Coffee morning on 4th March

At Stoke Gabriel village hall.

Details

Linda: "As you may be aware, I am raising money for Torbay Breast Care Unit as they are trying to create a garden that will be a peaceful place for people to start to come to terms with their diagnosis. 

I was treated very well at Torbay Hospital and feel I want to give something back. 

We are also raising money for Cancer Reserch UK on a 50/50 basis. Both of these charities are very close to my heart so I hope you can support me by coming to the Coffee Morning. 

The entrance fee will be £1 which will include a cup of coffee or tea and a biscuit. There will also be a cake stall, a book stall and a draw. Hope to see you there."

The Monthly message from Julie Ayre

 2017

Spring Council Meeting (SCM) April 12 2017

I’m looking forward to meeting many of you at the Spring Council meeting, make your bookings as soon as possible, but even if you don’t get this Message Board until after the closing date do enquire at the office for spare seats. Don’t miss Mandy Hickson!

Reminder - ‘Save Denman’ Fundraising - Don’t forget those laundered Scarves for sale at the SCM.

2018 Calendars. We are trying something new this year.

In the past the Delegate who attends the SCM is asked to take a preview calendar back to their WI and the remainder are mailed out to WIs. Each WI is normally asked to purchase at least one calendar. In response to your comments, we will be providing a A3 preview sheet only as an example and asking WIs to order calendars once their members have had chance to see the preview sheet.

Join Devon’s email programme 

Sheena McDonald, our web editor, has informed me that she has had a good response to last month’s invitation to join our email programme. In case you missed it, the enclosure has been repeated this month.

Be part of this great project!

Making Devon Federation Dementia Friendly

A number of WIs in Devon have been embracing the Dementia Friendly concept by inviting Heather Penwarden or one of the other Dementia Champions to speak to your WI and then some of you have become Dementia Friends. Others, such as Silverton WI have gone a step further and have opened their own Memory  Café.  

The Board of Trustees would now like to determine if the Devon Federation as a whole would like to become a Dementia Friendly organisation.

Heather has agreed to be Chairman of a small steering committee and we are to inviting members who are interested in joining this committee to contact Heather at  heather.penwarden@devonwi.org.uk.

We anticipate the committee would only meet every few months over the next couple of years and would look at what is happening already in the Federation, and share ideas via the Devon newsletter, website and Facebook. In addition the committee will investigate other ideas that the Federation or WIs  could use to help their members who have memory problems and even set up a dementia resource area on our website.  

DFWI 2020 Questionnaire

We had a nearly 70% response rate to our questionnaire, thank you to all the WIs who took part.

There was an overwhelming preference for the large event in 2020 to take place in June, but the preferences for weekday versus weekend were much closer but with the majority happy to attend either, so the final choice will have to be determined by availability of a large enough venue.

Media Support Group

Are you interested in social media, computers, websites, development of the newsletter? This new group might be just for you. Help us to take the Federation forward. Check out the full details in the March Devon Newsletter.

Lots to get your teeth into this month, don't miss out!

WI Lunch

Twenty of us gathered for pre lunch drinks and chat before settling down to a gorgeous meal. Those of us who chose the melon starter were presented with a tumbler full of sparkling, multi coloured melon balls! It looked and tasted amazing! Everything was beautifully presented and it all tasted good, too! 

As always, the company was excellent, and we ended the meal with coffee and delightful hand made chocolates in the lounge. It was a very civilised and lovely way to spend the day! 

Thank you everyone! 

It's craft group today!

We made some poppies for the field of poppies to be created at the Devon County show this year. One each for a Devon life lost during the First World War. 

There was a great deal of counting stitches, chatting and tea drinking! Some people brought poppies they had made earlier; some of the results are very delicate and beautiful, some a little more....folk art! All lovely and will serve the purpose admirably. 

Barbara had done some research beforehand and discovered that more than 800 people from Brixham lost their life during the First World War. An astounding number of people from a small community. 

Devon FWI - Bollywood Day

As mentioned yesterday at our meeting, the Bollywood day organised by county has been hugely oversubscribed! So, there will be another, similar event! There will be Indian cookery, a session on how to put on a sari and some Bollywood dancing! Of course the dance teacher will be our own Kate Jackson! 

Keep an eye on the Devon WI Facebook page, County News or ask Elly for details of the second date!

It looks like a really fun and informative day.

Excellent meeting today!

Our speaker was Angela Sanders who demonstrated willow weaving and gave us a really interesting insight into the history of basket making. She made a beautiful garden support for our raffle!

With some help....from Annie and then both of our Barbaras! 

Our members have been fantastically generous once again, and I had a boot full of items brought for the Torbay Women's Refuge. Thank you very much everyone. 

#show the love for all things affected by climate change

Brixham Bunting: next phase!

We have until 3rd March to come up with our design for one of the triangular flags and to sew our string of bunting. Mary has some packs ready to sew and design, or if you are in town, pop into the Sewing  Box in Middle Street to collect your pack. There are plenty of packs to be collected, so please don't be shy! 

It's very straightforward to sew it altogether, and I have taken about an hour to finish mine. All I have to do now is my design! For me, that is the tricky bit!

Remember to use polyester thread in your machine, not 100% cotton thread, as the polyester is much stronger and more likely to stand up to the weather. Also, if you have a denim or leather needle for your machine you could use it, although it isn't crucial. The fabric isn't that heavy, any normal sewing machine will manage it easily. 

I began by pinning the tape and flags in place...

And very soon realised that all I needed to do was fold the tape and measure exactly where to place the flags as I was sewing.

Drama Club Lunch

We had a very pleasant lunch together at the Breakwater Bistro, lovely food and lots of chat! 

