Deanne Fitzpatrick Rug Hooking Studio

Deanne Fitzpatrick's rug hooking studio at 33 Church Street in Amherst is one of the most unlikely art destinations in the Maritimes — a working studio, shop, and gathering place for a fibre art most travellers last thought about in a grandmother's parlour, now drawing visitors who rent a car in Halifax and drive two hours specifically to stand in it. Fitzpatrick is among Canada's best-known contemporary rug hookers; her original hooked rugs are sold here and her work has been exhibited by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (the exhibit "Holding up the Moon" among her portfolio credits), and the studio doubles as the retail and workshop hub for a craft community that spans Canada and the United States. Her studio's Facebook page counts more than 23,000 followers. The studio anchors a stop in Amherst — see our Northumberland Shore travel guide for what else to pair it with along the route between New Brunswick and the rest of Nova Scotia.

The Studio on Church Street, with the Tea On

The studio's own invitation is "come see us, the tea is on," and that is a literal description: visitors are welcomed with tea and homemade oatcakes, a touch that comes up as often as the rugs themselves. The space is retail-first but functions as a gallery — original hooked rugs by Fitzpatrick hang on the walls alongside community work, and around them sits a deep, browsable inventory: patterns on linen and burlap in small, medium, and large (plus downloadable patterns), hand-dyed wool cloth, wool bundles and stash builders, a Wool Box subscription, yarn from Briggs and Little, Lichen and Lace, and the studio's own hand-dyed lines, plus hooks, frames, scissors, sketchbooks, and books. Flat-rate shipping runs $14.95 across Canada and the U.S., which tells you how much of the business ships out rather than walks in — and that people still make the drive anyway.

The studio is also the centre of a genuine community economy: a Kit of the Month club, online courses with logins and waitlists, a free six-video beginner course, a weekly podcast, and "Thursday Lives" — live-streamed sessions from the studio that regulars plan their weeks around. The site's community gallery invites hookers to submit photos of finished rugs, and the teaching bench runs deep: long-time studio staff lead many workshops, one instructor has been with the studio for thirteen years and is completing the DFS teachers course this fall, and beginner-to-skill-building sessions run in person in Amherst alongside the online catalogue.

Workshops: Learning to Hook in Amherst

The in-person workshop series runs through the year with named projects and stated curricula — a recent October session taught the "Barns" pattern: how to hook a moody sky, how to build a layered scene, how to outline, and simple techniques to add interest, with a complete kit on linen, tea, oatcakes, and instruction included. You bring your own hook and frame (frames can be pre-ordered and picked up at the studio), and as the workshop notes promise, "Deanne will likely be around to help pour the tea." Sessions sell out; the site maintains waitlists for popular dates, and MAP — a multi-session skill-building program — is listed the same way. For travellers who catch the bug on the spot, beginner kits and the free video course are the standard on-ramp, and staff will set you up with a frame, a hook, and a pattern before you leave Amherst.

Why People Make the Trek

The Tripadvisor reviews (20 and counting) read like a shared realization. "What an amazing studio/shop," one begins — Deanne Fitzpatrick's studio is "somewhere you should make a trip to," even if you arrived with no prior interest in fibre arts. Another reviewer titled their visit "Retreat and Spa!," which tells you the register people file it under: slow, warm, unhurried. A third describes renting a car in Halifax and making the trek to Amherst specifically for the studio. The pattern is consistent — visitors come for a look, stay for the tea and the wall of hand-dyed wool colour, and leave with either a kit in a bag or a genuine intention to come back for a workshop.

What to Know Before You Go

Be clear about what this is: a working studio and shop, not a museum. You can browse freely and at length, but the heart of the visit is the inventory, the rugs on the wall, and whoever is working the floor that day — if you want Deanne herself, workshops are the likeliest place to find her pouring tea. Amherst is a border-town stop on the Highway 104 corridor that most Nova Scotia itineraries pass through rather than linger in, so the studio works best stitched into a Northumberland Shore day — the shore's warm-water beaches sit 20 to 30 minutes south — or as the first or last stop of a Nova Scotia road trip. Workshops require advance booking and fill from waitlists. And if you are shopping rather than visiting, the online store at hookingrugs.com carries nearly everything in the building, with flat-rate shipping on both sides of the border.

Practical Information

Address & Location
33 Church Street, Amherst, NS B4H 3A7 — downtown Amherst, minutes from the Highway 104 corridor between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Hours of Operation
Studio: 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Saturday, year-round.

Price Range
Patterns and kits from beginner-friendly prices; original rugs priced as art; wool, yarn, and supplies by the piece. Flat-rate shipping $14.95 in Canada and the U.S.

Reservations
No booking needed to browse. Workshops and online courses via hookingrugs.com or 1-800-328-7756; popular sessions run from waitlists.

Parking
Street parking on Church Street.