Meetings take place at The Gill Nethercott Centre, Whitchurch, starting at 7.30pm.  There is no membership fee, just pay £1.50 at the door which includes refreshments.  We are a very friendly bunch and welcome anyone new who enjoys crafting, chatting and laughing!

Design by Tisha Copeland Design by Debbie Shore

This week I will be showing you how to make these two items;the fabric basket and the pocket tissue holder.If you are not a sewer both these projects are ideal for the novice sewer and are quick and simple to create. If you have a sewing machine, do bring it along (even if you are not particularly confident using it – we can help!) as it will obviously speed the process but if not then these can easily be sewn by hand.  We are very lucky to have a club machine, kindly donated by Jill and this will be available for anyone to use, but if you have a spare machine you are willing to let someone use for the evening, please do bring it along. These two projects will be done as an introduction for our novice sewers before moving on to creating the Tote Bag many of you have asked to do.

Here are a couple of examples I have made using the same fabric for all pieces.  Each one took just 10 minutes including the cutting.As you can see, choosing the right fabric means you can make them for men and children (my little boy loves his rally car one!)

So if you would like to have a go at making either of these little projects, here’s what you need to bring along.

Your sewing machine (with extension lead if you have one) or sewing needles, sharp scissors and of course matching thread.  Please see the table below for the specific items needed for each project.  If you do not have any cotton and wish to make these, please let me know and I will sort some out for you but let me know in advance please!  Obviously if you are able to cut your fabric before you come along, it will help speed things up.

For the Tissue holder you will need 5 pieces of cotton:  3 pieces measuring  3¾” x 5” and 2 pieces measuring  3¾” x 3½”

One of the larger pieces will form the back, the others will be creased in half and form the front.  Select any colour or pattern that pleases you, they do not need to be different; it is your choice.  The photo here shows an embellishment of a button, again you do not need to add anything but if you chose to it could be a button, ribbon, flower etc.

For the Fabric Gift Bag you will need 2 squares of cotton:­­­ one to form the inside and one for the outside approximately 8½” square each and appromixately 1 yard of ribbon to contrast with your fabric, a small safety pin and 4 embellishments*

The size of your square doesn’t matter too much, so long as the square is exact and both pieces of cotton are the same size (if you wish, you could add a little stiffener between the layers, but it is not essential).   *On the photo you will see a small button; one is placed at each of the 4 four corners to help finish off the item.  Your embellishment can be whatever you wish, but you will need 5 and ideally they should not be too big.

The finished item will be a small ‘bag’ that will sit in the palm of your hand and is ideal for giving small gifts and is particularly ideal for dressing up a smaller, inexpensive item.

So did everyone have a fabulous Easter? The weather was a little disappointing after all the glorious days we have had but I am sure you all made the most of it!

Lambs are now starting to bounce around the farmland locally and the rabbits and hares are about in force too.

Whitchurch is full of ducks, swans and other birds all preparing to become parents. Meanwhile human parents are trying to fill their days with interesting things for their kids to do!!! Did anyone make Easter hats at the Silk Mill? Or go on an Easter Egg Hunt?

It was so great to see so many of you at our last meeting which was also Crafty Affairs 1^st anniversary.  We hope to see you all again through the coming year. The nibbles and wine went down a treat and I am sure that more than one of us went away with something from the sale and donation tables! Has anyone made anything from something they have picked up from any of the sale tables? Hopefully some photos will go up on our Facebook page soon.

Welcome to our new members, Rosanna, Jacqui, Sally, Sarah and Hazel too!

Easy Peasy Flowers

What a great turnout we had on Tuesday evening when we had a go at making the Easy Peasy Fabric Flower shown here.  I hope everyone went home with either a completed flower or at the very least an understanding of the technique.  You can access the step by step instructions here.

Websites to take a look at:

We will try and highlight a few websites we think are useful on our Facebook page and on the newsletter – if you have any you have particularly found useful or have a craft based one of your own let us know!!

Next meeting

The next time we get together will be on Wednesday 25^th April where local lacemaker Glenys Wilkins will be talking about and showing us some lace, encouraging us to have a go ourselves!   We meet at The Gill Nethercott Centre in Whitchurch (next to The Silk Mill) starting at 7.30pm.  We don’t have a membership fee, just pay £1.50 when you come along, which includes refreshments.

