comfort zone

In the last couple of quiet days, happily ensconced trying to shift the cat out of the way and tidy up the vestiges of Christmas and the loose ends of 2011, I came across  one or two things that I forgot to share.

Never let it be said that we are not game for trying something new.  Just take a look at these little videos of our Cynthia and Heather participating in an installation by artist Martina Schuemacker in South London.  (More on Heather's adventures at Denman soon.)

Oh yes.  Sometimes we do step out of our comfort zone.  Let's hope 2012 will be a year to shake us up and take us on amazing new EEWI adventures.

Happy New Year!

and a happy christmas to you...

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  There was our Christmas Market where we saw some fabulous hand crafted goods, shared some Christmas goodwill with our friends from U-Turn, learnt how to finger knit, ate mince pies galore and enormous slices of Cynthia's mum's coconut cake...

...and made some crazy looking baubles for our Christmas tree (what exactly is it that happens to people when they get their hands on glitter and glue?).

The tree went up at the weekend at the Community Christmas Tree Festival along with some other amazing entries.  Ours has the cups on top instead of a fairy.  I particularly likes the tree made of party hats, the reindeer sculpture and the model with the light-up tree-skirt.

We also met up at the Geffrye Museum for a great deal of chat, a fair amount of tea and coffee and lots of oohing and cuddling of Jo's baby boy.

And as if that wasn't enough, we even managed a bit of fourteen- point- star crafting on Tuesday evening at the Crown because Elizabeth produced some pretty paper from the depths of her handbag a la Mary Poppins.  You'd be amazed what you can do with a large star other than put it on your tree.

Our thanks go to everyone who joined in, sold and bought, and made these events such fun, particularly to all of you who brought along Christmas gifts for U-Turn.  We know it's very much appreciated by Rio and all the women who used the drop-in centre.  We'll be meeting again on 17th January when we'll hear all about setting up a business, so do remember to put that in your new diaries when you get them.  Until then:

have a Wonderful Christmas.

the EEWI christmas market!

Yes, ladies,  it's nearly time for our fabulous Christmas Market.  Our December meeting is this year is going to be big and buzzy with lots of lovely stalls from a host of local designer makers as well as our own talented members, some mulled wine and a mince pie.  We've got a little Christmas crafting lined up because we want you to help decorate the tree that we'll be entering into the Community Christmas tree festival on 17th December - any sparkly scraps or trinkets that you have for the baubles we'll be making most gratefully received.  And we will be joined by our friends from U-Turn again this year, so please try to bring along a small wrapped gift for the women helped by U-Turn.  Entry to the event is free to members, £3 for visitors.


This is our last evening meeting of the year (where did the time go?)  but we will be meeting for a visit to the lovely Geffrye Museum  for coffee at 10.30am on Friday 16th December and a walk through Christmases past.  The museum opens at 10am if you want to look round before rather than after coffee.  It is easy to get to by public transport, but please remember that if you are using your own car, you will be charged for parking in Hackney.


We're looking forward to seeing you all next week.

this week

Our Queen Bee, 2009

It's our members' AGM tomorrow evening!  We'll be starting a little earlier at 7.45pm, as we have a lot to fit in - looking back at what we have done in the last year, formal reports and elections.  There'll be a short talk from Niki looking back at what EEWI has achieved over the last five years too.  Then we'll get on to celebrating our year with a wine tasting.  Even though we are on a budget this year, we've still got lots of lovely wine lined up - in my front room at the moment! - but it will be there waiting for you tomorrow night.  There will be some nibbles, but if you would like to bring some food along to share, do feel free to do so.  Usual location - St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2.

Our Friday coffee morning is at Skylight Cafe, Commercial Street, E1 at 10.30am on Friday 18th.  If you are interested in joining us, we will be making our way to the Women's Library afterwards to see their latest exhibition All Work and Low Pay.  Guaranteed to inspire...

Finally, a big thank you to those who supported local charity U-Turn at their quiz night last Friday with your donations of prizes, baking, or simply by coming along and joining in.  And if you don't the answer to the question "What instrument does Lisa Simpson play?",  ask Jane.  She may be able to help you...


