Exciting Times Ahead ...

What a lovely morning it was at ACC this week. A great turnout, we welcomed back Sue and Sarah after long breaks which was really special.
Jo treated me to an undeserved latte saying that, on her first week, someone shouted her a coffee and she's never been able to repay the favour. It's the tiniest things like that which make ACC such a fabulous group, when I hear these little anecdotes they warm my heart.

Even though I have known who she is for sometime now, Janet finally found out who I was and came to put an idea to me. She often creates hanging banners for our local church and has the idea of making six new ones for the Autumn. She thought it might me the kind of thing that some of ACC might be interested in getting involved with, and had given some consideration to how we might like to mark William and the bible verse "shine like stars in the universe" (which is used as a basis for children's work at the church). As a bizarre coincidence, three of us had been researching a new café which has a 'Stitch' room at the back only the day before.
I had tentatively suggested that we may host a Strawberry Tea for Breast Cancer Care at The Lounge, but now think that this will be the ideal location (all set up with sewing machines) to make up the banners.

So, with the banners likely to happen in The Lounge, one of my next jobs is to arrange and co-ordinate the Strawberry Tea. My home is as good a place as any, Stephanie wants to mark her Mum's triumph over breast cancer by getting involved with making goody bags and Priya has already offered up her baking skills ... all good so far. You WILL be invited in due course, patience.

And the third 'thing' we have in the pipeline is dependent on how successful my and Emma's first foray into soap making goes next week.
We went on a course last Sunday (you can read about it here) and it turns out that Alison is a very experienced soap maker who we have inspired to dig out her kit and get making!
If all goes well, we'd like to draw on her experience and generosity and run small soap making courses for interested members of ACC and beyond.



















So, milestones this week were Sarah making it along with the help of Ruth, the return of Sue who wisely brought a friend for moral support, Emma getting her knits out for the first time at ACC since, erm, February at a guess, Janet and I finally getting to meet, Lesley parting with an 80s Laura Ashley dress for me to refashion (thank you, so very kind), and not one, not two, but three 'events' in the pipeline.
This community just goes from strength to strength, we must start adding more photos to this blog so that you can see what we get up to!

Love for the week ahead
C&C
xxx

Wow wow wow Whata Lota WsiP

Loads and loads of crafters came along this morning for A Crafty Coffee. Two new ladies bobbed by to say hi, one on her day off because she thought if she didn't come then she'd never get to see what she was missing out on, and the other because she usually plays tennis but has had an op on her shoulder so is out of action. I do hope she comes back next week so that we can get to know her better.

Newlyweds Dee and Ron came in for a while which was really quite special and I was literally delighted to see Alison make a return visit, I caught her knitting out of the corner of my eye, but the table layout in Trago Lounge does mean that we are in smaller, more disparate groups than we used to be. Ah well, my positive thinking leads me to believe that we will forge more intimate relationships with a few fellow crafters this way, as opposed to having superficial relationships with lots of people.

Sadly Sarah won't be with us for a while, and some of the group members are very keen to find out how she's doing and to support her where they can. This is where I believe a community like ours really comes into its own. The craft is great, as is the conversation, but the way a group can pull together to help a friend in need is really special, and pretty rare in the society that we inhabit these days.

Want to know what was going on craftwise?
I'm crocheting a camping blanket, and 'Is' took great delight in teaching me Tunisian crochet today which could easily become a project!
Carol was knitting socks, on needles so small and fine that it looks like she's knitting on cocktail sticks.
Alison was working on blanket squares for the project she's been working on since we inspired her back in April. 2010.
Stephanie is cross-stitching Disney Princesses to go in frames in her DD's bedroom.
Su is working on a crochet cardigan for a friend, as well as a lace knit cover-up for her DD.
Karen is crocheting a border on the baby blanket that we were all contributing to for Meghan, a member of Trago Lounge staff who's expecting in September. Karen got carried away with her little hexagons and before she knew it she pretty much had the blanket all sewn up. I do think it is a very special way to show our thanks and appreciation to the staff, to make them a little gift when they reproduce.
Amy was making the Peter Pan collars from Mollie Makes, her friend whipping up sock monkeys at a rate of knots.
Liv chose to work on her crocheted shawl, I'm led to believe it is to be a gift so she needs to get a shift on.
And that's all I can reliably report on, but I know there were other things going on and that there were at least seven crafters present who have remained un-named this week.

I am sorry I don't get round all of you anymore, there is something about that 'bride at a wedding' thing that is so lovely, but also so superficial. And it always meant that my own craft never got touched.

See as many of you next week as can be there.
Love Crafty.