Courses & Craft Events etc

Crafty Affairs friend, Jane Keelan, is holding her annual Samaritan’s fund raising morning on Saturday, 21st April at 10:30am at The Gill Nethercott Centre and features a Pampered Chef ‘party’; lots of goodies to see and try, followed by a taster session of food made using the equipment!  There is a charge of £3 per person to help cover costs and include refreshment, with commission of sales going to the Samaritan’s.  Pay at the door when you attend or purchcase advance tickets by contacting Crafty Affairs.

Willow basket weaving – there are various courses at different levels starting end of April through the summer in Berkshire & Surrey – see http://www.stripeybasket.co.uk/course dates.htm for details.

Support your local events!

Whitchurch Festival & Fete  takes place on the 7th July and where better to sell you crafts than at the local fete?  Application forms and more information available from http://whitchurchfestival.co.uk/fete_2012.html.  Rosie’s Gifts and Snuggly Sockimals, both based in Whitchurch, are hoping to be therealong with Rosie’s Gifts. Check out the Whitchurch Facebook page  for daily updates on what is happening locally for the Jubilee and Olympics.

All Hallows Church Fete – 14^th July 2pm – no further details available yet.

Happy crafting!

Diary photograph courtesy of Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net

We have launched our competition to produce work based on a particular pattern which you can access at New Leaf Patterns.  Clicking on their link will take you straight to the pattern we are using, but there are a lot of others to explore on their website.   Anyone can take part in our competition so do come along if you want to try it out for yourself.  The finished item can be anysize, 3D, parts ignored or embellished or it can be cut apart and re-structured or simply coloured in; it will be very interesting to see how differently things turn out. The closing date for this work is our session on Tuesday the 8th May with the winning entry announced at the following session on Wednesday 23rd May.

We have also been discussing the possibilities of producing a piece of work to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen and are currently put together ideas, so if you have any thoughts, please come and share them with us!

At Easter we will once again be kicking off the making of poppies in preparation for The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. These will again be available for sale at Rosie’s Gifts in London Road, Whitchurch and our early preparations will hopefully eradicate the panic calls from Rosie that the poppies had sold out yet again. We hope to offer a variety of designs (felt, crocheted and knitted) and they will differ from last year! If you would like to be involved and help to make some poppies we would love to hear from you. We will provide the yarn and pattern and will even help to teach you to knit, crochet or sew if you wish!

All those things will continue alongside our embroidery sessions that we have started. At our first session we learned the running stitch including two laced running stitches, the chain and lazy daisy stitches, french and bullion knots and herringbone stitches so a lot to try out. We are doing this in the doodle stitching technique in which the embroiderer creates a picture or piece of work by doodle with needle and thread. The stitch sampler created is in the doodle style and shows a great many stitches.  (My doodle sampler was inspired by Mrs. Kitty who has produced some beautiful embroidery: Mrs. Kittty’s Gallery We will continue the embroidery sessions looking at the Stem, Satin, Fishbone and Blanket Stitches. If embroidery is something you would like to learn, please do join us as we are happy to take you through the earlier stitches too.

With those three projects on the go, we will all no doubt be very busy but we also have other things in mind for those who wish to do so:

Tooth Teddy:

a charming little teddy who looks after a child’s tooth so the tooth fairy can find it and leave some money in it’s place.

Trinket Box

made by stitching onto Plastic Canvas, this is an easy little project to try.

Fabric Flowers:

ideal for adorning a cushion, hairband, bag or to be made into a brooch. These are quick and simple to make and very effective.

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We are also hoping to demonstrate the following:

A tote bag: a simple shopping bag that anyone can create

Patchwork & Quilting: learning basic patchworking to create either a wonderful cushion or bag, or of course anything else you may wish to make

Scrapbooking:  Creating a wonderful photo album, considering layouts and embellishments to enhance the memory of the event when the photo was taken.

Other crafting that we will be addressing is:

Stamping, Extreme Knitting and Crochet, Tunisan Crochet, Lacemaking, Felting techniques and how to get the best from your Sewing Machine!

