Dee-Dee Patrick
Once again Karen Bogadi was kind enough to open the doors to her home for the holiday festivities. Over twenty members of the group were in attendance. The luncheon began with a toast to the holidays with champagne to which fresh pomegranates had been added. The entrée consisted of five different homemade soups that ranged from chicken tortilla to a thick barley vegetable. Homemade cheese bread and vegetarian pizza complimented the soups. This all was capped off with several decadent and certainly, low caloric desserts.
The highlight of the afternoon was a wool exchange. Everyone brought a gift bagged piece of wool that was placed under a Christmas tree entirely decorated with handmade ornaments. We had learned from the past that it is wise to cover the fabric with tissue paper or secure the opening of the gift bag as prying eyes spied to sneak a peek at what was hidden inside. Numbers were drawn and the lowest was first to select which gift bag looked the most promising. The most entertaining time was when one hooker would covet a piece of fabric that someone else had already selected. Swapping, although permitted, was limited to two times. As in the past, there were a couple of popular swatches that several hookers vied over. It was interesting that instead of choosing to select a new gift bag from under the tree, some hookers chose instead to steal the fabric already sitting on a member’s lap.
Comments made during the exchange ranged from “that would be a wonderful color for an Easter rabbit” to “the shade of your wool really blends well with the outfit I am wearing.” It is a good thing that exchanges were limited to two as some material would have easily passed through many more hands during the course of the event. Who knows? We might still be there swapping fabric back and forth! It will be interesting to see how these new additions are worked into the pattern of a primitive hooked rug.
The Rug Hookers meet every Monday afternoon from noon to 4:00 p.m. in the Fiber Arts Room of the Creative Arts Center. Feel free to drop by and observe for yourself the unique and colorful designs that develop during these sessions. For further information, contact our current club President DeeDee Abolins at [email protected] or phone her at 253-278-1230.