Crazy Mary Crafts specialises in textile arts and crafts. I aim to inspire and enable people to develop their creative potential, through community workshops, school visits and craft fairs. Find out more about what I do at www.crazymarycrafts.co.uk (All content and design work included in this blog, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Mary Halbert. All rights reserved.)
More details of my school & community workshops are also available on the Workshops in Schools website – please click here!
CRAZY MARY HITS WALSALL!
I know, I’d never lived, but today I finally got over to Walsall! After much teasing from loads of my new crafting friends, I’ve finally made it along the A5 to Muckley Corner and down the A461 to spend a lovely morning with Jill and the Walsall Patchwork & Quilters in a fantastically light and airy church hall. Sari silk ribbons were once again transformed into some rather splendid miniature landscapes with some machine stitching and then hand embellishment using Stef Francis space-dyed rayon threads. Another very friendly and welcoming group – I’m very much looking forward to making another visit in October, and have even booked myself in as trader/demonstrator for their exhibition in October 2013!! (Note to self: I’m taking quite a few bookings for next year so really must get a 2013 diary!). Here’s a ‘start here-finish there’ pair of pics… more on the workshops page!
CRAZY MARY GETS ALL ARTY CRAFTY AT TAMWORTH LIBRARY!
Another great local event for me today as I ran a workshop at Tamworth Library for Debbie Rutter and Jill Ireland’s community crafting group – Arty Crafty. We made embellished notebooks (haven’t done those for a while, so it was nice to do them again!). A truly lovely group of ladies – thank you for having me! And a rather splendid room for crafting in, which is always good to know about… anyway, here’s the crowd in question, with their finished notebooks:
M.A.M.PART 2!
It was great to get back to Greatwood Hall, Upper Tean, again today, to carry on with the busy young mums of ‘Mum Art Makers’, creating their Crazy Log Cabin pictures. As usual, each one was different, with a fantastic mix of colours, beads etc setting off the silk fabrics wonderfully. Thank you for having me ladies! Here are two of their clever creations:
SARI-SILK LANDSCAPES AT COEA!
Sari-silk landscapes proved popular again last Friday at Centre of England Arts, nr Meriden. It was lovely to meet some new crafters too . It never ceases to amaze me how each person’s design turns out so completely different, when we are all basically following the same task… beautiful pictures ladies! I’m looking forward to going back to COEA for my next all day project there on Sat 26th May – miniature stitched caskets.
MARVELLOUS MORNING WITH M.A.M.!
Just enjoyed the first of two crafting sessions with Mum Art Makers, Upper Tean nr Stoke – a very lucky group of young mums who have funding to craft away in peace while their youngsters are cared for in a creche in the room next door. There should be more of this kind of thing! I had a lovely couple of hours, getting everyone started on crazy log cabin pictures; back again next week to finish off! Here’s some work in progress:
CRAZY MARY IN PRINT AGAIN!
Yahoo! I’m in the current edition of Making magazine… p 90! Follow this link and scroll down a bit!!
making mag spring 12
NEW PROJECT FOR MAY 25TH AT HARVEST FIELDS CENTRE!
Here (at last!) are Crazy Mary’s Marvellous May Flowers all ready for 25th May at Harvest Fields Centre, Sutton Coldfield. With the weather the way it is, these may well be the only blooms we see all month!! Why don’t you come along and make some with me?
CRITTERS INVADE SUTTON COLDFIELD!
Where did they come from…?!
MORE FUN WITH A DOUBLE DOSE OF FUNKY FLOWERS!
Another busy couple of days – Thursday saw me in Coventry again at the Gilbert Richards Centre making Funky Felt Flowers with a fabulous group – here’s one happy crafter:
Then yesterday I had a local booking with the ladies of Kingsbury Krafters at Piccadilly Community Centre. Here we all are, beavering away at more Funky Felt Flowers, handstitching this time. Thank you for having me ladies!
PHEW! WHAT A FAB WEEKEND!
At last! Time to put up some pictures of my stall at the Uttoxeter show last weekend. It was great meeting so many lovely people and I got loads of very positive comments – I certainly felt that I held my own on this first Crazy Mary foray into the world of real shows. I sold some kits too, and have decided that there is definitely a market for them – I now need to decide what to do about it! My mini-workshops went down well (pictures of those on the workshops page) and I’m getting enquiries already about my workshops and the Stitching Sleepover in November, so I’m really pretty pleased with how it all went! Today I’ve been busy putting stuff together for my Funky Flower workshops at Coventry tomorrow and with Kingsbury Krafters on Saturday. I’ll leave you with a picture of some of my kits at the show…
STALL ALL SET UP! CRAZY MARY IS READY TO ROLL…
Here I am… Do you like the banners?
WIDNEY’S UNITY HANGING COMPLETE! SEE YOU AT UTTOXETER…!
Just a quick post to show off the completed ‘Unity’ hanging all ready for Widney Junior’s new entrance hall… hopefully there’ll soon be a photo of it in-situ, rather than spread out on my living room floor! Off to Uttoxeter to set up tomorrow – just a few little admin things to do today. I’m looking forward to the show, and being on the other side of a stall for a change. My kits are looking good and are all boxed up to display on my demo stand, so let’s see how they go…
WOOTTON’S HANGING DONE, KITS READY FOR UTTOXETER LAUNCH…POINT ME TOWARDS THAT EASTER BREAK!
Wow! I now have some kits ready for launch the weekend after Easter at the Uttoxeter Quilting & Embroidery Show. Let’s see how they go! Had a lovely day at Hobbycraft on Saturday stitching away in full public view and chatting to some great people. Lots of interest and I’ve already taken one private booking as a result – hoorah! This (not very good because I took it on the kitchen table) picture shows the Wootton Wawen wallhanging from last Thursday in its completed state. I’ll try to get a better image soon!
WONDERFUL WIDNEY!
Last Friday I had a great day with the pupils of Widney Junior School, Solihull, printing and stitching pieces for a HUGE wallhanging as part of their arts week. The theme was UNITY and the finished piece will hang in their new entrance hall, which was under construction as we stitched! Construction of the wallhanging itself will take place over Easter – I have all the fabulous bits we made and can’t wait to get started… Meanwhile, here’s some stitching in progress- as Rolf Harris would say – can you see what it is yet??
SYCAMORE CLASS GO BLING!
