SS Glenrose Retreat

I have just returned from a chilly retreat at Glenrose Cottages in Warwick.  Overnight temperatures were quite low (1 - 6 celsius or so) - and it was nice to have an electric blanket to warm the bed!

A bit of a recap on what the others did...

Alison was working on a quilt for her caravan - It will be made up of squares with caravans and surfboards and coordinating filler blocks.   I love these colours.

Sue made 4 of these coverlets for the hospital where she works.   A simple but effective pattern.

       

Lynda made a table runner, a shopping tote and a clam bag.

                                   

Sandi made 42 strippy squares for a DV quilt and a very cute doll.

            

Helen sewed the binding on a Double Wedding Ring Quilt for a granddaughter who is getting married in early July, partially made a doll (it is not fully birthed yet), and took up a dress for a daughter to wear to the wedding....

          

Chris made 4 placemats, several QLD & NSW "flags" to attach to dog collars, a few peg bags

    

Chris also worked on some plane blocks.  One had a bit of an oopsie - the tail section was not quite right...
Chris was a newbie to this retreat...and you know that means some sort of initiation must happen.  Chris also goes to bed early...that is a mistake!!!!!....a BIG mistake!!!!!

"We" (no single person to blame) decided to arrange the planes flying across the sky (design wall) and ending with a crash landing...

   

She took it all in good fun!

And me???

I made up 25 Orange Colourwash blocks

a baby quilt
(so hard to see the border against the design wall)

a panel for a DV quilt, 

Blocks 9 and 10 for Be My Neighbour.

I had taken them all to retreat, thinking I might join them into rows.  I didn't end up doing that, but I took advantage of the design wall to see how they look together.

I also made some crumb block sections that can be finished off later.

and sewed quite a number of 2.5" squares into pairs.

We had a lot of fun, solved a lot of the world's problems, and will return next year to repeat it all again.

Boonah Outlook Retreat

Yes, you read that right—another retreat!!!!! I came home on Sunday, the 23rd March, and I went on another retreat from Friday, the 28th! I had just enough time to unpack clothes, wash them, and repack them.
Sewing projects were pretty much organised before the first retreat, so a bit of fine tuning on the supplies list...and off I went.

We met for morning tea at a local Bakery/Cafe, then shopped at the local drapery store (Maynards).  It is full of "stuff" - clothing, shoes etc - and - patchwork fabrics.   I resisted a lot of it and settled on a 30cm cut of fabric - just because.

After unloading the car, setting up tables and chairs, etc., I was looking for a simple sewing exercise, so I spent a couple of hours making pieces for Crumb Blocks for De, who will complete them in due course. I sorted her "Crumb Bag," removing all the odds and ends.

Then I thought I better get stuck into the sewing...

Firstly, I made a couple of blocks for Raewyn to make into a quilt at the upcoming Scrub Stitchin' retreat. The quilt will be donated to Macquarie Home Stay for the room that Chooky and her family raised funds for.

Then I worked on making some kid's quilt tops for our DV Charity.

These are all similar - Two with orange stitching and fabric and one with green.  Again, I have used the decorative stitches on the machine to add a touch of interest.  Theu finish at about 40" so only one width of normal fabric is needed to back them.

There wasn't much stripey fabric left by the time I got to this one.

Then I made up another tree skirt - this time in red & green and a lot larger.

I also joined my FPP Nature blocks - I don't think I posted all the blocks when I did them - I started them in April 2024 - when Scrub Stitchin' 2024 was on.

There were 9 in the pattern from Quiet Play - then I added more to make 20.  This will be the centre of a Kids Quilt for DV.

I also snuck in a bit of sashiko stitching and some crochet.

Overall, I was happy with what I got done - I had one more project that I could have worked on, but (1) I had neglected to cut enough fabric - and - (2) I spent time with De preparing some rose blocks for her to make another quilt similar to this.

 We had a lot of fun...we were all reasonably productive.  We had "group lunches" of ham cheese & tomatoes toasted sandwiches and Take-Away Chinese one night.  There were loads of sweets & treats, plenty of tea & coffee and a comfy bed.  What more could we ask for???
(well, maybe a cute porter to unload and load up our cars...LOL)

Next retreat???  Not til June . . .

SS Mini Quilts - Summer

December was the month to show our Summer Seasonal Quilt.

I cheated.  I had planned to make a Beach House themed mini...I have decorated the toilet with Beach Houses...and the beach is very summery...so...

BUT, its December, there are multiple things that need doing that are more important....but - for my birthday Maureen gave me a little bag with stitched beach houses and an extra block with the beach house already stitched and borders on it....so I added some running stitches at the bottom for the sand, backed it and Voila!  a completed very small mini hanging...

If you want to see the craziness of the toilet...go here.

SS Mini Quilts - Winter and Spring

My Sunday Stitchers Group decided we would make Seasonal things (mini quilts etc.) in 2024.

I posted my Autumn one in March.

And I finished my Winter one by the Due Date, but neglected to post about it

So, here is Winter.

Now its Spring (though we had a short burst of summer at the end of Autumn).