We are pleased to announce that Crafty Affairs is running it’s first charity fund raising event!

On Saturday 1st October 2011, at the Gill Nethercott Centre in Whitchurch Hampshire, from 10am to 4pm.

While raising money for ChildLine and NSPCC, it will also be an opportunity to demonstrate some of what Crafty Affairs is all about …..!

For further details please go to this page on our website – and keep checking back for updates as we finalise things closer to the date!

Proceeds will be split equally between Crafty Affairs, Childline and the NSPCC.

Here’s hoping the lovely warm weather we’ve experienced in the last week hasn’t tempted you away from your crafting too much! We have a lot going on at our next session; as usual Damien will be teaching his art classes and we will be continuing to demonstrate crafting techniques. This week the first hour will see Miranda showing us how to create a faux ‘Cathedral Window’ quilt panel, which can subsequently form part of a larger piece of work, such as a cushion cover. This will be a quick and simple method which is very satisfactory as you can achieve quite stunning and complicated looking work very easily. If you would like to join Miranda and create your own alongside her demonstration, then you will need to bring some things with you:

Mini Quilt Pin Cushion

4 x 3.5" squares of the same material – plain · 1 x 6.5" square – patterned material · 1 x 6.5" square of a contrasting plain material · Scissors, sewing needle, pins, · thread matching the colour of the large plain square

Don’t be put off by the list of things to bring along, it’s really not much at all; just make sure that the materials are of a similar thickness and if you have a sewing machine, bring that with you.

For those not partial to sewing, we will also be demonstrating other simple crafts in the second hour and discussing with everyone our plans for our special event planned for the 1st October.

Sue Waite has very kindly offered to show us how to make felt brooches and we are very keen to take her up on her offer, but having already advertised the Cathedral Window quilting panel, we thought it inappropriate to change the schedule activity once again, and more importantly, believe that Sue deserves a whole evening in which to demonstrate her fantastic skills.

If, of course, you do not wish to try out any of the techniques on offer, that’s fine, you don’t have to! Simply bring yourself along for a cuppa and a chat and maybe that bit of work that’s been lurking in the cupboard you haven’t quite got around to finishing off yet!

The session starts at 7.30pm and we have a lot to get through so we look forward to seeing you and hope you have a fun and enjoyable evening with us.

Photographs of the sample work of Cathedral Window quilt panels are taken from the following websites and blogs.  Click on the links to go directly to their sites for more photos, information and ideas!

Pin Cushion (What K T made next blog site)

Mini Quilt  (The Artful Dodger blog site)

Cushion

At our next session on Wednesday, the 27^th July, we will be looking at the very big world of both card making and scrapbooking. These four images on the left hand side are typical examples of what you can create.

While the ultimate results are different in that one is a greeting card and one a photo album the processes and materials used follow exactly the same principles. There are far too many genres of methods to name here, but some include quilling, decoupage, iris folding, layering, embellishments, stamping etc.

Creating scrapbooks or their pages is a beautiful way of producing a wonderful and personal gift and you can use many simple every items, such as button, wrapping paper, rick rack and other ribbons and it is a great way to use up those odd little bits and pieces that always seem to be left over, so fire up your imagination!

There really are no rules when scrapbooking except to say that you need to use the right type of adhesive, one which does not yellow and therefore affect your photos over time so you need to make sure you that use an glue that is acid free. Don’t use a glue stick. Glue sticks are inexpensive and some are even acid-free. They still do not, however, make the best adhesive for scrapbooking. As the glue dries it tends to become brittle and some items even fall off of your pages. Spend the extra money and get good quality adhesives for use with your photos. Do use a photo tab dispenser. Photo tabs are small squares of double sided tape that work especially well with photos. You only need a few per photo (one in each corner is sufficient). By adhering your photos, with limited amounts of good adhesive you will be able to remove them later if needed. Photo tab dispensers allow you to apply the adhesive squares with a rolling tool which makes using them quick and easy. Herma has a refillable photo tab dispenser, while 3L offers an inexpensive tab dispensing box that you simply throw away when it is empty. Don’t use permanent adhesive on photos that you may need to remove in the future. If there is any chance that you may need to remove photos from your album in the future for copying or reprinting, you will want to use an adhesive that allows you to pop the photos off the page. Old fashioned photo corners were designed for this purpose, and are great for heritage albums. Photo corners are very time consuming to use in comparison with tab dispensers and tape runners. In general, using the least amount of adhesive necessary to hold items on your page is the best rule of thumb. Small amounts of tape or just a few photo tabs will allow you to remove items at a later date if needed.