Today I spent a very enjoyable day with Sycamore class (Y5 & 6) at Wootton Wawen CE Primary School near Stratford-on-Avon using bondaweb, transfer foils, sequins etc to create a wall hanging for the school entrance hall, inspired by ecclesiastical goldwork. The edging still needs hemming, but here is some work in progress…
BUSY WEEK AHEAD!
Blimey! I’m trying to get ahead of myself this weekend – got lots on this week, with another day at the lovely Wootton Wawen Primary School on Thursday, making a wall hanging with Y5/6, and then a day on Friday at Widney Junior School in Solihull helping the whole school to create an Olympic-themed quilt. Alongside this, I’m getting stuff organised for my demos and mini-workshops at the Uttoxeter Quilt & Embroidery show on 13th/14th April. I now have two splendid pop-up banners printed by local Kingsbury printers Broadlee Ltd; plus stock, bags, frames, card to print header cards on etc to put some ‘proper’ kits together for sale at the show. To round off an incredibly hectic week, Crazy Mary will be demonstrating at Hobbycraft Tamworth’s relaunch event next Saturday (31st March). Pop along and see how I make my denim owls and learn lots of interesting ways to use pre-cut felt flowers… See you there!
WALES ARE PLAYING & I’M CATCHING UP WITH ADMIN!
Yes, Wales are playing France – let’s hope they win because a Wales win means a happy hubby!! Meanwhile I’m looking back at my photos of the last 2 days’ workshops and feeling well pleased with how they both went. I’ve just got back from my first Crazy Mary session on home soil here at the Welcome Hall in Kingsbury, where 13 lovely ladies came along to get crafty with me making sari silk pictures. This was a very successful class which I’m be running at other venues too over the summer, so do look at the events page to find out where/when. Here’s some work in progress (thank you Lauren for such a fab smile!):
Yesterday saw me making folksy heart hangings back at the Gilbert Richards Centre in Coventry. This is more of a patchwork/quilty project, whereas the saris-silk landscapes are more of an embroidered design, so it was nice to have a contrast over the 2 days. Also it was fantastic to have Sue and Sandra from Castle Brom along to both sessions, 2 days in a row – a very talented duo!
Now it’s off to rustle up a few stitched notebooks and cards for Hurley WI’s sale next Saturday… Wales seem to be winning, so let’s hope it they keep it up!!
EVEN MORE NEW STUFF ON MY PROGRAMME!
I’ve added even more dates to my programme for the spring/summer terms – take a look at the Events page! There are now regular monthly sessions at the Gilbert Richards Centre in Coventry, plus a new series of classes at Hobbycraft, Tamworth… So if you miss a class at one venue, don’t despair – it’s quite likely you can catch it somewhere else not too far away. I’m taking lots of group bookings too, so it’s all busy busy here at Crazy Mary mission control! Today I ordered 2 pop-up banners from Ian at Broadlee Printers, right near here at Kingsbury Link, in preparation for my demos at Hobbycraft on 31st March and the Uttoxeter Quilt & Embroidery Show on 13th/14th April. Next job, get some kits sorted for the next few workshops and decide how to present them for sale at the show… no rest for the wicked!!
CRAZY MARY RECOVERING FROM 3-DAY CRAFTING BENDER!
Wow! That was busy week… Here we are, in reverse order:
Yesterday (Sat 25th Feb), at Centre of England Arts, Crazy Mary was busy helping to create some rather pretty applique purses using silks, satins and velvets. Here are two fab finished pieces from Jaki and Julie:
On Friday I was busy with a lovely group of crafters (including yet more new faces – great!) at my regular venue in Sutton, this time upcycling denim and using printed cottons to make natty little make-up bags/pencil cases:
And, the day before that Crazy Mary was once again enjoying the convivial ambience of Dove Farm, Ellastone, stitching funky felt flowers and – er- scoffing the wonderful Jane’s delicious scones, jam & cream…
CRAZY LOG CABIN PATCHES PROVE POPULAR IN COVENTRY!
A very successful second showing for Crazy Mary at the Gilbert Richards Centre in Coventry yesterday, with 11 stitchers joining me for some more creative stitchery. Here’s one Crazy Log Cabin patch under construction (more pics on the workshops page)…
CRAZY MARY @ HOBBYCRAFT TAMWORTH – SEE UPDATED EVENTS PAGE!
Exciting news – First of all it’s now only a month until Crazy Mary’s first ever Kingsbury workshop on 17th March at the Welcome Hall. I’m looking forward to running some sessions so close to home, and have already got several people booked on! Here’s what we’ll be making – miniature landscapes using recycled sari-silk fabric:
Secondly… Crazy Mary announces a new collaboration with Hobbycraft at Ventura Park,Tamworth. The store is having a refit and wil be having a re-launch event on Saturday 31st March, where I will be demonstrating and promoting my workshops for the summer term – which will include a new series of events at Hobbycraft itself – have a look at the events page! So at last, the good people of Tamworth will have local access to the wonders of Crazy Mary! It was actually a machine embroidery class at Hobbycraft in Tamworth which set me off on my City & Guilds in Creative Textiles years ago, so it’s nice to get involved there myself. Why not pop along and say hello on 31st March?
SAVE THE DATE!! NEXT STITCHING SLEEPOVER BOOKED!!
More news in the next day or so folks – but there WILL be another Stitching Sleepover, again at the lovely Three Swans Hotel Market Harborough, the weekend 17th/18th November 2012, with a festive folksy theme… Do get in touch if you’d like to express an interest. Full details of rates etc by end of this week…
WOW! SUCCESSFUL STITCHING SLEEPOVER – BUT WHO WERE THE MILL HILL OLD BOYS?!!
Well, what can I say?! Crazy Mary’s first Stitching Sleepover was even more successful than I imagined. Lovely venue, great food, a FABULOUS group of crazy crafters and so many lovely comments from everyone that I’ve booked another one in November (more news soon!). Here are just few snapshots of the weekend, starting with one of us beavering away in the Naseby Suite:
Buffet lunch in the cocktail bar:
Making the patches:
Enjoying a scrummy meal in our rather splendid private dining room:
And some happy faces:
More images on the workshops page, plus in an album on Crazy Mary’s Facebook page
READ ALL ABOUT IT…ONLINE!
There are some brilliant online crafting magazines out there in cyberspace… and Crazy Mary has a whole feature in one this month. Have a look at Creative Crafting p42/43: http://issuu.com/creativecrafting/docs/february_2012/48 – all about my courses at Centre of England Arts near Meriden.
CASKETS CLASS GOES DOWN WELL AT HARVEST FIELDS TODAY!
