November news...

 

Thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate our 9^th birthday by getting on their dancing shoes and channelling your inner Strictly star.  We also had a fabulous evening at House of Fraser, courtesy of their Personal Shopping team, learning about autumn/winter trends and some fantastic make-up tips.

So, it is our last meeting of 2017 and we have a very festive theme.  Xanthe Ivory, from Ivory Flowers, will be showing us how to make a fully adorned Christmas wreath.  The finished product will be raffled at the end of the meeting. We will also get the chance to make some simple Christmas decorations of our own.  If you have any little trinkets you would like to add to a wreath or Christmas decoration, please bring them along and Xanthe will show us some ideas of how they can be used.

Don’t forget we have a stall at East Street Christmas Market on Saturday 25^th November from 10am to 4pm, so please visit us and bring your friends and family.  Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out on the stall and bake cakes.  If you would like to help out, please e-mail us to find out more.

We hope to see many of you on 29^th November, but for those who can’t make it, we wish you happiness and good health for the festive season.



A starry night...

Well, let me start with a big Happy 6^th Birthday to Malago WI!

It’s really been 6 years since this lovely little branch of the WI began to grow – have you been with us since the start?  No?  Well it’s never too late to jump on board.

If you’re not a fully fledged Malago WI members, October is the perfect time to change that.  New membership opens so you can register for 2015 for £36 and you will get the last 2 meetings of 2014 for free, so come, join us, we’ve so much great stuff planned.

Last month the serious topic of personal safety and awareness was delivered in a fun and practical manner by Andras Millward from FAST Defence.   Simple skills to take forward through everyday life, others that we hope we won’t ever have the need to use – Set, knee!

However, on to our October meeting, we’ll be getting crafty once again making a variety of star decorations.

We’ll have several demonstrated star crafts, including origami, crochet and sewing as well as committee made decorations ready to be embellished.  These will go towards our entry in toTreefest and for selling on our stall at the Windmill Hill City Farm Christmas Fair on Sunday 14^th December – more on that next week!

We’d love you to bring along any of your own ideas that fit the star decoration theme if you’d prefer to ‘freestyle’, or maybe you’re a dab hand at a craft that adapts to our theme and you could share with us – contact us if that’s the case!

We have a fairly decent supply of stuff, but it’d be really helpful if you have anything you could bring to use or share such as gel pens, glitter glue, paint pens,  odds and ends of fabric, felt and wool, paper – and if colours are glittery or festive, then so much the better!

Also, please bring a crochet hook if you fancy having a go at crochet stars – we don’t have enough of those to go round.

This is going to be a lovely informal meeting, in which everyone will be able to produce a few star decorations using a variety of techniques, and enjoy a good chat with fellow members and of course enjoy a slice of cake because we’re also celebrating the 6^th birthday of Malago WI!

In addition to all of those goings on, we’ll also be unveiling our first, bespoke, designer Malago WI tea towel – you’ll be able to get your orders in first to beat the rush when they go on sale at the Windmill Hill City Farm Christmas Fair.

Finally, for those that are already Malago WI members and  would like to get a bit more involved, we’d love to have  some more of you  joining our committee - as someone once said, teamwork divides the work and multiplies the success, so who’s up for it?

See you all on Wednesday,

MWI x

Too many puddings?

Is that what Ruth, our lovely judge, was thinking the next day? Thank you to everyone who came to our first pudding night and 2nd birthday party. It was a delicious special evening - who can forget the mysterious Ritz cake and of course the winning cheesecake? We are grateful to Daphne Vise, now chair of Avon Federation, for attending and showering MWI with praise and encouragement. We should also note for the record that Karen Bowers was voted in as president for the coming 12 months, with Lottie Storey as vice president, and that our accounts will be presented at November's meeting.

Our unreserved apologies are due to anyone who turned up on the 27th, we promise to not change meeting dates again unless totally unavoidable.

Onwards to the festive season - November 24th is Christmas Creations and 'Challenge Alice'....to wrap absolutely anything! Please bring your challenging presents, and if you fancy having a go at something less challenging please bring a gift to have a go yourself (after a demo of course, wrapping materials provided).

You will also have an exclusive opportunity to buy, with first choice of gorgeous vintage china cakestands and candles made by your very own committee. Perfect gifts or just treat yourself (you could wrap it on night and put under the tree with your name on and no-one will be any the wiser).

There will also be a prize draw for anyone renewing or joining for 2011 on the night. Cost a bargain 30 pounds. So members please bring any curious friends and beat the January rush. Any guests who want to come are welcome and we just ask for a donation towards refreshments for this our last 2010 meeting (please note there is no meeting in December).

Finally, another prize will be up for grabs - the best homemade decoration! We are thinking maybe something you made as a child, but anything as long as made by your own fair hands!

Our stall at the Tobacco Factory Christmas market (December 5th) promises to be absolutely full of beautiful things. We do need a few more volunteers to sell, and chat, for a couple of hours, please email us as soon as possible.

Please also email us if you are interested in joining a quilting group, and the last word to Jane Brocket:
"If I am in any way responsible for inspiring members of the Malago WI to have a go and enjoy quilting, then I’m truly delighted!"

Creative crochet, comforting puddings, and Christmas cheese

September's meeting was a busy one, we do seem to like our woolly creations. It took me 6 attempts to do a slip knot, and things did not improve on the night. But then the next day I did a whole crochet flower(ish). Miracle. Any creations of your own? Do send us photos! Many thanks to all the patient teachers on the night.

We meet again October 20th for a pudding night to celebrate our 2nd birthday. Please bring equivalent of 2 portions of a pudding - you may have made it or you may not....there may be stories to tell of a family tradition, it may be a recipe you have always wanted to try, or it may be angel delight! We will be sharing tastes and recipes (please bring the recipe if possible), with cream and custard ready and waiting (there will also be re-heating facilities). Please also bring your own spoon, bowl and a nice glass for some fizzy cordial.

As mentioned at the meeting we are running a stall at the Tobacco Factory Christmas market on December 5th to raise ever important funds. Please email us if you can spare a couple of hours to chat and sell, or let us know between mouthfuls of pudding. We will be selling cake stands and candles made from vintage crockery - if you would like to help make them, or indeed if you have an odd tea set or two that would love a new lease of life, please let us know as soon as possible.

Finally, if you have always wanted to know more about cheese, or just like it a lot, we are offering an evening of tasting in time for Christmas from Trethowens on November 4th (location is central Bristol). Email us now to reserve your place, more details at the meeting.