Notes for your diary for the next couple of weeks ….. !

Friday to Sunday, 15^th to 17^th July: Overton Scarecrow Festival & Family Fun Weekend

Taking place at Bridge Street Recreation Ground, Overton from12 noon to 5pm each day

There will be lots of stalls, attractions and events against the backdrop of hundreds of funny and clever Scarecrows displayed all around the village. They are still looking for teams for events human Table football ladies/men/children (Saturday). Tug of War (Sunday), Superstars teams of 4 (Sunday). The Wheelbarrow race (Friday) starts in the pits at Pound Rd round the pubs – there is still time to enter. Put your details on their Facebook page or better still ring Adrian on 01256771749 leave a message with your contact details. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Overton-Scarecrow-Festival-2011

Saturday, 16^th July 2011: The Whitchurch Carnival Fete 2011: 2pm to 6pm
Following a procession through Whitchurch, the Fete will stop when it reaches its destination of the playing field of Whitchurch Primary School Playing Field. There will be rides, coconut shy, BBQ, Beer tent, Live Music, Refreshments, Ice Cream van and many more attractions. The Carnival and Fete attract around 2000 visitors and is busy family fun day for everyone to enjoy. The stalls are a mixture of local crafts, gifts, foods and community groups and businesses.

Saturday, 16^th July 2011: St. Mary’s Church Fete, Micheldever: From 1pm

A typical church fete with a good variety of stalls and activities for all the family to enjoy.

Saturday 16^th July: New Milton Crafts 2011 from 10:30am to 05:30pm

A unique opportunity to view local crafts people’s products in the largest indoor Craft Event between Bournemouth and Southampton with 66 stalls including bespoke house signs, handmade handbags, jewellery, knitted toys, handmade chocolates and ‘Lily’s Pink Cake Factory’, plus many more. Held at The New Milton Memorial Centre. Whitefield Road. New Milton. Hampshire. BH25 6D, admission 50p http://www.newmiltoncrafts2011.co.uk/index.html

Sunday, 17^th July: Cream Tea by the River from 2.30pm to 5pm

Come and relax in the gardens of Queen Anne and Riverside Cottages in Forton on the banks of the beautiful River Test. Be served a delicious cream tea of home-made scones and jam with clotted cream and a slice of cake. There will be children’s activities and a raffle. All the proceeds go to the Village Hall Refurbishment Project. Tickets bought in advance from Maggie Barber 720459 and the shop: £4 for cream tea, 50p for child’s ticket (squash and cake). All tickets on the day, 50p extra.

Thursday to Sunday, 21^st July to 24^th July: Art in Action from 10.00am – 5.30pm each day

An opportunity to learn, buy and enjoy the exhibitions, classes and performances of 400 demonstrating artists, designer makers, teachers, musicians and performers. Disciplines include painting, sculpture, glass, woodwork, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and jewellery. Waterperry House, Waterperry, Near. Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1JZ. Too much to talk about here so visit their website: https://www.artinaction.org.uk/This-Years-Event

Sunday, 24^th July: Basingstoke Samaritans Craft Fair: 10am to 3pm

Celebrate Samaritans listening round the clock 24:7 and help them unveil their branch artwork for this year’s national project! Held at the Carnival Hall in Basingstoke, there will be local crafters demonstrating their skills, with local crafts and produce available for sale, afternoon teas, face painting, ‘preloved bazaar’ and the mayor will be in attendance. Entry is Free. For further information email Samaritans@prelovedbazaar.co.uk or telephone Elli on 07521 392633

If you know of any craft fetes/fairs or there is something you think may be of interest, do please let us know so that we can include in our newsletters!

Happy Crafting!

