Gartmore 17th and 18th May 2014

A big Thank You to Ginnie Willis who first suggested the idea of a crafting weekend, many years ago. This was our fifth visit to Gatmore Hosue and I'm delighted to say that this event is eagerly awaited by one and all. The great Scottish weather did its usual.......RAIN! But many of our group were too busy to notice or care. Elaine organised the event and we really appreciated the time and effort that she employed to make this event a success. Thanks, Elaine. We are already looking forward to 2015!

The crafting weekend is an opportunity to try out or experience new crafts that you had never considered before. Paula was kind enough to give us a taster of Origami Paper Folding. You may have seen Paula before Christmas working on her Christmas Wreath and wondered what she was doing. The completed Christmas decoration was spectacular.

Paula had kits ready for us all and she was very encouraging. As you can see in the pictures we had to really concentrate to complete the task. There were moments of anguish! However, the decorative balls were a vision to behold!

Yvonne brought a selection of hats and gave a master class on How To Wear a Hat! As you can see, Magda,  has found a new vocation in life! I wonder what style of hat she will wear to the next group meeting!

Elaine brought an emergency supply of cupcakes for us to decorate using a button mould from Lakeland and fondant icing. We are just like big kids playing with pretty colours and making buttons to personalise our cupcakes. There were more cupcakes but some of them evaporated! Elaine has very good toys!

Isabel demonstrated How To Make a Flower with some fondant icing. She saw this idea on the internet and dazzled us with her brilliance!

Magda completed her crocheted poncho during the weekend and was delighted to model this stunning garment. This could be a new fashion trend at the group. Quite a few people expressed an interest in attempting to make a poncho. Someone was willing to let Magda make one for her.......guess who!

The chat was great and we had many a laugh during our stay but everyone managed to continue with some personal crafting projects. Norma , was particularly industrious and managed to complete a very fetching hat with a pink bauble.

This child's poncho was also completed by Norma. The white edging and pompoms just finish the garment off beautifully.

 Just to prove that we were actually in the countryside, this was the view from my bedroom window on the Sunday morning.

Some brave souls participated in my Sashiko class. This was a bit more taxing and someone almost had a tantrum..... but isabel promised to finish her needle case at home. I wonder if she will rope in her husband to help her!

I was so busy watching Lyn demonstrating the Big Shot Die Cut machine that I forgot to take some photographs. Sorry, Lyn. Norma was captivated by the magic of the machine and instantly thought of many crafting projects that she could create with it. I can't wait to see some of her ideas put into practice.

Roberta caused a stir while she worked on assembling her Christmas Penguins. She plans to display them at the bottom of the Christmas tree.

Yvonne was busy with her sewing machine quilting this baby cot cover. She brought the panel back from New Zealand and always intending doing something with it. What a wonderful gift idea!

Roberta had made lots of granny squares and used her time at Gartmore to learn how to join the squares using a raised join. A beautiful baby gift.

Caroline completed this stunning rainbow baby blanket just before we left for home. She found this pattern on the internet and created this glorious blanket for a friend who is about to become a Granny. I just love this blanket! Wow!

I may have missed out incidents and laughs If you would like to join us next year start saving. Elaine is looking at possible dates for 2015. This is an event to be experienced. Pure indulgence. Crafting. Good company. Meals and no dishes to do. What more could you ask for?

Gartmore/Fifth Anniversary: Part 4 (the final)!

After breakfast we had our last class of the weekend. This one was given by Laura. She had offered to teach beginners crochet. Basically, different stitches and she was willing to show people specific stitches they wanted to learn.

Helen, Isabel, Anne and Elaine all took part. Even though I wasn't taking part I even learned what a half treble was. Isabel found this class very relaxing. There were no tantrums and she even helped Helen out at one point.

These are Elaine and Helen's practise pieces. I think the favourite among everyone was the bobbles. I can't wait to see what everyone does with their new found skill.

As I mentioned in the last post there were also some finishes. Caroline brought along this craft bag and zipped purse set. Once again I love the fabric she used. The ribbon in the drawstring bag is in the style of measuring tape. I think everyone was tempted to pinch it.

Caroline was also asked to knit clothes for a little pig toy belonging to the daughter of a friend. Without a pattern she managed to knit him a hat, scarf, trousers and a cardigan. I think he was our mascot for the weekend.

We found out recently that June knows how to tat. Anne had wanted some reminders on how to do it so June brushed up on her skills and helped her out. She also brought this doily along which is an example of tatting. So delicate. She rescued this from her church as they were going to throw it out. We don't know who created it but seemed a shame that it was being discarded.

Linda was making her pencil cases for the shoebox charity. She did this last year and manages to make quite a few over the weekend. I loved the little train fabric.

You can see here just how busy she was. 15 in total.

Isabel was also busy. She finished her advent calendar. There was a stamped foot at one point but as you can see she was very proud when it was finished. Quite rightly too as it looks lovely! She did also finish her baby blanket, the one with the brick pattern. She was sick of it by the end and although she has the wool for another she refuses to do it. It didn't help that she discovered she had picked up white instead of cream at one point and hadn't notice. I did take a photo but seems a little cruel to post it here.

Lastly, June brought along this bag kit that she got on her travels with Helen and Stephanie. At first it didn't seem like it was going to fit together and June thought she was going to have to take it back. However, it all worked out in the end. Unfortunately I do think that her granddaughter might pinch the bag no matter how much June insists that it's for herself.

It was a fab weekend and we all came home sad that it was over. It went in far too quickly. I won't be able to organise it next year and it's unlikely that I will be able to go. However, I have had a few people volunteering to be the organisers so it will still go ahead.

Tomorrow I am teaching Helen how to use blogger so Tuesdays update will come from Helen. Will be a nice treat for you as you must be sick of my voice by now. Worth looking out for. I also have plans for the next member of the month so look out for that.

Gartmore/ Fifth Annvirsary: Part 3

Whilst we had a fabulous weekend the weather was rotten. Only Margaret and myself ventured out for a walk on the Sunday after breakfast.

We did see a bunny although they kept themselves hidden for the most part. We think they knew June was coming to see them.

The bag lessons resumed as soon as people began appearing in the big room. Izzi was already first up and straight to work. All of the bags were actually finished on the Sunday. A huge thank you to Izzi for all the time and effort she put in over the last few months. You can also thank Elaine who suggested the design in the first place (or blame which every you prefer).

Isabel was very proud of her finished bag. I don't think she expected to have it finished.

Love the blue fabric of Helen's bag.

I also like the simple stripe pattern. Roberta's bag is quite effective.

I like Linda's spotty design.

Lyn is planning to decorate the front of hers later with some embroidery.

I love the stripe and spot combinations in Alison's bag.

Margaret used her own fabric which had to be quilted as it was a light cotton unlike the more canvas style fabrics that everyone else used.

I felt a close up was needed to show the detail of the fabric.

The last bag to be finished belonged to Elaine. It took time to work out a pattern for the fabric. I love the end result.

Only one more blog post to go. The last one will highlight Laura's crochet class as well as some finishes done by the group.