There were twelve of us altogether, and I thought I had captured every smiling face...clearly not, so apologies to those who aren't in the photos! 

It is rather a good way to record all of our WI lunches together! Girls who know how to have fun! 

Dart Bay Annual Meeting looks very interesting!

      You are invited to join us at our

 DART-BAY Food Crafts & Skills, Annual Meeting

Thursday 2nd March 2017 –7pm start

‘Meet and Treat’ evening. Come along and meet other members at our Annual Meeting and have a treat on us. 

• A light buffet and hot & cold Drinks will be provided.

• Display of items made with us in the last year (please bring your lanterns, folded books, calligraphy, lampshades, enamelling, quilted cushion)

• Prize Draw.

• Members Prize competition – Our 5th Anniversary - Handcrafted item with the theme of Wood or Daisies, (please ensure your entry fits within a 12" (30cm) square piece of paper - no maximum height restriction) AND/OR a plate of 6 Hot Cross Buns (as per our recipe)

• Speaker -from a local Quilters Group

• Announcement of our new programme for 2017/18

• We will also have our Annual Meeting and voting of committee members- (new nominations welcome.)

Venue- Mary Magdelene Church Hall, Union Street, Torquay. TQ1 4BX

Cost:- FREE but booking essential. 

email names to TracyJohnson7@hotmail.com

Or ring:- 01803 329118

Craft competition for cross stitchers!

Poppies for the Devon County Show

Poppies - Devon County Show 2017 Remembers

A tribute to the Devon men and women who lost their lives in the First World War will be staged at next year’s Devon County Show.

The commemoration will be made of hand-crafted poppies and put together to create a carpet of red.

BBC Radio Devon and Devon FWI have joined with the show organisers to encourage people to make 11,000 poppies, one for each of the men and women who lost their lives.

If you want to get involved then you can make your poppy out of anything but paper. if you want to knit or crochet your poppy then you can follow one of these patterns.

Easy garter/knit stitch pattern for beginners 

Colour A Red (one ball will make a lot of poppies!) 

Colour B Scrap of Black or a black button

Body of Poppy 

Using Col A cast on 120 stitches.

Rows 1-4 Knit

Row 5 Knit 3 stiches together across the row(40 stiches) 

Rows 6-9Knit

Row 10 Knit 2 stitches together across the row(20 stitches) 

Rows 11-14 Knit

Row 15 Knit 2 stitches together across the row(10 stitches)

Cut yarn leaving a tail of about 20cm 

Thread tail through yarn needle and slip all the remaining live stitches onto the yarn tail and pull tight. Pull around into a circle and then mattress stitch (or use whatever stitching you normally use) to seam for an invisible seam. Sew in ends. 

Centre of Poppy 

Using B, cast on 16 sts. Cast off. Coil into a tight spiral and sew base to the centre. 

Or use a black or green button with 4 holes and sew to centre of poppy. Add pin. 

 

2.  Easy ribbed poppy pattern 

Colour A 1 ball red yarn (this will make a lot of poppies)

Colour B Scrap of black yarn or black button

Body of Poppy 

Using Col A Cast on 60 stitches

Row s1 –10 : K2, P2 across whole row(for a slightly smaller poppy do 8 rows of rib). 

Row 11 : Knit 2 stitches together across the row (30 stitches). 

Row 12 : Slip 1 stitch, Knit 2 stitches together then pass the slip stitch over... repeat across the whole row (10 stitches). 

Break off yarn with long tail and thread back through remaining stitches and pull tight. Join edges with mattress stitch 

Centre of Poppy 

Using B, cast on 16 sts. Cast off. Coil into a tight spiral and sew base to the centre. 

Or use a black or green button with 4 holes and sew to centre of poppy. Add pin. 

Crocheted Pop Easy ribbed poppy pattern 

You will need some red wool and a black button.

Patterns

1. Three petal crochet poppy with 4.5mm hook Ch 3, join with slst to form circle. Ch 3, work 9 dc into the centre of the circle and join with slst. Work the three petals separately. 

Petal 1. Ch 3, work 1st dc into same st, work 2 dc into each of the next 3 sts. ch 1 work 2 sc into each st, tie off. Petal 2. 

work 2 dc into last dc of previous petal, work 2 dc into each of the next 3 sts. ch 1 work 2 sc into each st, tie off. Work petal 3 as 2. Sew all ends in and attach button in the centre. Add pin 

 

2.Two petal crochet poppy 

Rnd 1: With 3mm hook and wool, ch2. Make 10dc in 2nd ch from hook. Join with a slst in 1st dc. (10sts) Rnd 2: *ch1 dc ch1 2tr in next st, 3tr in next st, 2tr ch1 dc in next st, slst in next 2sts. rep from * once again. Rnd 3: *ch1 3dc in next 2 sts, 2dc in next 5sts, 3dc in next 2 sts,slst in next 2sts. rep from * once again. Fasten off. 

Attach button in the centre. Add pin.

Stitch explanation st(s) = stitch (es) 

ch = chain rep=repeat dc = double crochet rnd=round htr = half treble crochet slst = slip stitch r = row tr = treble crochet

 

 

 

 

Women's Refuge collection

At our last meeting we all agreed to continue our support for the Women's Refuge. Here is a list of items they would like:

Homewares for women that are moving into their own property including cutlery, glasses, mugs, cooking utensils, any kitchen items (it is not essential that these are new however they need to be in good condition).

Food for women on arrival at the refuge/safehouses including tins, longlife foods, pasta, rice, sauces, tea & coffee, longlife milk etc.

Clothing - packs of underwear (new) for different sizes, children & women.  

If you would like to add your support please bring your item to our next WI meeting.