Miranda demonstrated the ‘Prick and stitch’: a simple technique which requires a pattern to be pricked through card which is then stitched. The great thing about this particular craft is that you really do not need to be an expert seamstress! If you can hold a needle, you can achieve wonderful results.

Everyone attempted the same pattern; a butterfly, and the diverse range of finished cards were astonishing, all as a result of the colour choice of card and thread.

The concentration and focus meant that we ran late and were still working studiously when the caretaker arrived to lock up!  This simple, quick method was definitely a big hit!

Our second ‘Crafty Corner’ was crocheted flowers.  What at first might have seemed rather fiddly proved not to be too difficult under the guidance of Maria who kindly gave us another crochet master-class and even the most novice of crochet skills achieved wonderful results. Maria has very kindly given us her pattern for the 5 petal flower which is on our website.

We are hoping that we can convince Maria to join us again in the future for more insights into crochet which is definitely a clothing trend in the shops this year.

Damien continues his art classes with feedback from his ‘students’ being very positive. While tailoring these lessons to the requirements of those attending, Damien has structured the lessons to be a mini course, payable weekly, that takes members ‘back to basics’ and his classes are proving to be very enjoyable. This week Damien’s art workshop will be held in the larger hall along with the rest of the Crafty Affairs group in the hope that we are able to offer them brighter lighting by which to work.

Good News! We have just created our own Facebook page which will help us to get word around that Crafty Affairs is up and running. There is much that is constantly discussed about the security of personal data etc. when using this application but it has to be said that if you do not put personal information on Facebook, then there is nothing to ‘steal’. While some are nervous of using this system, it really is a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with people, wherever they are in the country or indeed the world. Many grandparents are finding this the preferred method of keeping in touch with their grandchildren on a daily basis and if you have broadband access there is no cost involved. It is also a great place for you to put photographs to share with friends and family and you are able to specify who you do or don’t want to see them. Please do consider using Facebook as there is information posted on the Crafty Affairs page which is in addition to our website. Crafty Affairs has produced a Facebook Guidance Leaflet to help you understand that there is nothing to be afraid of in using Facebook. For those of you living in Whitchurch and the surrounding area, Whitchurch has its own Facebook page which you can link to and it keeps you up to date with all the views and news of Whitchurch.

At our next session on the 22nd June, will be the demonstration by Pauline of Soap Bespoke of her soap making techniques. As yet we do not know specially which soaps she will create but these photos are typical examples. The products she produces as a result of the demonstrations will be available for sale at the end of the evening and starter kits will also be available for purchase, so please do remember to bring your money along! With the starter kits, you will be able to make soaps with or without perfume and they make fantastic gifts. Pauline’s products and range can be found at http://www.soapbespoke.com/ and they also have their own Facebook page.

Finally, two reminders for you.

Firstly the Sprat and Winkle Quilters exhibition finishes on the 11th June. Formed in 1980, this diverse, fun group produces contemporary and traditional quilts. The exhibition shows the current range of work, including colourful wall hangings, 3D quilt art and vibrant textiles. Open times vary on different days so do check with the Andover Museum (6 Church Close, Andover SP10 1DP) where the exhibition is held before starting out on your trip. Admission is free. Telephone: 0845 603 5635

Secondly, the North Waltham Country Fair is being held this Saturday, the 11^th June between1pm and 5pm. Entry is free. It is described as ‘featuring everything from fete stalls and attractions to refreshments, selected trade stalls and fun for all the family in a village setting’. The fete is held at Cuckoo Meadow, North Waltham, Near Basingstoke, Hampshire RG25 2BL Hampshire RG25 2BL. Cuckoo Meadow is accessed next to the village school shown in the picture.

However, it seems that there is no tangible evidence to support this theory as to date, no diaries, journals, or letters have been located that would support the theory that quilt blocks were used in a secret quilt code. No oral testimony in support of the code was ever provided by former slaves who were interviewed by the Works Progress administration in the 1930s, nor did anyone come forward at a later time and it is said that not one quilt or quilt block has been recovered that can be documented as having conveyed hidden messages among slaves during the era of the Underground Railroad.  For further reading on this, go to http://www.quiltersmuse.com/an-american-quilt-myth.htm.

