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Yvonne Iten-Scott & Leslie Knight Retreat 

Magnificent Bugs in Rugs!
















Hooking

Yvonne Iten-Scott & Leslie Knight
Ontario, Canada
TheMillFibreArt.com

Magnificent Bugs in Rugs! 

3 Day Retreat: 

Tuesday – Thursday, August 13 – 15, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
$325.00 / Sauder Village Members $305.00
Heritage Inn – Homestead B


DESCRIPTION:

This year’s Feature Exhibit: Magnificent Bugs in Rugs is a collection of 45 hand-hooked art rugs depicting magnificent bugs. An international group of experienced and recognized artists brought these fascinating creatures to life through their unique artistry. The subject of bugs was chosen with the intention of engaging a younger audience. A children’s book of the bug rugs accompanies the exhibit with bold, bright images and rhyming phrases of fascinating facts about the insects. The profits from the sale of the book will be used to create programs for children to promote rug making to a new generation. The intention is to preserve the history of rug making while encouraging young minds to push its boundaries with their creativity and the new techniques and materials available today.

In this retreat, you will create a magnificent bug rug. Select from these 4 patterns: a bee, butterfly, caterpillar or dragonfly. Or, if you wish, you can design your own bug pattern & may apply the techniques taught in this retreat.

Students will learn and may choose to incorporate hooking techniques such as proddy, standing wool, quillies, sculpting, stitching, felting and braiding. Instruction will also be given on ways to use unique materials to create shimmer, texture and dimension in your piece. For this project, students may work in the cut sizes of their choice.

We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with Lisanne Miller of W. Cushing & Co. to create a line of incredible dyed wools for the bug patterns. Our students will have exclusive access to these wools during the retreat, after which they will be released to the public in Lisanne’s Vendor booth.

This retreat will have two teachers: Yvonne Iten-Scott and Leslie Knight. Between lessons on techniques and materials, Yvonne and Leslie will speak about their experience curating the exhibit, working with international artists, and writing their book. 

LEVEL: 

Basic to Intermediate - Students must have a basic rug hooking knowledge and experience. 


RETREAT PROJECT & SUPPLIES:

The teachers will contact pre-registered students, starting on March 1st, to discuss your retreat project and supplies (to be purchased directly from the teacher). See DESCRIPTION, above, which contains both specific retreat information and project options.


STUDENTS NEED TO BRING: 

Basic hooking supplies: a frame, scissors, cutter, cutter blades of your choice, hook, needle & thread.


BIO:

Yvonne & Leslie met each other through a Zoom call during COVID and discovered their farms were only 15 minutes apart. After spending time together hooking, they discovered that many of their fiber-related hopes and plans for the future aligned.

In the few years they have known each other they have joined the board of TIGHR (The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers) and are planning the 2024 triennial conference in Niagara Falls; they have co-curated the exhibition and written the book, Magnificent Bugs In Rugs; and, have opened a studio, The Mill Fibre Art at the Alton Mills Art Centre.  In 2024, after the TIGHR conference, Leslie & Yvonne will be immersing themselves in a one-month residency in Iceland at the Icelandic Textile Center.

Leslie Knight - Beginning at an early age with crafts like knitting and cross-stitch, Leslie grew up surrounded by women with an appreciation for craft and the arts. Her love for gardening and the natural world are prevalent subjects in her work. Leslie is currently completing her Studio & Design Certification through the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. Leslie’s work has been juried into several exhibits as well as the Emerging Artist issue of Fiber Art Now magazine.

Leslie is co-curating a global rug exhibition called Magnificent Bugs in Rugs to bring awareness to a new generation of rug hookers.

Leslie lives in Caledon, Ontario and shares a studio called The Mill Fibre Art at the Alton Mill Art Centre.

Yvonne Iten-Scott - is a multi-disciplinary fiber artist whose work explores the combination of materials and processes.  A lifelong learner, her work is constantly evolving through medium, form and scale, although her love of wool, in its many forms, often shines through. Her use of texture, colour and dimension seek to draw the viewer in to encourage touch and engagement. Yvonne enjoys the challenges of combining many techniques in one piece which may include rug hooking, braiding, stitching, felting, punch needle, and quilting.

Yvonne has a certificate in Fibre Art from the Haliburton School of Art and Design and is now on the teaching faculty. She is the current president of TIGHR and is an Oxford Certified Punch Needle Instructor.

Yvonne is co-curating a global rug exhibition called Magnificent Bugs in Rugs to bring awareness to a new generation of rug hookers.

Yvonne lives in Erin, Ontario and shares a studio called The Mill Fibre Art at the Alton Mill Art Centre.

Follow this link for

Retreats Registration