3 Day Rughooking Workshop is over..

I had a Huge treat the last 3 days spending it with a group of hookers taking a class with Cynthia Norwood hosted by the Guild, With Hearts And Hands Antietam Fiber Artists, who meet in Boonsboro, Md. I have only had one other workshop that I attended, and that was 3 or 4 years ago. If you are a rug hooker and have never taken a class with Cynthia, I encourage you to do so. You will not regret it. I went with my friend Joanne and we had a great time. She is a great teacher, and I hope to use some of her techniques in the rug I am doing now, especially the finishing. The whole color planning was so enlightening. She has an eye for color. I had dyed my wool for this, and she put them together in a way that was totally unexpected. I had gone in with one idea, and it went in the total opposite direction. I am sooooo pleased with the way it is turning out. I was very open minded to trying new things. Some I liked and some I wasn't so crazy about. Learned to love what I wasn't crazy about and what I really couldn't deal with, we changed. She was great!

She talked to us about Paisley's and a little of the history of them. Very interesting. I bought a little and am using it sparingly in my rug. I would say most/or all of the women there did the same thing. The talent in this guild that put together this workshop was just awesome. Their rugs just screamed primitive. I am going to do my best at giving the name with the rug. The last picture will be of all of us and the progress that was made over the 3 days. 2 of the girls made such great progress. Joanne only had 2 more tongues to finish and Beth only has background to do. I am really mad that I didn't get a close up of Joanne's today, but you will see how far she got in the group picture. She is in the back row. It has such an old feel to it. I'm sure she will be putting it on her blog shortly. Check it out!

On the second day, Cynthia talked about each of our rugs that we laid on the floor and we heard how we could fix problem areas and just discussed each rug.

Here Cynthia talked about pressing our rugs and showed us an iron she uses. It's called a Eurosteam. It was quite amazing. I think Ron was pretty impressed himself !!
Now I will post the pictures of the class rugs after just one day. Sorry if the colors aren't exact. Make sure to see how much they got done at the end in the group photo after 3 days. These girls are amazing!!

Here is Mary P.'s rug.
This is Ron's rug.

Here is Kay's rug.

This is Jennifer's rug. Here is Joanne's rug.

Here is Caroline's rug.

This is Joan's rug. This is Doris' rug.

And here is Beth's rug.

This is the "other" Mary P's rug. Here is Nada's rug.

And here is my rug. For some odd reason, I don't have two of the girls rugs. Mary Ann's and Tracy's. Sorry girls! I will make sure I point out everyone in the group picture.
From Left to Right back row: Doris, Kay, Beth, Mary P. Cynthia, Nada, Tracy behind her (and still didn't get a shot of her rug, I'm sorry), Joanne (see how much she got done in 3 days!!!), Caroline, Jennifer.

Bottom row: Mary Ann (and her rug I didn't get earlier), Joan, Ron, Me, and the "other" MaryP. Here is a close up of Beth and her rug. Just needs the background..

A great big Thank You to the girls who put together a wonderul 3 days. Lot's of food and laughter, along with sharing, and tons of inspiration for one another. It was a blast and I'm happy I was a part of it. I hope I'm lucky enough to take another class some day.