Another good day for Crazy Mary. My 2012 programme at Harvest Fields in Sutton got off to a good start with the first ‘Mini Pentagonal Caskets’ workshop – as featured in the Sutton Observer, no less! Met some lovely new ladies and very much enjoyed myself. Also I’m hoping to soon be running classes (later in the Spring, fingers crossed) at a rather exciting Tamworth venue – watch this space! Meanwhile here are some caskets under construction – unfortunately the finished article images are totally blurred, but hopefully you can see what we were up to! I’m going on a ‘Photography for Small Businesses’ course in a week or two, so with any luck I won’t be blurry ever again…
STOP PRESS! CRAZY MARY WILL BE AT UTTOXETER QUILTS & EMBROIDERY SHOW 13TH/14TH APRIL!
Hoorah! Exciting news! Crazy Mary will be demonstrating her projects, running a couple of mini-workshops and selling her kits at Uttoxeter 2012!! More news in a week or so. In the meantime to find out more about the show (it was fab last year…) go to: www.mqexhibitions.co.uk
Oh! And while I’m here – my new UPDATED programme is now on the Events page, with the extra new dates for Gilbert Richards Centre in Coventry and more images of upcoming sessions all over the place! For example on 24th Feb at Harvest Fields in Sutton we’ll be making:
NEW DATES ADDED TO PROGRAMME AT GILBERT RICHARDS CENTRE, COVENTRY!
Had a wonderful first session at the Gilbert Richards Centre in Earlsdon yesterday. A very friendly and talented group made some stunning notebooks, and we all thought the class was such a success that I’ve arranged 2 extra sessions – Fri 16th March (Folksy Heart Hanging) and Fri 20th April (Funky Felt Flowers). Each cost £20pp and run from 1-4pm. Here are some of yesterday’s creations:
There’s a pic of the fabulously light and spacious room on the workshops page – it really is a great venue!
OOOH! NEW FABRIC STASH!
I had great fun today spending money at both the Cotton Patch in Hall Green (www.cottonpatch.co.uk), and Oakshott’s warehouse in Gloucester (www.oakshottfabrics.com) So fabulous to be able to spend some hard earned Crazy Mary cash on replenishing my stash in preparation for this year’s workshops. Yippee!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here’s to 2012! Olympics, leap year, diamond jubilee… and lots more Crazy Marying! I’m looking forward to Crazy Mary’s very first Stitching Sleepover in February, plus the first workshop of my new Spring programme at a new venue next Friday(13th Jan) – the Gilbert Richards Centre in Earlsdon, Coventry. It will be great to meet some new crafting faces making embellished notebooks (always popular!)… Then at the end of the month I’m kicking off the New Year back at the Harvest Fields Centre in Sutton Coldfield making these cute little ‘mini pentagonal caskets’, which are also showing off my Grandma’s beautiful 1920′s Frister & Rossman machine:
In Feb I’m off to Dove Farm again, plus CoEA near Meriden, and in March Crazy Mary is holding her first ever Kingsbury workshop session – it’ll be fab to be so close to home! Take a look at the events page for mre details… and have a fab 2012!
CRAZY MARY IS IN PRINT AGAIN!
Just to round off a fabulous year it was lovely to pick up January 2012′s edition of British Patchwork and Quilting magazine today and find my article about the quilt we made at school for our link school in China. Merry Christmas to all those Crazy Crafters out there and here’s to a thoroughly crafty and crazy 2012!
ALL SET FOR 2012 WITH W.W.W.WORKSHOPSINSCHOOLS.CO.UK!
More details of my school & community workshops are NOW available on the Workshops in Schools website – please click here! This brilliant new website aims to promote creative workshops in schools across the UK. Definitely worth a look and not to be missed if your school is looking for amazing artists, dramatists, musicians etc to inspire your young people…
DOVE FARM GETS FESTIVE!
Well, a year has gone by (almost at least!) and yesterday saw the final Crazy Mary workshop of 2011 – a ‘Sew Social’ where we made slightly smaller versions of the Christams Tree Hangings we created last week at CoEA. Of course, no Sew Social at Dove farm is complete without some gorgeous home made food baked by Jane in the farm kitchen – this time we all enjoyed her delicious crumbly-topped mince-pie slices:
Here we are all busy at work in the Dove Suite seminar room:
And here’s one of my fab new machines, along with a hanging under construction…
THANK YOU EMMA!
Here are two more beautifully stitched cards from my class at Harvest Fields last Friday, courtesy of the wonderful Emma, who has just whizzed these pics over to me. Well done Emma – they’re fab!
FESTIVE WALL HANGINGS & VINTAGE MACHINES AT COEA…
It’s been great to see such a wide variety of sewing machines at my classes this year, from the 1940s Singer at Dove Farm in January, to the all mod-cons computerised machines we lust over. Yesterday at Centre of England Arts I saw what may have to be my favourite – a metallic blue Husqvarna Viking – not sure of the date, but looks not unlike one of those 1950s Kenwood Chefs. Is it, or is it not beautiful?
NEW MACHINES ON ORDER!
Wow! I remember about a year ago saying something like: “Eventually I hope to buy a bank of sewing machines to use in my workshops”. This seemed rather ambitious at the time, and I assumed I’d be searching out second hand ones on Ebay. Well… 2 brand new brand new Janome quilting machines should be arriving here on Wednesday from the ever wonderful Frank Nutt & Co, ready for my class at Dove Farm on Thursday. Hoorah! I feel so proud to be able to invest in machinery for my crazy little business, all funded by own efforts and the enthusiasm and support of my students. A great way to head towards the end of Crazy Mary’s first year…
MORE BEAUTIFULLY STITCHED CARDS!
Another successful ‘Stitched Christmas Card’ class today – this time at the Harvest Fields Centre, Sutton Coldfield. Far too nice to send, we decided!
BUTTONS & BEERMATS!
Ah! The lucky happenstance of finding out that a new local WI meets in a PUB!! Crazy Mary had a fab evening at Hurley’s new WI at The Anchor Inn, Hurley Common last night, persuading the members to get all creative with buttons and die-cut flowers. A perfect combination, don’t you think?!
