Busy March

March have been very busy at Russellee.  We started the month with a Scrapping Retreat followed by a Quilting Retreat the next weekend and then a week to Queensland for my brother's wedding.

Twelve ladies attended the Scrapping Retreat.  As usual lots of great layouts came out of the weekend.  Our guest tutor was Kylie Symons from Tumut.  Kylie was going to do the class on Saturday night but as the weather was deteriorating she came out Saturday afternoon.  Her great class featured a lot of painting and doodling techniques.  This was a different layout then most of the ladies had done before and they were impressed with the results.  Thank you Kylie.

Kaye gave a great mini album lesson on the Saturday night.  This album consisted of three sheets of cardstock and bamboo skewers.  After the lesson several more of these albums turned up over the rest of the weekend.  Thank you Kaye.

In all there were three classes and three challenges.  It never ceases to amaze me how a group can use the same papers in different ways.

The highlight of the weekend was the road into town being cut by flood waters on Sunday morning.  This did not open again until Monday morning.  Lunch did not arrive from town and nine of the ladies were not able to go home.  The up side was that they had another night of scrapping.  I managed to feed all for the rest of the weekend including our missed lunch that was coming from town.

The next weekend we had six ladies (unfortunately three could not attend due to flooding).  The workshop for the weekend was a dragon fly quilt designed by Southwind Designs.  Most achieved in completing the centre panel with one outside boarder being started. 

This weekend did not go without its dramas with one of the ladies having an accident on the Sunday morning.  Three kangaroos hopped in front of her car hitting the car and causing her to run into a tree.  Luckily she only had a scratch on her arm but the car was extensively damaged.

The Tuesday after the Quilting retreat Pam, Tony and I headed to Toowoomba for my brother's wedding.  We went up early as I had to ice the cake.  The weather was not the best on the Saturday and the ceremony had to be performed inside instead of the garden.  However it was a nice ceremony and the venue was great.  The meal was beautiful.  Rennie and Elly are now in Fiji for two weeks.


Future Retreats

My next retreat is a UFO Quilting Retreat the first weekend in May.  The next Scrapping Retreat is the last weekend in August.  Both of these are almost at capacity. If you are interested in either of these contact me on russeldr@bigpond.com.

Our next Quilting Cruise is well into planning.  I have a guest tutor, Amanda Daly from Sydney coming with us.  This is a longer cruise and booking are already coming in.  For more information contact me.

Until next time happy quilting and scrapping

Dorothy

Quilting Cruise Report

Our Australian Quilt Cruise was a great success. With my great organiser, Lorelle and wonderful helper, Laraine we enjoyed the company of 34 wonderful ladies on our cruise of the South Pacific. The ladies (and some husbands) came from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. We visited Noumea, Vila, Lifou and The Isle of Pines.

On the cruising days we conducted three workshops, These being a watercolour wall hanging with tropical fish, a landscape quilt that I designed for the cruise and a quilt as you go table runner designed by Sharon Pederson. I would like to thank Sharon for allowing me to share this table runner with the ladies.

We cruised on the beautiful Royal Caribbean 'Rhapsody of the Seas' This ship had a large conference room with was able to cater for all our sewing machines.

A pre cruise challenge titled 'Tropical Delight' was well received with voting for this challenge judged by the many other cruisers that visited us during the time spent onboard. We had two equal first place and two equal second winners.

On port days several of the ladies went on optional tours, both in the sea and on land.

Others stayed behind and with the tireless help of Laraine worked on their projects. In Noumea we had an overnight stay due to Cyclone Jasmine (we did not have any rough seas thanks to the Captain of the ship keeping us away from Jasmine). On the first day fabric shops were located and mapped. The next morning I took several of the ladies on a fabric shopping spree. We actualy contributed to the local economy.

In all it was a great cruise. I met many wonderful fellow quilters and have many fond memories. We will be running another cruise next year and after consulting the cruise company we have secured a booking on the new ship to the Australian cruising scene the 'Voyager of the Seas'. This cruise of 14 nights duration will sail to Noumea, Fiji and New Zealand commencing on the 13th January 2013 departing from Sydney and retruning to Sydney. I am hoping to organise visits to a quilt shop in Auckland and Wellington that are not far from where the ship docks.

I will keep you posted on this cruise.

Happu quilting

Dorothy

The time has come

After 12 months of planning and organising the time has come for our Australian Quilting Cruise next week. There are 34 ladies attending this curise. They are from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has been a challenge for me to organise the classes and pack all the kits. It has been a great learning curve.

We leave Monday on the beautiful Royal Caribbean ship 'The Rhapsody of the Seas'. This ship has a great conference room which we are using for our classes. In all there will be four classes with lots of additional kits available for those who want to keep quilting.

As well as the quilting there are also ports of call and a host of activities on board the ship. When we get back I shall put up a full report.

Russellee BnB is also having a Scrapbooking Retreat the first weekend in March and two quilting retreats. One is the second weekend in March and the other is the first weekend in May. There is also a group of quilters from Canberra coming in a couple of weeks orgainising their own retreat.

have a great week and until next time

Dorothy

October News

October has been a busy month. Last weekend Russellee had a UFO Quilting Retreat. Six ladies addtended this retreat and it was a great three days. Lots of quilting, lots of great food and lots of talking. I enjoyed this weekend very much as I was able to sew a quilt myself. I had the fabric for a few years in my stash and our Alaskan trip inspired me to get it out and make a quilt. I was please with the results.

