Its been the best ever retreat this year!
I'm back.......and I should be able to say well rested but not.....too much of a good time!
Great friends, too much good food, and wine, and scenery and quilting! And I never sleep so well as in my own bed.
Where to start? I have lots of photos I want to share. One of these days I should set up an online photo album...
Here is one project I cut out before leaving, the Mc Calls kimono shirt from some lovely oriental cotton that Briony from Frangipani Fabrics kindly gave me. I'm making view B.
The first day of retreat is setting up, helping others unpack their stuff from cars and bring inside, and in my case kitchen shift...
This is the loungeroom at a rare moment before it was filled with people and all manner of sewing equipment. We lit a roaring log fire a few times whilst we were there. Its very comfortable and relaxing.
Here's my little nook, bit dark in afternoon and evening but I'd packed my Ott Light and with the trusty CFL on my Bernina I managed nicely even sewing on grey fabric at 9.30pm. How much does my Bernina Aurora rock? Each time I sit and work something new I discover about it delights me!
I brought my chair from home and a phone book to sit abit higher on the plastic trestle tables that are there. Only thing really not great was how much they bounced-the tea and wine were sloshing sideways in our cups and glasses!
Here is the table we set, a fancy dinner for 20 people.
Alot of work on this table included scrapbooked menus and hand made name cards. So nice I am going to recycle mine into a name badge for classes!
The theme was formal, frocked, frilly, fancy or just plain funny.
Here are two of our well know members presenting their funny costumes whilst on cocktail service.
They were truly hysterical, so much laughing on account of their costumes!
Those skirts are stuffed with tulle, they have wigs on, tarty makeup, and french maid style aprons made from fabric and lace (or was it a cut up doily?!)
Soooooo funny. Some costumes I won't show because I do want friends after publishing this blog, let us just say that trousers or skirts were for some optional- some reinvented their haute couture clothing from previous generations long since passed.
Here is a magnificent hat Pauline donned.
And here is our founder Rebecca having fun in her hippie costume! Underneath the kitchen shift aprons our group made several years ago to use each Retreat. Those pants are authentically old!
She worked quitely on her macrame headband when she thought no-one was looking.
It was a night of laughter and was sooooo much work for some of us but so much fun.
Rebecca had our kitchen timeline down and we divided the tasks and worked brilliantly to deliver service to so many without a single hitch.
The next morning I went for an early morning beach walk. The day was magnificent, I've never been there for such beautiful weather at this time of year before. The last day was not so nice early and the tide was well up by lunchtime so no beach walking....no beach really to walk on- but we were all busy inside with our sewing anyway. The river is tidal and was out when these were taken, and after a walk down the beach alongside the river I headed further down the beach.
Nearing the bottleneck at the mouth of the river. Abit of a pink algal bloom happening there.
This was the view looking back toward our accommodation which is up on the left hand side almost where the scrub ends and the river begins on the horizon.
I really love this photo, its like a memorial to the tree that was, now almost completely buried under the sand- these are the ends of the branches remaining visible. I wonder how big this tree is?
And loads of seaweed and shells from the ocean.
There were amazing sea birds one of whom was quite bold, I walked up very close then zoomed in before he was off on the wind.
Look at this rocky outcrop
And these cliffs out to sea.
And this gorgeous ocean. Lovely sets of little waves.
There were surfers around here the following day but the water would be really, really cold as this is a southern ocean.
The sky really was this blue, and there was barely any wind.
I think it almost impossible to take a bad photo around here unless standing on your head in the sand, perhaps.
There were quite a few people out walking their dogs too.
On the return I saw not far from the steps leading up to our B&B this gum tree that gets water contact in high tides. Last year there was alot of seaweed swept up under there and this year I found this amazing string of seaweed wrapped around the gumtree like a necklace.
I've never seen such a thing and love the way the seaweed emulates the shape and form of the gum leaves and gum nuts, only in different plant form and colour.
At retreat, we all set up our machines and sew, and sew, and sew. Some cut out, baste quilts, or hand sew. Its industrious and noisy and fun.
My produce toward the end of Saturday afternoon was to complete my Double Delight. I have had several offers to tuck this top under someone's pillow as she has fallen in love with Bonnie's design...and may well make one herself.
I didn't really like many of the fabrics I had pulled out of the stash and thought it best to use them up in some useful way: if I hated it I could always donate it, or if I liked it better then well and good. Well, I love how it has turned out-it will be lovely on our blackwood bed. The design is Bonnie's from Quiltville- and was a New Year's Mystery quilt that I participated with online.
I added a pieced border of my design to use up the pink and cream strips which I had overcut and partly sewn, when making the interior, and the purple blue border is a Caryl Bryer Fallert print new in at the shop. Love that too. The whole thing goes up and over the back of the couch and is a good large Queen size bed quilt.
Progress on the McCall's kimono- shirt is all made except for some hand finishing of the hemline and the front facing- it whipped up and was modelled during construction to the loungeroom occupants who declared the fabric gorgeous and a lovely design.
I shall probably take this on my next trip when I need to dress up abit or for a fancy dinner out when I want to be dressy but not formal. I can easily see it in more than one fabric option as it is easy to sew and works up fast.
The seams I finished by folding over and stitching nearby the fabric fold as I wanted a smooth finish. Apart from the folding under and careful positioning of the fabric so as not to catch the other side it was an easy way to finish the edges off and looks really nice on the insides.
Here are some photos of my quilting friend busy sewing up a storm, consulting eachother as to just the right technique or fabric combination, with tongues as busy as sewing needles!
Can I tell you of the culinary pleasures? On the Friday night we cooked Greek style roast lamb from Rebecca's recipe. It has a lovely marinade of lemons, olive oil, oregano and salt and pepper- plus garlic of course! Mmmmmmm. My gosh that girl can cook, she has wickedly good recipes and they are easy and tasty and in this case healthy! We did two legs of lamb, a bunch of roast potatoes-which also got the marinade treatment and were also the best roast potatoes I've eaten, steamed asparagus, carrots and green beans, there was also scalloped potatoes with a nutmeg creamy sauce. Oh and that was after the nibbles we served with the predinner cocktails and there was champagne and toasts to various causes. And people.
Desert was a choice of pecan pie with butterscotch sauce, trifle, and a pavlova roll with cream and icecream.
The next meals I was absolved from kitchen duty as we do each one shift only- our Friday was an usually long shift with alot of extra washing and putting away of a million dishes but was delicious. On other days we enjoyed beautiful salads, more amazing deserts, a barbeque of the meat we had each brought along (not a single vegetarian in the house), and on the last day for lunch we had two soups- a delicious chicken laksa which was sooooo good, and a wonderfully tasty vegetable soup (and I had to have some of both so as not to offend either cook!), plus leftover salads and deserts.
I have never in my life eaten so well for a entire weekend, I don't think we were hungry for more than 30 seconds the entire weekend, but we catered carefully and there really wasn't any waste at the end-we have refined our food quantities well over the last three or four years retreating and have it down to a fine art. And I have not a single photo to show...the food really didn't last long at all. We are truly blessed to live in a country with such good nutritious, clean and healthy food free of so many additives and chemicals, and to have enough to eat.
So, I got back home and my husband and children had gone and collected my misbehaving Pfaff for me whilst I was off on retreat, as it has arrived back in record time from the technician at the head office.
I had some more thread jams and skipped stitches initially but after some adjusting and tweaking got it freemotion quilting quite nicely..so far! It is piecing beautifully though and its decorative stitches look good. It sounds completely different- better- than it did when new and certainly better than it was recently- and is now on trial- or parole!! We shall see...
I have now extra washing to do....tidying up and packing away of things. Today is rainy weather but how brilliant it was lovely weather for retreat? I don't mind the drizzle abit. I have had a lazy day but also been searching for accommodation and booked flights, as I've decided it would be fun to go up to the Queensland Quilt Show and Craft Fair and since I'm part of the Qld Quilter's Guild lend a hand too-white glove duty etc. Spur of the moment thing really but I'd like to go and meet the members of the Guild I have joined and get to know them.
Apart from AQC I've not seen an interstate quilt show either, and I'm really looking forward to it. If you read my blog and see me there, please come up and introduce yourself! I shall leave on Tuesday next week and be back on Saturday evening-and will be traveling without children or husband-which will make things easy getting around.
Its my first trip to Brisbane, and I've only been to Queensland once before for our honeymoon. I've also had itchy feet for a while so this will help to scratch the travel bug. For those of you o/s or without geographical knowledge I live in the far deep south of Australia on an island state, and Queensland is about half way up towards the northern part of Australia-and we have a big continent! 2.5 hours of a direct flight up-no stops along the way- and will clock up some good air miles.
On the way back I plan to stop over in Sydney for a couple of days and see a dear old school friend and her children-and hopefully another quilting buddy too. I shall have a couple of hours in the city and may be able to squeeze in a trip to a gallery or exhibition of some sort- or fabric shop. I don't see enough of my best friend up there. The other best part is whilst it is cool and damp here in Tasmania where I am going will be high 20's if not well over 30 degrees celcius which will be a welcome respite from our chilly climate. Weather predictions for humidity are as high as 77% one day (ewwww) with a "feels like" factor of 39 degrees celcius. That's abit warm for me really so I'm glad to have sewn some new cool clothes from cotton and acquired sandals, they will get a wearing soon!
I will have to start packing again soon, feel lately like I've barely been home.
Cheers,
Stephanie.
The strata like Hoffman one was a gift from my friend Janice in Kansas, she sent two yards and I used quite alot of it. There is a little left for some other use but none of some of the designs there. I used Marti's templates and block but designed in EQ6-I had planned a larger version with 9 blocks, some of which you can see peeking in from the upper right hand side.
The block is called Glory and was in a book by Marti Michell using her acrylic template sets- but I played with the colours quite abit. I've named my quilt "Glory Be, its only three!"
There were not enough repeats on the fabric to make all borders the same on the outer border so I went for the best of what I could manage with what I had- no getting any more of this at all easily! Its not my preferred style of quilt although I don't mind the block , its jut far muddier and traditional than I've done in some time...and is not my preferred colour intensity at the moment. I love drama in my fabrics these days and relish saturated hues. Also I'm not a huge green person - Mum may end up with it as she was eyeing it off on her recent visit (and she has a nice dark green leather couch it would look well on).
Several of these have not been pressed and nearly all need trimming but I want to do it just before I join up my rows. They are also not in this sequence in the quilt, as there are many blocks still to make in the interior and all of the wedges. The quilt has a little sashing between each block in the interior which I will need to purchase more fabric for. I'm feeling good that so many are done.