SPRING PROGRAMME NOW ONLINE & BOOKINGS BEING TAKEN…
Yes, I have now sorted out the details for my Spring programme! Events include 2 more Sew Socials at the lovely Dove Farm near Ashbourne, continuing monthly sessions at Harvest Fields in Sutton Coldfield, one half day and one full day at Centre of England Arts near Meriden; plus classes at 2 new venues: the Welcome Hall in Kingsbury near Tamworth, and the Gilbert Richards Centre in Earlsdon, Coventry. Not forgetting, of course, Crazy Mary’s first ‘Stitching Sleepover’ at the Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough – there are just TWO places left on this course, so do get in touch pretty swiftly if you are interested! So, what are you waiting for? Hop along to my Events page and take a look…
CRAZY MARY IS FEELING FESTIVE AFTER CHRISTMAS CARDS WORKSHOP AT COEA…
Playing around with beads, sequins, fancy fabric, space-dyed threads and bondaweb got me in a Christmassy mood on Friday at Centre of England Arts, near Meriden. I’m now off to cut fabric ready for my Christmas tree wall-hanging workshop there next Saturday. A whole day stitching with a group of stitch-addicts like myself… I can’t wait!
CHASE SCRAPPERS MAKE EMBELLISHED NOTEBOOKS!
Yesterday Crazy Mary’s famous embellished notebooks found another friendly group of crafters to stitch them into shape! Thank you so much to Chase Scrappers of Cannock (scrapbookers, not a scrapyard!) who made me very welcome at Huntington Community Centre. Why is it that, so often, we choose the kit that matches our outfit…?
WOOTTON WAWEN CE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEXTILE PRINTING DAY
I spent a busy day on Thursday 10th November at Wootton Wawen Primary School again working with Chestnut class (Y3/4) designing and making print blocks representing crosses to create a printed textile panel for their school piano. Here’s work in progress and the finished article ready to attach to the piano:
FLOWERS FOR MUM!
Last Saturday saw Crazy Mary making Funky Felt Flowers with the Sunday Quilters of Richings Park near Heathrow. Here’s one happy participant (thanks Mum!). Lovely group, very nice lunch ladies, thank you!
INTRODUCING EMILY, MY PROJECT RESEARCH ASSISTANT…
Do you know a young crafter who enjoys creating ‘stuff’ from fabric, buttons, beads etc? Look at what Emily (aged just 12!) made using some prototype Crazy Mary children’s craft kits – what do you think? I was well impressed!
BOTTLE BAG FUN AT HARVEST FIELDS!
Yesterday saw Crazy Mary making beaded bottle bags at Harvest Fields – a great group of talented crafters all created snazzy festive bottle bags and ‘jester’ style gift bags using Christmassy fabric (only 8 weeks to go!!) I’ve also reserved the room for my Spring/Summer 2012 programme, so now I need to get working on finalising the schedule! No rest for the wicked…
WOOTON WAWEN CE PRIMARY SCHOOL BANNER HEADED FOR COVENTRY CATHEDRAL CELEBRATION…
On Friday I spent a very enjoyable day at Wooton Wawen CE Primary School, working with groups of very talented KS2 pupils to create a colourful stitched banner to represent their school at a procession at Coventry Cathedral later this term:
HENLEY-IN-ARDEN COMMUNITY QUILT ON DISPLAY!
Remember 12th July – Henly-in-Arden’s cluster day Community Conference? Well, here’s the finished community quilt, soon to be displayed (on rotation!) at the cluster schools:
FUNKY FELT FLOWERS KICK OFF NEW TERM AT HARVEST FIELDS CENTRE…
It was great to get back to the Harvest Fields Centre at Sutton Coldfield again yesterday – this time making Funky Felt Flower cards, picures & brooches:
Here’s a set of fabulous flowers pinned & ready for action:
And meanwhile, here’s looking forward to Crazy Mary’s stitched Christmas card workshops at COEA Meriden (18th Nov) and Harvest Fields (25th Nov):
CENTRE OF ENGLAND ARTS WORKSHOPS GET OFF TO GOOD START!
Friday saw the first Crazy Mary session at CoEA, Meriden, making embellished notebooks. A lovely group of talented crafters in a fantastic setting. I’m very much looking forward to my next few workshop sessions at this fabulous venue. Hats off to the incredible Julie Hyde for setting up this much needed local arts centre.
WELCOME BACK TO CRAZY MARY LAND!
Wow! Deep breath…and relax…! I’m still here folks – just getting to grips with the new school term. Teaching part time at school and ‘Crazy Marying’ part time certainly keeps me busy – and the new school year has definitely kept me occupied the last few weeks. This week sees my first workshop at Centre of England Arts in Meriden – making embellished notebooks on Friday (23rd Sept). I’m really looking forward to working at this new venue and meeting some new local crafters. My new term at Harvest Fields in Sutton Coldfield starts next week (30th Sept) with Funky Felt Flowers – plus bookings are going extremely well so far for my Stitching Sleepover in Market Harborough next February. So… onwards and upwards!
NEW CRAZY MARY CREATIONS ON SALE THIS WEEKEND!
I’m off to Whittington Country Fair again this Saturday (3rd Sept) – a great day out, with a fab craft marquee. I’ve been a busy girl! Here’s a sneaky preview of some new lines I’ll have on my stall:
FREE MACHINE EMBROIDERY WORKSHOPS LAUNCHED!
I’m pleased to announce that after a successful private booking from a lovely group of ladies from ‘Chase Scrappers’ (that’s scrapbookers, not a scrapyard!) in Cannock, I’m adding a range of free machine embroidery workshops to Crazy Mary’s repertoire – from an introductory session to more projects suitable for intermediate and more experienced free-machiners. Ask me for more details! In the meantime, here is a pretty little machine applique patch from Friday’s session, plus Carol and the gang busy getting to grips with this very useful technique:
CRAZY MARY’S FIRST CHILDREN’S WORKSHOP GOES DOWN WELL TODAY AT COEA, MERIDEN!
I currently have very dirty fingernails – two reasons for this! 1- I’ve just picked a whole tubful of blackberries to take over to Hayley’s house for pudding tonight 2- I’ve spent a fun morning printing with some very talented youngsters at Centre of England Arts, Meriden. Here’s Ben with his amazing lizard design:
Very much looking forward to next weeks decorated pencil cases! Now I’m off to scrub my nails…
KPS 2011 QUILT ‘HIGHLY COMMENDED’ BY JUDGES AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF QUILTS!
Scroll down a bit to see the quilt itself!
MAJOR NEWS! BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN FOR CRAZY MARY’S VERY FIRST SEW SOCIAL SLEEPOVER:
The ‘booking office’ is now officially open for the very first Crazy Mary residential stitching retreat…
BLIMEY, WHERE DID JULY GO…?
