It has been a weekend of mixed Blessings with the weather.Sun and warm enough for sweaters, and bleak grey and rain 10 minutes later.
It is just as well we had projects inside to entertain ourselves.
I belong to the Juan De Fuca Art and Craft Guild.
There is traditional fine arts, carving, models of boats, planes, railway sets, cats and bugs, rocks and stamps, and all manner of things.
But we are the fibre ones. Sewing, quilting, knitting, weaving spinning, anything that can be create by applying fingers to fibre and fabric.
Each year we take over the walkway in the Can West Mall, in Langford. The main purpose is to recruit interested new members. We also can showcase our particular crafts and have the opportunity to sell some of the things we have made.
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| Quilts knitted for charity by the JDF Arts and Craft Guild. |
I picked up a really neat carrier for pies or pots for pot luck dinners for $15. Well made and sturdy.
Bibs for both babies and the older folks who may need a little something to keep their dinner off their vests. These go for around $3.
I just have my glasses hanging around my neck and catch the fallout in those.
The ladies do a lot of charity work with: homemade quilts for the nursing homes or for a new baby.
Baby and children's knitting, slippers, Chemo hats and special wipes for the fragile are among the desired items
A number of warm items are donated to local charities that deal with the battered spouses or the homeless also.The sense of sharing and giving is outstanding.
They not only give their time and talent, but also often buy the materials.
They are always open to donations of yarn, fabric, batting, or any other project material. If you would like to donate, email me at palea@telus.net and I will make sure you are put in contact with the right person.
The other asset of these groups, is the mentorship that happens.
With our nomadic communities now, we cannot all learn the crafts from out relatives, so the good ladies will take a novice under their wing and share their skill.
We need more of this type of caring.
Several of us took our spinning wheel and demonstrated to the interested people how to spin and card and knit.I took some needle felting and happily sold out of dryer balls.
I also took some Tunisian knitting/croquet and demonstrated that.
It was a great time and we manage to stay the whole three days.
Then our Fibre Friends group had our weekly spin day at my house today.
I had turkey broth in the freezer, so did a Winter soup with all root vegetables, and made two homemade loaves of bread. One was Apple and ginger and the other was raisin bread.
We all brought projects and talked and ate, and spun and generally had a great time.
I think it is important for each gendre to have some time with their peers.
Some women have daughters, sister, or other relatives to chat with. But for us that do not, it is a healthy special way to touch base outside the family circle.
One a year I try and go to a Spin-in. We stay at a hotel for 2 nights and take our wheels and spin. There are anywhere up to 100 spinners, so the groups keep reforming and opinions, tricks and tips are shared.
There is one coming up in March, and a one day Spin-in in a couple of weeks
at Metchosen.I will at least take in one and again refresh my creative side.
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