Southern Michigan Hookrafters Guild
Honors Irene Kemner on her 90th Birthday

  In February 2011, the Southern Michigan Hookrafters Guild celebrated the 90th birthday of Irene Kemner. Irene is our oldest guild member and over 80 % of our 30 guild members are her former students. When Irene's daughters asked her how she would like to celebrate this milestone birthday her response was quick, with my guild.

Our guild meets in a beautiful Victorian mansion, The Smith Kimball House in Clinton, Michigan on the last Saturday of each month. So on February 26, 2011, three of her daughters, Barb Haas, Margaret Kemner and Lois Corrigan hosted a lovely luncheon for the guild complete with birthday cake. The guild members surprised Irene with a special show of hooked pieces done under Irene's mentoring. Each guild member was asked to bring in a piece along with a story about Irene and the piece. It was a great day spent sharing funny stories, lessons learned and challenges met as we worked to complete our pieces and remembered the process with Irene's gentle instructions.

  Irene is an expert in finishing techniques and she would be the first to say there are many ways to finish a rug. "Whether you whip with yarn, crochet or sew binding onto the edge really is a matter of personal choice. The important thing is that the student feels competent in the finishing technique and uses the technique that gives them the most comfort."

Kay Norgaard, from Manchester, Michigan remembered Irene's words about finishing a piece, "Always finish your edges, steam and press your piece before publicly showing it or don't tell anyone I am your teacher."

"Cut your strips with the blades at right angles to the strip to allow the cut edge to sink into the rug," was advice from Irene that Betty Cummings of Manchester, Michigan always remembers.

"Finishing can make or break a rug. Put as much care and time finishing the piece as you do for the hooking. Don't short change your efforts by sloppy, speedy finishing," is something that I remember. I began rug hooking in the same class Irene did and later became one of her faithful students.

Irene's attention to detail and neat finishing is legendary. In the mid 1980's a gold ribbon rug of Irene's was sent to the Michigan State Fair for display. Irene was flabbergasted as she walked into the exhibit gallery to find her gold ribbon rug displayed wrong side up. It has become a standard of excellence that only one other guild member, Muriel Boyd has managed to achieve at the Chelsea Community Fair in 2010.

Irene began hooking in 1976 as a student of Judy Colley. She was feeling the empty nest syndrome, as her youngest daughter was a senior in college. Learning to hook was a new challenge and a way to use her hands to be productive. After Judy moved from Manchester, Irene took lessons from Helen Canter in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Helen sponsored Irene at the McGowan Southern Teacher's Workshop in 1980, so she could earn her teacher certification. Irene has used her McGowan certifications to spread the craft to over a hundred students in southern Michigan. Over the years, she has also attended many teacher workshops in West Virginia. Irene always chose to attend a workshop based on what new technique that she could take back to her students.

When asked about the changes she has witnessed in her 35 years of hooking, she replied our culture wants faster results. Everything seems to be speeding up, people talk faster, news on TV is delivered in sound bites and we all rush from place to place. I believe the popularity of wide cuts is due to our need for speedier completion."

Irene received many requests over the years to teach at rug camps but turned down those requests. "I always felt like a rug is a long term commitment and I wanted to be there for my students to help them through the hard parts. I often felt I learned more from my students than they learned from me." As one of her students who spent many hours at her dining room table over the years, I am sure her students would disagree.

When asked what is her fondest memory of hooking, she instantly replied, "the friendships it has helped me make over the years." Over the years her students became friends, sharing joys, sorrows, trials and triumphs as we passed the years together. I think all of her students would agree that they learned a lot about life and the world as well as hooking techniques as they hooked the time away around her large oak table under the chimes of the grandfather clock in Irene's dining room.

So many times we lament the passing of a gifted teacher or dear friend in hooking without having the opportunity to publicly thank them for the contribution they have made to our lives. I know that there are other guilds that would enjoy a session honoring their senior members. Everyone will leave smiling and grateful for another great hooking lesson just as we did on our birthday party guild meeting of February 26, 2011.