Not quite sure where that month went… it’s very nearly August now! Here are some lovely ‘folksy hearts’ created by today’s class at Harvest Fields:
SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER, BUT CRAZY MARY IS STILL ROLLING ON…
It’s now officially the school holidays, and I am beginning to relax but I’ve still been busy. Last Thursday saw my first private booking at Harvest Fields making embellished notebooks with Jane’s lovely friendly group of stitchers. A fab way to start the hols! Then on Friday I spent a delightful day at Art in Action near Oxford with my old friend Jan who’s visiting from Germany – great to see so much art & creativity in one space! On the Saturday I was running children’s craft sessions at the Burntwood Wakes festival/fun day. This was really lovely family/community event and I had a truly fun time making ‘funky foam notebooks’ with loads of friendly children and their parents:
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2011
Well, the end of term looms, and so here it is (at last!) – the Kingsbury Primary School entry 2011… theme ‘All the Fun of the Fair’. So what do you think? It’s now been sent off and will be on display at FoQ at NEC 11th-14th August. Well done Years 5 & 6!
ONE BUSY WEEK IN JULY!
Wow! What a week! Loads on at school – I’m off to the Year 6 leavers play in a few moments, we had the summer fair and open evening on Tuesday… busy busy! Running parallel to that existence is my Crazy Mary life … On Tuesday (having persuaded Clare my class-share partner to swap a day with me on what must have been the busiest day of the school year!! Major feelings of guilt, but she was very generous about it) I spent a great day at Henley-in-Arden High School leading the quilt project which formed part of their Community Conference linking all the schools in their cluster. The pieces will be stitched together during the hols to create a hanging to be shared between the 4 schools. Apart from the stitching, the wonderful drama, music, and thought-provoking presentations, the highlight of the day had to be the ‘community croissants and cakes’! Here are some pics:
Even a broken arm wasn’t a bar to taking part…
Then today I’ve been at Hatton again, running my first Funky Felt Flowers workshop, which went very well, though I say so myself! Here are Nina and Marina getting stuck in:
More images on the workshops page!
RAWLETT SCHOOL TAKE 3!
Crazy Mary’s final mother & daughter craft session at Rawlett saw me helping a lovely group to make denim applique pictures. Here are some pictures of what we got up to:
Plus, here is an image, as promised, of the finished Y6 leavers’ hanging from MGJS:
The week ahead promises to be stupidly busy with both Crazy Mary & school… so keep your eyes peeled for details of what I’m up to in about a week’s time – over and out!
ANOTHER BUSY WEEK!
Wow! Frantic Thursday hits Crazy Mary! This Thursday saw me at Marston Green again during the day working with the very talented class 6E (but without Mr Edge, who was off gallivanting on a residential somewhere in Herefordshire I think…) creating the border pieces and graphic sections for their leavers’ wall hanging. Eventually I will share a picture of the finished article (it does look fab!), but meanwhile here are some images of work in progress:
Then, that very evening I was off Rawletts again, for another Mums and Daughters session, this time making sari silk greetings cards. What a talented group we had… here they are, with some of their beautiful creations:
Not content with such a busy day, Crazy Mary spent Friday constructing Marston Green’s hanging, before getting ready for Norton-juxta-Twycross’s lovely fete the next day – glorious weather, lovely settng, delicious ice cream, friendly folk – what more could you ask for?
FIRST SESSION AT HARVEST FIELD CENTRE!
Another busy week! Thursday night saw Crazy Mary at Rawlett Community Sport College in Tamworth, hosting a Mother and Daughter craft evening – I had full access to their textile department and we made my funky felt flowers. I’m back there next week and the week after for 2 more sessions – sari silk cards and denim applique pictures. Yesterday saw my first workshop at the Harvest Field Centre, just round the corner from Foxhill Crafts. I was very pleased with the venue and we had a very creative group of ladies, making some rather splendid stitched brooches:
MORE SCHOOL PROJECTS!
Today I spent another creative day at Marston Green JS – this time working with the talented stitchers of class 6M on their leavers’ wall-hanging. They were an amazingly arty bunch with fantastic attitudes. More news on this project after my next visit in a couple of weeks time, when I continue the task with class 6E… Meanwhile,here are some of their stitched photos:
And, by the way, the finished Royal Wedding piano panel is now available to view on my Gallery page…
CRAZY MARY TO BE IN PRINT AGAIN!
Fantastic news! Having finally got round to writing up my article about our Kingsbury Primary School ‘quilt for China’ I was very happy to have immediate feedback from Patchwork and Quilting magazine informing me that they are going to publish it! Hoorah! It was a bit traumatic emailing all the images over, but they got to their destination in the end. As soon as I know the publication date I’ll let you know… in the meantime here is a pic of the finished article – now hanging at school and hopefully eventually going out to Liukeng school in Ruyuan province!
NEW DOVE FARM SEW SOCIAL DATES!
Hoorah! Two new dates for Sew Social events at Dove Farm – Thursdays this time for a change – 6th October: Jazzy sari-silk brooches and cards (with tea & cake! See below) and 1st December: Festive Christmas tree wallhanging (with mince pes – image to come…). All dates on the events page…
ROYAL WEDDING COMMEMORATIVE PIANO PANEL
On Friday 27th May I spent another enjoyable day at Marston Green Junior School , helping 12 Year 3 & 4 artists to print and stitch their way towards a new hanging to decorate their piano… all very patriotic in red, white and blue as I’m sure you’ll agree. Hopefully I’ll soon have a picture of it in situ…
A BUSY BUSY WEEK!
Well, it’s the Whitsun bank hol, and I’m wondering where on earth the last 5 months have gone – it’s June in 2 days time! The last week has been hectic, but most enjoyable. A very busy week at school with a trip out to Carding Mill Valley for a geography field trip on Monday, followed by sports day and a lesson obs on Tuesday and leading an inspire parent/pupil workshop on Wed… Before that I’d spent Saturday at a charity do at Polesworth Abbey and Sunday helping Coleshill ladies circle to raise money for Multiple Schlerosis at Shustoke Village Hall – mainly eating and buying cake:
Then I spent another lovely session at Pollyanna Patchwork in Eccleshall, making crazy log-cabin patched pictures with a fab group of ladies. Here’s a busy corner…
Then on Friday I was back at Marston Green Junior School working with 12 pupils from Years 3 and 4 printing and stitching a panel to liven up their piano (pictures in next update!). While I was there I took some images of the completed Four seasons panels, but it was hard to do them justice due to their long thin shape – maybe once they’re framed I’ll have more luck.. here are my attempts any way, can you guess which season from these chopped pictures…?
