Boconnoc Steam Fair

[beattieKeymaster]

After our delightful weekend away at the traditional Padstow Vintage Rally last weekend, I’ve been preparing for next weekend’s expedition to Boconnoc Steam Fair. http://www.lsvc.org/index.html

We were invited to occupy a generous space in the craft tent where we will set up our hand crank sewing machines and invite members of the public to make themselves a morsbag to take away with them. I’m also hoping to bend the ear of passers-by and publicise the “Just say NO” (to a plastic bag) approach to shopping.

So it’s back to ripping up fabric and ironing kits for me, this evening. Keep your fingers crossed for fine weather next weekend for us, and all the steam engines that will be tearing up the grass in front of the picturesque Boconnoc House.

[ivybagsParticipant]

It will be a lovely weekend, I am sure Beattie

[offcutsParticipant]

I’m sure it will go well Beattie. I have done an event on my own with one morsbag before ! Its good to have a challenge! I remember lots of sentences starting with ‘Hello, have you heard about morsbags?!’

[beattieKeymaster]

Well, we had a surprise this afternoon! 😀 Thanks to Ivybags, we now have a lot more than one morsbag! She very kindly dropped in with a megabag full of 50 morsbags 😀

While I’ve been making (and ironing :groan:) kits, Masterclock has run up some bags too, so we now have plenty to bag stallholders in our tent.

As we’ve got rather a lot of dull-coloured kits I’ve sorted them out into bags and boxes (allocating one per day) distributing the kits made of what I expect to be more popular materials evenly. I suspect that if we just allowed a free-for-all, all the bright kits would go on the Friday, leaving a sea of beige for the rest of the weekend.

I’m sure we’ll be using the same opening line many times at Boconnoc,Offcuts. “Hello, have you heard about morsbags?” is the perfect conversation starter in this context.

We know that we’re in the middle of the tent, i.e. no wall space available, so I don’t think we’ll be able to use any bunting or signs, other than what will fit on the table. It’ll be strange NOT to be using the M-O-R-S-bags for a change!

Thanks for giving us all the bags to hand out next weekend, Ivybags! 😀

[ivybagsParticipant]

You are welcome Beattie – I thought you might be glad of a few !!
I even managed a lookin at the lookout…so to speak – on my way back to the caravan – the St Agnes Watchkeeper was really pleased to chat to a fellow watchkeeper – and there was an incident going on at the time – bonus

[beattieKeymaster]

Not a “Poldark”-related incident? I hear they’re recording the remake of the Winston Graham bodice-ripper there at the moment……

[offcutsParticipant]

Don’y you fancy being an extra Beattie?! 😉

[offcutsParticipant]

sorry Don’t!

[beattieKeymaster]

Hmmmm, wigs, flouncy frocks, corsets…… maybe not!
I suspect they’re filming handholding, starry-eyed gazing etc with camera panning away to sunset and pink rosy seas and skies……
Can you tell I’ve never seen even the first version of Poldark – or read any of the books?

There was a film studio (briefly) in our village and I know some people who got work as extras. Lots of queuing up for costumes etc, standing around while shots get set up, and then the 1.5 seconds with you in get cut anyway……

I don’t think I’m patient enough for all that 😀

Anyway, re Boconnoc – we now “officially” have enough kits. I think there are 44 per day – more than we could get through even if every machine was occupied all the time by someone as skilful and practiced as Ivybags herself! 😀

[offcutsParticipant]

😀

[ivybagsParticipant]

Ha Ha !!!

[KrisabyParticipant]

Hope you have a good time Beattie and get absolutely swamped with eager bag-takers and recruits.

[ivybagsParticipant]

Krisaby – I have a feeling they may get swamped……possibly very swamped…..

[beattieKeymaster]

Hmm, despite Glastonbury being over, it looks like Ivybags will be right! The weather forecast is promising heavy rain on Saturday and thunderstorms on Sunday. We may be grateful for M/C’s car’s four wheel drive to get the caravan out. We’ll be grateful if we don’t need tractor assistance. Wellies have been added to my packing list….

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by  beattie.

[beattieKeymaster]

BOCONNOC STEAM FAIR part 1

Here we are, home again after a weekend of morsbaggy happiness!! 😀

Were we lucky with the weather??
I should say so!! 😀

We arrived early on Thursday afternoon and set up our stand in a lovely spacious marquee. We had a generous 10 foot frontage – which was about 6 feet deep too, but as it backed onto a stall selling craft supplies we couldn’t use all sides of the table. No worries, we had enough space to fit in three hand crank sewing machines and plenty of storage space for the reserve machines, kits for the other days and other necessities.

When we were set up and ready we retired to our caravan which was parked a couple of fields away – with the classic car owners this time – and fried sausages, to the accompaniment of rolling thunder. After a lot of rumbling the lightning and rain joined in and we had a classic, lengthy thunderstorm that went on for hours and hours and…. you get the picture. It was still going on and lighting up the caravan when we went to bed and I woke up a few times during the night hearing rain on the roof.

But, lucky us, the next morning dawned dry if not sunny, that was coming later. I donned my wellies for the “walk to work” and got ready for the first customers.

Here is Masterclock giving the first three sewing machines a once over.

It took quite a while til I could tempt anyone to sit down and sew a bag with us, but at last this lovely lady came and sewed. As we stitched, she told me that she was here on a coach trip and had spent the last four years in a Buddhist retreat. Guess what she did there? Made bags for the monks to take out with them – and also made pleated meditation cushions that sounded very complicated. So making a morsbag was a breeze!! 😀

We had a humourous misunderstanding. I thought the Buddhist retreat was in New York, but it turned out later that it was NEAR York! 😳 LOL !

This gorgeous lady had a stall opposite us, selling beautiful scarves and bags. We made her a bag out of one of the most popular fabrics this weekend. I’d cut up a HUGE king-size duvet cover a couple of days earlier and it made 18 and a half kits (the half was a small bag). Almost all of the 18 kits are already sewn up and in people’s hands and pockets. It’s a good job we had so many, or we just might have had punch-ups, or at least, disappointments. The ultra-popular fabric was a mid grey, with small pink and white sprigs of flowers and leaves. Perhaps it was a bit vintage-y. I don’t really get its appeal, but lots of others did – it just goes to show there’s a taker for every bag!!

I had nettle falafels for lunch from the wild food stall 😀
http://www.wildfoodkitchen.com/
(Went back for some to take home after we’d packed up but found that so had they…. 🙁 Oh well, another time…… )
I discussed how to make them and could probably give it a go now 😀

We and our “customers” made a total of 22 bags on Friday – and the best part was the large number who said “I AM enjoying this!” 😀

Several stall holders and people exhibiting interesting vehicles

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28356801@N08/14516704389/

found us rather late in the day on Friday but came back on Saturday or Sunday and made bags later on, so that was nice!!

It’s now nearly midnight, so part 2 and part 3 will have to wait til tomorrow afternoon.

Adios for now, morsbaggers! 😀

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