Woo Hoo. . .  . . days are getting a little cooler - albeit darn little - but cooler nonetheless. I will take low 90's over high 90's any day. My tomato plants are producing like mad and the pepper crop has never been better. Great weather for vegetables. . . . but hard to stand over the hot dye pots. I do love hooking in the coolness of the house on these hot days.
This month Sheri Matz will be presenting a demo on jar dye techniques for those of you interested in swatch dyes.

Please do bring rugs to show and talk about. One of the gifts of having such a wonderful group of hooking artists is that we learn from each other's work. . . ..we inspire each other!
Last month we brought tips and ideas to share, and got a lot of great ideas from the group. Anytime you learn some great tip or technique at camp or from a friend we would love to hear about it at ATHA!

Hope to see you Saturday the 25th! Doors open at 9. . . . meeting starts at 10. . . . . stay until 4 or as long as you like.
Eats this month by Deb M. and Sheri M.
See you soon!

Can you believe how hot, hot, HOT it has been? What is it with these record breaking temperatures? Didn't you just love that week of cooler weather and a bit of rain to go along with it? Thank me. . . . I brought it back from Oregon! The week there of lovely drizzle and temperatures in the high 50's was such a treat after the heat of Colorado
I will tell you all about that camp and the Black Sheep Wool Gathering at our meeting!

Our first teacher, Sally Kalin, taught 2 classes in June and I hope everyone who attended one of those classes will bring their rugs to share. I believe Jenny  and Mary Ann will be at yet another of Sally's camps this week!

 During our last guild meeting the group went over themes for programs. We will start with the first suggestion in July! During the upcoming meeting we will be sharing rug hooking tips that we have learned in our VAST collective experience! Just think of all the camps and events that each individual has attended and multiply that by the number in attendance at our July meeting! Wow! We are walking encyclopedias of great ideas!  So be thinking about a couple of tips that you would like to share!

In the McGown program, one of my favorite parts of each camp is the sharing of tips (called Widow's Mites). Each new attendee gets up and gives a tip they have learned. Some of them are fascinating and well worth sharing, so we will be passing some of those on as well.

Woo Hoo!
Our January meeting was spent hooking AND making patterns from templates provided in the Magdalena Briner Eby primitive design tradition. I saw many completed designs and several who added their own design elements in addition to using some from the templates. I went to Kinkos and had a couple of designs enlarged so that they are ready to transfer onto backing. Will bring them to the next meeting - not hooked already. . . . but ready to hook!!!
 

The Sew Expo was a lot of fun! We talked to many women who were excited to learn more about our guild and rug hooking. Many thanks go out to Theresa for setting this opportunity up for us and to Rusty Bucket Productions for donating booth space to us for this event. Thank you also to Sharon, Carolyn, Mary Ann, Jenny, Judy and Quink for helping to mind the booth during this 3 day event.

Can you believe it is time to gear up for another Hook In? Wow! We will be discussing the Hook In at our February Meeting.
Cathy Murphy has already lined up 7 or 8 vendors for the Hook In. We have several new vendors this year and several from last year's event. There WILL be wool available!
We have an ad that will be printed in the April/May ATHA magazine inviting folks to come hook with us on May 19th. Also, please do be thinking about things that you might want to donate to the Silent Auction. Sue Rust is already busy gathering items for this fund-raising auction.

Speaking of fund raising. . . . . the wonderful 4 seasons mats hooked by Sharon Oppegard, Cathy Murphy, Mary Ann Goetz, and Sue Rust will be featured in the June/July ATHA magazine. The raffle tickets are going to be offered to all ATHA national members! Tickets will be printed on the white mailer cover that protects your magazine. So when you get it - be sure to purchase a few tickets . . . . and sell some to your friends! All proceeds from this raffle will go to our guild's education fund.

I have loaded up an image of the free pattern that was distributed at the Denver Hook In last year. Please feel free to print it out and get hooking!

More to come. . . . . .