Sauder this year, there were some family commitments she had to meet.  I missed you Katie!  Ruth, our Purchasing Manager at Bee Line, came with me instead.  Of course, she left as a hooker.  Ruth bought a kit from Tomorrow's Heirlooms and started hooking.  I warned her it would happen.

Hi Ruth!

I always love being able to meet customers at Sauder - it's great to be able to put a face with a name, and I have a LOT of names.  Shari and I talk to all kinds of people during the year, so when I meet people at the show it's usually a hug-fest.

Aww!  It's Linda Keller from Grant Street Woolworks!  One of our terrific distributors.

And then, there were rugs.  Lots and lots of rugs.

Sometimes I just love the cards with the stories behind the rug on them, like the one for this fox:

Here's another favorite, hooked by Susan Feller of Ruckman Mill Farm - another one of our distributors.

This dog. "Buddy" was hooked by Leslie Cuthbertson and designed by Jon Ciemiwicz from a picture Leslie gave him.

I loved the colors of this beautiful sampler-style piece. called "Heartland Samper".  It was designed by Cactus Needle and hooked by Susan Rand.

This whimsical fortune teller, called "Future Not in the Stars", was designed and hooked by Kathleen R. Helland-Carini.

A whole series of Hippos throughout the year, here is the information:

And of course, the amazing "Eye See You 2", The Big 'Un.  This is from the original rug designed and hooked by Judy Carter, and drawn by the amazing artist, Lenny Feenan (www.theburningartist.com), but then each square was individually hooked by different instructors to make it four times the size of the original.  Love the whole thing, from the concept to the hooking.  What an accomplishment for everyone involved!

My photo feature won't let me download any more pictures, so I'll put the rest of them up this week.

Happy Hooking!
Julie