Retreat 2010

Well the 2010 retreat is finished.  Dates have been booked and it's too early to start counting how many sleeps til 2011!  We had a fantastic time - sewing, eating, laughing, eating, chatting, eating, sewing, eating etc.  The weather was beautiful - we have been so lucky every year when we go - clear sunny skies, not too hot days, lovely cold nights.

We arrived early Friday morning and unpacked and setup.  Off to the pub for a group hug and lunch.  Not to mention a few jokes with the hotel bosses and the purchase of a dozen free range eggs for most of us.
Back to our venue and sewing by 2pm Friday.
I didn't take as many photos as I should have - was I too busy sewing?? - but I took a few towards the end.

We had a "To Do" board.  Everyone had their own pad of "post it" notes - little flowery ones.  For each project that they had brought along, they wrote out a slip and stuck it on the "To Do" side of the board.  The idea was to move the project to the "Done" side as they finished it (or it finished them because of the lack of some essential ingredient!).  Each time someone 'made the move' there was a little celebration and a round of clapping for the Show & Tell".  It was NOT a competition - since some people had lots of little projects and some (like me) had large projects.  It was all in fun!

Here is a picture of the board well into the retreat!

Still a lot to do - and not all of them got moved over!

Oh - by the way that little bit on the bottom left was an exercise chart - you know - eye exercises, arm stretching.  Did we do it??? NO - we should have but somehow it just never happend.  But I have a cunning plan for next year . . . .

My main focus for the retreat was to make 2 blue & cream quilts.  I did that - made the two tops and got one almost quilted.  I was happy enough with that .  Here is one as a Work in Progress.

Here is another picture that perhaps does not need any explanation!!

All in all we had a great time. 

I think everyone was very happy with what they achieved and we all got on together so well.

Since I have come home, I have finished the first quilt - its quilted and bound, though it does need a label.  A picture soon.

Now onto my next project - counting how many sleeps to the next one??

Retreat 2010 minus 2 days

Ony 2 sleeps to go and preparations are well under way.  Really I could have / should have started cutting weeks ago - but I work best under pressure! 
Here are the strips all cut - still need to cut a lot of squaes - hopefully my maths is OK and I will end up with the right number plus some spares.  Plans are for two quilts - each 10 rows of 10 squares - 6.5" sqaures and no borders.  We will see how I go.

And here is a little picture of our paradise for a few days:

My Annual Retreat is Nearly Here!!!

Remember counting sleeps til Christmas morning?? - well I am almost at the counting sleeps til I go away for 4 gorgeous days of eating, sewing, sleeping - but mainly sewing - I can always sleep when I get home!
And before that I have a week off work - to get ready - lots of cuttimg to do beforehand.  I have the music organised - about 80 hours of old pop, some new , some jazz.  My machine has been serviced.  I have new blades for my rotary cutter and spare needles  I have a list of what to take - just so I dont forget soemthing really important -- like the batting for the quilts I hope to get to pinned stage.  And of course we all take at least 6 weeks worth of sewing - after all we might get flooded in, or snow bound (in Queensland, Australia - very highly unlikely!) or some other disaster that we can only hope for!!
The venue is gorgeous, the food fantastic and all too plentiful and the accomodtion is luxurious. 
I promise to take photos and post some of my achievements (or attempts).

So in 2 weeks time I will be packed and ready for an early start on Friday!!!

A Giveaway!

Jenny of ELEFANTZ is giving some lovely fabrics and pattern away to celebrate her daughters Birthday!

Pop on over to her blog and see what is happening.
Her daughter gets to read all the "Comments" and check all our blogs to make sure we are talking about Jenny! - Poor girl - last I checked there were over 350 comments - hope she doesn't have any school projects due soon!

Thanks so much Jenny for being so creative and generous!

Homespun Magazine No 84 - Volume 11 #5

Finally this issue of Homespun is out - well I have a copy - so it should be in the shops soon.  They have published quilts from 12 different quilters.  (including me - though they used my Maiden name - Susan Bradman).  There are so many interesting tales included - its a good read!.  Well done to everyone who got their quilt done in time!

I won!

I entered a Challenge last year - and Won!!!
The challenge was to make a TV Remote Control Holder based on the pattern supplied by Faeries in My Garden as part of their Gift of the Month programme in 2009.

My prize was the Gift of the Month programme for 2010 - so in case I thought I might catch up on my UFOs this year - there is no chance now! (really there never was - even if I retired yesterday and did nothing but sew, sew & sew I still wouldn't make it!)

You can see my entry (and the story that goes with it) and the others here:
http://www.faeriesinmygarden.com.au/Gift-of-the-Month/240/

If you like truly romantic, soft, girly, soft florals etc etc - they are there for you at Faeries - the web site is really worth a visit if that is what you like.

Cheers
Susan

Breast of Friends - Finished!!!

Well - its all done - quilted and bound.
I have really enjoyed doing this quilt - wondering what the next edition of Homespun will surprise me with.  And having a deadline to work to (to send photos to Homespun by 31st January 2010) pushed me along a lot.
My apologoes to the designers whose blocks I changed and also for he changes I made to the layout.  But I have always believed that patterns are meant as a guide and an inspiration - and a little creative licence is only fair.  In particular I changed the Girls Weekend with the car - I used another design for the car from Lynette Anderson O'Rourke and I changed the wording - to "August Retreat" and the signposts point to the location of the retreat and away from home! 

Here are the individual blocks - in no particular order.

The House block

The Doves

Shopping

(couldn't resist the shoe buttons I found only last week)

Laugh Often

Tea with Friends

Balloons

In the car and one Rosalie Quinlan block

Friendlier with two

Hand of Friendship

Kindred Spirits

Off to the retreat

and the other two RQ blocks

and finally - the quilt itslelf!

Quilt Diva

This is one of those quilts that I just had to make - it is so "me" that I couldn't resist.  Its a commercial pattern - which I followed almost to the letter - very unusual for me.  I added  a few special touches.  The earrings are small wooden cotton reels - I wound thread around them and formed them into drop earrings.  You might also see I have a very small toy mobile phone attached to the suitcase.

I use this quilt as a place to keep all my special sewing related buttons and badges.

I entered this quilt in the local show (lie a very mini royal easter Show for those who know that) and won 1st prize in the category.  (I suspect it was the visual impact - rather than the technical side that got the judges!).

She hangs in my Sewing "area".

Breast of Friends

This quilt is coming together - its been a lot of work - but as there is a deadline to have it finished by January 31st I am very motivated.
Here are some sneak peaks - before the border goes on:

I am really happy with the way it has turned out and will take some better pictures - outside this time as soon as I can.

As to quilting it - well it's a bit of a monster so I am a bit undecided about that.

Sewing Machine Cover:
I embroidered the front, back, top & sides and made a Sewing Machine Cover.  I used a variety of sources for the drawings.
Here are some of the pictures:
This is the front - or the back

this is the back - or the front!!

these are the sides

and