"The Craft Group" plus...

Here is a beautiful Christmas Tree bouquet made by Elly. Amazing! Look at some of the detail and work that has gone into it! I hope and pray that this Christmas is one of Joy. If it is a time of sadness and grief, then I pray that the whole idea of God becoming man and coming to this earth to carry out His rescue plan of love for us will hit you in a real and powerful way once again and fill you with HOPE and joy. On the home front, I am bracing myself for (emotionally) stormy weather. Our 4 teen/young adult children are all embarking on new ventures. Miss 18 is looking at courses now that she has finished High school. Mr 21 has finished his Nursing degree and has a Post-grad position in a big hospital in the children's ward. Mr 23, who has been recovering from hand surgery has just completed 3 months in a new job in the building industry and is looking forward to a new year of constant work. Miss 26 is ready to launch, but in a big way, moving to take up a teac...

These cute little Christmas stockings were made by Mandy. There was no real pattern to follow so we worked it out easily enough by sharing crochet know how and made little stocking decorations until they were everywhere. Wil and Bev G made a heap! Here are some pictures and a pattern! A pentagon granny square folded in half to make a little stocking. Make them in whatever colour you like! Add some sparkle :) or a bell on the toe! Put a few sweets, a roll of mints or a roll of cold hard cash inside, hang them on the Christmas tree and you will be popular. Click "read more" below for the pattern.

Elly is friends with a married couple who celebrate their birthdays in the same week. So, why not make a gorgeous shared card? Too clever Elly!

Today we were back at The Craft Group after a bit of a break. Bev has not been wasting time - she has dusted off a few half finished projects, finished them off and brought them along to our "Show 'n Tell" time.  You are inspiring Bev! Here is her finished fabric box we made a few terms ago. Here is an adorable wool embroidered blanket. ...with cute ducks! !!! Look at those neat stitches !!! So pretty! Bev was given some bibs by Lyn who thought she would probably not get around to them. Bev found some cross stitch patterns in our "Swap Shop" and finished off the bibs. And while she was at it, she finished her redwork we also did at The Craft Group earlier this year. Thanks for sharing and inspiring us Bev! (And thanks for helping out with our morning tea too!  You are multi-talented and generous.

We love sharing the skills hidden within our group. Rita and her husband Arthur ran a Chinese Restaurant for years.... and so who better than Rita and her daughter, Christine to show us how to make the best fried rice ever? Here are some pics and the steps involved. At the end is Chris's proper version of the recipe (as opposed to my memories of it!)  Keep looking right until the last photo which is just the cutest photo of the mother/daughter team!                                      Rita & Chris got it all together to give us a great demo! Prepare everything beforehand and have ingredients ready in little bowls... (just like in the cooking shows!) * RICE - boil on the stove the night before. 1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to the boil then turn down low and put the lid on for 20 minutes. Fluff the rice up and put in the fridge overnight. Let it dry out ...

My mum is a whizz knitter. I gave her my tea pot and BAM it came back with a cute little cover. She probably has an old knitting book with such things in it but if you would like to try this really thick stitch, I found this one on line and if you understand knitting patterns, you can give it a go! Pattern  HERE

The Craft Group's Swap Shop always holds treasures. When someone decides they are not going to use something in their 'stash', they bring it and put it in the "Swap Shop". Anyone can help themselves to the items for free but then bring something else to replace it when they have a clean out. It works well. It worked really well for Georgina who found this fabric and turned it into a great bag! I love all those pockets! Lots of pockets inside and out! Lovely fabric, discarded from Lydia's cupboard and finding it's purpose in life via Georgina. Beautiful and beautifully made bag Georgina!

Whether you say Serviette or Napkin or whether you go cloth or paper.... be a bit fancy and fold those mouth cleaners nicely to impress! Elly did a Napkin folding workshop at The Craft Group and showed us how to do these... And tomorrow we are learning to make these ... You can bring along your own napkin or use the green fabric ones I will have with me. This might help as a summary of the steps... from Handmania

Rita gave me this cute bag. She said the Winnie The Pooh meant she didn't use it.  But the bag is padded and fits my laptop in it perfectly! Bye bye Winnie The Pooh. Hello pretty crocheted flower by me! And another fun fact about my new bag... I used tapestry wool which I found on our "Swap Shop" at The Craft Group a while ago. Spare tapestry wool is hard to reuse in other tapestries and is too small in quantity to use in other crochet projects (and maybe doesn't wash well) but is perfect for crocheting flowers!

Bev I. is using up her "scraps". She has made 2 great Alphabet Quilts with the backing made out of chalkboard fabric. You can see them HERE and HERE! It was time to use up some fabric and so she created this fun quilt.        With a backing that can be used as a blackboard... What a cosy way to learn the alphabet!