On the afternoon of Saturday 9 February we had our second rag rug workshop.  Eight ladies attended the workshop.  Once again I was so excited to see the ladies get started on their rugs and to see how different all the rugs were just by using a variety of colours and fabrics.

Helen, one of my graduates from our first class, lent me her rug to show this group another finished product.  Her daughter, Olivia, also lent me her rug which is still a work in progress.  Helen gave me a little note which explained a little bit about her rug which she has kindly allowed me to share with you.

TA DA!! I've used small pieces found when sorting thrugh my sewing boxes - too small to make anything out of and cut on all angles.  Maybe that is why there's more loose threads.  Some peices are leftovers with nice memories - the girls dresses, my maternity dresses Bill's shirts and shorts, the kids library bags, curtains etc. (must have sewed a lot when the children were young!)  The thicker tartan was a bit trickier to pull through and some with the print on one side didn't always show up - adds to the texture I think.  It probably took me around 10-12 hours - hard to tell as you can stop and pick it up at any stage unlike other projects.  Olivia and I used a large container lid to keep it flat - as we would sit at different places.  I also discovered (when standing at the checkout) black shorts attract threads from rag rugs!  It won't stop me from another attempt though.  So with this rug the only cost to start was the needle and as Olivia and I shared the pack the cost was about $1.80 and I cleaned out my cupboard.  I'm really pleased to have learnt this.

Thank you so much Helen for allowing me to share this with everyone.  It really gives a lovely insight into making a rug. 

On the 9 Feb we had a wonderful morning tea to start us off for the year.  It was great to see so many new faces.  David showed us how to make butter in a butter churn and Libby demonstrated how to make lavender scones and buttermilk scones using the buttermilk from the churning.  It was very exciting seeing the cream change consistency and go lumpy.  Libby's scones were just so delicious.  I will attach the recipes for Libby's scones here. 

Once again we had a very interesting homegrown and handmade swap.  There were lots of fresh herbs, eggs, mango chutney, soap scrubbers, a fabric pot stand, passionfruit and coriander seeds, just to name a few.