Caswell Impressions coming in; Right side up & Upside down.

Caswell Impression #28 hooked by Mary Watson

When I unpacked Mary Watson’s package and saw her beautiful rug; I thought… how wonderful; hanging flowers!

Caswell Impression #28 hooked by Mary Watson

Then I realized that the rug was upside down, but her initials work both ways.

Caswell Impression #22 hooked by Lise Merchant

Another beautiful rug arrived that day; from the Yukon! Lise Merchant’s Caswell Impression is rich and vibrant with textures and spots of brilliant colour. As many of the Caswell designs fill their space, the designs are similar to tiles.

Caswell Impression #22 hooked by Lise Merchant

My mother used to say that a good design works upside down as well as right side up. Of course, in rug making, this is a good thing.

Caswell Impression #55 hooked by April Shekter

One more beautiful rug, from Portland Oregon; April’s rug is softly dramatic with cool colours. The design has a nice flow of stems and flowers; practically bending with the wind.

Caswell Impression #55 hooked by April Shekter

This Caswell pattern looks good turned 90 degrees too. Many of these rugs will make lovely pillows landing on the couch any which way!

I gave my rug hooking friends 2 deadlines; October 2, 2016 and January 1, 2017. Three quarters of the rugs have arrived and they are impressive. A familiar refrain is that the designs were fun to hook and the colours came easily from each artist’s noodles and stash. Also, the designs opened up a new avenue of expression for some of the rug artists. I’m very grateful for everyone’s participation in this project; and love getting to know each participant in a new, coloured and textured way!

I know a few more rugs are on their way; the first show will be at Little River Inn Rug Camp at the end of the month. I can’t wait to start hanging the show; even though the rugs are all as different as the rug artists that hooked them, they’re going to look great all together!