Author: crowlasludgvanwi

Yesterday, Di Curnow’s house was overflowing with bunting in various stages of completion.

Val Puddiphatt organised the day with the aim of producing loads of lovely Crowlas & Ludgvan WI bunting that we can use as decoration whenever we need a stall, table or marquee at an event.

There were ladies cutting, sewing, ironing, pinning and painting everywhere you looked!

The final product is looking absolutely beautiful and I know we’ll all be proud to use our wonderful new bunting as soon as we can.

As the day coincided with the meeting of our Camera Club, a few shutterbugs came along as well. They captured images of our bunting elves hard at work, as well as some of the stunning views from Di’s house.

Click here for more photos.

Two weeks ago, a group of us visited the Bolitho Business Park to visit Poppy Treffry’s workshop, where her quirky, hand-made textiles are created.

Everything that Poppy sells in her shop in St Ives, as well as to her wholesale customers who include Fortnum and Mason, Liberty’s and Betty’s Tearooms in Harrogate, is made here in the UK; the majority of items are manufactured by her team right here in West Cornwall.

We had such a warm welcome at the workshop; Poppy outlined the history of her company and showed us her fabric designs and some of her product range.

Liz, Freya (a former member of Crowlas & Ludgvan WI), Pixie and Sara were hard at work on their Singer Sewing machines – models familiar to us all from our childhoods. The overlocking machine and “Psycho” (the Seiko beast of a machine used for stitching leather) were demonstrated.

While we were there small, zipped bags and badges were being made. Seeing all the different pieces which had to be joined together really made me (a non-sewer) realise just how much work went into producing what appeared (to the uninformed eye) a simple item.

The sun shone, the doors to the workshop were wide open, the team were friendly, patient and informative as they answered our questions over tea and cake. It was altogether a lovely afternoon.

Thank you to Poppy and her team, not just for giving their time so generously, but for providing inspiration for personal craft projects – and gifts! I’m sure that in the coming months many of us will be making our way to her shop in St Ives to buy charming, original, well-made prezzies.

(Thank you to Kathy Merrett for the report and to Ruth Airey for the photos.)

I’m pleased to announce that your Crowlas & Ludgvan WI committee for the coming year will be as follows:

Helen Kestle – President
Alison Latham – Secretary
Di Curnow – Treasurer
Lisa Elsey
Sue Knights
Kathy Merrett
Val Puddiphatt
Jane Twose

Today a group of coverall-clad women from Crowlas & Ludgvan WI could be seen peering under car bonnets at Penwith College.

The group was welcomed by tutor Chris and his assistants Stewart and Tish. First they were taught how to measure tyre treads, and then learnt about legal limits and tyre pressures.

After learning how to open the car bonnet it was fluid levels: coolant, oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid and windscreen wiper fluid. Finally, the group was shown how to check and replace wiper blades.

They all shared a superb cake made by Val and kept their own fluid levels topped up with plenty of coffee.

The tutors were actually on half term but came in in their own time to share their knowledge! So a big thank you to Chris, Stewart and Tish!

We have been offered a second day to cover changing a wheel and replacing bulbs.

Chris is also a scuba diving teacher and has offered us an evening at Redruth School’s heated pool. Stay tuned for further details!

(Thanks to Gail for the words and photos.)

While the Murley Hall is having a facelift, we’re going to shift our home temporarily to Ludgvan School.

Finding a venue that was available on Monday evenings wasn’t easy! With Scouts, badminton, archery, etc., it seemed nearly every possible location was already booked.

But we’re very happy with our decision to use the School, especially as it’s on our ‘home turf’. And there’s a nice bit of synchronicity in that both Ludgvan School and Crowlas & Ludgvan WI have anemone logos!

We’ll be using the school for our February, March and April meetings. It’s possible we may also need to be there for our May meeting, but that depends on progress at the Murley Hall. We’ll keep you posted.

We look forward to seeing you all at Ludgvan School on the 15th.

At the end of January, a group of members met at Gail’s house for a day of card-making.

The ladies created some gorgeous cards, all of which will be used for our members’ birthdays throughout the coming year.

Wait until your big day and watch the post for a beautiful handmade work of art!

Shirley’s walking group were very lucky with the weather and chose one of the only dry days of the month for their walk!

The group enjoyed a lovely sunny but crisp day for their first walk of the year through the Penrose Estate. The route was extremely busy with walkers, babies in buggies, cyclists, plenty of dogs and even a couple of horses. It looked as though everyone had been tempted out with the fine weather!

The group finished with a light lunch at the Lakeside Cafe in Helston, but were all having too much fun to take any photos!

If you missed the January walk but would like to join the group next month, just send us an email on crowlasludgvanwi@gmail.com.

Those of you who are embroiderers or who appreciate beautiful embroidery may want to save Saturday 9 April in your diaries!

That’s the date of the Embroiderers’ Guild South West Regional Festival Day, to be held at the Pavilion Centre at the Royal Cornwall Showground in Wadebridge. This year’s festival is titled ‘A Day Out in Cornwall’.

The festival speakers are Amanda Clayton and Vivien Prideaux, and there will also be loads of trade stalls including Art Van Go, GJ Beads, Mulberry Silks, Sara’s Texture Crafts and Stef Francis.

A competition titled ‘A Postcard from the Seaside’ is open to members, young embroiderers and others.

Tickets are £25 which includes a picnic-style lunch plus tea, coffee and cake.

For details, bookings and competition entry forms, email swfestival2016@btinternet.com.

This year’s Feast was great fun!

While members and guests ate soup, rolls and A LOT of puddings, they filled the Murley Hall with laughter and chatter.

After the tables had been cleared, we all set down to some good old-fashioned party games. Here, the winning team puts the finishing touches on their spaghetti and marshmallow tower.

To see more Feast photos, click here.

Our Camera Club met yesterday for a photo wander around Wyevale Garden Centre.

We managed to capture everything, from the sublime…

… to the ridiculous.

It really was an exercise in learning to use our eyes and spot interesting things to photograph everywhere we looked. We snapped beautiful flowers, tawdry 80% off Christmas decorations and even what we thought was a real duck on the pond (it was plastic).

Our photo session was followed, as usual, by a sit-down with coffee, cake and biscuits.

Next month we’re all going to discuss our potential entries into the 2016 CFWI Photography Competition.

If you’d like to join the Club, please drop Helen a line (either on crowlasludgvanwi@gmail.com or on 01736 753104). You don’t need to be an expert – we’re all learning together (and trying to break the habit of leaving those cameras on the Automatic setting!). It’s a very collaborative and supportive group and we’d love to have you!