See you tomorrow.

aim and aspire

We want to do our bit to make sure that woman make their mark in the world and we are delighted that some of our entrepreneurial members have been kind enough to share their skills with us.  We thought that it might be a good idea for the New Year to invite a speaker to come along and talk to us about the challenges of setting up a new business and we are delighted that Lana will be visiting us in January.  More about that later.  In the meantime, Lana is running some workshops for people who are interested in setting up their own business and there is a 20% discount for EEWI members.  They cover topics ranging from writing a business plan to  marketing and customers .  If you are interested, take a look at what's going on here.  Might be a good time to get ready for those New Year resolutions now!

loving our library

What's this?  Cake in the library and not a shush within hearing?  It was our great coffee morning at Bethnal Green Library courtesy of librarian Richard and his people.  We had a tour round the library, a look at the lovely stained glass (Motherhood, Fatherhood and Peace!), a quick trip to see the magnificent tile work in the ladies and gents, and, ahem, cake of course.  Seems we were all thinking along autumnal lines and there were three different types of apple cake available to celebrate apple day.  At least Jackie had the forethought to bring along some cheese biscuits.  And Janet says that Bethnal Green has the best selection of talking books she's seen in the Borough.  Definitely worth a visit for the green location, historic ambience, and the books - of course.

Our thanks go to Clare for organising our outing and to Richard and everyone at the library for giving us such a warm welcome.

Don't forget - if you have not signed the NFWI petition to save our libraries (not everyone is as lucky as us) do please pop along to the online version here.

a round heeled woman

It seems to me that there is something rather indulgent about going to a matinee performance.  Perhaps that contributed to everyone's obvious enjoyment of Sharon Gless's performance in A Round Heeled Woman.  She was absolutely fabulous playing a sixty six year old woman who places an ad looking for, well, company let's say.  Funny, poignant, clever, and truthful.  What's more, we were lucky to participate after the performance in the Q&A session with both Sharon and Jane Juska, author of the book on which the play is based.  Why did she wait 30 years before placing her ad?  She was too busy of course.

Thanks to Niki for organising our outing, and to the lovely women who came along.

oh what a lovely night

What a lovely evening we had launching the Food Sharing Project with Sue and Corinne from Project Phakama.  Listening to everyone's food stories, recipes, memories of families and friends, and then sharing salads ...

and savouries ...

and sweet things...

and the recipes they would like to find.

It was an absolute pleasure.

We're very excited about working with Phakama, helping with growing and making and feasting.  We'll be hearing more in the New Year.  I'll be adding a link to Phakama's blog - as soon as I can find it.  In the meantime, see you at Bethnal Green Library tomorrow morning.

october meetings - bring a friend!

Seems like I forgot to remind you all about our October meeting.  Must have been all that cake making for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street.  Hope you saw us in East End Life with our cakes (my mum missed it and had to trawl back through her recycling!).  We'll still be on a food theme for our meeting tomorrow Tuesday 18th October when Phakama will be joining us to launch their food sharing project.  We'll be meeting at our usual time - 7.30 for 8pm, St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PL and this month we're inviting you to bring a friend for free (we normally suggest a £3 donation).  It would be lovely if you could join in with the event by bringing a favourite recipe/ story/ food to share.  Don't worry if you're not a cook - just bring yourself and a food story.  There's sure to be enough to go round.  

I'm thinking of apples at the moment as it's Apple Day on Friday 21st October.  Or I may save that for the cake I'm going to make for our Coffee Morning this Friday.  We're planning something a little different to support the NFWI's Love Your Libraries Campaign, so we will be meeting at Bethnal Green Library at 10.30am.   We'll be supplying the cakes ourselves, so if want to bake something, please do.  Everybody is welcome, so come and join us.

Love Your Libraries

Following huge support at the Annual Conference, the NFWI has launched its Love Your Libraries campaign.  Part of the campaign is a petition calling on the Government to honour its commitment to champion the library service.  We are hoping that there will 100,000 signatures and trigger a debate in Parliament.  You can sign the petition online via the Government's e-petition website.  And do remember to encourage others to sign the petition too!

We'll be doing our own bit to support our own public library service, kicking off with a coffee morning in October.  Watch this space for more info!

