Glenrose Retreat with Sunday Stitchers

I was invited along to this retreat - as Helen couldn't go.  "Taking one for the Team"  LOL.

So, this means 3 retreats in 3 months (June, July & August)...a bit of overkill??? - Not at all . . .LOL
At least once I have prepped stuff - the leftovers can go on the list for the next retreat!

After a day at Sunday Stitchers, we started the road trip out to Warwick (About 2 hours) - arriving as the sun was going down.

My plans were:

• 17 yellow/gold placemats (for Meals on Wheels)
• 2 blue/green placemats (for Meals on Wheels)
• 42 x 10" red, black & white strippy blocks (for a DV quilt)
• 3 Sparrow blocks
• 2 My Kinda Town blocks 
  

And in reserve . . .

• Green Coin Quilt (for a DV quilt)
• Crochet
• Sashiko tree

Well, that was very optimistic!

I did 4 placemats - but decided they are much easier to make at home on the bigger machine.

14 red, black & white strippy blocks (one got left on the cutting table..LOL)

3 Sparrow blocks

2 My Kinda Town blocks

On Thursday morning we need to leave by 9.30 - so the plan each year is to have brunch at Gardens Galore - the food is always beautifully presented and delicious.
As I was the substitute for Helen - I decided to order what she would have selected;  French Toast - it didn't disappoint!

Then there was a bit of shopping at Shelley's and the drive home.

I had a great time - stayed up late - ate "some" bad food, chatted, and laughed.
Thanks for inviting me along girls!

And I still have plenty of projects for the next retreat on July 21st!

FNSI - June

Time for Friday Night Sew-In for June hosted by the lovely Wendy.
Occasionally, I am envious of Wendy living in tropical Queensland - only very occasionally - but as Brisbane is having a "cool" spell at the moment, this could be one of those times....lol

FriDAY saw me at a lesson on using my embroidery machine to quilt quilts.  When I bought this rather pricey big machine - a lot of the "justification" was that I could use it to quilt and save money by not getting my quilts done . . . Well, it is possible... and like lots of other things - it gets better with practice...but nothing really overcomes the issue of the bulk of even a smallish quilt.

But I did the lesson - picked up a few tips (I have had lessons before) and by the end of Friday Night I have quilted almost half of the quilt.
I need to work on the spacing of each row, but otherwise, it isn't too bad... certainly not perfect now , , but it's progress.

I will keep going on other quilts and may consider the quilt design before I make the quilt so that the sizes gel better . . . .A Voyage of Discovery.

In the early part of the evening, I decided to make Musk Fudge that I had seen on Facebook.

The recipe says 2 packets of white choc and 2 packets of musk sticks, plus a tin condensed milk, butter & vanilla essence.  It is cooked in a slow cooker.

Today (Saturday) I've tried it.  If iI were to make it again, I'd do 3 packets of musk sticks as the musk flavour is very slight.  Worth a try I suppose...I will take it to retreat.
Update:  it seems not all bags of musk sticks are the same size.  The Coles ones are 160g - the Woollies ones are 320g...Two of the bigger ones would work much better.

And I did a bit of crochet...not much.

Thanks Wendy - its always fun to gather in cyberspace. (and it makes me do a blog post.)

Today - Saturday I am packing for a retreat - this time I had to take one for the team as one of the regulars couldn't go.  Well, that is how I explained it to DH.
It will be fun - and productive - projects listed and packed . .  .BUT it is going to be cold - especially overnight.  Predicted minimum temperatures started at -1 and rose to 1.  This will mean a brisk walk between the sleeping rooms and sewing rooms...brrrrr

FNWF - June

What ????
June already???  The year will be half over soon.

But the First Friday of the month sees us gathered for some sewing fun with Cheryll and friends.

Recently I had finished prepping the pages for the next ABC book, so I decided to work on them.  (The alternative involved measuring & cutting etc...so I gave it a miss)

I had a medium grey in the bobbin, so worked on the grey pieces (not a lot of them and not a lot of bobbin thread.)
Then I switched to a light grey bobbin and did all the white pieces, before calling it quits for the night.  In retrospect, I should try to do the white & cream in daylight  .  but . . )

And of course - a bit of crochet while watching BH&G!!!

Thanks, Cheryll - pop over here to find out what the others got up to!