Greetings!
I’m Kathy Morton and I was lucky enough to be blessed with an extra textile gene. Both of my grandmothers and most of the women in my family excelled at many types of textile work such as quilting, embroidery, crochet, etc. They passed their love for textiles and fabric decoration down to me.
I graduated from college with a B.A. in art education with an emphasis on oil painting and color, after which I did graduate work at the University of Oslo, Norway. That was when I discovered that textiles were my first love and my new direction in art. I also traveled overseas because I loved textiles from all parts of the world and wanted to learn more about them from their source. I taught quilting for 15 years while I also taught art to middle and high school students before retiring in 2010.
In the mid 80s I was enamored by articles and photos of hooked rugs by Marian Ham. Since there were very few hookers in my area, I traveled to Maine to take a workshop from her. Back in MN I started hooking wide cut and eventually started my own pattern company, Morton House Primitives. When I retired from teaching art I decided to work full time with wool and patterns and I changed the company name to Oak Ridge Cottage Rugs. I continue to teach hooking and color planning in many other states as well as MN. My students say that my biggest strength is my ability to teach all levels of hookers and to clearly express my passions and commitment to this art. Over the years I have taken many wonderful classes from other renowned rug experts such as Julie Marie Smith, Marjorie Judson, Emma Lou Lais, Karen Kahle, Wanda Kerr, and others.
I hope our paths cross through rug hooking!
Kathy
Kathy Morton
Owner & Founder