EDITED TO ADD:  Forgot to mention that you can get into see films at Rich Mix on Mondays and Tuesdays at a reduced rate if you show your Tower Hamlets Ideas Stores Card.  Wish I'd have remembered that before I paid full price this week to see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy....

to the rescue: two: our september meetings

If you remember this session, you'll remember what a brilliant night we had with Cynthia Gerald when she held a singing workshop for us.  We're delighted that Cynthia has come to our rescue after we had to change our planned activity this month.  This time she has some rather different tunes up her sleeve (what? is that where she keeps them?).  This is going to be a session that everyone can enjoy no matter whether you sing or not. We'll be meeting at the usual place - St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2 on 20th September, 7.30 for 8pm.  We'll provide the tea and coffee, but do feel free to bring a bottle or share some nibbles if you wish.  If you are not a member, we suggest a donation of £3 for the evening.

Our coffee morning on Friday 23rd September takes us a bit further east to the Albion Cafe, 2-4 Boundary Street, E2.  Meet up in the cafe at 10.30am. We're told the cakes are very good.

If you have a favourite coffee shop that you'd like to suggest for our monthly coffee morning visit, or maybe a museum or art gallery where we can have coffee and see an exhibition too, do let us know.

Oh, and don't forget to post your snaps for our photography competition.  You'll find the details here.

to the rescue

What's this?  No cake?  But hold on, who's that coming in through the storm?

It's Clare, isn't it?  With more supplies.  Clare you are a marvel. Your sultana cake and madeira cake eked out the last of our meagre supplies at the Poplar Festival in Bartlett Park on Saturday where we were helping to celebrate 60 years of the Lansbury Estate.  The theme was positively 1950s as we shared our tent with the 1950s Museum and tombola while our Lady Luck Jive regaled us with dance vibes while the sun shone.

There was a steady flow of customers until the rain poured down, the crowds poured in and Clare came to the rescue.  All this after running our annual stall the week before at St Barnabas Fete where we served up cream teas and biscuits.

Many thanks to all the excellent women who helped put at both events. We are really grateful and hope you enjoyed yourselves too.  If you would like to come and help out on one of our tea and cake stalls we have one more event coming up for the Battle of Cable Street celebrations on 1st October, 12 - 5pm in St George's Gardens.  It would be lovely to see you.

stop press!

Just to let you know that the proposed U-Turn quiz has been postponed until November.  We'll set aside the prizes that some of you have so kindly and generously donated until then.

We've also had to change our planned activity for the September 20th meeting, so watch this space to find out we have planned.  Our coffee morning will take place on Friday 23rd September will be at the Albion Cafe in Shoreditch.  More details soon....

snappy

I hope everyone's photographic skills have improved exponentially after Ella's perfectly pitched presentation this week (thanks, Ella!).  Lydia chose East End WI as the story for her snaps, with a lovely shot of the bargain EEWI badges and mirrors Sarah has made for us to sell.  I managed to get a couple of photos of people playing on the WiiFit Plus equipment (thanks ladies!) but I don't think people would thank me for publishing their attempts at virtual hula-hooping or standing on one leg.  Nor would the snaps have been quite right for our photographic competition.  The theme  is "green" so make the most of the last days of summer with some happy snapping.  More details soon.

There will be a chance for some practice today at our coffee morning at the Zealand Cafe (corner of Zealand Road and Roman Road, just along from St Barnabas. 10.30am onwards).  Later on in the day, there will be plenty of green at our summer picnic - Wennington Green, Mile End Park (opposite St Barnabas Church in Grove Road) from 5.30pm onwards.  Just bring a blanket and some teatime treats.  Looks like it might actually be fine weather...

whatever next?

With such turmoil going on over the last few days, we want to remind everyone how important it is to get together and celebrate the good things about the East End, and especially EEWI.  So big thanks to everyone who has been involved in all our events over the last few weeks, especially those dedicated troopers who turned out for the Museum of Childhood Summer Festival and have only just managed to dry out after torrential rain in the afternoon.  And to the lovely Ruth for taking the floor at our last meeting and showing us how to sort out our wardrobes. Now we all know how to make the most of our assets, plentiful or otherwise.  It was a fab evening and we learnt a great deal about how to liberate our unloved stuff and fill our wardrobes with gladrags instead.  We're very,very proud that we have such talented members willing to share their knowledge and skills with us.   