MARSTON GREEN JUNIOR SCHOOL UPDATE…
Last Thursday I spent another fab morning stitching with the gifted and talented Y5 and Y6 pupils at Marston Green Junior… we’ve now finished the panels – more pictures once they’re framed – in the meantime here is some work in progress:
FAB WEEKEND OF WORKSHOP SESSIONS!
Am I happy in Crazy Mary land or am I happy….? My last day at Foxhill Crafts saw (as usual!) a talented group of ladies all creating something lovely – this time some striped applique hearts. This was my last session at this venue – I’m moving these classes to a new venue just round the corner at the fabulous shiny new Harvest Fields Centre (www.harvestfieldscentre.org.uk) starting on 24th June, when we’ll be making jazzy stitched and beaded brooches. Just have a look at the events page for the whole summer/autumn Crazy Mary programme there.
Then, yesterday saw another lovely day at Dove Farm enjoying a crafty cream tea. We made cute little quilted make-up bags and savoured Jane’s delicious scones, cream and jostaberry (still a mystery super-fruit!) jam, plus Denstone Hall’s lemon cake…mmm! 
CRAZY JACK!
Well, I’ve been having a lovely Easter break – the weather was fab and we spent a few days down in Devon with friends, where I played around with some zingy dotty fabric and made a very crazy Union Jack cushion with Emily, my god-daughter. I was so pleased with it that I’ve made onother one with some other bits of bright jazzy stuff for a ‘lucky-dip’ at the party I’m off to on Friday…
NEW WORKSHOP PROGRAMME ONLINE!
My updated summer-autumn workshop programme is now online on my events page. I’m expecting to add more autumn dates over the summer, so keep checking it out! One major improvement is the new venue to replace Foxhill Crafts in Sutton – the Harvest Fields Centre. I’ve booked a lovely bright, modern room in this spanking new centre just 2 minutes drive from Foxhill Crafts – more space, refreshments available and indoor toilets!! I’m really looking forward to getting started there on 24th June… Plus my new collaboration with Julie Hyde from Centre of England Arts at Meriden is a great opportunity to get crafty with Crazy Mary if you’re in the Solihull-Meriden-Coventry-Knowle area. Images of new workshop projects will be available very soon…
Have a look a www.coea.co.uk for more information about this great new artspace for the Midlands.
WOW – WHAT A WEEK! EASTER UPDATE… NOW THAT I’VE GOT A MOMENT…
Well, my first term as ‘part time teacher/part time craft-tutor-type-person’ has flown by – finally school has broken up for the Easter break. I can’t believe where that time has gone…! This week has been very busy, with Crazy Mary demonstrating at Tigerlily Makes’ charity day for St Giles Hospice last Saturday:
We made a good stash of money for the hospice and it was great meeting lots of lovely craft-minded people – and having a go at spinning on a real wheel (quite hard, I think I’ll stick to my sewing machine!) Here’s a peek inside Lisa’s gorgeous boutique – for more images of me at work go to her blog at www.tigerlilymakes.co.uk
Then the very next day I was over at Hatton Country World selling my wares and advertising my workshops. A busy day, with lots of interest leading to more bookings for yesterday’s workshop at Hatton making my notebooks once again. It was especially lovely to have Nina, Diane and Marina with me (who have got to know me through foxhill), plus the ever-delightful Sarah and Ellie , and also the charming and very talented Aimee, who found my stall at Hatton and was officially my first unaccompanied under-18 participant. Here are Sarah and Ellie with their books – very well done ladies!
Finally, to bring the week to a suitably ‘fabricky’ end, I’ve spent today at Uttoxeter Racecourse enjoying the Quilting and Embroidery show there, feeling inspired, networking a bit and spending far too much money!! Here’s my new friend Alison of Pollyanna Patchwork in Eccleshall with her stall, which looked fab… and her chocolate cake was very nice too!
Lots more jobs to do over Easter, the most important being getting my new summer/autumn workshop schedule up on the events page. It’ll be there very soon…
CRAZY MARY’S FIRST SCHOOL BOOKING!
Yesterday saw my first school booking – a fabric collage project at Marston Green School, Solihull. I’m working with 12 ‘gifted and talented artists’ from Years 5 and 6, designing and creating 4 stitched panels to represent the seasons, which will be permanently displayed in their y6 corridor. I’m back in May to complete the project, and I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until then to see the finished masterpieces, but in the meantime, this is what we started off with:
So – watch this space! We tested our pieced and half-stitched creations out on several teachers, and all of them recognised which season was which – hoorah!
HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY MUM!
I spent this Saturday celebrating both Christmas (it was a present to Mum…) and Mothers’ Day back ‘home’ at the ‘Congo Hall’ in Richings Park enjoying a tasty lunch and an afternoon’s stitching with Mum’s quilting group. Thank you ladies – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Here’s Mum with the machine which got me started (yes, that’s why I’m a Bernina girl!) and her finished notebook… plus her delicious choccie cake!
POLLYANNA PATCHWORK SESSIONS GET OFF TO A FLYING START!
My first session hosted by Pollyanna Patchwork at Eccleshall, near Stafford, went really well – a lovely group of ladies – all very talented and keen to create! I had a fantastic session making my embellished notebooks with them all – more pics on the workshops page…
BUSY BUSY! SPRING IS GOING WELL FOR CRAZY MARY!
I’m so enjoying my new fusion craft tutor/school teacher lifestyle, I just don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago! I’m busy building up new relationships with yet more local crafting venues where I can ply my Crazy Mary workshop-tutor trade, and meeting such lovely people along the way. Last week I arranged a whole autumn programme at Centre of England Arts near Meriden. Today I had another fab morning stitching away with the Foxhill crowd, incuding one lady who’d come all the way from Derby, having found me on the web – fantastic! Next week I’m running my first session for Pollyanna Patchwork at Eccleshall, nr Stafford – really looking forward to that one and meeting some more creative folks… Then I’ve got my very first school booking at Marston Green Junior School – it’s all go!!! I’ve also completed a business start-up course through the fabulous WiRE organisation at Harper Adams University, so I’ve got even more goals to challenge myself to achieve…
Here’s a quick image of one of today’s happy handicrafters at Foxhill crafts (more on the workshops page!)
Would you believe that Emma, the lady stitching this panel so beautifully, is a structural engineer? What do scaffolding and sewing have in common I wonder? (Answers on a postcard please!)
