Carol's Christmas In July Scrappers and Sewers

Carol's Scrappers and Sewers from Canberra are at Russellee for their second Christmas in July. All have been working into the late night (and some into the early hours of the morning) on their chosen interest be it scrapbooking or hand sewing. Today was the day for present sharing and a traditional Christmas

 

 

 
 

dinner. Alas there was no snow but the snow is not far away up the mountain.

Fabric Mosaic Retreat

Robyn Taylor held a Fabric Mosaics class at Russelle BnB Tumut this weekend. Two ladies travelled up from Sydney plus Wagga and Batlow. The results were stunning.

Our Bali Quilting Retreat is now full for 2016. The guest teacher for the 2016, retreat is Chris Dowell for Toowoomba.  Chris is a wonderful artist as well as a brilliant quilter. 

Chris was runner up for the AQC Traditions with a Twist completion this year.  We are taking expressions of interest for our 2017.  If you and information for this retreat when it is finalised please let us know and we will send the information out. The retreat gives you the opportunity to make your own batik panel, sew with like minded ladies, learn about the culture of Bali and of course buying lots of fabric. 

Russellee BnB welcomes groups of like minded people to enjoy a retreat in their chosen field of craft.  If you have a group of 5 - 10 looking for a venue please contact us.

Vicky's Monday Night Quilting Group from Albury/Wondanga have a quilting weekend at Russellee BnB Craft Retreats.

Russellee offers a venue for quilters, scrapbookers or other crafters to indulge in their passion.  We provide accommodation and organise meals.  This allows you the have a weekend to concentrate on you passion and we will look after you.

Successful Retreat

Following the success of our 5 day Quilting Cruise without the Boat we have been asked to run it again next February. Both Juanita Bugee and Chris Dowell have agreed to attend again.

Juanita will be offering two 2 day Judy Niemeyer workshops.
Chris will be offering workshops in designing your own quilt using printed panels as the starting point. Maureen's lovely quilt from this workshop is shown here. I will be offering workshops on landscape quilts. Designing you own or ...using one of my patterns.

On the Wednesday we will be doing a morning trip to Tumbarumba visiting the Pioneer Women's Hut to view the antique quilts followed by lunch. In the afternoon Chris will be holding her Mystery Workshop. This proved very popular this year.

We keep our groups small. Russellee BnB has accommodation and it is on a first in first receive basis. There is alternate accommodation with in a 5 minute drive. Our overall numbers are also limited and we have 6 ladies booked so far. if you are interested in coming please let me know. Final dates, workshop details and pricing will be released shortly.

This weekend is a Scrapping Weekend.  A lovely group of regular ladies will be attending.  Air cons are working well so they will keep cool.

I have two spots left on our Bail Quilting, Fabric and Cultural Tour starting the 5th of September.  Please contact me if you are interested.

Until next time.
Dorothy

Quilting Cruise without the Boat Retreat

We are on out last day of Russell BnB's Quilting Cruise without  the Boat. We have had ladies from Sydney and the Canberra area as well as the local area. Our two guests tutors, Chris Dowell from QLD and Juniata Bungee from Melbourne, have offered some great classes and wonderful work is being produced.
There has been five days of sewing and great fun. The retreat has been a success and enjoyed by all.

Work in Progress January February 2016

I have been working on 2 large projects over the past few weeks.  They are both a combination of applique and thread painting (free machine embroidery).
The waterfall is finished and is being blocked at the moment.  It will eventually be framed. 70 cm x 40 

Waterfall in progress

Before the main falls are added

The finished waterfall

My Lizard, not sure why I started doing a lizard, has been interesting to do.  Totally different to what I have done before. Definitely different to cats and dogs.  He still has some finishing to do so will post a finished shot at a later date. 75 cm x 75 cm 

The back of the lizard showing the stitching.  It is very like a pencil sketch.

Where did 2015 go -- Welcome 2016.

2015 was a very busy year for Russellee BnB both from the BnB side and the Craft Retreat side.  We had the largest number of people staying at the BnB during the year than we ever had in any of the past 13 years we have been operating.  We also had 10 groups of crafters, (card makers, quilters and scrap bookers) as well as our Quilting Cruise in February and Bali Quilting Retreat in July/August.

  

2016 is shaping up to be another busy year.  To-date we have 10 groups booked in with many as repeat bookings and new ones as well.  Unfortunately our 2016 Quilting Cruise was cancelled due to the Australian $ exchange rate with US $.  However, Russellee is having a five day ‘Quilting Cruise without the Boat’ in place of the cruise in February. The teachers and classes are the same as offered on the Cruise.  This retreat has filled very quickly; however, a couple of vacancies in some of the classes exist, with accommodation available in Tumut. Class information can be seen below.

Our Bali Quilting Retreat in September is almost full with only two spots available.  This two week retreat allows for the making of a personal batik fabric, time for sewing, the opportunity to see the culture of Bail and not to mention the fabrics.  Contact me if you are interested in sharing in this wonderful Quilting Retreat.

 

The BnB is also filling up with Easter fully booked.

Tony and I would like to thank all of those who supported us during 2015 with both the BnB and the Craft Retreats.  We look forward to catching up again in 2016.