QI Social next week / news

Hello QInstituters,

After a very successful and enjoyable flower arranging session last week (photos up on the Facebook page), it’s almost time for the next QI social – next Wednesday 21st March. Nick, who led the cider making workshop back in October, had very kindly offered to host a little get together at his house, which is fortunate because that’s where the QI cider is! It should be nicely matured now, and Nick’s offered to make some soup to go with it. I’m sure we’ve still got a jar of November’s Queer Lumpy Chutney in the cupboard, so with some bread and cheese and scintillating company (that’s you!) I think we’ll have a party!

** QI Social on Weds March 21st – soup, cheese and drinking of the QI cider! **

- When: 7.30pm
- Where: at Nick’s. Nick’s flat is behind Wilkinson’s on the Clifton Triangle. Address is Flat 121 Royal Parade, 2-7 Elmdale Road, Bristol BS8 1SY.
- What: We’ll have home made soup, mulled cider, & good natter. Of course, if you’re not a cider drinker, we’ll make sure there are non-alcoholic alternatives but do bring your favorite tipple too!

If you’d like to come: PLEASE RSVP by email to nick.skelton just so we’ve got an idea of numbers. Then just turn up on the day. Nick’s providing soup and cider, If you could bring some cheese, crackers and/or cakes that’d be great.

Also, to be thinking about:
- We’ve had an email from St Werburghs Farm, who are now taking applications for this year’s summer fair. Last year was a roaring success, and the proceeds from our stall helped subsidise room hire and equipment for workshops through the year. The QI coffers are almost empty though, should we do it again? Any other fundraising ideas? Or activity suggestions? Bring ‘em next week
- Paul and Caleb will be moving to pastures new in the summer, so the QI will be needing some more hands on deck with the organisation side of things – planning activities, administrating emails and Facebook stuff, beginning to publicise more widely. If anyone thinks they might be able to help in this kind of way, or in any other, then do have a word with us about it, more hands make merrier work and all that…

Ever queerly,

The QI
x

PS Dates for your diary: next workshop 4th April, next social 18th April

—
The Q.I.
www.thequeerinstitute.wordpress.com

Q.I. Flower Arranging this Wednesday 7th March

Good morning QInstituters!

It seems the spring is most definitely springing, and if you’re like us you’ll have been joyed and relieved at the sight of the season’s first blooms coming up. So we thought what better way to celebrate than with an all out flower arranging workshop (to quote Noel Coward, if you’re going to get wet you may as well go swimming…).

Depending on how many people can make it, we’ll get a selection of blooms to use, either from the florist or with a trip to the wholesalers. So whilst we know it’s late notice from our end, if you’d be able to let us know if you’re definitely coming or not then we can make sure we’ve got enough flowers and equipment. And do let us know if you’re frightfully allergic to anything in particular…

As always, it’ll be 7 for a 7.30m start, at St Werburgh’s Community Centre, Horley Road. There’ll be tea and coffee and cake. Donations of £4/3 towards room hire/ supplies would be much appreciated, although if you bring cake you can come for free!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

The Q.I.

PS The last Q.I. social was marvellous fun, thanks to all who came along. The next’ll be on Wednesday 21st March, at Nick’s house, where we’ll be consuming the Q.I. cider, the Q.I. chutney, homemade soup and all sorts of other goodies. Details to follow very soon…

—
The Q.I.
www.thequeerinstitute.wordpress.com

Social this Wednesday

Hello QInstituters!

We’re having our first QI social event this week – drinks upstairs at the Duke of York, St Werburghs (there’s the quiz downstairs, which might be fun for some but isn’t necessarily the most sociable!). A chance to chat about the QI as well as have a general gossip, so bring your knitting needles (or weaving loom) as well as details of any Valentines scandals you’ve been involved in…

- 8pm this Wednesday 15th February, upstairs at the Duke of York, St Werburghs.

