ATHA BIENNIAL AT LONG BEACH

I had a wonderful time with friends at the biennial.  Jay and I stayed at my cousin's house and I was dropped off everyday at the conference.  I helped with hanging rugs and then attended the annual meeting.  I was able to reconnect with my friends from Australia and we had dinner together at the TIGHR gathering.  It was fun seeing everyone and chatting. I took the braiding class from Diane Tobias and Kris McDermet.  I have put a braid on a hooked piece before but was not sure how to do it properly.  There was a video I watched to learn how to do it.  This time it was nice to have expert help. It is a work in progress.  I decided to make chair seats that match the material I used to recover my chairs in the new studio.  

I also gave a tour at the rug show and  only had two people but had fun discussing the rugs.  Here are some of the rugs I saw at the show.

Amazed at Nola Heidbreder's president project.  These are simply amazing and done in such a short time.

Love Gail Becker's dog.

 

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Jay was able to visit with Bonifacia who we met in Mexico.  She is the leader of the Augustine Gonzales group which hooks rugs to help their families in the village and sell them in town.  The colonial town is San Miguel de Allende.  A beautiful city which has many expats living there.  She was teaching a class on how to hook without using a frame.  Jay got to practice his Spanish.  Bonie said Jay needed to come back to Mexico as his Spanish was rusty.  Charlotte Bell was the interpreter for her. Charlotte has been helping the ladies for many years now and has been their advocate.  This was such a great experience for Bonifacia.  It was her first plane ride, first shower, first elevator, first bath, etc.  The rug in the picture Boni made says 100% Mexican, which is a joke because no one is 100% anything according to Bonifacia.

  After we returned Jo and Judy from Australia came for a day to our house on Hood Canal for a visit.  It was a nice, sunny day and they took the tour of our house and studio.  Good friends and lots of laughing.