Christmas Lunch

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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS!

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Today we all enjoyed our annual Christmas lunch at Guthrie Village Hall, as our usual venue was no longer doing lunches. The Committee decorated the tables with festive cloths and flower arrangements, and the hall was very Christmassy. We had a lovely buffet from outside caterers (I will get their name, I forgot to do so at the time 😬, but they are definitely to be recommended). We dined on whole Scottish salmon, various meats and quiches, and imaginative salad bowls, clean plates all round. We all managed to find room for a choice of four desserts, I had lemon roulade and raspberry brûlée, passed on the chocolate Bailey's cheesecake 😇. Our member Ann had brought in gorgeous homemade mince pies, and we managed to find yet another corner in full stomachs to squeeze one in. Phew!

Then we played some paper games, followed by our popular ‘Hoopla the Reindeer’. Our chairperson Isabel played Rudolph, catching the rings on her antlers that we threw at her 😄. 

We had a great time, and wish all the members who could not make it today a very Happy Christmas and a Guid New Year. See you all in 2020!

Felting Day School with Lynda Marshall

Following Lynda's recent talk some of the members enjoyed a day of wet and dry felting, and everyone had a finished scarf to take home with them.

'Woolly Characters' - talk by Lynda Marshall

Lynda is one of our members, and well known for her lovely pastel landscapes, and more recently for her gorgeous felted animal pictures. Since retiring from the NHS she completed a City and Guilds in Textile Art, and has found her niche with a passion for felting. With a slideshow she explained the process of making felt, and also had some rather interesting variations of using silk handkerchiefs which add strength and sheen to the wool, very beautiful. Viscose fibres, which don't shrink, add lovely wavy lines in the felt. Lynda passed round samples of felt made with different wool types, with different additions, which showed how versatile this ancient textile can be.

She had four framed pictures of the woolly characters, and explained how she made them, passing round a sketchbook with examples of the different fibres used, and the wide colour palette. The different coloured hanks of wool can be mixed like paint to obtain new shades and colours, by carding the wool on two spiky hand tools. People who have the wire slicker brushes for their pets will know exactly what I mean. Brushing the wool from one to the other lines up the fibres and mixes the colours together. Once the fibres are in place, held down by net curtain, they are sprayed with warm water and olive oil soap, and rolled vigorously to meld the fabric. Then Lynda add embroidery to complete the picture.

It was a really inspiring and well prepared talk, and Lynda's upcoming day school is much anticipated, especially as making felt incorporates a workout at the same time!

Layering the wool fibres

Spraying with water and olive oil soap

preparing the wool for the sheep picture

The 'model'

Felted sheep awaiting embroidery

the Finished sheep

The carding brushes, mixing colours

Red Squirrel

alpaca model

Hamish the highland cow

alpaca

'Tweedy Houses' - Day School with Morag Gray

Some of the members spent a busy day with Morag making these delightful little houses. Unfortunately as I was not there myself I can't describe the method, but hopefully viewers will have an idea from the pics how they were put together.

'Textile Travels', talk by Nila Monckton

On a foggy, wet afternoon, Nila's talk took us across the seas to warmer climes and exotic locations. She has had a well travelled life, and regaled us with stories of the many countries she has visited, along the way adding to her hoard of fabric treasures.  Some of the fabrics she has made up into items both useful and ornamental, and other lovely textiles are waiting for that moment of inspiration, 'ah, that is why I bought it!' While her family were off sightseeing, Nila sought out fabric and tailor shops, picking up gorgeous scraps from the tailors (memo, must try this!).  After her talk we were able to handle the fabrics, there is nothing nicer than running your hands through all the textures of such an array.
Places she has visited and brought fabrics from include: Tunisia/Nuremberg/Corsica/Isle of Harris/Luxor/Japan/Fiji/NewZealand/Timbuktu/Singapore/Burma/Vietnam/India/Canada/Mongolia/North Korea. Several big tables were loaded with textiles from these places, a selection of which below:

No prizes guessing this was from India

African fabrics made into a cushion

Felt slippers from Mongolia

Scraps from a tailors shop

Braidsand bags

Embroidered tiger from North Korea. Reminded me of the exquisite embroidery from Suzhou in China

Close up of the tiger (sorry for the reflections in the glass)

Ikat weaving from Burma

Tartans from Burma

More Irate

What better way to carry your shopping home

Gorgeous fabrics from Singapore waiting for inspiration to be made up. If you need any help, Nila......