Our previous news letter contained some information about Encaustic Art, which many members have shown in interest in.  Our article addressed the fact that the demonstrator required payment a we asked for feedback from as to whether you would be willing to cover her costs.  Please do let us have a definite yes or no to help us plan Crafty Affairs sessions for the future.

Tonight’s Crafty Affairs meeting consists of three ‘Crafty Corners’: our Drawing and Water Colour classes, held by Damien in the outer area and two other in the main hall: ‘Crochet Corner’ and ‘Card Corner’.  Crochet Corner is as the request of many members who enjoyed the beginners crochet session and asked for Maria to demonstrate how to crochet flowers.  The Card Corner will be a demonstration by Miranda of one particular decorative element, ‘prick and stitch’, where a pattern is pricked through on to card and then sewn, creative a stunning and effective card.   These make fantastic gifts whether as the finished item or for someone to receive or to stitch themselves to give away and is an ideal way to get youngster started in a quick and simple craft.    Apart from some free patterns available on our own website at www.craftyaffairs.org, it is worth using the online shops for patterns, thread and accessories as there is a great variety to choose from.  Here are two sites worth a visit www.form-a-lines.net and www.stitchingcards.com.

Visitors to our website at www.craftyaffairs.org will notice that the [Calendar] now has a lot of information on it, listing events nationally, in the southern region, locally and of course includes all the Crafty Affairs sessions and planned activities, highlighted in purple.  Do please let us know of any that we have missed as did Rosie who told us of the ‘Art in Action’ show which begins on the 21^st July. You will also see that we have been busy adding on a [Resources].  This is fairly new so doesn’t yet have too much information there, but it does have some free prick and stitch patterns for you to download and in time will have more free patterns, links to websites, how to videos and suggested books so please bear with us while we populate this page and indeed trawl for the information!  If you have any hints or suggestions on what can be included here, again please tell us so that we can share it with everyone and don’t forget we need you to add your comments on to the website!

Please note that we have intentionally not scheduled any activities for the next session on Tuesday, 7^th June as we thought it would be a nice idea to have a relaxed evening of crafting where we all bring whatever we want along, whether finished or in progress to show others and chat about what we have done

Finally, our thanks to both Rosie and Vivienne who have both taken the time and trouble to suggest ideas for fundraising, advertising and demonstrators.    Happy Crafting everyone!

On Tuesday, we had a fantastic evening with a glorious display and demonstration by Quilters Dreams of Andover, learning about the ‘codes’ hidden with the blocks of patterns developed over many years designed to help captive slaves escape their lives in America; it was truly fascinating.  We had a good number of members attending but as we know that no everyone can join us on a Tuesday, included below is the newsetter that we issue to give everyone a chance to keep up to date!

As always, if you have any questions, please email us – meanwhile Happy Crafting!

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This evening, we are lucky to have Ricky and Janet, owners of Quilters Dream who have a shop at Picket Piece in Andover, stuffed full of beautiful fabrics along with books, patterns and an array of accessories needed to produce fantastic items, such as cloths, runners, quilts, cushions; the list seems endless!  They will be showing us how to construct a Quilt block along with the three layers to make a Quilt, including hand quilting techniques and bringing along some finished items for us to drool over!  They have very kindly offered to put together for us some beginner’s starter kits for us to purchase.   If you want to visit them at the shop, you can find them on the first floor at Quilters Dream, Units 403-407, The Commercial Centre, Picket Piece, Andover.  Tel: 01264 324 420, www.quiltersdream.co.uk.  They are open 9.30am to 5.00pm every day except Sunday and Monday.

We are continue to try to source experts to come and demonstrate their craft to us but with no funds in the purse yet, it is proving a little difficult as many of them are some considerable distance from us and we would at the very least need to cover their expenses.  For example, highly rated on the questionnaire of skills crafters want to learn is basket making, but we would need to bring people from Reading so we need to build up our funds quickly!  Of course, we welcome any suggestions of fundraising and if you know of someone who would be willing to come along to demonstrate, preferably without cost, please do let us know.