STITCHED GREETINGS CARDS AT CASTLE BROM!
We all had a lovely day creating some very pretty stitched cards…beads, sequins, lace, silk and satin… what more could girls want? The tables got a bit untidy as we worked, and there was plenty of cake to keep us all going…!
CRAZY MARY NAME-PLATES HANDCRAFTED TO ORDER!
Will Browning is the next lucky person to have had a Crazy Mary name-plate personally handcrafted for him! Here it is… to see more go to my gallery page!
Plus, if you’d like to see what we all got up to at my latest Foxhill workshop take a look at my workshops page too…
FEBRUARY UPDATE!
Well, Feb half term is here already… where did those two months go?!! Crazy Mary is sooo enjoying her new life and is extremely busy right now! I now have a full workshop programme at 5 different venues around this bit of the Midlands (please go to the events page for more details!) , and I’ve started taking bookings for school art days. I’m busy planning workshops for various groups who are keen to hire my services as a craft tutor, which is very exciting, as well as taking new commissions for gifts, cards etc.
More and more ideas and opportunities are coming my way, which is fab – I’m particularly interested in developing craft kits as I’ve had loads of really positive feedback at my workshops. Something I’m definitely going to look into later in the year, so watch this space! I’m also hoping to run more Sew Social events with locally sourced food a bit closer to home, so I’m on the hunt for a suitable venue…
So, half term? Well, work actually, but it doesn’t feel like it! I’ve been preparing kits for this Friday’s make-up bag workshop at Foxhill, plus my visit to Castle Bromwich Community Church on 19th March. I’ve also finished designing the projects for my session at Tigerlily Makes later this spring – how do you like my fabulously flowery felt cushions for example? There are more lovely images on Tigerlily’s website: Click here !
FAB JANUARY WORKSHOPS AT FOXHILL AND DOVE FARM – NEW PICS!
Go to my workshops page to see more!
SPRING 2011 WORKSHOP PROGRAMME !
Crazy Mary’s workshop programme is now ready for the world to see on my Events page – so go there now and take a sneaky peek! There are workshops, Sew Socials (yes- those are the ones with food!) and even a masterclass for you to enjoy, at a range of venues including Foxhill Crafts (Mitchells Centre Sutton Coldfield), Hatton Country World (near Warwick), Pollyanna Patchwork (Eccleshall, near Stafford) and the the ever-lovely Dove Farm (Ellastone, nr Ashbourne), plus some fabulously felty workshops at Tigerlily Makes, the felt-making boutique (near Lichfield). Places are booking up fast , with the first three full already… so go on, come and spend some time with me creating something lovely in friendly company!
HERE’S TO 2011!
HAPPY 2011! At last, Crazy Mary is live… part time craftsperson/tutor, part time teacher. It feels fantastic to be finally ‘living the dream’. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the last year as I’ve got myself organised and tested out ideas. Crazy Mary ‘Mission Control’ has been buzzing with bookings for workshops and new contacts from lots of lovely crafty people. The only way is up!!
SPRING 2011 WORKSHOP PROGRAMME, MITCHELLS CENTRE, SUTTON COLDFIELD
Crazy Mary is running half day workshops at Foxhill Crafts, Mitchells Centre, Weeford Rd Sutton Coldfield B75 6NA on Fridays 28th January, 25th Feb, 25th March & 6th May. 10:30am -1:30pm (you’re welcome to arrive from 10am onward & browse in the shop…). Go to my events page for more details!
CRAZY MARY’S FLYERS ARRIVE… IT’S ALL SEEMING VERY REAL NOW!
Thanks to the hard work of Leeann & Barry Smith of W3 Webdesign, down in South Wales, and Quattroprint, I’m now in possession of my 2 sets of Crazy Mary promotional material – flyers for schools and crafty-types. They look fab – and came all the way from Poland, which is a bit weird…but they’ve done agood job!
CRAZY MARY HAS ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS OF FULL TIME SCHOOL – HOORAH BUT SCARY TOO!
I’ve been really busy and now have lots of orders and stuff to do… enjoyed last weekend at Maxstoke and yesterday at Castle Brom/Kingsbury Methodist Church (thanks to hubby!). Website now paid for… and workshops arranged for last Friday of month at Mitchells Craft centre January – April 2011 (more details soon!). School busy, and lots of other stuff to do, so I’m thriving on the excitement of it all!! Go Crazy Me!
CRAZY MARY’S FUNKY FELT FLOWERS ON SALE AT CLOTHES SHOW LIVE!
Go to the ‘TigerLily Makes’ stall at the NEC Clothes Show lLive 3rd-8th December and take a sneaky peek! Why not buy one of Lisa’a lovely feltmaking kits and treat yourself to a funky flower brooch at the same time! All real wool felt from Nepal and (according to my supplier) fairly traded too!
By the way, my sale at Castle Bromwich Community Church went down well last week, helping to raise lots of money for their good causes. Here’s a picture courtesy of Margaret, their leading lady:
NOVEMBER NEWS!
Crazy Mary will be at Maxstoke Craft Fair on Sunday 21st November, plus (cunningly disguised as her glamorous assistant Mr Crazy Mary) at Kingsbury Methodist Church Fair on Sat 27th November. I couldn’t resist doing the really local one, although I’m busy myself at my Jangly Bottle Bag workshop in Castle Brom… Be gentle with him folks!! And I sooo hope Wales win the rugby later that afternoon! The other BIG news is that my Funky Felt Flowers (proper wool felt from Nepal, very tactile) will be on sale at the NEC Clothes Show 2nd -5th December, courtesy of the lovely (and super-talented) Lisa Olson of Tigerlily Makes, who will have some on her stall alongside her wonderful felt bags, accessories and kits. I’ll post a photo asap…
CRAZY MARY HALF TERM UPDATE!
Crazy Mary has had a busy half term with lots of emailing/phoning round to organise stuff – I’m getting busier and busier as January approaches – more and more excited too, but the next half term at school is going to be frantic with so much going on both in and out of school. Still, it’ll all help to keep me out of trouble! Had a lovely day yesterday at Hurley Village Hall Craft Fair – great to catch up with some local crafters & small businesses that I know (so much talent round here!). Crazy Mary has certainly moved on since her last pitch there in 2008. I’m now in the happy (?) situation of having to turn craft fairs down in the run up to Christmas – just not enough time to keep stock levels up while I’m still full time in the classroom. Making loads of contacts though, which is fab… Also well on the way with organising local Kingsbury support for our wallhanging for China… should be good!
