Virtual Gallery
Gallery 5
On this Gallery, you can tour a selection of rugs from :
Visit our Blog to see more rugs showcased in the past.
Explore: Gallery 6: Christmas Challenge
Denise Vandenbemden
Denise joined the BHCG in 2003. As soon as she signed up, she took a class with our teacher, Lois J. Morris, and I think every class thereafter. She found her niche with fine cut and rarely hooked anything higher than #4 cut.
She is a very kind and generous lady. Every Thursday she opened her home to anyone who did not get enough hooking on Monday and this went on for years. She was always there to help new members and beginners.
She became president in 2005 and remained in that role until 2011. She is our longest standing president, and this shows how much the Guild meant to her. She instigated the website and put us online making it so much easier to communicate from guild to guild. I dare say she put us on the map!
We were also fortunate to sample some of her delicious Belgian cuisine. Both Maria and I can confirm that her waffles and cookies are to die for.
Although Denise now has mobility issues which make it impossible to come out to meetings, she follows our activities closely and remains supportive and proud of the Guild and all our accomplishments.
To find more about Denise on our website, please go to News and Blog and use the search tool in the top right corner.
Claire Fradette - Member
Chicago
Rittermere pattern
About 2004
Approximately 75 cm x 60 cm (29.5“ x 23.5”)
Unfortunately, Chicago was eaten by moths and no longer exists. The Rittermere pattern was pre-printed on burlap and it served me for a shading class given by Lois. The wool was dyed from white wool and cut in #3. The Chicago pattern was in the Guild’s library, in a Rittermere design book which I purchased in 2004. I recall that the rug was not very big, about 75 cm x 60 cm (29.5 in x 23.5 in), but I am not certain. This piece was shown in the BHCG 35th Anniversary Exhibition in 2010.
Spring
Bluenose pattern
55 cm x 40 cm (21.5” x 16”)
2007
This is a pre-printed pattern purchased from the Guild in a donation sale. The colours were dyed from white wool, cut in # 3 for the pattern and in # 4 for the background. The carpet is at my home. This piece was shown in the BHCG 35th Anniversary Exhibition in 2010.
Elizabethan
2009
70 cm x 55 cm (27.5´ x 21.5”)
Large floral Jacobean imitation. I really like Jacobean embroidery and this rug was an imitation with flowers taken from the internet and put together. Wool cut # 4. The carpet is at my home. This piece was shown in the BHCG 35th Anniversary Exhibition in 2010.
Snowy Heron
Adapted from an Audubon watercolour
23 inches x 18 inches
The design was adapted from a picture of what I believe to be a John Audubon watercolour. The rug was hooked on rug warp with new wool that I custom-dyed. It was hooked in #2 and #3 cuts. There is no particular story to this rug; I simply needed a subject for a three-dimensional hooking course. The rug has been framed. Snowy Heron appeared in Show and Tell January 2014 and was printed onto greeting cards.
For more information about John Audubon and this famous print, follow the link:
John Audubon (1785-1851) _Snowy Heron or White Egret
Stained Glass
Adapted Design
2006
65 cm x 85 cm (25.5” x 33.5”)
Stained Glass imitation was hooked in 2006 with wool fabric on burlap in a # 4 cut. The pattern is an adapted design from the ''Art Nouveau Stained Glass Coloring book'' by Ed Sibbet Jr. The colours were achieved with spot dyeing on natural wool.
Stained Glass was shown in the BHCG 2010 Rug Exhibition, was animated in 2010, and appeared in 2012 Show and Tell. It hangs in my home.
Candles in the Window
2008
16 in x 16in
We wanted to do something special for our 2008 exhibition and the first idea was to create a small piece with candles. I love stained glass and downloaded, from the Internet, a free stained-glass pattern reminding me of the beautiful windows in art deco houses. I adapted it to my own taste by making it a double window and choosing the pastel colours I like, although these are more often seen in church windows than in art deco houses. I added the candles and that was it. The result is what you see here. Hooked on burlap with cut #4. The colors are dyed on new natural wool.
This piece was shown in the BHCG 2008 Rug Exhibition, appeared in Show and Tell December 2008, and was animated in 2012.
Debbie Séguin
In 2002, while visiting friends at their beautiful Nova Scotia farmstead, Debbie was introduced to a home-full of stunning rugs, a cutter, a hooking frame, and a vast collection of wool. Debbie thought back to her Newfoundland grandparents: her grandfather, a fisherman, and her grandmother, a rug hooker during the winter months, when fishing season and salting the cod on the flake was over. And Debbie was hooked! Back from her trip, she noticed a story about the Guild in the News and Chronicle, and despite her ongoing nursing career, she was free on Mondays and joined the BHCG. Two years later, in 2004, Debbie was president!
To find more about Debbie on our website, please go to News and Blog and use the search tool in the top right corner.
Emmy Maten, Vice-President
My First Rug
Adapted from a Stencil for Tole Painting
2003
38 ½ x 24 inches
This is my first rug. I had a stencil for tole painting from a craft magazine which my husband used to paint the two doors of our dining room cabinet. I decided to make a matching rug. Lois taught me how to hand dye the wool for the sky, which I cut into #6 strips. The clouds are hooked with yarn. For the house, I used an old jacket which a friend gave me. And the grass is wool I purchased at the Guild. The rug hangs in our home.
Town
Rittermere
2004
32 ½ x 5 inches
This was, I think, the second rug I hooked. I loved the pattern. I have it over my bedroom door. I used #6 cut.
To take a closer look of this piece, click on a picture and use the arrow buttons to navigate back and forth.
Friends are Forever
Rittermere
I made this for my best friend Sue. I hand-dyed some old woollen clothes. The blue in this rug was left over from what I had dyed for my first rug.
Woolly Sheep
Original
2011
12.5 x 9 inches
I wanted to hook my sister Susan a little rug. While I was at the Pointe-Claire Shopping Center, I went into the wool store and there I spotted this Icelandic wool. I knew then I was going to hook a sheep with it! Susan was very delighted when I gave it to her. I hand dyed Dorr wool for the sky and for the grass, and I used a #6 cut.
Hungry for more?
Visit the Virtual Galleries, Show & Tell and the Animated Rugs Pages... and don't miss our Blog! You will find other rugs featured in the past!