Fonds 2017-044 - Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia fonds

The Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia (RHGNS) was founded in 1979, by a group of women from the Annapolis Valley and South Shore of Nova Scotia. Hooked rugs, or mats, are floor coverings created by pulling yarn or strips of fabric up through a foundation, such as burlap, using a hook, to create colourful designs. The aims of the guild are to promote participation in the craft of rug hooking, encourage original design, exchange information between guild members, sponsor rug hooking programs and workshops, and raise public awareness of rug hooking. These were eventually expanded to include recording of the heritage of rug hooking. The guild originally consisted of regional groups from the areas the founding members represented, and more regions were added as time went on, as well as groups in PEI and New Brunswick. Membership rose from 50 members in 1979 to over 1000 members in 2009, with members from the Maritimes, as well as across Canada and the United States. As of 2009, the executive of the guild consists of the president, vice president, past president, secretary, treasurer, editor of The Loop (the magazine of the guild), membership officer, heritage registry chair, publicity chair, archivist, regional directors, the teachers’ branch president, and the rug school committee. In the 1980s, a teachers’ branch was formed, which is a sub-group of members of the RHGNS dedicated to teaching rug hooking skills. The guild holds annual meetings, as well as meetings of the executive; runs workshops and an annual rug school; organizes and participates in exhibits and displays of hooked rugs; and sends out newsletters to the general membership. A major project of the guild is to record the history of individual rugs made before 1970 through the Heritage Rug Registry, which they do by holding public events where people are invited to come in to register their rug.