We are equally delighted that at the August meeting, our Ella will be showing us how to improve our holiday snapshots with a session on using photography, focusing on how to get the best from your  digital camera.  We'll also be launching our photography competition for summer, so do bring along your cameras and get some expert advice.  We'll also have the people from WiiFit with a demo on how you might use some electronic help to stay fit.  We are meeting on 16th August, our usual venue, St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2, 7.30pm for 8pm.  We'll have tea and coffee for you, and as many cakes as our generous bakers bring along, but do feel free to bring a bottle too if you wish.

On Friday 19th August we have our coffee morning from 10.30am at the Zealand Cafe, on the corner of Zealand Road and Roman Road, just along from St Barnabas Church - it's quite a small venue, but they know we're coming.  And in the evening we'll be gathering from 5.30pm onwards for our summer picnic at Wennington Green, Mile End Park, close to the Adizone/ Bow Wharf.  Just bring some food and drink, blankets and bunting and your happy selves and family.

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for fine weather. And if it rains there are plenty of pubs nearby for us to get dry.  Or wet our whistles.

it's summertime

We're well and truly in the swing of serving tea and cakes this summer.  We didn't quite manage the tea at St Margaret's House Garden Party because we couldn't get into the kitchen, though thanks to Clare, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Janet and Vivien we did manage to serve up a few cakes while listening to the music. So  Heather made up for it by managing three teapots at once when we were participants in the wonderful artwork that was the Piccadilly Community Centre.

Annie and Elizabeth had a lovely time chatting to the tourists. and selling crafts by our makers and our own EEWI bags and flowers.  They learnt all about knitting in Latvia, what some Portuguese students were doing in London, found a WI member from the North East and were given a donation from a lovely American lady in memory of her mother-in-law who loved the WI.

  And when she wasn't chatting to people, Elizabeth went nuts with the fluffy flowers.

Indoors, Anne, Clare, Heather and Veronika charmed visitors and centre users with their tea and cookies and cakes.  We'd nearly sold out by the time we left.

And to keep everyone busy we offered a choice of pompom making with Jo, or rag-rugging with Janet (Janet- where were you hiding when I came along with my camera?)

Thanks to friends who came and visited us on the day.  Don't worry though if you missed us, because we'll be at the Museum of Childhood Summer Festival this weekend - Sunday 7th August from 11.30am - 4.30pm  - having a good time with more EEWI goodness.  Do pop in if you are passing by!

blossom

We got a little bit hot in the sun on Thursday at St Margaret's House Garden Party, but that hasn't stopped us hoping for more sun on Saturday when we are at the the Piccadilly Community Centre from 10 - 6.  Come and buy a bag, make a pom pom or rag a rug, have a cup of tea and something to eat.  Or just blossom in the sun (we hope).

tea anyone?

Right now we're thinking about what cakes to make for a couple of events we've got coming up this week.  On Thursday we'll be serving tea and cake at St Margaret's House Garden Party, a family event for the local community.  Admission is free and includes lots of fun things for children and, erm, us of course with our tea and cakes.  Do pop in and say hello if you are around.

We're also very excited about being involved in the pop-up Piccadilly Community Centre this Saturday 30th July from 10am until around 4.30pm.  Hauser and Wirth Art dealers have converted their Piccadilly gallery, just along the road from Fortnum and Mason, into a fully functioning community centre for a ten weeks, complete with a charity shop, a range of classes,  a community canteen, and a stall outside in the St James Arts and Crafts Market.  We'll be making tea and selling  food in the canteen, running some indoor crafting activities, and selling muffins/ cupcakes and crafted goods on the outdoor stall. It's the centre's last day, so we want to make sure as many people as possible know about the work of the WI and what a lovely cup of tea we make.  Along with everything else, of course.

Come and say hello!

July Meetings

We're really excited to have the lovely Ruth along at our next meeting on 19th July to talk to us on how to discover your true shape and learn how to dress to enhance it.  Yes, ladies, we're being superstyled!

