Sydney Quilters come for a Retreat

On Wednesday five ladies from Sydney arrived at Russellee for a quilting retreat.  They came on the train and we picked them up. Two other ladies joined them on Friday.  For the first couple of days they were working on UFOs.

Today Robyn Taylor from Wagga came to Russellee to teach her 'Mosaic' class to the group.  I have some photos of the group with the initial stages of some of the projects.  When they are nearer to completion I shall post some more photos.

Five of these ladies I first met when they came on our 1st Australian Quilting Cruise. Four come on our 3rd Quilting Cruise and one has been on all three of our Australian Quilting Cruises. Robyn Taylor also was on our last Quilting Cruise and the Sydney ladies met her on the cruise.  Robyn came as one of the participants but I had a example of her 'Mosaic' class with me.  This created a lot of interest.
Four of the ladies have booked on to our 4th Australian Quilting Cruise next February and are looking forward to doing Helen Godden's class.

I have met wonderful ladies on the Quilting Cruises.  They are a great way to meet fellow minded ladies and have a great holiday doing what you love, meeting wonderful people and being spoilt by the lovely staff on the ships.
One of Sydney ladies, Maureen also came on our Bail retreat last year.  Two Melbourne ladies who were on our first cruise also came to Bail.  Friendships for been forged by the wonderful addiction of Patchwork and Quilting and Retreats.

Dorothy

Busy Week at Russellee

The past week has been very busy at Russellee BnB Craft Retreats.  To start I had my first Scrapbooking Retreat for the year.  This group book at the end of a retreat each time and it is very difficult for anyone else to get into it.  Over the years they have all become very good friends and look forward to catching up twice a year.  They come from Cooma, Queanbeyan, Cootamundra, Wagga and locally.
We had a guest presenter for the weekend.  This was Pauline Cartwright from Canberra.  Pauline gave classes in the Azza method of scrapbooking.  Every one was pleasantly surprised with the results of their layouts from these classes.

The Scrappers left Sunday, a couple Monday morning, and Helen Godden arrived to give a two day workshop.  Eleven ladies thoroughly enjoyed Helen's wonderful personality and her 'Crack Pots' class.  We had a lady from Melbourne, one from Wangaratta, four from Batlow and the rest were locals.  Helen fitted this two day workshop into her very busy teaching schedule for which we are very grateful.  Having a world class teacher come to Tumut is wonderful.

We finished the week with Sandy's Quilters coming from Canberra for their fifth year.  Sandy is the one that suggested that we have a Quilting Cruise and it is from her suggestion that the Australian Quilting Cruises came about. 

Bookings have already been very strong for our 4th Australian Quilting Cruise February 2015.  Helen Godden is coming as my guest teacher on this cruise.  I have also invited Janet Pilgrim to come as a teacher with her wonderful surface stitchery. This gives our cruise another avenue for other ladies to come and enjoy a 'Retreat at Sea'.  If you have any questions on this cruise please contact me.

We are also filling up for the Bali Quilting, Fabric and Cultural trip next October.  I booked my airfares this week and was surprised to find that they were cheaper than last years.  We would love to meet new ladies on this trip.  If interest please contact me.
Until next time.

Dorothy

3rd Australian Quilting Cruise Report

The 3^rd Australian Quilting Cruise was a great experience.  Thirty four wonderful ladies from as far away as New Zealand, Western Australia and in between attended this retreat.  Laraine Callinan and Christine Dowell helped to make this a very successful Quilting Cruise on the Royal Caribbean ‘Voyager of the Seas’ on a 10 night retreat at sea. 

 

Christine designed two lovely appliqué wall hangings which comprised of all hand dyed fabric kits.  These designs when completed on the ship were very well received by those on the cruise.

I presented a ‘Jelly Roll’ workshop designed around lovely batik fabrics purchased on our Bali Quilting Retreat last October.  I also designed a freezer paper class with a picture as the central inspiration for the piecing.  This was inspired by English patchworker, Angela Madden and her ‘Piecful Sceans’ book.  Angela sent two copies of her book out from England which I used as lucky draws in the workshops.  In all I embroidered 14 lavender fields using free machining and 15 programmed beach scenes.

The final workshop was designed and presented by Laraine Callinan and featured a tool caddy for carrying small quilting equipment. I ordered 40 A5 cutting mats from England for this workshop. This workshop was very much appreciated by the group.

As well as workshops the ship visited Noumea, New Caledonia, Suva and Loutoka in Fiji.  Many exciting shore excursions were enjoyed by all.  Laraine, Chris and a friend, Roz, braved wooden canoes up a river and through rapids to a waterfall followed by a great visit to a local village.

The Voyager of the Seas has a Disney theme.  We had visits to the workroom by some of the characters.  They added a fun atmosphere to the room.

A pre cruise challenge titled 'Tropical Colours' had 17 entries.  A viewers choice award of a Bernette sewing machine donated by Bernina Australia was won by Lydia McGreagor from Queensland. The winner was announced at a Cocktail Party held near the end of the cruise.