Many of you expressed an interest in Ecaustic Art Wax Painting.  This is a technique simply described by saying that coloured pigment is added to beeswax which is heated/melted and applied to a canvas using metal tools, primarily a small iron type implement.  The two pictures you see here are examples of what can be achieved once you have mastered this unusual craft.  Art of Wax (www.artofwax.co.uk) used to have a unit at the Viables Craft Centre in Basingstoke where classes were run but now conducts workshops based in Fleet.  Cazzy who runs the workshops and produces the beautiful artwork has the following suggestion:

“My fee is £125. Alternatively I could do a workshop with you with 6 people at a time. Say 7 – 7.30 first group, 7.45 -8.15 second group and 8.30 – 9pm third group. So in total that would cover 18 people and charge them £10 per head this then would cover material costs, petrol, and they would get 30 minutes tuition in the basic techniques and their designs to take home too.”

Please let us have your feedback on whether you would be prepared to pay extra to cover the costs for a master-class in this technique.   Unfortunately, until we have built up our funds, we are unable to discount costs or cover expenses on behalf of the Crafty Affairs group.

Many of you enjoyed the Crochet Corner, run by Maria designed as a beginners guide to get you ‘hooked’, with requests being muted to learn how to crochet flowers and Maria is happy to guide you through this on the next Wednesday session, alongside the Form-a-lines demonstration that Miranda will be giving, so you can chose what you would like to do.  We are hoping to talk Maria into making herself available to us on the Wednesday sessions to be our Crochet ‘guru’ and hopefully take us through to more complicated patterns.

Extreme Crochet and Knitting is one of the latest trends to join the crafting world and we are lucky to have someone in Winchester who can demonstrate this new craft for us.  As you can see from the book cover photo the needles are rather on the large side!  Knitting and Crocheting with such large needles makes your work grow very quickly and it is an ideal way of using up all those odd balls of wool you have left over; you simply use them all at once to generate a really thick yarn.  This extreme craft appears to extend to both extreme cross-stitch and extreme tapestry so we hope you will find of interest as we will be attempting to organise a demonstration!

Finally, we must do all we can to spread the word that Crafty Affairs is here!  If you know of anywhere we can advertise or distribute or display our flyers, please let us know.  We are looking to increase our numbers because by doing so we will be able to continue to make use of the whole hall, with the bright light and veranda, which will be lovely in the summer months and of course increased attendance means more money in the pot for us to fund demonstrators.

Crafty Affairs member Rosie has told us of an art show/fair that is held every year in Oxford called “Art in Action”, held at Waterperry House, Oxford which takes places on the 21st to the 24th July.   There are demonstrating artists, classes (over 3000 in 38 subjects), many items on sale and performing arts and music.  Check out the website for further information (www.artinaction.org.uk/This-Years-Event).

Closer to home is the Quilting exhibition on at the Andover Museum by the ‘Sprat and Winkle Quilters’.  The exhibition is on from Saturday 14th May to Saturday 11th Jun and shows their current range of work which includes both contemporary and traditional quilts, colourful wall hangings, 3D quilt art and vibrant textiles. For further information see http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hampshire-museums/andover-museum/andover-museum-events-detail?id=108264

To finish, we have to mention the up and coming nationally acclaimed Watercress Festival at Alresford on Sunday, the 15th May.  Held annually on the third Sunday in May this nationally acclaimed FREE food festival celebrates watercress – the superb locally grown, delicious and versatile crop and draws together the local community and food lovers from far and wide for a day of food and fun.    There is a large Festival market which includes arts, crafts, jewellery, clothing and items for house and garden.  The entire centre of New Alresford in Hampshire becomes a huge street festival, with a large food market showcasing the very best local producers have to offer. Award-winning and well known local chefs share their passion for watercress during cookery demonstrations throughout the day, whilst local experts extol the virtues of this acclaimed ‘superfood’.   Music and dance are central to the festival so find time to enjoy performances by the many bands, Morris dancers and local school children. Talking of children, there’s lots to keep them happy including circus skills workshops, face painting, magician, treasure trails, a climbing wall and mobile farm.   One of the main highlights of the festival is the street cavalcade at 10.30am with jazz musicians, Morris dancers and local school children accompanying the Watercress King and Queen atop a horse and cart distributing the first of the season’s watercress harvest to festival goers.  Check out the website for further information: http://www.watercressfestival.org/