I have felt a little like a rug hooking "gypsy" this summer, for as much traveling and hauling of my wares that I have done! Sadly, I have not kept up on my blogging of all the special places I've been. So this blog post is dedicated to the workshop I recently taught for the Buckeye Rug Hooking Guild.
True Confession: I forgot my camera and was not able to take pictures of my class or their rugs, but let me assure you that every rug was a winner! I was team-teaching with Wendy Miller of The Red Saltbox and I always have a wonderful time when I am with Wendy! She is an equally wonderful teacher and some of her color plans would blow you away! Just to prove I was there, you can follow this link to Rhonda's blog and there is a picture of me and Wendy! We were in a beautiful ballroom and I'll bet that we totally exceeded the legal limit for the amount of wool that is allowed at a workshop (wink, wink)!
Anyway, the highlight of the week-end for me was the auction that the Guild put on. I spotted a humble little rug on the table and recognized it immediately...and I was NOT going home without it...
I won this little treasure of a rug that was made in The Gambia (Africa) at the GOVI School for the Blind. It is a charity that is headed up by my friend Heather Ritchie, from Reeth, UK. I follow her newsletters about the GOVI school and have really longed to own one of the student's rugs. And I thought that ownership would be nearly impossible until I spied that little treasure at the auction. So now it resides here with me, and I hope to have my husband frame it soon so I can display it properly in my studio.
Here is the precious little tag that is attached to the rug by a piece of string. The maker's name, Lamin Colley, and his/her fingerprint...a special autograph since the maker was blind.
You can check out Heather's charity here: Rug Aid
The happiest part of the story? The Buckeye Guild agreed to donate my winning bid entirely to Heather's charity. It's a win/win situation with a happy ending!
5 comments:
Congratulations, Kris! When I first looked at it, I thought it looked like one of those rugs!! No wonder you're excited!!
great post Kris - I know Katie - she comes to Off the Ocean in my area. Sounds like you've been one busy gal this summer - I've been in your booth before - I hope I get the pleasure again one day soon
Melody
Good grief, Kris ~ I must have hit the comment button several times ~ sorry!
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