The next QI workshop (possibly on Chinese massage, Kung Fu, and/or flower arranging, all tbc) will be at the Community Centre on Wednesday 7th March, and the social after that will be 21st March and the DRINKING OF THE QI CIDER!

Hope to see you there,

The QI
x

—
The Q.I.
www.thequeerinstitute.wordpress.com

February – get your weave on!

Hello QInstituters!

Well the QI is back for 2012 after a nice festive break and is ready for a fun- and activity-packed queer year. 2011 was our first year and we couldn’t be more happy with how it’s taken off. We had workshops on ‘zine making, comedy improv, singing and sewing (including making our fantastic Queer Institute banner), and in the kitchen made jams, chutney, cider and sugarcraft creations. We had a stall at St Werburghs’ fair, where we impressed and amazed the local community with our cakes, plants and ‘naffle’ – not to mention covering a substantial percentage of the local children in glitter on the mask making table.

For this year we want to spread the word even more and get some new members, learn more skills and also do a few more activities such as a film night, day trips and maybe even put on some more stalls. The format is going to change slightly for 2012, just so we give everyone more of a chance to get involved. The first Wednesday of every month will still be the usual QI workshop at St Werburghs Community Centre, at the slightly earlier time of 7.30pm-9.30pm. This will be a workshop/talk/activity and will be held in either room 8 or the kitchen depending on the activity and will cost £4/3 concs.We’ll also be holding a second, free social meet up on the third Wednesday of every month. This will be free, most likely be held in a pub (tbc), and will be a chance to come and meet the QI team, talk about ideas for the QI and just have a good chinwag over a pint.

So our first workshop of the month is going to be on weaving, and be held on Wednesday the 1st February at St Werburgh’s Community Centre. It’s partly inspired by meeting Caleb’s amazing octogenarian great aunt, who weaves all sorts and has a giant loom in her sitting room. We’ll be going for something a bit more modest, using cardboard and lolly sticks. If you’ve any odd wool or the like you want to bring along then I’m sure it’ll be put to good use. Also, of course, if you’ve the chance to bake or bring some cake or similar to share then please do! We’ll provide the tea!

Tell your friends, bring your granny, and we look forward to seeing you there!

xx

PS We also need to decide when/where to drink aforementioned QI cider. All suggestions welcome

Cake making November

The nights are drawing in and the leaves are turning and falling, it seems Autumn is defintely here. It’s a changing of the seasons that we rather enjoy, especially when it’s fresh and sunny rather than cold and wet. After some very successful and enjoyable sessions in the Community Centre kitchen , the cider’s brewing, the chutney’s sat maturing, and the cosiness of winter is on the horizon. We were thinking of ideas for this month’s session, and in anticipation of the festive season (which is still long away, we know), we thought we’d go all out with a cake decorating workshop. Sugarcraft, piping,
dyes, sprinkles, there’s all sorts to try. And treats to take home too! Emma’s going to show us a range of cake decorating techniques that can be used for any occassion. Anyone who came to the St Werburgh’s Farm Fair and saw Emma’s marvellous teapot cake will know what we’re talking about. She says it’s relatively easy too… I’m sure we can do the basics, even if we don’t reach Jane Asher standards on the first attempt! We’ll all be able to get stuck in and take something home – it might be a little cake for Christmas, Hannukah, a birthday, or just for fun. Do please let us know if you can make it though and we’ll make sure we’ve got enough cakes for everyone to decorate. If you’d rather bring your own then please do! And if you’ve any special dietary requirements then let us know and we’ll try to cater for everyone.

The workshop will be tomorrow, Wednesday 9th November, at St Werburgh’s Community Centre. Due to an administrative oversight, this is obviously the second Wednesday rather than the usual first, but we’ll be back on track next month…. It’ll be in the kitchen, where we’ve had the last couple of sessions, from 7-9pm. And, as before, we’d recommend you bring an apron or wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit sticky!

