Monday 19 September 2011

I Retreated.


I stitched.

And I loved it!

I was fortunate to spend a weekend recently at the Stitching at the Water's Edge stitching retreat hosted by Kim and her wonderful team from the Jukejema Quilting Barn (Carol was fantastic and Kim's mum, Marg stitched a special gift for EVERY stitcher's gift bag).


The guest tutors for the weekend were Anni Downs, Janelle Wind and Natalie Ross. All three of these really talented ladies had created special projects for the weekend. Their displays were very inspiring and, best of all, they were very generous teachers - sharing their skills, ideas and lots of fun and laughter. I didn't take too many photos over the weekend, so you can see more here, here, here, here, here and here.

Anni, Janelle, Kim and Natalie

Sylvia was my traveling companion for the weekend and with all the chatting that went on, the trip was over in a flash! (Thanks for the pics, Sylvia.) I also got to share the weekend with these wonderful ladies - Fiona, Karen, Asta, Shirley, Colleen and Shiree (Colleen and Shiree had travelled all the way from New Zealand to attend). Thank you all for being such great stitching buddies! 

L to R (back) Sylvia, Karen, Shirley, Sue, Fiona (front) Shiree, Anni and Colleen


It was great to meet some fellow bloggers in real life - Sandy, who did some amazing work (loved your scarf, Sandy) and Kate, who was a powerhouse of productivity on the weekend (and showed some wonderful quilts at show and tell - Jack's quilt was my pick on the night).
  
L to R: Sylvia, Sandy, Kate, Shiree, Fiona and Me

With so many lovely projects it was a tough decision of what I would work on. I decided to start with Anni's little felted wool bag. This has a naive style appliqué on the pocket. It was fun to make. And I got it finished!


I had some time left, so I decided to make one of Janelle's fabric flowers. The centre is a covered button with the little cross stitch I did back in April (while watching the royal wedding). I think this will become a journal wrap (future project in the making).


I so enjoyed spending time with like-minded ladies - it really lifted my spirits and gladdened my heart.  Thank you all so much for the fun, the company and the inspiration.

3 comments:

Sue-Anne said...

Hi Sue, It sounds like you had a fantastic time at the retreat. Nothing better than some time away with the girls.

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Hi Sue...what a fabulous time you all had at the retreat...I'm sorry I wasn't able to get to it but hopefully next time!!! A lot of familiar names here...Fiona, Sylvia, and Asta whom I have met...Fiona and Asta are down here at the Bay where I am...Sandy actually made something in a swap for me...and I know Kate through the blog!!!

Nat Palaskas said...

Glad you had a good time at the quilt retreat. Love the bag you made. Hugs Nat

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