Gartmore/ Fifth Anniversary: Part 2

Half way through the afternoon we enjoyed a second tea break and cake. We normally take it through to the room we are working in but this time we all sat out in the foyer. It's a lovely, bright area with beautiful detail on the ceiling and glass panels on the doors.

After tea the second class began. This time it was run by myself and I was teaching everyone to crochet flowers. You can see all the stages above and an example of colour changes.

Lyn and Elaine get started whilst Elaine's friend watches on.

Margaret and June also get started.

The hardest bit is after you have done the first set of petals but everyone managed it. Here is Elaine's finished flower.

This one was finished by Lyn.

This one by Margaret.

This one by June.

I also did an example of adding an extra layer to it. You can see the difference the yarn makes too. I had used baby wool whereas the others used normal DK. Mine looks larger but the others are sturdier, making them perfect for broaches.

Other projects were also on the go between the classes. Margaret here is working on a cross stitch fairy.

Helen is working on a scarf for the shoe box charity.

Elaine is working on some mini cross stitch characters for her daughter.

Linda is working on pencil cases for the shoebox charity.

June is working on some cross stitch too. However, earlier she was also working on a felt bag kit.

Roberta had been working on a jumper for a charity at the church but ran out of wool. Here she is working on a hat also for charity.

Alison is working on her chunky cross stitch cushion. She managed to get quite a bit of it done and I think it won't be long until we see it finished.

For the rest of the night it was quite relaxing. We had a lovely dinner and then shared some sparkly wine. There was a lot of chat, laughter and of course work on projects.

Gartmore/5th Anniversary: Part 1

It always feels like Gartmore arrives and finishes all too quickly. However, everyone had a fantastic time and I hope that it felt a little bit special since we were also celebrating five years. There was some cava on the Saturday night but I'm afraid I didn't think to take photo's of that. Fear not though as I did take photo's of just about everything else.

As soon as we arrived and had our tea we set up the room. Some of us immediately got ourselves comfy.

Whilst others went straight to work. Most of the morning was spent working on bags at the sewing machine. Isabel here worked on her advent calendar. Those of us not at the sewing machines did get other projects out and began working.

The morning was fairly relaxing followed by a lovely lunch. That's one thing we have always said about Gartmore. You won't starve.

Once lunch was over the other classes began. First up we had a scrapbook lesson from Lyn. She was showing us how to make these gorgeous mini scrapbooks.

Lots of folding was involved, all very complicated. You can see everyone here concentrating to get it right. Although some got it better than others and even managed to start decorating their little books.

This one was mine although I was one of the last to be finished.

This one belonged to Helen.

Margaret decided to decorate hers with flower fairies.

This one was completed by Alison

Alison had brought her friend along who is also a knitter and a cross stitcher. She decorated this one and used a cupcake motif to match the papers inside.

Linda decorated the front of hers with different coloured flowers.

Isabel plans to have little bows made from black ribbon to decorate the inside.

Elaine has decorated hers for her daughter as it's her birthday soon.

Isabel is looking a tad stressed here. This was Isabel's face for most of the weekend. If anything could go wrong for Isabel it would. She was so relaxed after a weeks holiday too.

More classes coming up so look out for that.

INSPIRATION FOUND IN KINROSS Reported by Helen Miller

June spotted an advert in a magazine for a craft exhibition in Kinross and casually asked Helen and Stephanie if they fancied a wee run out to Kinross to see what was on offer. I’ve got to admit that, as the day drew closer, we wondered whether we had made the correct decision to go. The entrance fee was only £2 and that included refreshments. That sounded like good value for money so we set off to find Kinross Parish Church.

We had an enjoyable drive through and found the venue easily enough. As we paid the entrance fee we were astounded as we looked around at the variety of crafts on display. The exhibition was organised by the Scottish Handcraft Circle which tries to encourage people to learn traditional crafts which would otherwise die out. The photographs don’t do justice to the quality of the exhibits. There were quilts, wall-hangings, felted items, fabric and stitched landscapes, jewellery and much more. Amelie, June’s grand-daughter, was particularly interested in the felted fish bowl and the knitted toys. The church hall was ablaze with colour and we walked round several times in an attempt not to miss anything.

Being a polite soul I asked permission to take photographs and was delighted to meet such a lovely group of ladies who were interested in our being there and willing to discuss their group. They took a note of our details and promised that the Glasgow branch of Scottish Handcraft circle would be in touch to liaise with our group and have an exchange of ideas. They run meetings from October to May and are based in Elmbank St, Glasgow.

You will be happy to hear that the promised refreshments included tea, coffee, juice and home baking. We were made to feel right at home. Amilie got her money’s worth of juice and nibbles, (actually, we got her in for free). After tea we chatted to Meg who was working on Quaker Tapestry. This event was greatly enjoyed by everyone and our imaginations were running wild with the thought of things to come.

Needless to say we had a shopping urge. I had done my homework and we drove to Linlithgow to visit Nifty Needles  and Purely Patchwork on Main St. Nifty Needles had a good array of cross-stitch kits to entertain June. The wool section was varied and prices were competitive. Well worth a visit.

Purely Patchwork held an interesting supply of fabrics and fixings and project kits. This is also well worth a visit.

All in all, we had a grand day out and look forward to organising another adventure soon.