Imagine the excitement telling someone that you made that! Come and learn the basics of weaving with Textile Artist Laura, owner of Lola dot Studio, at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum. Looms will be prepared so you can focus on learning how to weave, understand the language of the loom and other basic steps.

Come and learn how to improve your skills by understanding how to make a warp and set up your loom, weave and learn different techniques of finishing your product. Textile artist Laura will inspire you by giving a new spin on weaving. It's going to be a lot of fun!

February 8 – Weaving with a warp set up – 9:30 am to 4 pm. Cost is $115 (including materials and lunch).

February 9 – Learning how to set up and weave a finished piece. – 9:30 to 4 pm. Cost is $115 (including materials and lunch).

To register or for more information please contact Laura at 613-256-5652 or loladotstudio@gmail.com.

Get “Hooked on Rugs” at the MVTM

From March 3 to April 11, the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is featuring the work of fibre artists Lesli Zanetti and Loretta Moore in the Nora Rosamond Hughes Gallery. Their hooked rugs are a delight, with artful designs from primitive to modern.
Lesli’s interest in rug hooking began with a 1992 visit to Cape Breton, where she was struck by the unique and complex Acadian scenes depicted on beautiful rugs. On a subsequent trip to Newfoundland she was drawn to the vibrant colours and simple scenes of their rugs.
With one of Deanne Fitzpatrick’s rug hooking kits, Lesli taught herself to hook, and her passion for the craft was firmly entrenched. After 10 years, Lesli has found her own style. She prefers to use recycled wool from garments donated by friends or found at second hand shops. Imagining the history embedded in a wool garment as it is ripped apart and refashioned into a new rug is an important part of her creative process. She describes her rugs as simple in style, bordering on the primitive, but without a traditional palette. Somehow, she just has to inject bright colours into her designs
Loretta’s passion for fibre arts developed at an early age, sitting in her mom’s sewing room and making doll’s clothes from scraps. She later made her own clothing and learned to quilt. It was in a quilt shop that she discovered her first rug hooking kit. “After the first few loops I pulled, I realized that I had discovered a fibre art that appealed to every creative bone in my body. I loved the almost zenlike feel of pulling loops, loved playing with colour and developing my own through dyeing, and loved the final product,” says Loretta. While her preferred style is primitive, folk art wide-cut rugs, she loves playing with various fibres and techniques. She also teaches and sells supplies through her business “Hooked on the Lake.”
Don’t miss a chance to enjoy these wonderful rugs. You may well become “hooked” yourself. Both artists will be conducting demonstrations in the gallery on March 12 from 11 am to 2 pm. There will be a vernissage on Saturday, March 7 from 2 pm to 4 pm. For more information call the Museum at 613- 256-3754.

Moose McGuire’s Joins “Soup for Thought”


The Mississippi Textile Museum’s popular fundraiser “Soup for Thought” is back again, and on Saturday February 28, Paul Obrien, head chef at Almonte’s new Moose McGuire’s Pub and Grill will be adding his delicious soup to those contributed by the area’s other stellar chefs.
Paul has worked across Canada, as well as internationally. While working in a Bankok bistro, providing treats for Western tourists, he volunteered at the local culinary school, helping them develop a program for the international market. He is excited to be working in Almonte and is anxious to work with local farmers and growers to provide patrons with fresh wholesome food.
Soups will also be donated by the Heirloom Café Bistro, Palms Coffee Shop, The Chef’s Table at Home, Mill Street Crepe Company, Foodies Fine Foods, Robin’s Nest Tea Room, the Barley Mow, Ballygiblin’s, and Café Postino. The Friends of the MVTM will provide delicious desserts (some gluten-free), as well as tea and coffee. Sarah Robertson, of Prior Engagements, will be loaning dinnerware for the event. Once again, the Almonte Potters Guild will be donating fabulous handmade soup bowls for each patron to take home.
There will be two sittings: 11:30 am to 1 pm and 1:30 pm to 3 pm. Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door (children under 12 are free) and are available from Baker Bob’s, Pêches & Poivre and at the Museum, 3 Rosamond St. E., Almonte. Don’t miss this chance to have a wonderful lunch and take home a one-of-a-kind treasure!