The question on everyone’s lips will be what body shape am I? When you discover your true shape you can quickly learn to dress to enhance it. You will have many "ah ha!" moments when you realise why clothes suit you and others don’t. You will be able to shop quickly and with confidence in future and enjoy choose outfits from your wardrobe that really flatter and enhance your best bits. It will revolutionise the way you look and feel when you get dressed.

The talk will last about 25-30 minutes including live demonstrations and there will be a special offer on the night for EEWI women to tap into more of Superstyling’s personal shopping and personal styling services.Ruth’s website is: www.superstyling.me.uk

So come along, bring a friend (£3 suggested donation for non- members), share a cake, whatever. Tuesday 19^th July at St Margaret’s House, Old Ford Road, E2, 7.30 for 8pm start.

Don't forget too that we will also be taking in Denman Award applications (follow the link for a copy of the form) for our fabulous £200 bursary towards the cost of a Denman College course.  If you're not sure what you fancy, then take a look at the new Denman website here.  So much to choose from!

For our Coffee Morning this month we are hoping to go to the Counter Cafe on Roach Road, Fish Island. The café has moved into Stour Space Art Gallery and has stunning views of the Olympic Park. We plan to meet there at 10.30am and if anyone is interested in either joining a cycling party to the café or a public transport one or would like a lift please do let us know.

The 339 from Bow goes to near to the café and is easy to get to by bike.

this weekend

We'll be at Parklife selling cakes on Sunday.  Do come along, say hello, and applaud the dog who looks most like his owner - or is it the other way round? If you want to bake or help out, let me or Clare know.

Some of us will also be in the WI tent at the Big Feastival at Clapham Common over the weekend too, starting Friday afternoon.  Feastival is a foodie event and it wouldn't be proper without the WI there.  If you are a keen baker, there is a competition too - details above.

If we don't see you, do have a sunny weekend.

raiding the larder

Lovely to see you ladies - and young Jemima too -  at The Larder in Globe Road this morning.  We're very grateful to the friendly staff for making us all comfortable and for their excellent service.   We all agreed that we'd made a good choice for our cake and cookie tasting - but we were unanimous that the almond, orange and polenta (gluten-free!) cake took the biscuit.  Except Jemima who preferred her Pom-Bears and playing in toy corner.

Be warned,  We'll be back.

this weekend

If it stops raining - and I think it will - you might want to go along to one of the free events at the Greenwich and Docklands Festival that starts this weekend.  More information here.

Whatever you're up to, have fun.

don't forget...

Calendula

Just to remind you that our next evening meeting will be on 21st June at St Margaret’s House, Old Ford Road , E2, 7.30 for 8pm start.  We’ll be treating to ourselves to a bit of crafty goodness with Sarah from Violet Iris who will show us how to make lip balm.  All you have to do is to bring a small pot/ jar to take home your finished product.  So come along, bring a friend (£3 suggested donation for non- members), share a cake, whatever.  We’re looking forward to celebrating the solstice with you!

We’re trying out a new establishment for this month's coffee morning on 24th June. The Larder in Globe Road , E2 (just around the corner from St Margaret’s House, and opposite Prick Your Finger Haberdashery)  is a new cafe-cum- deli.  You can see a review here.  We’ll be meeting there at 10.30am.  Would be lovely to see you there.

eyes down

We had a great time trying out our hand again with some more life drawing last week, this time with charcoal and collage.  But poor Estelle... she got a bit chilly posing for us even though we were concentrating really hard to get our collages done quickly.  Our collective thanks go to the ever patient Kate Hardy for her guidance and encouragement, and to Estelle for sitting for us with such fortitude (we'll make sure it's warmer next time).

Thanks too to everyone who baked and bought cakes for the Cake Break from MS.  There was an opportunity for second helpings at our Friday coffee morning at the Create Place, just a few doors along from our evening home at St Margaret's House.  What a lovely morning.  A warm welcome, a cosy atmosphere, lots of chat and laughter between cups of tea and some truly delicious cakes.  (Jackie - I need that recipe for the delicious orange and almond cake, please!).

We also had a chance to see what the Create Place has to offer - lots of handmade goodness for sale, and a sewing class in progress upstairs with Amanda.

