Category Archives: Wool/Rug Challenge

2021 Chapter Challenge

Hello Tin Pedlar Members,

The Board would like to invite you to participate in a “Chapter Challenge” that will be displayed at the 2021 Cumberland Farm.

We are providing you with a pattern that can be adapted in any manner you please as long as the sheep is included in your design! Your sheep project can be any size between 8” x 6” to 32” x 24”. It can be a rug, mat, pillow or stuffed sculpture. It needs to be done for the collection of Cumberland Fair rugs in August.

Here’s the pattern. It is sized for printing on standard sized copy paper – 10” x 8” without additional borders beyond the flowers. We will have copies of the pattern at the June parking lot meeting. Here’s the link to download.

The pattern is drafted on 1” grid to help if anyone wants to resize the sheep alone or the whole pattern.

**Remember this challenge is about using the sheep design/shape found in this pattern. We included a border option as different Board members thought that might provide inspiration for members.

You can also take inspiration from this rug Donna completed as part of a workshop.

Or check out the original hooked piece the workshop was from in Rug Hooking Magazine / Nov.-Dec. 2013: Sheep in the Hills, 18″ x 12″, #8-cut wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Mary Johnson/Designs in Wool, Tujunga, California, 2013.

As always we hope many of you will participate. If you want help with transferring the pattern or getting your idea onto a foundation, please reach out. We have members that are happy to help with design and transferring, you just need the foundation material. We will be together in June at the parking lot meeting, or drop an email and we’ll connect with you to arrange a different time.

A Maine Postcard Challenge

May’s meeting saw the completion of this year’s challenge to the group: A Postcard from Maine. (For the few members who could not be present yet participated in the challenge please bring in your challenge mat at the June or Sept. meeting.)

At the inital introduction of the challenge there was a lot of buzz around our state bird: black-capped chickadee. (Jackie Hansen)

We wondered how many we’d see once all the mats were completed? If not the chickadee what would members design and hook? With the sharing of the completed mats the variety was wonderful. Hearing the stories for the choice of design added another component. (Look for a later sharing of these.)

Here are the mats that were shared during the May meeting. (Owners are labeled clockwise starting at upper left.) * Copywrite protected – Please do not copy any of these designs without requesting permission first.*

1) “Maine Symbol” Priscilla McGarry; 2) “Whoopie!” Pat Ring; 3) “Down East Breakfast” Jeanne Voorhees; 4) “Baked Beans” Natalie Sanborn

1) Terry Parent; 2) Harriet Johnson; 3) “Tatah” Bob Galloupe; “Sea Dogs” Norine Bucknell

1) Connie Castles; 2) Joyces Knowles

1) “Puffin” Martha chaput; 2) “Loon” Linda Bradley; 3) Edna Olmstead; 4) Sheila Kilgore

1) “Maine State Bird – Chickadee” Janet Cameron; 2) Trudy Winne

1) Daisy Higgins; 2)”Buoys” Deborah Arcaro; 3) Joyce Goff; 4) “Fish Market” Patricia Connors

1) Ann Galloupe; 2) Kathleen Newell; 3) Trudy Brown

1) Ann MacIntyre; 2) “Chowdah” Chris Antonak; 3) “Weather-beaten” (by Winslow Homer) Bailey Ruckert

Cumberland Fair 2012 ~ Sept. 23rd – 29th

The Tin Pedlars decided to maintain our connection with the Cumberland Fair and to that end we are working hard to provide a strong showing of our art form, as well as demonstrating our craft to others. People are needed to demonstrate every day of the fair from 9am to 9pm. We have broken up the time into multiple hour blocks with a minimum of 2 people for each block. You are paid to demonstrate and you will have a ticket to get in. A hooking frame, wool and hook will be at the demo site. If you can demonstrate and did not sign up at the May meeting, please contact —.

Part of this effort is the Cumberland Fair Challenge mats. These 10″ x 18″ (minimum) mats will need to be completed by our September ’12 meeting. See previous posting on the Challenge guidelines.

To inspire you ~ one of the pieces members have begun:

If you want to do the challenge, but are feeling unsure about designing your own piece, different members have offered to help with the designing of your idea(s). Leave a comment here before the June meeting and connections will be made.

Our double booth has room to exhibit rugs of any size. We are looking forward to seeing many pieces of work from rugs to ornaments. To exhibit the piece it needs to be clean and never shown before at the Cumberland Fair.

Forms for fair submission will also need to be completed. The link here will allow you to submit online or print off and send in. (Only one form is used to list all items being exhibited per individual). Be sure to include MAINE TIN PEDLARS with your Name, so the rugs will get to our exhibition area.

Look for additional information as it becomes available.

Cumberland Fair 2012 Rug Challenge

At the November’s meeting there was a good amount of discussion around the value of continuing our group’s participation in the Cumberland Fair. It was suggested that it might be appropriate to designing a rug hooking challenge to be the display for our area. As follow up to that and a suggestion coming forward from the membership it was decided to offer the following challenge.

Hoping to encourage participation in this challenge, looking at the time of year for the fair and appreciating each member’s creative point of view there will be 3 parts to the challenge:

1) Using the foundation of your choice, the finished dimensions have to be a minimum of 10″ x 18″. If you go larger please be sure you can complete it in the allotted time frame.

2) It has to have a Fall/autumn theme.

3) It has to include the three circle shapes linked below. These 3 circles are to be used as sized and shaped in the linked patterns following. Click on each circle to access a printable form. Once you have accessed the form in Google Documents, up go to File, then Print to get the accurate size. If you need the templates copied for you just let an officer know.

Circle 1 – roughly 4 x 4-1/2
Circle 2 – roughly 4-1/2 x 5-1/2
Circle 3 – roughly 5-1/2 x 6-1/4

More information about when the finished rug/mat will need to be done for the Sept. 2012 fair will be coming. Feel free to let those creative juices start flowing and have fun designing your challenge piece. If you want to participate in this challenge, but are not comfortable with your abilities to make a pattern, other members have offered to help get your idea down as a pattern for your use.

Wool Challenge 2010-2011

Participants will:

Sign up with the chapter and receive a strip of wool 3″ x 18″ provided by the chapter
Use the majority of the wool – AS IS – no over dyeing
Use cut of your choice
May use embellishments of your choice
Use a pattern of your choice – original, adaptation or commercial design
Bring finished mat to upcoming meetings for a chance at a special door prize
Bring finished mat for display at the April 2011 meeting and be entered into the contest for the completed mats

This challenge is not a swap. Your mats may be of any size and theme. You just need to include the provided wool within your hooking.

Update*

It was fun to see how everyone used the wool. Completed challenge mats were displayed at the Cumberland Fair.

Faith Websters’ – the cat that is on the photo album won in 3 categories: