Stitching by the Waters Edge Retreat

I took lots of photos at the Retreat on the weekend - so here are some more ....  These gorgeous little holders for your shelf were really bright and colourful!   These are from "Pieces of Me" by Janelle Wind.

"My Favourite Things" quilt by Anni Downs - just beautiful in real life!

Lots of gorgeous colourful designs by Janelle and Natalie!

Great Christmas gift ideas!

Loved the fabric range in this collection by Natalie!

A handy shoe bag with one of Anni's designs!

From Anni's "Some Kind of Wonderful" book - these samples reminded me why I loved the book and how many gorgeous things I am planning on making!

We were fortunate to be able to purchase some of Anni's new fabric range and she had made up some gorgeous samples to tempt us!

This lovely wool felt scarf is so cute - Sandy was wearing one on Friday night when we arrived!    If you have a look at her blog she is having a great giveaway!   Just click on her name above!  Good luck!!

Show and Tell on Saturday evening after dinner was just amazing - here is Sylvia showing one of her many Anni Downs quilts!

And this won the Viewers Choice award on the night - it was my favourite!

Tutor Natalie, Jukejema Quilting Barn owner, Kim and Kate sharing a laugh!

Kate's table of clever ladies all finished a project on the weekend!   They are looking fairly pleased with themselves and so is Tutor Janelle on the far right!

Tutors Anni and Janelle!

And as I hadn't quite finished off something completely ... I didn't really think Anni would mind if I claimed some of her finished projects as mine!!  

Our patient and kind Tutors Anni, Janelle and Natalie with Kim!  Wow ... what a fabulous weekend!   What a shame it had to end!   And now I have more unfinished projects to complete!!!

Stitching by the Waters Edge Retreat

I have just returned from a fabulous few days at "Stitching by the Waters Edge" Retreat at Waterslea on the Shoalhaven River.  Run by Kim and Carol from Jukejema Quilting Barn in Nowra, this was a really special weekend with guest tutors, Anni Downs, Janelle Wind and Natalie Ross!  Exceptional!!!    These  little gift boxes awaited each of the ladies attending - and held a cute little gift for each of us!

Our bags were beautifully decorated!

Anni's projects were this gorgeous Christmas mat and an equally gorgeous woollen bag!

Janelle made beautiful bags with retro flowers!

And more retro flowers on a journal cover!

Natalie's projects were a "retreat seat" and a block holder!

The "retreat seat" had great pockets on the sides for all your stitching bits and pieces!

More of Anni's projects - lovely felt Christmas cones!

Friends and tutors - back row - Karen, Sylvia and Janelle Wind (Tutor) and front row - me, Natalie (Tutor) and Shirley!

Not sure what happened to the colour in this photo - but I met up with other blogging friends - left to right - Syvlia, Sandy, Kate, Shiree, me and Sue!   Lots of chatting and laughter took place with these girls!!

And the tranquil scenery - the view outside!  Spectacular!

What have I been doing???? And a weekend away ....

It seems a long time since I have posted ... times are busy and hectic at the moment!   I have been finishing off some things and making some kits for our upcoming October Stitching on the Lake Days in Canberra.   Some things I can't share ... but some I can .... 

This cute little face peeking out from underneath a pile of fabric might give you a hint of something we are planning on doing at our Stitching Days in October!!

I was excited to receive my first block in the "Saltbox Farm" block of the month from Natalie  of The Birdhouse fame!  

I love the muted tones of the fabrics and, again, I love incorporating embroidery with patchwork!

A tiny glimpse of a canvas work project for our Stitching Days!

And this morning I am packing my bag for a weekend of stitching and fun with lots of other like minded women!   We are off to the Jukejema Quilting Barn Retreat on the river at Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales.    I went last year and had a great time and am looking forward to meeting up with lots of blogging friends - some are even coming from New Zealand!!!   Our teachers for the weekend are Anni Downes, Natalie Ross and Janelle Wind - looking forward to that!!

So .... this is my stitching bag for the weekend ....

I could be taking a basket .....full of goodies ....

Pretty sure there will be lots of cups of tea!!

And did I mention ... there will be lots of good friends there ....

Yep ... another cup of tea ....

Button collection better come with me .... I always need to embellish!!!

And of course a pincushion ... this one was recently made by Tricia ..... so I thought I would take it on it's first trip away ....

And you can't stitch without red frogs .... it has long been a stitching tradition with my group of friends .... will 2 packets be enough though???     Hope you all have a great weekend ... and hope you get to fit in a little bit of stitching time!!!    Enjoy!!

New Stitching Projects

With all the troubles in London at the moment, it is nice to hear our youngest daughter has arrived safely in London (from Portugal) before heading off to the Greek Islands tomorrow!   As I know she may well check my blog on her travels,  I'm wishing you safe travels and happy times Chelsea!! xx

For those who are attending our Stitching on the Lake days in Canberra, please note that Saturday 22nd October is booked out!!!   There are only a couple of places left on Saturday 15th October so don't forget to register quickly!! 

Here are a couple of the projects we are working on over the next few weeks at Needlework (with thanks to Sylvia for sharing her designs).   This lovely stitched case is a different version of one I made a while back - this one is worked on lovely ticking fabric and with rows of embroidered flowers and stitches!   This will be a great project to practice your stitches!

A bit of a closer view of the stitching!

And the zipper has a lovely tassel of buttons and threads!

Looking down from the top - and please note the beautiful orchids out on my back porch at the moment!!

And this other great project can be made into a cushion or a bag - decorated with beautiful handpainted buttons from Up in Annie's Room - it is well worth a visit to Larraine's beautiful online store.   Larraine cuts the most divine laser cut buttons and designs!

A cute bird - we painted ours blue!

And some lovely flower buttons - also painted!     So this will give those ladies who are doing these classes an idea of the fabrics and colours used!    Please remember I have some of the ticking fabric available for a kit so you don't have to buy that!  Now I am off to finish off some more stitching projects - I am feeling a productive afternoon coming on!!   (I have to utilise my day off to the max - and make sure to include some stitching!!)

Visit to Perth

Have been so busy this past week!    Last weekend we spent three days in Perth visiting our son and his girlfriend!    This was the closest thing I got to "crafty" last weekend - we enjoyed a fabulous brunch with Andrea's parents, who also live in Perth, at "Wild Poppy" in Fremantle!   What a great place!  And outside they have decorated a cold winter tree and wrapped it with gorgeous knitted squares of bright wool - doesn't it look great?   

 

The chairs and lounges inside were covered in the most beautiful fabrics - how gorgeous is this?

Elliott and Marley!

So very windy - so what's a boy to do - kite surf!

He's out there somewhere in that choppy rough sea and howling wind - attached to the bottom of the black kite!

Amazing food - pancakes with poached pears and stewed berries!

Olive bread with spinach and tomato for breakfast!

Olive bread with goats cheese and roasted tomato bruschetta!  mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Mussel Bar in Fremantle provided a spectacular meal of mussels!

David and I at Mussel Bar!

Elliott and Andrea at Mussel Bar!   What a great weekend we had - no stitching - only a little on the plane on the way over and back!   Must get back into it this week!   Enjoy your weekend and the beautifully sunny weather we are having here on the east coast!