Most of the month has been organising kits and ordering fabric for the Quilting Cruise in February. We have 27 ladies coming on the curise at the moment. I did not realise the amount of effort that goes into putting together kits for 30 ladies. I have almost finished the landscape workshop that I am doing on the curise. Most of the fabric arrived last week with only one to come. I shall post it on the blog as soon as I quilt and bind it.

Next year is shaping up to being a busy one with quilting and scrapbooking retreats as well as the Quilting Cruise. I have lots of ideas for workshops. I am trying to find different tecniques and new products for these workshops.Russellee will be having a Quilting Retreat 9-11 March 2012. this will be a Dance of the Dragonflies quilt designed by Annette Ornelas. We will be also having a UFO retreat the 4-6 May 2012.

Both these retreats have bookings already. If you are interested in them contact me by email russeldr@bigpond.com and I will send out information on these retreats.

The Scrapbooking Retreat 2-4 March is almost at capacity. This retreat was almost at capacity within a couple of days of announcing it.

If you have a group of quilters or scrapbookers that are looking for a venue for their own weekend away contact me and we will see what we can do for you.

Until next time

Dorothy

September Update

The past month has been very busy. Russellee had a Scrapbooking retreat earlier in the month. This was fully booked and very successful. Kylie Tout was our guest tutor for a workshop on saturday night. She shared one of her mini albums with the girls. The three challenges were also provided great layouts with pleasing results.

Carol's 'Boy Layout'

Kaye's 'Prima Challenge Layout'

Bridget's 'Sketch Layout'

Kaye and I also attended a Scrapping Retreat at Edrom Lodge overlooking Twofold Bay. This retreat started on Thrusday and ended Sunday lunch time. This retreat had no classes it was a do it yourself retreat. Thank you Jo for a great weeend. I actually got some layout completed. Kaye then gave me a sightseeing tour around the area. This is a beautiful part of NSW.

Edrom Lodge Ladies

I have organised one of the classes for our next scrapping retreat and have our guest tutor organised.

I am working on one of the classes for the Quilting Cruise next February. Hope to have it designed and made before the school holdiays finish.

We still have a few vacancies for the October UFO Quilting Retreat.

The Australian Quilting Cruise 6 February next year is filling up. We now have 26 ladies coming. I am looking forward to meeting the ladies from all parts of NSW, Queensland and Victoria. I shall keep you informed of how this progresses.

Until next time

Dorothy

North to Alaska

Kaye and I have just just returned from a magic two and a half weeks to Canada and Alaska to go on the Stitchin' Heaven Alaskan Quilting Cruise. I attended this as an observer. We arrived in Vancouver a week before the cruise and did a Rocky Mountains tour.
The countryside is very beautiful. Vancouver is a beautiful city. There are flowers everwhere. I was very impressed with them. After this we took a bus to Seattle in the USA to join the cruise to Alaska.

The quilting cruise was run by Stitchin' Heaven from Texas. There were 48 ladies attending the classes (including five from Australia) with three instructors. They divided the group into two. I was previliged to meet Toni Whitney whose work I have admired and have I completed some of her designs. She is a wonderful lady and a great teacher. The two ports of call in Alaska, Juno and Skaway, both had beautiful quilt shops. It was very hard to resist buying heaps of fabric. I did manage to restrict myself and buy only a small amount. In Alaska Kaye and I did a rafting tour down one of the rivers. This was not white water rafting but gentley gliding down the river. We saw fantastic countryside and lots of eagles. We did manage to see three black bears on our trip. I took my sewing machine all the way to Alaska as a learning experience to carrying a machine on aircraft. The machine travelled well. I carried it as hand luggage and had no problems with Australian, Cadanian or US customs. The machine travelled in the overhead locker with out any problem.After the cruise we bused our way back to Vancouver for a couple of days before returning home. We sayed in a BnB which was in a central position to the main part of Vancouver. We walked to English Bay and met a local quilter sitting in the park by the bay hand quilting. She said that she often came there to quilt. Now that we are home I am concentrating on organising a UFO Quilting Retreat at Russellee on the 21st - 23rd October and our Australian Quilting Cruise next February. If you would like some information on either of these please contact me by email - russeldr@bigpond.com

Russellee is also having our second Scrapbooking Retreat for the year next weekend. This retreat filled very quickly and I have 12 ladies staying and three coming from Tumut each day. i will give a report on this after the weekend.

Until next time happy quilting and scrapping.

Dorothy

UFO Patchwork Retreat

Do you have a cupboard full of UFOs? Do you love the company of fellow quilters? Do you love not having to cook or washup? Then bring a UFO or two and come to our next quilting retreat on the 21st - 23 October. The all inclusive cost is $210. This includes all meals, accommodation, a large workroom and great country views. We are located five minutes from the beautiful town of Tumut.

Numbers are limited. We keep our groups small so that you feel welcome and not part of a busy and noisy room.

If you are interest or would like more information please do not hesitate to contact me either by email, russeldr@bigpond.com or by phone, 02 69474216.

See you then

Dorothy