CRAZY MARY IS IN PRINT!
The last few weeks really have been hectic for Crazy Mary… workshops, demos, website launch… and now she has her first magazine article published! HOORAH! It tells the story of Wootten Wawen’s Baptistry Wallhanging and it really does loook fab. Pages 64-66 of the November edition of British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. Plus (hopefully!) a bit about me on their fancy new updated website www.panqmagazine.com.
WEBSITE GOES LIVE!
Yes! Crazy Mary is online..hoorah! Go to www.crazymarycrafts.co.uk
DOVE FARM SEW SOCIAL WAS FAB!
Thank you to all the lovely ladies who joined me at Dove Farm yesterday – I really hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. It was great to get crafting in such friendly company and Nicola’s scones and HUGE cake were totally scrummy! The next Crazy Mary Dove Farm Sew Social is booked for 29th January – more details in a week or so… In the meantime here are some pics:
SEPTEMBER NEWS!
Fantastic news! Crazy Mary’s website will hopefully go online next week… and watch out for my article in British Patchwork and Quilting magazine’s November edition – due out mid-October (and I’ll be on their website too!) It’s all go… and we’re all set for my Sew Social on Saturday – can’t wait to meet my ‘students’…
WHITTINGTON CRAFT FAIR…
Thank you to everyone who visited Crazy Mary’s stall at Whittington Country Fair yesterday – we had a lovely day and did very well, it was great to see so many local craftspeople selling so many gorgeous things! A great way to end the summer hols. Lots of visitors signed up expressing an interest in my workshops, so I look forward to meeting some you again in the not so distant future… Don’t forget to sign up for the CREAM TEA SOCIAL on Sat 2nd October – join me to create an embellished notebook and greetings card (plus the cream tea!!) at Dove Farm. Contact me via the contact page to book or to get more details…
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL OF QUILTS PICTURE…
Here I am with a charming chap from Brother sewing machines awarding Kingsbury Primary School our second prize, which will be displayed in Birmingham Library next March:
BANK HOLIDAY FUN!
Well, only a week left of school hols, loads of Crazy Mary stuff going on, plus quite a bit of school work too – I’m most definitely BUSY!!! I visited the lovely Lisa Olson of Tigerlily Makes at Heart of the Country Shopping Village (Swinfen, Lichfield) today – had a fab chat about how
we can collaborate in the not-too-distant future with some embroidery/felt workshops. Lisa sells fetmaking equipment, runs fantastic feltmaking workshops and sells her amazing bags and other felt creations. Visit www.tigerlilymakes.co.uk to find out more! While we were chatting, two lovely ladies came in the shop with a lovely woolly dog ( a real one you understand, not the felted variety). Which got us thinking about felt for dogs – here’s today’s cute (if rather blurry) pic of Socks modelling the Funky Flowers which I’m demonstrating at Kingsbury Library this Wednesday 1st Sept:
I’m pretty much ready for Whittington Fair next weekend – Lisa will be there too on her stall. It was a fab day last year, so why not pop along? More details on my events page…
KINGSBURY PRIMARY SCHOOL ARE WINNERS AGAIN!
Yes! This year we won second prize! Well done everyone! As soon as I receive the official photo I’ll post it here… We won another sewing machine, so craft club can look forward to using that for out community wallhanging for China. Fab! Oh, by the way, there’s a new project coming up on my ‘Have-a-go’ page today… why not create a funky flower? If you want ot buy a kit (£1.50 – £1 to KPS) to make either of the items on the page, then pop along to Kingsbury Library on Wed 1st Sept for my free demo…
Hello! At last! Only 7 more get ups until the summer hols…can’t wait! School is frantic but fun (leavers’ disco, end of year play, open evening, bla bla!)… however Crazy Mary is even more frantic & fun right now…! The 2010 Kingsbury Primary School Festival of Quilts entry is now complete – all the year 5 & 6 pupils are dead proud of it and so am I! The theme this year was ‘Cityscapes’, so we chose good old Brum as our inspiration and took 5 children into the city centre to take some rather groovy arty photos which we later transferred to fabric and embellished with stitches, adding some rather lovely lettering and border patterns. What do you think? No idea whether we’ll win, but it’ll just be nice to see our work hanging at the NEC again – 19th – 22nd August!
Crazy Mary has also arranged to hold a free craft demo at Kingsbury Library (courtesy of our lovely librarian Julie…) on Wednesday 1st September – come along to learn how to make a ‘Jazzy Stripes’ card and a ‘Funky Flower’ brooch – completely free of charge! If you feel inspired (and hopefully you will!) you can even buy a mini-kit to make your own at home – £1.50 each – all profits (£1 per kit) to Kingsbury Primary School. Just turn up at the library any time between 10m and 5pm…
Well, here I am again! School reports all written, and finally a bit of Crazy Mary time at last! Had a great time at Clifton Campville Fair a few weeks ago – made lots of new contacts and it was lovely to hear so many nice comments about my work. I’ve booked my first ‘Sew Social’ Workshop at Dove Farm for 2nd Oct (more details in a mo!) – now I just need to promote it and find some crafters to attend it! The next ‘Sew Local’ event is next weekend – 3rd July – at Castle Brom – I’ll get some pics up asap afterwards… And my ‘Have a go’ page will have a activity for you to try out yourself by the time England have finished losing to Germany (well, it looks that way at the minute!) So what’s all this ‘Sew Social/Sew Local’ stuff then? Well…As you know, I’m setting up textile craft workshops in the local area and I am keen to encourage people to learn something new in a relaxed, friendly, social setting with like-minded creative types…
I’m currently establishing two different ranges of workshops: ‘Sew Social’ and ‘Sew Local’.
‘Sew Social’ events will be held around this part of the Midlands and will consist of day and half day workshops which have a lively social twist, such as locally sourced cream teas, lunches etc.
‘Sew Local’ workshops are available to local community groups, clubs, societies, friendship groups etc, and can be held either at your own venue or in a local hall or meeting room. These workshops might be 1 hour/2 hour/half day/full day. I will be organising some of these starting in the autumn, but please do contact me if you are interesting in arranging one before then.
My first ‘Sew Social’ workshop is on Saturday 2nd October 2010 12 noon – 4pm
£20 including all materials, plus cream tea (scones, jam, cream, tea/coffee)
Where? Dove Farm, Mill Lane, off Dove St, Ellastone, Ashbourne DE6 2GY
It would be lovely to have you join me!