So that’s tomorrow, 7-9pm, St Werburghs Community Centre, Horley Road.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 1st December, possibly mincemeat / mince pie making, unless anyone’s got another ideas? We also need to be planning sessions for the New Year, so if you’ve any suggestions, volunteerings, or requests, then do let us know!

Yours ever queerly,

The Q.I.

Day trip this Saturday!

So, the summer’s flown by super quick and we’re already in the busyness that seems to come with early September, along with these lovely sunny Autumnal days. It also means that after a marvellous jam and chutney making session last week (even if we did have to rebrand the jam as ice cream sauce…) it’s time for the Q.I.’s first day trip! Upton Cheyney Chilli Farm (http://www.uptonchilli.co.uk/), this Saturday. Who’s game?

We’ve realised it’s also Bristol Bike Festival’s Carnivelo (see what they’ve done there), which some people might want to go along to? The Carnivelo’s at 12pm, so we thought those of us wanting to cycle to the farm (along the Bristol and Bath railway path, which takes us most of the way) could head off from the start of the path at 2pm, and those of us not cycling could take the bus to Upton Cheyney (or car share, if anyone’s driving?) and we could all rendezvous there between about 3 and 3.30pm? Bus 332 goes direct from Broadmead to Upton Cheyney, but doesn’t run that late coming back. Buses from Bitton (about 15mins walk away) do. Best check on traveline (http://www.travelinesw.com/) for details, and give yourself plenty of time.

The trip’ll be completely free, but you’ll have to bring your own bus fairs, snacks, and spending money for any chilli delights you might fancy and / or a cup of tea or shandy on the way home. It would be really useful to have an idea of who’s coming, and to which meeting place: 2pm at the start of the path in St Philips in Bristol (http://www.bristolbathrailwaypath.org.uk/map1.shtml) or 3-3.30pm at the Chilli Farm.

Any questions drop us a line before Saturday,

Remember, all are welcome to come along, bring so do bring friends.

Looking forward to it :-

A jam-packed autumn!

Well after a long (not so) hot summer, The Q.I. is back in full force for Autumn!

Firstly, a big thank you to all who came along to August’s meeting, a great time was had by all. I’ve certainly not laughed so much in ages as we did in the comedy improv workshop led by the brilliant Arabella Butler.

Our next meeting will be held on:

• Weds 7th September – 7pm St Werburghs Community Centre

We’ll be having our inaugural cooking workshop with a preserving session, on Wednesday 7th September at the EARLIER time of 7pm. Ruth’ll be showing everyone how to make her fabulous spiced apple chutney and Paul and Emma’ll making jam, with whatever the best fruit they can find. If you’ve no experience then worry not, everyone will be able to join in and have a jar to take home too! If you’re an experienced preserver then any tips you can bring will be much appreciated! (Feel free to get in touch with the Q.I. team beforehand if you’ve got a recipe you’re itching to share). And if you’ve got any spare jars then do bring them along, I’m sure we’ll have plenty to fill them up with!

• Saturday 17th September – Q.I. Outing! (time tbc)

No, not that sort, rather a little sojourn to Upton Cheyney Chilli farm (http://www.uptonchilli.co.uk/ ), as suggested and agreed with enthusiasm at last month’s meeting. We can see the chillis growing, have tastings, and no doubt learn all sorts of interesting things chilli. The farm’s not far from Keynsham, between Bristol and Bath, and we need to look into travel options – it’s not far from the cycle path, if people wanted to do that, or take a leisurely (3mi) walk from Keynsham station. We can look into buses as well. Do let us know if you’ve any preferences? Also any suggestions of further day trips? Another suggestion that has been made is the National Cheese Festival: http://www.thecheeseweb.com/contentok.php?id=298 in Cardiff on the 24th/25th September. Let us know if you fancy a jaunt to either of these.