If you fancy it, you too can drop in on Friday mornings to the Create Place Sewing Cafe (machines for hire at £7 per hour).  Other courses are listed on the website.

More news soon on what we have lined up for you at our next meeting on 21st June.

Happy holiday weekend!

the women's library needs you!

The Women's Library in Aldgate, home to the archive of the NFWI, is looking for a small band of volunteers adept with a needle for a one-day project.  On Tuesday 21st June they will be labelling (sewn labels), packaging and hanging (on padded hangers which we will make) the costumes used in a 1969 WI production called 'The Brilliant and The Dark', performed at the Royal Albert Hall. This promises to be a sociable, fun day.   

The library also needs someone in the next two or three weeks to write descriptions of the costumes. The volunteer needs to be able to work with good attention to detai - measuring, describing and typing up. There are 20-25 items in total, so it's not a huge task but it will require a day or two. 

If you are interested and can help, please contact Colleen or leave a comment on this post.

Edited to add - yet again :   The Women's Library have confirmed that the date should be 7th June from 10am - 4pm,  If you plan to come, or can no longer make it, please let Colleen know by leaving a message.  Cheers!

maytime: a bit of life, craft and cake

Hope you all had a lovely Easter and are ready for our next adventure.  This month the multi-talented artist Kate Hardy will be joining us on 17th May to lead another of her brilliant life drawing classes.  Kate has visited us a couple of times before and we normally find that we have a full house, so do try to come along early.  We will also be mandating our delegate - this year someone from N1 WI - to put forward our votes on motions to the NFWI AGM.  We'll be at the usual place, usual time - 7.30 for 8pm start at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2.  All materials will be supplied.  Free for members, suggested donation of £3 for non-members.  We'll also be raising money for Cake Break for MS, so if you are a baker, novice or otherwise, do please bring along some home-made cakes for us to sell, and some spare change to but something!

We hope to raise more for the charity at our coffee morning at 10.30am on 20th May.  This time we'll be visiting the wonderful Create Place (just a few doors down from St Margaret's House) where we'll be able to buy tea and coffee, look at the merchandise and see what they goes on in this craft-y venture.  So more cakes for sale would be welcome there too!

Just to get your appetite whetted, here's a wee sample here of what our faithful bakers made when they generously turned up to support the Mile End Cemetery event last Sunday.  Well done all, especially Clare who co-ordinated our team - and, according to my John, made the very best fruit cake.

And if you didn't make it to our last meeting, just a little taster of what you missed...

Our thanks go to Theresa from Kitchen Buddy for demonstrating how to make delicious raw food salads and for sharing her healthy chocolate - and to Veronika for setting up the event and being such a diligent sous chef.  Look out Masterchef...

Fast Fashion Swish Event

If you enjoyed the EEWI swish in January, you might be interested in the NFWI’s Swish on 21st May to launch the next stage of NFWI's Fast Fashion campaign which aims to raise awareness of unfair wages and working conditions for garment workers and the environmental impact of clothing.  

The Swishing event is in London at St Bride's Foundation, Fleet Street, EC4Y 8EQ and costs £5 entry. (Drop items off at 1.30, swishing starts at 2.30).  You'll be able to spend a Saturday afternoon swapping clothes, shoes and accessories with WI members and friends from across London, while enjoying tea and cupcakes and finding out more about the Fast Fashion campaign.  Sewing tutors from Traid will be on hand to help you adapt and alter your swish finds, as well as stalls to browse and a film screening.

You need to take along up to five items to swish – these can include clothing, accessories and shoes. You will then be issued with a voucher for each item that can then be exchanged for your swish finds.

Places are available on a first come first served basis, but early registration by emailing e.lindsay(at)nfwi.org.uk is essential.

april treats

Erm, I'm not quite sure this particular cake counts as a Healthy Easter Treat -in fact I'm pretty sure it doesn't - but will be able to have my suspicions confirmed on Tuesday 19th April when teacher and chef Theresa Webb, founder of Kitchen Buddy, will be visiting us to tell us - and let us taste - more.   We'll be at our usual venue, St Margaret's House, 7.30 for 8pm.  Visitors welcome ( £3 suggested donation).  Do feel free to bring along some refreshments to share.

