New Orleans French Quarter Rug Hooking Getaway

Rug Hooking Getaway 2012

What do rug hooking and Mardi Gras have in common? Both had their modern-day genesis in the United States at roughly the same time. Rug hooking started showing up in New England in the mid-1800s, and although the first Mardi Gras celebration was held in 1703, the first procession that led to our modern-day parades appeared in the late 1830s. Both have connections to Canada. At the same time rug hooking was appearing in New England, it was also being practiced in the Canadian Maritime provinces. In 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville landed on a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans and called it "Pointe de Mardi Gras."

More than 180 years after the art and parades were introduced in America, rug hooking and Mardi Gras collide in the New Orleans French Quarter Rug Hooking Getaway 2012. This exciting seminar is scheduled for February 12-16 in the New Orleans' French Quarter during Carnival, the celebrations that include the world famous Mardi Gras parades.

This article is from the November/December 2011 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.