Thread Painting Retreat

Last weekend five ladies attended the Thread Painting Retreat at
Russellee.  The ladies came from Sydney, Mittagong, Wagga, The Rock and Batlow.  The results of their efforts for the weekend were well received.  The workshop concentrated on landscapes. 

At first the landscapes seemed to not be happening as we started with the background.  Once the foreground and the main features started to be added the delight of the ladies was evident as the landscapes evolved before their eyes.

 

All were very happy with the results.  A couple still need a bit of finishing but they are well on the way.  Looking forward to seeing photos of the finished work.

Russellee's next retreat is a UFO Retreat in June.  This retreat is full.  We will be having another UFO Retreat 7-9 November.  If you are interested in coming please contact me.

Our Quilting Retreat at  Sea next February is half full.  If you would like any information please contact me or Lorelle.  Next year we are sailing to New Zealand and my guest teachers are Helen Godden and Jan Pilgrim.  Jan is doing two lovely hand stitched projects on this cruise.  She has just sent me a photo of her second workshop of a New Zealand Christmas Bush featuring stumpwork leaves

Bali in October has three spots left.  We only do one of these retreats a year.  This is a fabulous two weeks of fabric shopping, cloths shopping, sightseeing and of course sewing.  The sewing machines are provided and we have a wonderful time sewing the beautiful fabric that we buy there.  A highlight of this trip is a hands on class in making a Batik runner.

 

Dorothy

Thread Painting Finished

Autumn around Tumut this year has been just beautiful.  The golden trees and the green paddocks are a pleasure to look at.  I have taken several photos and have created a thread painting of one of them.  

This is a view of the  poplars at the Tumut Pioneer Bridge from the entrance to the Canoe Club.

Mosaic Workshop finished

After four great days of sewing, two of which included the workshop on mosaic pictures with Robyn Taylor. the Sydney Quilters left this morning braving the cold to catch the rail bus to Coota and then the train back to Sydney. The Retreat was a great success. Robyn's class went down very well. We will hold another 'Mosaic' class here later in the year if we get enough interest. Below are some of the results of the class.

 

Russellee's next retreat is a 'Thread Painting' workshop on the 17th and 18th May. Tumut is lovely at the moment with the Autumn colours in the trees give beautiful displays.  These trees are providing lots of inspiration for 'Thread Painting'.  On my way home from taking the Sydney ladies to the train I snapped these pictures.



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

My fabric picture wins

I entered a fabric art picture of a walled garden that I visited at Boughton Castle a couple of years ago on a Garden Tour with Angus Stewart. This picture was created using several techniques including raw edge applique, couching, free machining and thread painting.

Today I found out that my picture has won the Fiber Art section of the Tumut's 57th Annual Art Show.  Not only has it won but I have also sold it.  This is the second picture I have sold at the gallery in the past few weeks.  It is small thread painting done on silk.

I will hopefully be starting on another fabric art picture very soon. There are a many different designs going around in my head.
Where to find the time can be a bit of a problem but will have to make time.
Dorothy

Norfolk Island Quilting Retreat

Laraine and I are at Norfolk Island on a quilting retreat with Michelle Yeo.  Her two projects are beautiful.  Lots of work however.  I have managed to get the centre panel for the St Baranbas Rose finished today.  There is a lot more to do before the quilt is finished.

Tony and Bill are enjoying touring the island and learning about the history.  They have managed to fill their time in while we are patch working.  Will post some other photos later in the week.

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