Seriously. What more could I have asked for? There was snow on the ground when I arrived, a wood burning stove, a sewing room the size of my family room, a warm bed {with 4 blankets!!!} a puggle to cuddle up to and most of my waking hours were spent rug hooking, eating homemade pie and drinking tea.
In my book, it doesn’t get any better than that.
My friend Zoë and her mom Baking with Whole Grains cookbook author Valerie Baer, wanted to learn how to rug hook. I needed a good excuse to hop on an airplane. So even though I had never taught anyone to hook a rug before, I said yes.
Well. Let me tell you, I was in for a HUGE surprise when I got to Valerie’s home. Not only was Valerie’s place oozing with handmade items, the shear amount of wool she had stashed away left me standing there with my mouth wide open.
The wool was is trunks, stacked on shelves and in bags. But before we could dive into wool and begin hooking, we ate lunch.
Homemade cornbread and sausage stew. I had 2 bowls. Freakin’ delicious. 
After lunch it was time to get down to selecting colors for Zoë and Valerie’s first rug hooking project.
Seriously. These are my people. Look at all that wool. 
This being their first project and all, we didn’t want to do anything too elaborate. Zoë drew a geometric design on burlap and Valerie used a bobbin cone to draw out 9 circles. 
While they were busy cutting strips of wool, I tried out one of their rug hooking frames {passed down from family members}. When I first starting rug hooking 15+ years ago I couldn’t afford a rug hooking frame {or lessons for that matter}. YouTube wasn’t created yet so I taught myself how to hook rugs in my lap by simply looking at a few pictures online.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have rather saved up for a while and learned how to hook using a frame. I bought a lap frame last year and had a hard time getting used to it and ended up selling it on ebay. 
The standing frame was so much easier to use {and I can hook faster on it} that I think I might add it to my 2017 wish list {since I’m only buying essential items this year}.
Valerie posted the progress she’s making on her hooked rug on her instagram page yesterday.
Zoë finished her first rug in record time and posted the picture on her Instagram page.
Don’t they look great?
~Mavis
Primitive Rug Hooking – Basic Supplies and How I Draw Patterns
Primitive Rug Hooking – How to Dye Wool Using Cushing’s Dyes
ann in E. oregon says
Mavis, It looks like you had a wonderful time! I was really looking forward to your posts about your trip! 🙂 I bought Valerie’s cookbook and spent one whole evening slowing perusing every recipe and picture *sigh*… What a blessing to have spent time in a home that’s obviously filled with love and sincere hospitality, not to mention the good, homemade food and pies! Thanks again for sharing. Looking forward to the rest of PA posts. 🙂
Tina says
How do you store the wool? Do you use cedar or mothballs to prevent it from being moth eaten?
Deborah says
Obviously, you are a natural for hook rug instructing! Your students projects are wonderful. It sure makes me want to learn too!
Laura Z says
They did such a good job! So pretty! You must be a good teacher. 🙂
tia in boise says
stupid question: (and one i’ve been wondering, looking at your previous rug pics)….why are they called rugs? they’re so little. surely people don’t use them as RUGS….? are they for wall-hangings? please enlighten me
Brooke says
I was wondering the same thing 🙂 Definitely not a stupid question.
Mavis Butterfield says
While I do hook larger rugs that can be placed on the ground and used, I also hook a lot of “mini rugs” as well. Most people hang them on the wall or set them on a coffee table or use the longer ones as table runners. Rug hooking definitely has it’s niche.
Linda D says
My family has done this for generations…not a tightwad…we call ourselves frugal!
Helen in Meridian says
I found Valerie’s book on cooking with whole grains at Costco in Nampa, ID today.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yay! I’ll tell her. How exciting!
Becky says
Mavis, have you considered offering online classes for rug hooking and rug braiding?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, but I probably should. 🙂