Talking a bit more revealed how small the world really is because she was actually my neighbour from two doors down. Her husband frequently travels to Canada on business so they bought a house for his convenience. I’d not met them but heard lots of good things from another neighbour that looks after their house while they are out of the country. I said I would put the kit together, be neighbourly and deliver it to their door.
Roll ahead fourteen years and last fall, the lady and her husband came into the shop to say hello. I recognized her immediately and asked if she had hooked the rug. She replied no, she never got around to it and at this point probably wouldn’t, and would like to find someone to hook it for her. I’m far too busy to hook for hire, but Sue Cunningham, who is no stranger to selling her beautiful rugs, was there and offered to take the project on.
The kit had been lying around for over a decade and a couple of hungry little bugs got into the package, munching on the paper instructions, but the wool and pattern were intact and didn’t have any nasty odors of mildew or moth balls. Sue took it home and stuffed it in her deep freeze for a few weeks to make sure whatever was chowing down on the paper would be dead by the time she was ready to tackle the project.
Sue is one busy gal and after having second thoughts, she passed it to Lorraine who happily agreed to the commission. The pattern is a beautiful pictorial, the famous Lunenburg buildings and waterfront. Susan Leslie designed and hooked the original and it sold in my shop many moons ago. The rug sported a rich colour palette with its rich red buildings, backdrop of trees and Lunenburg harbour. The rug didn’t hang long before it was sold and off to its forever home. Susan designed several Lunenburg scenes with varying angles of the harbour front and all featured the easily identifiable, iconic red buildings. You can view her other patterns by clicking this link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/susan-leslie.html
I am thrilled that Lorraine will be able to transform the kit into the amazing rug it was meant to be. The family will receive their wonderful heirloom and Lorraine who is a beautiful rug hooker, will be rewarded for a job well done. I’m not sure if it will adorn the couple’s home next door or travel to warmer climates as a memory of their home away from home. Either way I’m sure it will be treasured for many years to come.
I often wonder what happens to kits that are purchased by vacationing wannabe rug hookers. This craft has a way of sweeping you off your feet and putting fanciful ideas in your head. It’s a budding romance when wool is involved; love at first sight is difficult to deny, but sometimes life gets in the way of our passions and then there’s that road in the nether regions that’s paved with good intentions. Unless I hear from them at some point, I never know if a customer was seriously in love, or only caught up in the lusty appeal of rug hooking for a brief affair. As my kits walk out the door with a customer on cloud nine, I like to believe they will be as smitten as I was the day I discovered this craft, and look where it led me!
I’ll keep you posted on Lorraine’s progress.