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This event is being held 25/26/27 February at Cottenham Village College.   It includes 3 days of workshops, there will be a lecture by Dawn Thorn - Transparency and Dimension - and the two exhibition halls will be showcasing the textile art of 'The O2 Textile Group' and 'Fibrefusion'.   There will also be traders and demonstrators. This event has now been running for 10 years and this year Jennie and I will be there so pop along and say hello;  Tickets available only on the door;  there is free parking and access for the disabled.   www.textilesinfocus.com and this year's chosen charity is the Alzheimer's Research Trust.

Well what a start to the year – according to the experts (and the Daily Mail!) we’ve been through the most depressing weekend BUT we’ve also been through Happy Monday. Apparently last Monday was the day on which we start thinking about our summer break. Well that includes me: two of us have booked to go to the Quilt Show in Alsace in September run by Arena Travel; details are on the Quilt Retreat page of the site https://www.justhands-on.tv/small-ads/category/3/
and I am already savouring the idea of sipping champagne at Kings Cross St.Pancreas prior to departure on the Eurostar!

  Val:  Creative Quilting have a wonderful club that you can join which will send you every two months a bundle of colour-co-ordinated fat 1/4ms so all you have to do is find a project for them!! Take a look at their website: www.creativequilting.co.uk

The Farncombe estate run a whole host of wonderful workshops and Jennie Rayment often teaches there;   For more details visit www.FarncombeEstate.co.uk

Val:    Jennie and I and the boys from Bizview will be working hard on getting new ideas onto fim for the new year which will include some of my favourite fast strip piecing ideas and Jennie is taking the fear out of free motion quilting;   Dawn Cameron-Dick will also be joining us to talk abour her new reference book and help us on what threads and needles to use and we are hoping that Gill Burbridge will be able to join us and show us some of her fantastic feltwear.

This weekend (Dec 3rd/4th)  the whole of the UK seems to be covered in white snow making it look like pictures from Christmas cards – however if you are having to deal with it, either by travelling or shovelling – we do hope you are managing to stay safe and warm. Stay indoors and enjoy Justhands-on.tv! With Christmas fast approaching we appreciate that time is of the essence but there is still time to be creative and we have a few quick-to-make workshops for you to enjoy as well as some super films.

Val:   No this isn't our age (!) but the boys at Bizview.tv have been keeping count and it would appear that we have now made together over 100 videos which we continue to share with you.   The Swindon Advertiser has more to say and you can read this at.www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/3143377/8458113

Val:  Getting away for a workshop is the best of two worlds - you get to sew and you get looked after.   Jennie has just finished one at Dunford House in Midhurst  but she has another booked at Farncombe Estate from 15-17th October;  Of course her workshop is full but check out some of the wide variety of courses that they offer.
www.FarncombeEstate.co.uk

Val:  If you are new to the site we hope you are enjoying it.   Should you find that the films aren't running smoothly, the data file  to download onto your machine is quite large, so  here is a little trick:  once you have pushed the play arrow in the centre of the filmscreen, you will see a pause option appear in the bottom section (it looks like this II);  if you pause the film, it will continue to load in the background - you can see this as a different colour line appearing and growing longer - which will allow you to pop off and make a cup of tea, so that when you come back the film will run smoothly and you can enjoy watching the films as you sup your tea (or wine and/or other beverage!)

Val:  Just back from a couple of weeks visiting in Toronto, Canada;   while there I cam across the hidden gem of the Textile Museum of Canada - located at 55 Centre Avenue.   The current exhibition runs until Feb 2011 and is called 'Drawing with Scissors' and features Molas from Kuna Yala - fascinating;  there are also several other exhibits always running on the building as well as a children's floor where they can has a hands-on experience with fibres - weaving and such - as well as experience different cottons, wools etc.   more info at www.textilemuseum.ca

Val: I was in Canada on this anniversary date and as was only to be expected the tv airwaves were full of the memorial services being held.   I was fascinated to learn of a memorial quilt that has been made in honour of those who were on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania and this is and will continue to be on display in the chapel there;   it is a mixture of pictures and patchwork and you can see more at www/911memorialquilts.com

Jennie: At long last we have got some pics from the Fashion show at the Festival of Quilts. All of us are eagerly awating the video because it was such a special occasion. such a pity that none of us spoke any Russian other than 'Hello' which works in most languages and 'Niet' and 'Dosvidana' and 'Spasiba' - for those who are not multi-lingual - that is 'No', 'Goodbye' and 'Thank you' plus I could manage 'Vot on' which loosely translated means 'Here is.

Val:  A day to remember I think;  Jennie was busy teaching and I met the boys from Bizview.tv at 8.45 with their entry passes.   Hubby was drafted in to cope with selling Jennie's books on her stand as well as membership to Justhands-on.tv complete with golfing hat - I have to say he did well!! (not sure I'll get him to do it again, not because he did anything wrong;  more about now he knows what he's in for!!!)   Manning a stand is a constant with so many visitors, but I have to say you are all so lovely and you did treat him kindly - including the lady whose credit card he wrecked (I am SO sorry!!!) The Bizview.tv team and I had a wonderful day filming exhibitions for you to enjoy as well as a few quilts that I just stopped infront of because they spoke to me.   We were thrilled to speak to Pauline Ineson who won the P&Q Traditional Quilt category (she had her own little booth there so we stole her away for a few minutes).   More info on what we got up to in the newsletter.

Val:   Wow another busy day and that glass of wine is really very appealing.   It is really so exciting to be surrounded by so much inspiration and that obviously shows in the spending;   I do hope that all that good intention doesn't fade on the way home.   Those who come by coach must have a great time comparing shopping notes!