It was good to be back at Little River Inn for rug camp! My top priority is getting all the rugs that are brought by the campers, up on the wall. Yes, I get to nail the rugs onto the wall; the nails are very tiny and the holes from many years of rug shows are hardly visible. I type up rug labels for the show and a rug list for the rug camp booklet. Trying to be professional, I wish we had museum lighting!
It can be a little overwhelming when all the rugs arrive; how will they go together? With Tanya Graham’s 3 dramatic rugs, I could use each one to anchor a group of rugs. Lots of white and grey on this wall. Each teacher had a couple of tables for their wool and wares on the rug show walls; so I have to interrupt their process until I get all the rugs up. To cause as little disruption as possible, I hang the show from one end to the other without any back and forth. With only 61 rugs, it’s not too hard.
Michele Wise brought many of her 3 dimensional creations, some of which had to go on the mantel! ‘The Ramparts’, above, is a landscape created by Sara Judith with many different techniques and materials. ‘Madam’ is a portrait by Michele Wise in the style of Mondrian. ‘Little River Inn’ is a composite landscape created by Sarah Province, celebrating the many times that she and Phil attended Little River Inn Rug Camp! Sarah couldn’t come, but she was happily hooking at Hallowood Rug Retreat in Maryland.
Sara brought colourful T-shirts to involve her students in a discussion and demonstration about colours and their effects on other colours. At the end of the discussion, Sara shared the same information on a colour wheel, showing the usefulness of that tool.
Kathie Phoenix came out from Idaho Falls to attend rug camp, along with her rug hooking friend, Jana. Both gals live in an area of few rug hookers, and it was fun to share our rug camp with them. Bill and Kathie drove all the way and were able to bring the 12 foot horn, so Bill could practice everyday.
We used round tables this time, to create more space between folks. Not sure we were any less close, but everyone liked the layout better; there was more circulation and socializing. We didn’t have any mini-classes, but we did have 3 slide shows.
It was a great group with lots of sharing, lots of laughs, lots of great rugs and inspiration, and wonderful weather all week long!
It was wonderful having Michele and Sara teaching at Little River Inn Rug Camp, again! It was great fun to be rug camping again, after such a long time! I’m making plans for next year… stay tuned.
Laura's Loop 
Leave a Reply