Retreat 2012

Well, we have just been to our annual retreat last weekend, and this time we chose to go to a camp at Creswick.  With 36 members and friends attending, we had a lovely time with lots of sewing, projects to take part in, and of course lots of chatter.

Retreat Challenge Projects!

 On Friday night, three projects were provided. These were a multi-coloured lanyard, a thread tidy and a card wallet.

Glo working on a patchwork lanyard.

On Saturday many of the ladies went into Creswick to visit the Woolen Mill, the Quilt Show and of course the shops and a cup of coffee.  A number of the ladies began the Saturday project which was a pattern by Andrea.  The different fabrics and colour combinations chosen by the ladies will ensure that all of the quilts will look quite different when finished.  Don't forget to bring them for show and tell girls.

Some gorgeous show 'n tell from Esmae.

Saturday night many of the ladies dressed up for our theme of something beginning with "R", and I must say there was a lot of hilarity.   The meals were great at the retreat and I am sure we all put on a little weight.

More lovely show 'n tell...

The accommodation was quite comfy, if a little rustic.  I believe most, if not all of the ladies were very happy with the venue and we will be looking at the possibility of booking it for next year.

Beryl, working on a stitchery...

Many thanks to the organisers of the retreat, Judy, Andrea and Rosie, a job well done. We all know that a lot of work is carried out beforehand.

Regards,
Di

R for Retreat

Our annual retreat at Adekate Lodge near Dean lived up to our expectations in every way!  The accommodation was basic although very clean but our hosts Rose and Rob were very friendly and welcoming.  Friday night began with us all settling in and setting up our machines and sewing paraphernalia and having a good gossip with close friends and catching up with those we hadn’t seen all year!  Andrea and Rosie were absolutely brilliant starting us off making a lanyard for our sewing scissors, a pouch for sewing pattern cards and a thread catcher.  Thanks ladies!  After a lovely dinner there was more sewing, gossip and laughter.

The next day, Andrea showed those interested her Tropical Dreams pattern and off they went stitching away with Andrea on hand to help where needed.  There were many different jelly rolls used and it was fascinating to see the same pattern come together in so many ways!  Other ladies did hand sewing or their own sewing projects.  There were quilt tops finished and some started, blocks completed, new techniques tried out and old UFOs worked on…again! 

There was a quilt show in Cheswick so many of us went to see.  There weren’t many on display but all were very interesting.  The town also boasted a Woolen Mill with 5 cute Alpaca on site, a chocolatier, a patchwork shop and many delightful cafés.

On Saturday evening lots of the ladies dressed up in their R is for Retreat costumes.  There were characters from Robin Hood, Red Riding Hood, a Rabbi, from Rags to Riches and many more!  The winners were Barbara and Maureen dressed as Raggedy Ann and Andy.  They were brilliant!

There were many entries for the R for Retreat challenge and it was difficult to choose just one to vote for.  Jocelyn had the right idea in voting for all of them!  The winners were Esmae with her embroidered rabbit, Elizabeth’s Flooded Country wall hanging and Annie and her three rabbits in a row.  Well done ladies!

There was also an unexpected surprise when we were asked to display the quilts we’d brought for our beds and bags we’d made for carrying our sewing supplies.  It was a very happy show and tell!  We’d also brought old photos of our wedding days and it was fun trying to match faces to people especially as so many had been married for over 40 years!

Throughout the weekend Andrea and Rosie were giving away gifts as lucky dips and prizes.  There were lots of stitcheries, patterns and sewing supplies.   All in all it was great fun!

So after a weekend of indulging in the wonderful meals prepared by the camp staff we packed up our belongings along with our smiles and headed home quite content and many kilos heavier!

Evelyn and Glo

The tree of life

Wow!  Carolyn made this throw using the needleturn appliqué method and it only took her two months to hand stitch all those teeny leaves and birds on!  Carolyn used mostly French General fabrics from Moda and tweaked the tree pattern she'd bought from Ballarat Patchwork

Here are some lovely ladies working on the charity quilt for the Sunbury quilt show!  Many hands have worked on this quilt with ladies making log cabin blocks and stitching lovely appliqué designs. Then there was a workshop to put the blocks together and add borders and more appliqué.  Barbara, Esmae, Glo and Beryl are securing leaves along the border.  The quilt will then be quilted and bound and raffled off for a good cause!

Snuggly!

More from Betty!  These quilts were made with love for Betty's granddaughters Alicia and Merri.  The coloured squares are crochet and the plain blocks, borders and backings are polar fleece.  These quilts are really soft and snuggly!

   Take a closer look at the crochet squares!

A first!

This little black and white beauty was Betty's first quilting project!  Betty designed the cushion and hand stitched it.  Now Betty is thinking about her next project...a queen sized quilt!  Quilting can be very addictive can't it?!

Jan made this lovely quilt for a friend to brighten up her room in her nursing home.  It's a quilt as you go made using a jelly roll.  Jan used an extra wide fabric called leafy scrolls for her backing she'd bought at  Canterburyquilts in Eaglehawk.  I'm sure your friend will be delighted to receive this Jan!