• Wednesday 5th October – Cider making (time tbc) St Werburghs Community Centre

Nick has very generously offered to lead an apple workshop, juicing apples and (for those that are interested) making cider. We’ll all get to taste the juice, but’ll have to leave the drinking of the cider for a month or so – I’m sure we can incorporate this into a special Q.I. event of some sort. Details to follow.

• Wednesday 2nd November – 8pm St Werburghs Community Centre

Crafty present-making workshop – anyone got any ideas or experience?

• Wednesday 7th December- 8pm St Werburghs Community Centre

More crafts or, perhaps the Q.I. alternative Christmas party?! Who’s interested? What do we want to do?

August meeting next week

A big, slightly belated thank you to all who showed up for Pride. Our lovely banner drew much admiration and QInstituters in attendance did good work spreading the good word, handing out stickers (and a few sweet treats) and meeting some nice new folk. We met some lovely people, who’ll hopefully find us here, on Facebook, or at the community centre, and we hope all who went down had as good a day as we did.

Rainbow jellies at Bristol Pride

It’s already nearly time for the August meet up – the weather being as erratic as it’s been I’ve completely lost track of summer! We have a very special treat in store for you all this month, with a drama/improv workshop, hosted by the lovely Arabella Butler. Arabella has been a professional actress, walk-about performer, and was the founder of the improv comedy  group Slow Genius, in Cardiff, which took shows to Edinburgh Festival, Bristol and Glastonbury, and she has just finished treading the boards with the QI’s own Caleb in a recent production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. She promises an evening of some fun games and drama for us lucky QI lot. Don’t worry if you’ve never done any improv before, it promises to be fun, relaxed and… well the Q.I is all about trying new things! Arabella’s a consummate professional and is used to working with people of all abilities and experiences – she won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, but we can almost guarantee she’ll make you laugh! If you are coming do RSVP either by email or via the Facebook page so Arabella has a rough idea of numbers.
In addition to this there will be the usual tea and treats (feel free to bring some of your own baking to share to fuel the fun), chatting, and we thought we’d also maybe start talking about organising our first QI outing.

Same Place at St Werburgh’s Community Centre, 8pm-10pm on Wednesday 3rd of August. (£3 donation)

July 6th Meeting

July’s monthly QI meeting will be at St Werburgh’s Community Centre, on Wednesday the 6th July, at 8pm for 8.15 start (meetings are always at the same time on the first Wednesday of the month). We’ll be reporting back from the fabulous stall at St Weburgh’s Fair on 11th June, as well as doing a bit of planning for our stall at Pride (although there will be also be a separate organising meeting for this too – watch the Facebook page for more details). We’ll hopefully have some sort of talk or workshop too, but details will follow once we’ve confirmed! Hope to see you there

Success at the Farm Fair!

We had a fabulous day at St Werburgh’s City Farm Fair yesterday. Thanks SO much to all the amazingly hard working and generous QInstituters who brought along cakes, crafts, plants, books and naffle prizes (as well as trestle tables, paper plates, etc.), and who made the stall so vibrant and full. Also to everyone who came along and helped out – it was a lot of work, but largely a whole lot of fun too, and I think it really paid off. It felt like we made a fantastic impression – we were praised by one of the event organisers for how professional looking our stall was, and received a lot of informal compliments too. If there was going to be a prize for Best Stall I think we would’ve been on the leader board for sure! We engaged lots of people in conversation and cake, and hopefully recruited a few new members too – there was certainly interest from all sorts of people, so it certainly helped increase our local visibility and reach people that we may not have already. We also, of course, raised some good money for the Q.I. coffers! This’ll go into the new bank account, and we can discuss at the next meeting what to do with it – it could help subsidise the meeting room, buy some equipment, pay for a daytrip, be reinvested in costs for the Pride stall (or all of the above). So do come along if you can – will post details up directly, and of course do look at the Facebook page for the invitation details (and invite your friends to join it too!)