Recuperating, Again!

It's been several days since we returned from Hooker Hill Rug Retreat, held in Oakhurst CA, the gateway to Yosemite.  This was our third year at HH and as always, the ladies who put this camp on did a stellar job!  The Wool Poppies of Fresno CA is the host ATHA group that puts on HH.  The members of this group are small in number but strong in personality, kindness, organization and team work.  We love being with the Wool Poppies ladies and I wish they lived closer so I could go to all their meetings.  For more about HH you can see photos from each year and read about next year's camp at:  http://www.woolpoppies.com/

Our teacher for class was Michele Wise from Washington.  Oh my, Michele is a walking encyclopedia of rug hooking technique, color planning and whatnot's to make your rug special!  Not only is Michele as knowledgeable as can be, she brings an amazing number of hooked projects and wares along with her.  I didn't see the kitchen sink in the mix, but she had about everything else you can wish for and she keeps her prices reasonable and fair.  Do, do, do take a class with her if you get the chance.  I can't say enough about her kind spirit, knowledge and quality attention to everyone in class.  She can go primitive to classy, small cut to large cut and never blink and eye!

Larry and I hooked until at least 10:00 each night, and Michele was staying later than that (she would never divulge how late she actually stayed, but she did tell me she's a night owl) working on drafting out a pattern for Debby in our group.  Pictures are included below of the magnificent pattern Michele was drawing.  The pattern is 5' across (circular) and Michele was drafting it out effortlessly.  Just watching her work on the pattern was amazing.  She had drawn out the preliminary part of the pattern with planes in it before camp so Debby could begin hooking the pattern.  Then she worked on the background for the pattern at our class, each night after teaching all day.  The design is made to look like you are looking down (birds eye view) at the planes and the earth below them, with all kinds of topography from desert to agriculture, all based on memories and places where Debby and her husband have lived.

Michele is working on drawing in the background for Debby's plane rug.
The rug honors the flying experience of Debby's husband.

Here you can see the rug in progress on the upper left side of this photo.
Debby started hooking on the planes, but the background design was still being drafted on paper before
being transferred to the monks cloth.  The rug is 5' round

Close-up of the plane pattern.  It is so clever!  It is one of the most fun rug designs I have ever seen.
I do hope Debby enters it in Celebrations and Michele gets lots of notoriety for designing it.  

I could have watched Michele work on this pattern for hours and skipped hooking it was such a clever work of imagination and art!

Michele's rug; sorry about the shadow on it and there is a rug behind it too.
Note the very interesting directional hooking in this rug.

This is Michele's ram rug.
You have to see it in person to appreciate how incredible it is.  I tried to get some closeups below.

Michele has amazing talent.  Do, do, do try to take a workshop with her.  She is humble about her talent and very giving in sharing information and techniques.  I can't say enough about her qualities as a great rug hooking teacher.

I will post more pic's of camp later this week, before I head off for another hooking venue in Texas!  Yahoo and yippee yi-ay for hooking with the Texas ladies!