My plan at the beginning of the year was to do my house in the different seasons . . .but ...(1) I am a bit bored by the idea now and (2) I seem to be short of time!!!

So, I opted for a machine embroidery design called "Signs of Spring Tree" by Urban Threads.
I found a Quiet Play fabric in white with clouds and raindrops, dyed it with some blue paint and food colouring and added some green for the grass.

I was finished enough...but I did run out of time....I plan to add a sun and some more bits to it.

At least I have a good plan in mind for my Summer one.

Sunday Stitchers - July - UFO Challenge #4 - My Kinda Town top

For my birthday in 2022, I was gifted the pattern for My Kinda Town, a pattern by Laura Heine and Peggy Larsen...Happily enough the birthday celebration was early in the month and I had enough time to get the fabrics ready to make two blocks at the retreat that I went to in November 2022.

Then - at another retreat in June 2023, I made two blocks...I made another two in July  2023 when I should've been at a retreat...
By November 2023 (again at a retreat) I had all the blocks made.   

BUT look at those grey pieces....and the words!

I know...we should read each pattern thoroughly before we start....but do we? 
Not always & not in this case

So, working all that out got pushed to the side....I am still very disappointed that a pattern could be written like this.

When we decided to do the Challenge at SS - My Kinda Town had to be included. I have "filled the gaps" and the top is complete.

I really enjoyed making this.

I did NOT enjoy removing the paper...LOL

Quilting??  that may have to wait til 2025!

Mount Alford Retreat 2024

It was finally time for the Mount Alford retreat.

Warning:  a long post…

We normally start our retreat on Friday, go through to Sunday and then most stay an extra day or two.
But this year we had to have our extra days at the beginning, so there were only 4 of us to kick it off.  And then to make matters worse, Energex decided to do some major maintenance work in the area on our first day - Wednesday - so no power until 3 in the afternoon.  No power means no lights or machines of course - but it also means no water as it is all tank water - no toilets, no coffee!!!
So we had to plan our arrival for 3PM. (normally we would be there about 10...)

NOT HAPPY JAN!!! 

The four of us met earlier for lunch, a wander around the town of Boonah, and some shopping including a small old-style haberdashery store - everything from pyjamas, boots and hats to patchwork supplies!!!

We were all settled in by about 5 and got cracking on the projects that we had brought along.  This is a BYO thing...there are no classes or workshops.....although there is always a "Secret Project' to make...more about that later . . 

I had a "To Do" list, originally conceived & all prepared before I knew we would lose a lot of Wednesday...and then...another project had to be added to the list....one might think I was there for 2 weeks...

I was far less disciplined doing blog posts too….normally there is a blog post every day with a picture of the To Do board….oh well….

I have some photos of things worked on by the others:

Chris….cute little dogs she makes for a shop at the hospital 

She also made some bunnies for the  shop

Helen made a cover for her machine from a gorgeous Tula Pink fabric

and a mug bag...though I have no photo.

Alison made 5 flower blocks for the project that De is working on for the charity quilt for Sunday Stitchers.

Cheryl made this top which will be a quilt for the Spinal Unit at a Brisbane hospital 

Cheryl also made up some hankies

and a flower for the same project as Alison

Erica made a skirt for herself

And a red skirt for one of her granddaughters….there was also a blue one for the other granddaughter...but no picture

Sue put this top together

and made up a bag

Maureen made serviette holders for a Quilt Show and fete that is coming up

And two sets of placemats

And 14 cute little Tooth Fairy hangers

Louise made this lovely pink bunny door stopper

Bev worked on a few projects - but mostly on these.  She recently attended a three-day workshop with Rachel Daisy.

Leanne put this top together 

And finished the binding on this quilt

What did I do?

I made two foundation paper pieced blocks to go with the blocks I made last retreat <here>

I made a drawstring bag, coaster and scrap bucket for my Sunday Stitchers meetings

I worked on two shop blocks

I put my I Spy quilt top together….this was my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project from 2023….this is Milo’s quilt for his second birthday which is soon.

I made this Pansy quilt top….this will be a charity quilt for DV….the plan is to add a 1” coloured border….maybe green, purple, pink…???…then a 4” blue border….need to check the charity stash…

So, my list now looks like this - I realised I only needed two more FPP blocks, so crossed one out and the two shops were partly done....not too bad really - If we had arrived at 10 on Wednesday I think I would have finished the lot..

This is the To Do board at the end….mostly we didn’t get everything done….but as usual we provide for the possible situation where we may get flooded in and need to stay for another few weeks….lol

 Challenge Project

Each year since 2014, Maureen and I have organised a project for the girls. From 2015, we have used the same fabric….with some coordinating fabrics so that we keep it going for as long as possible.

This year's project was a small drawstring bag….it would hold a few reels of thread, binding clips etc.

Here are all the projects from 2015.

And the class shot!

A big thanks to everyone for making this a fun-filled time.
And a BIG thanks to Wendy who runs the place - 

the location is gorgeous, the venue is very pleasant 

and Wendy herself is very accommodating and a lot of fun.

How many sleeps time next time?
approx 386.