We don't have a coffee morning this month because of the Easter break, but we do have a stall at the St George's Day event at the Museum of Childhood on 23rd April from 11.30 - 4pm.   We had a lovely time last year; this time round we won't be selling cakes, but we are planning to have some of our own merchandise as well as good things made by our members.  And there will be a fun bunting workshop
too led by our own Jo Cass. (Donations of bunting accessories or fabric most welcome).

Enjoy the spring sunshine till then.

cushion love

Just to say that you don't have to have a swish sewing machine to make stuff.  This one is over thirty years old (thanks, Mum) and Annie soon took over the controls to make a lovely cushion.

Congratulations to our novices who went home with their gorgeous creations after a night at Curvey Crafters and help from Fiona, Jo, Noeline and Sunita.

spring moments

Niki's been  enjoying the sunshine!  What have you been up to?

cups, bloomers and briefs

Let's just say it's been a voyage of discovery.  If you want to see what we discovered, come and see us tonight at Chisenhale Dance Space in Chisenhale Road, E3.  We're putting on three performances in the small dance space.  First one starts at 7.30pm.

Never say that EEWI doesn't take you off the couch...

a night at the sack races

Lovely evening serving goodies to support Cafe Direct's Night at the Sack Races.  Mind you, it wasn't all hard work...

Do come along and see us at Spitalfields Trader's Market tomorrow at the International Women's Fair, 10-5pm.  Would be lovely to see you.

march events

Well, we won't be dancing exactly at our evening meeting on 15th March, but we will be a little more active than usual with a Tai Chi session so come prepared with loose clothing so that you can practice some gentle and relaxing movement.  We'll be meeting as usual at St Margaret's House, 21 Old Ford Road, E2 7.30 for 8pm.  Refreshments will be available, though do feel free to bring a bottle or something to share.  Visitors are welcome - we invite donations of £3 to help cover our costs.

With spring in the air - we hope - our coffee morning on Friday 18th March will be at the Frizzante Cafe at Hackney City Farm on the corner of Goldsmith's Row and Hackney Road - map here.  Meet in the cafe at 10.30am.

Other dates for your diary:

*We are going to be supporting Cafe Direct's "Jump in the Sack" event for Red Nose Day with tea and cakes.  Next Wednesday 9th March, 7-11pm at Village Underground, 54 Holywell Road, E2.

* To celebrate International Women's Day we'll be selling cakes on Saturday 12th March 10 - 5pm at Spitalfields Market.  More information here.

* Some of us (you know who you are!) will be performing "Cups, Bloomers and Briefs" with Jenny Edbrooke as part of the Chisenhale Dance Space "TV Dinners" festival from 7.30pm on Friday 18th March.  All will be revealed on the day.  Well, maybe not all.  I hope.

* If you want to make friends with a sewing machine, we'll help you to make a simple cushion or bag at an evening workshop on Thursday 24th March, 7 - 9pm, at the Salvation Army Hall in Kerbey Street With thanks to the lovely Cecilia for donating some beautiful fabric to help us hone our sewing skills.

Look forward to seeing you soon.

garter stitch 100 this sunday

Back to Basics would like to invite you to go along and join in their event this Sunday 20th (2-5pm) in support of Garterstitch 100's 100 million stitches for 100 million women initiative linking to International Women's day. You'll find Back to Basics at 29 Old Ford Road, just along a few doors from St Margaret's House.

It is estimated that 100 million women are missing from the world due to gender discrimination. Each stitch will represent a woman "missing" for reasons including gender provoked infanticide or abortion, sex trafficking and complications in childbirth.

Please take along your creativity and a cake to share if you'd like to. They will provide, tea, needles and yarn (but if you'd like to bring your own you are very welcome!). If you haven't knitted before they can give you some coaching. Crocheters also invited!

It's a lovely space with lovely people - you'll have fun.

(The photo comes from a little knitting session that Elizabeth was asked to run for a women's group at the Osmani Centre last week.  We really enjoyed our morning.   It was great to work with such attentive students and share the knitting love.  It's what we're all about, after all.)