Wagga Craft Alive Weekend

Last weekend saw the Wagga Craft Alive event.  I again had a stall to promote the Russellee Craft Retreats and the Quilting Cruise.  This was a far more successful weekend for all attending then the washed out Griffith Craft Alive and the interesting Wodonga Craft Alive.

This time I went on my own to set up on the Thursday.  Friday saw a large crowd pass through the door.  Over the course of the weekend 4600 people attended the show and keep everyone very busy.  Again I demonstrated free machining and this was very well received.

The team at Craft Alive staged a quilt exhibition in conjunction with the show.  Forty quilts from parts of NSW and Victoria were on display.  The visiting public were asked to vote for the best in show.  To my surprise and delight my quilt, ‘The Brumby’, inspired by a photo of Batlow photographer, Kris Daley, won first place.  Not only did I achieve first place but another quilt titled ‘My Cats’ received third place.  To receive these two places out of 40 wonderful quilts was an honour.

On the Saturday Kaye Snow joined me to help man the stall.  Kaye is a wonderful card maker and we spoke to several ladies about the November Card Making Retreat.  Sunday my wonderful husband, Tony, came as my helper and to assist in the packing up.  Overall the weekend was a great success.  I sold a lot of fabric and kits.  One lady on the Sunday purchased all the cat fabric that I had.

The thread painted picture that I created on the Friday also sold and I have since sold my large picture of a thread painted cat.  I am also holding a Thread Painting Retreat in November. By mid morning of the third day we run out of retreat brochures and I had to send Tony to get more printed at Office Works.

We had a lot of interest in our Cruise for February.  A lot of the cards re the cruise that I had were taken and the balcony special on at the moment was well received.  Time will tell if we have some bookings from this weekend for both the cruise and the craft retreats at Russellee.

Another interesting point is that Chris Dowell, one of our Cruise tutors, has her quilt ‘Just the Two of Us’ in the current addition of Down Under Quilts.  We still have places available on the cruise.  If you would like to come and join us please contact me or Lorelle.  Our emails are on the right of the blog.

Until next time

Dorothy

3rd Australian Quilting Cruise Update

We have had requests from ladies to include hand work projects on the cruise.  Laraine has put together two such workshops.  One is a hardanger project and the other is an embroidered and hand pieced bag.  (This can also be sewn together by machine if wished).  This bag has a couple of different techniques involved.

These projects have been taught to various groups around the Riverina and Snowy Mountains and have been very well received.  Laraine is a very talented lady and her sewing is exquisite.  I shall post photos of the projects when I have them.

I have just had word from Lorelle, our booking lady, that Royal Caribbean have a special on their balcony cabins.  They are $300 off for a short time.  This makes them about the same price as the Ocean View Cabins.  So If you would love to cruise with a balcony with out the extra cost it is a good time to do so.

Dorothy   

Wodonga Craft Alive

Kaye and I travelled to Wodonga last Thursday to set up for the Wodonga Craft Alive event.  The venue was the Leisure Centre and provided all the stall holders plenty of space.  We managed to get our stall set up with all our display visible. This is no easy feat as the space is limited. I also had the use of a row of great display boards for my quilts.  Friday seen us there bright and early for the arrival of the many visitors to the event.  Both Kaye and I took along projects to demonstrate to the visitors.  Kaye had here beautiful cards and I took along fabric and threads to use with the Bernina machine.  I demonstrated Thread Painting.  This proved to be a very good draw card to our stand.

Over the weekend I had a lot of interest in the Retreats that I have planned for the coming months.  Also a lot of questions were asked about our Quilting Cruise next February.  I sold some patterns, jelly rolls and a quilt over the three days.  This was a nice bonus to the venture.

I shall be attending the Wagga Craft Alive at the beginning of August.  Each event that I attend I learn something about how to improve the stall set up and next time will try a different approach.  I will still be demonstrating the Threat Painting.  I will be holding a two day Thread Painting weekend in November.  Since I have been home I have had some ladies book into the retreats.  This is what the weekends are all about.  The promoting of Russellee BnB's Craft Retreats.

Until next time

Dorothy

Small Group Craft Retreats

Come and join one of Russellee BnB Tumut’s Small Group Craft Retreats.  We cater from groups of 4 – 12 people.  We have just had a Scrapbooking Retreat with four great ladies. One of the ladies was new to Scrapbooking and is now hooked. On the Saturday  one of the regular ladies also attended.  This small group had a wonderful time and the weekend was a great success.

 

 

Our September Scrapbooking Retreat is at capacity with 12 ladies coming from Canberra, Cooma, Wagga and the local areas. Our October Bail Quilting Retreat is also at capacity. Ladies attending this are coming from Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra plus one from Griffith.

If you have a small group of Crafters, Quilters, Patchworkers, Scrapbookers, Painters or Cardmakers and would like create your own retreat contact me for more information.

Dorothy

Scrapbooking Retreat

Last weekend saw a small Scrapbooking Retreat at Russellee.  I had five lovely ladies attend.  One was very new to Scrapbooking and took to it like a duck to water.  I think that she is now addicted to this wonderful craft.

 

We don't mind having small groups coming to Russellee  It give us the opportunity to really get to know everyone and have more time to help if needed.