A ‘Quilting Retreat at Sea’ is a wonderful way to combine the love of patch working with a great holiday where the ships staff pamper you like royalty and the food is varied and wonderful.  

Roz was my ‘Official’ photographer and did a wonderful job of capturing all aspects of the cruise from the workshops, to around the ship and the ports of call.  I would like to give Roz a big thank you for doing this. This is a link to her Album on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/roslyn.sephton/media_set?set=a.10202528232141585.1073741868.1069076082&type=1 

Our cruise would not take place without the behind the sceans work with bookings and following up the ships requests of our group with the wonderful Lorelle Hardt of Crafting Cruises.

The next Quilting Cruise is scheduled for February 2015 and visits the north Island of New Zealand.  Two special guest tutors have been included with world renowned Helen Godden presenting her 'Flying into colours' workshop along with a surface stitching embroidery specialist Jan Pilgrim. Jan will add another dimension to our cruise with her lovely designs for those wishing to do hand projects.  I have designed a quilt top, (or table runner version) using an old block with a modern twist.

Any one interested in next years cruise can contact me.

Until next time

Dorothy

Quilting Cruise Getting Closer

Been a busy week here at Russellee.  Finally have all the my workshop kits organised and packed .  Have spent the day checking, oiling and packing the machines.  Most of the machines are basic models but they serve us well.

Laraine has finished two examples for the ‘Freezer Paper Workshop’.  Has written her notes for the ‘Mystery Workshop’ and has been a wonderful help to me.

Chris has had some great news this week.  Her submission for the ‘Living Colour’ exhibition has been chosen.  Her quilt is titled ‘Consider the Flowers of the Field’.  Chris also had a quilt in the previous ‘Beneath the Southern Skies’ exhibition.  Congratulations Chris.

Her kits for the cruise are well on the way.  Chris not only has designed two great projects for the cruise she had hand dyed the fabric to go into the kits.  I purchased the plain fabric for her on our Bali Quilting Retreat last year and she has had a wonderful time dying it.  I am looking forward to seeing the end results.

The flyers for our 2015 Australian Quilting Cruise and Embroidery Cruise should arrive from the printers this week.  I will be sending some out very soon.

 

Until next time

 

Dorothy

 

 

Australian Quilting Cruise Update

We are now on the countdown to the 3^rd Australian Quilting Cruise leaving Sydney on the 27^th February.  This 'Retreat at Sea' is fully booked and I am looking forward to catching up with the ladies that have attended previous cruises.  Also to meeting all those 'first timers' including five lovely ladies who are coming from New Zealand this Retreat.  Plus we have some ladies from WA that will be travelling the furthest to join our ship in Sydney.

It has been very busy here packing kits and organising sewing machines.  I am taking 14 sewing machines with me.  Machines, kits and everything else we have to take with us are going in the station wagon and trailer. Tony has painted the trailer and revamped the sheep crate on the back.  He felt a bit out of place the last time  as he drove to Circular Quay with the sheep crate.  Not so this time. We won't be missed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was overwhelmed by the number of kits ordered for the Freezer Paper Workshop.  In all there are 15 Beach scenes and 14 Lavender scenes which have been embroidered on fabric.  It has been my first task each day to do one of the embroideries.  So it has taken me over a month to do them all with some days being missed.  Some ladies are bringing their own picture and fabrics and it will be interesting to see what they have chosen.

Last week I had my grandson staying and with his input I put together another sample of this workshop to show some different variations.  This has turned out to be a rather bright picture but that is what kids like. 

We are very organised this trip in that we have all the planning for our 2015 cruise well in advance to bring with us.  The conference rooms on the Voyager have been booked and  tutors selected.  Most of the workshops are organised and the flyers are available. 

There are two guest tutors on the 2015 'Retreat at Sea' which will be doing the north island of New Zealand, leaving Sydney on the 22^nd February 2015.  Helen Godden will be presenting her wonderful and fun ‘Flying into Colours’ class.  Laraine and I have done this class with Helen and we enjoyed it immensely.  Helen has a wonderful array of patterns for this workshop and her presentation makes for a very enjoyable experience.  This is a picture of my quilt I did with her.  Of course it had to be of a cat.

I will doing a workshop using a traditional block to create a modern quilt.  I have been in contact with Lisa Smallridge, from Sunset Seams Victoria,  to make the templates for this class.  The sample ones will be here next week for me to test out. There will also be  a mystery class for 2015.

Due to many requests from our ladies our second guest tutor will be presenting two 2 day embroidery classes and a mystery class.  This talented lady is Jan Pilgrim.  Jan does wonderful surface stitchery and incorporates stump work in a new light.

 

We would love to have you join us on this Retreat at Sea - the 4^th Australian Quilting and Embroidery Cruise to New Zealand February 2015.