December 2019 - Christmas Lunch and Lecture - ‘Quirk, Strangeness and Charm’ with Karen Leathard

The members began to gather for coffee and drinks in the lounge area of the Hallmark Hotel, Leyland for our annual Christmas lunch.

The tables had been laid and decorated and the competition table had been set up ready for entrants for the ‘Christmas Scene’ competition.

As the meal was served members chattered and laughed together and then they voted for their favourite competition entry and took part in the festive raffle. Thanks to Kath R who had put together several excellent gift bags full of goodies for future projects.
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Once the final coffee and mince pies were served the competition winner was announced followed by the raffle.

The winner of the competition was Kath H (our chair) and Stephanie (vice chair) presented her with a certificate and voucher.


At 2:00pm we made our way to the lecture and were met by an array of wonderful crafted dolls – we were in for a real treat.

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Sandie introduced our speaker Karen Leathard who began by explaining her interest in dolls began over 13 years ago starting with her first interest, marionettes. As she was a needle worker rather than a woodworker, she developed her interest making jointed dolls. She explained the dolls show her way of expressing her sense of humour. Every doll has its own name and even though there were several witches, each one was an individual character.

The dolls begin as the ‘Chicken’ stage. The body made out of doe suede has jointed shoulders, arms, knees and hips. They actually do look like a chicken! The heads are in four pieces, which when stitched together form the basic head shape and nose. Once stuffed the facial expressions begin.

The face is sculpted by tiny stitches starting at the back of the head and stitched at the front and pulled tight at the back once more. These stitches pull the face into the character. Only the eyelids and eyes are different.

Once the body is finished Karen has great fun creating the clothes and accessories down to the finest detail.

As the dolls began their journey around the room there was great discussion, laughter and an appreciation of every different character.
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After the final round of questions Karen presented two members with a tiny crafted rabbit.
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The afternoon came to a close.

Thanks to all the staff at the Hallmark Hotel for their hospitality and a wonderful meal. Also thanks to Karen Leathard for her amusing talk - ‘Quirk, Strangeness and Charm’ and thanks to Kath, Stephanie, Dee and the rest of the committee for organising the day.
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Hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas and Peaceful New Year. Until 2020…….
AR
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