 

July is going to be busy with attending Craft Alive at Wodonga to promote the retreats at Russellee as well as our Quilting Cruise next February.  The day after Wodonga Tony and I will be heading off to New Zealand to attend the Taupo Smposium 2013 Fabric Art Festival.  I have been looking forward to this event for over 12 months.  I will be taking part in three workshops with tutors for the US and New Zealand.  One can never stop learning and this Symposium is a great opportunity to see what ladies from all over the world are creating.  I will post a report when we get back.

 

Until next time.

 

Dorothy

Russellee's Retreat Update

Russellee has had a busy six months with retreats.  January saw our 2nd Australian Quilting Retreat at Sea.  This was followed by UFO Quilting weekends and Scrapping weekends plus a small a Card Making weekend.

Our Bali Retreat is now full as is the September Scrapbooking Retreat. We are getting a steady flow of bookings for the 3rd Australian Quilting Cruise – A Quilting Retreat at Sea.  We have some ladies coming for WA.  One is driving her mobile home across and parking it in her friend’s backyard while she is on the cruise.

To promote the Retreats I have decided to do some of the Craft Alive events.  This is the first time that I have been a store holder at this type of event.  My first weekend was at Griffith.  Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us and this Craft Alive was not as successful as all had wished.  Many of the stall holders have been attending for several years and stated that this was by far their worst.  However it was a great learning curve for me and I did secure some bookings which was what I set out to do.

Russellee stall at Griffith Craft Alive

To finish the first six months of the 2013 Russellee is having a Scrapping Retreat the 21st – 23rd June.  There are still a couple of places available for this retreat.  The cost is $260 for two nights accommodation, meals and three workshops.

The second half of 2013 has a busy program.  Two of these retreats are already at capacity but there are spots available in all the rest. 

I have included a Thread Painting Retreat this year as it is over 12 months since I have presented one of these Retreats.  Thread painting is my passion and I am love sharing this with others.

Below is a full program for Russellee which will take us up to the Quilting Cruise in February 2014.

12 – 14 July                      Wodonga Craft Alive -  Retreat promotion

2 – 4 August                     Wagga Wagga Craft Alive -  Retreat promotion

23 – 25 August                 UFO Quilting Retreat - $210 includes two nights accommodation, all meals

13 – 15 September           Scrapbooking Retreat – This retreat is booked out.

15 – 28 October               Quilting Retreat Bali – This retreat is booked out.

1 –3 November                 UFO Quilting Retreat - $210 includes two nights accommodation, all meals

15  – 17 November           Card Making Retreat - $225 includes two nights accommodation, all meals and two card workshops.

23 – 24 November            Thread Painting Retreat - $170 includes workshop, one nights accommodation, all meals

15 – 17 February 2014     Scrapbooking Retreat - $260 – includes two nights accommodation, all meals and three workshops.

27 February 2014             10 night Quilting Cruise – Voyager of the Seas

Our Quilting Retreat at Sea is great value even with the exchange rate as it is at the moment.  Our prices start from $1351.21 US per person inside cabin plus $380 AU per person for the Retreat portion of the cruise.  This retreat price is great value as it includes 10 days use of a huge workroom where the machines can be set up for the entire cruise plus three workshops.

The cruise gives you the opportunity to combine a wonderful holiday Plus the company of great ladies from all parts of the country who share the same passion for patchwork and quilting.

 

Also if the above dates are not suitable for you we cater for small groups from 4 - 10 who wish to create their own retreat.  This can be a weekend or mid week.

If you would like more information on any of these retreats please contact me by phone - 02 69474216 – or email russeldr@bigpond.com

Until next time

 Dorothy

 

 

Jean's Quilt Finished

On our 2^nd Australian Quilting Cruise, conducted earlier this year, we had a remarkable lady, Jean Brown, cruise and quilt with us. This is the second time Jean has attended our Quilting Cruises.  Jean has reached the wonderful age of 84.  She travelled to Sydney on the XPT train the day before the cruise and had all her bags and sewing machine with her.  She stayed the night at the CWA hostel and got herself to the ship next morning.  Jean takes everything in her stride and does not find fault in any one.  She has a remarkable outlook on life and finds beauty where ever she looks.

We had three workshops on the cruise.  Jean chose to do just one.  She has been quilting for many years but has only ever done small hand and machine projects.  The work shop that she chose was the Pinwheel Folly with the embroidered panels.   Her cruise ambition in 2013 being to tackle a bigger project.

Jean obtained the embroidery patterns before the cruise and had her six embroideries completed prior to departure. She arrived onboard with all fabrics to complete the quilt, most from her home cupboard; we were able to supply a fabric on the ship to complete the requirements as she was one short.

Jean did not have much experience with a rotary cutter and arrived with a brand new cutter and board, after a few pointers she mastered the new purchases.  She was on her way to making her quilt.

Her quilt centre was completed on the ship. After she arrived home another lovely lady Roz Sephton who was also on the cruise, helped her with the borders and got her in touch with a lady to quilt it for her.

Below I have a photo story of the making of this quilt.  The story finishes with her completed quilt.  Her quilt became much larger then the workshop version.  In fact it became a large double quilt.  It finally was finished last week to become a present for her daughter-in-law.  Her pride in finishing a much larger project than she had ever tackled before was wonderful to see.

Got two done

 

Progressing

 

 

 

 

Da Da blocks are finished

 

Finished at last