Retreat Update

It has been a busy month at Russellee.  We had a wonderful three day retreat with five ladies coming from Melbourne, four from the Southern Highlands, two from Canberra and one wonderful local lady Ros who was a great help over the weekend.  This retreat was a combination of UFO's and learning the Snake Trail (Snake in a Hollow) block.  The results were very interesting. 

At Work

Concentration

Deciding of Fabrics

Snakes Trail Blocks

Another UFO quilt top finished.  Now for the quilting!!!

Snake's trail block going together.

The Retreat was very relaxing considering some of the hassels that happened over the weekend due to unforseen circumstances. (Our cook was ill and could not come.)  However all problems were overcome and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Time out with a 'Local"

Some of the ladies visited the Adelong Patchwork Shop on the Saturday. Not to mention a visit to a local shoe shop which resulted in a shoe parade on Sunday evening.The Melbourne ladies stayed an extra night. Ros acted as a tour guide and took them around Tumut and to Adelong where they visited the Adelong Patchwork Shop.  The shop does not open on Mondays as a rule but Ros spotted Chrissie in her garden and hailed her over. Ros is not one to let an opportunity go by.  A great time was then had in the shop.

Adelong Patchwork shop

My next quilting retreat at Russellee will be 26th - 28th April next year.  If you are interested in this please send me an email. 

Our Quilting Retreat at Sea next January is fully booked.  We have 34 wonderful ladies coming.  Amanda Daley and I are looking forward to meeting them all.

Voyager of the Seas

We are also planning a Quilting Retreat to Bail in June 2013.  I have several ladies expression of interest.  The details are still being finalsied however we are taking names of anyone interested in going.  Email me at russeldr@bigpond.com if you would like more information on this Retreat.

Batik shop in Bali

700 year old rice feilds Bali

We can also arrange Reteats on weekends or during the week for your group.  This can be for a varity of crafts as well as patchwork and scrapbooking.

Christmas is not far away.  I still have five quilts to quilt to take on the cruise.  They will be done.  Until next time

Dorothy

Quilting Retreat

While Tony and I were in Bali with Sandy's Quilters from Canberra my friend, Ros who looked after Russellee while we were away, had a retreat with Zaree's Quilters. These ladies were also from Canberra.  Eight ladies came and from all reports from Ros they had a great time.  Ros took a couple of photos for me.

 

 

 

 

Russellee's next Quilting Retreat in October is fully booked. I have not set any dates for next year as yet.  However we are planning a special retreat in June.  We can also arrange weekends, or mid week, retreats for groups of up to 12 ladies.  Please contact me if you would like information on this

 

Dedication to Scrapbooking

 

I received a couple of photos from Carol, one of the Scrapbookers who attended our last Scrapbooking retreat.  She asked me to share these two phots with you to show how keen her and Veronica were to get to the retreat.  They had to go through a heavy fall of snow.  Thank you Carol and Veronica for being so keen.  On the previous retreat we were flooded in.  What will next retreat in March bring?

I am still sorting through the Bail photos and will put up a report on this wonderful trips soon.

until next time

Dorothy

Busy Six Weeks

The past six weeks have been very full on.  It started with a lovely group of ladies coming for a Quilting Retreat for a weekend.  Two days later Tony, James and I flew to Broome for three weeks.  Then after we got back home I had a Scrapbooking Retreat.

Let's start with the Quilting Retreat

Seven lovely ladies from Albury and Tumut attended an Attic Window Retreat.  This used a panel fabric and the results were stunning.  Here are some of the photos.

The finished quilt tops

 

Pinning a finished quilt top

 

Happy to have finished the quilt top

 

Broome and the Kimberlys

The day after the Retreat Tony, James and I went to Sydney on the train to fly out to Broome on the Tuesday.  We had two nights in Broome then went on an Adventure Wild 12 day camping trip. We went along the Gibb River Road, visited Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Ceek, Bell Gorge, Calvan's Gorge, Manning Gorge, Home Valley Station, El Questo Station, Emma Gorge, Kununurra, Bungle Bungles, Halls Creek and Geiki Gorge.

There were 16 of us on the tour.  The rest of the gang were great, the walks were great and adventurous, the food was wonderful and the ancient landscape amazing.  We all had a great time and at the end of the trip had five nights in Broome to recover.  Camping is good fun, I enjoved the trip emensely however, I was glad to roll up the sway for the last time.

It was hard to pick photos of this wonderful trip.  Here is just a sample.

Swiming the river to do the Manning Gorge walk

 

Echidna George

in the Bungle Bungles

 

Geikie Gorge

 

James at the Bungle Bungles

 

Cable Beach Sunset Camel ride

James and Me

 

Scrapbooking Retreat

Happy Scrappers

 

The weekend just past seen 13 ladies attended my second Scrapbooking Retreat for the year.  There were several regular retreaters and four new ones to Russellee.  We have three workshops and three challenges.  These are not compulsory but many did do them.  Here are some of the resutls.

Sally's great layout

 

 

Paper challenge

 

The next Scrapbooking Retreat will be the 1 - 3 March 2013.  This is filling fast.  If you would like to come please let me know as soon as possible.

 

Quilting Cruise Update

 

We have 27 quilters plus family and friends coming on the 2nd Australian Quilting cruise next January.  There are still some vaccancies if you would like to come on this fabulous 14 Day Cruise with myself and Amanda Daly.  The time is going very fast.  It will be Christmas and the Cruise before we know it.  If you are interesed contact Lorelle by email lorelle@thecruisecrew.com

 

And finally

 

Tony and I are off again on Saturday with some of the Canberra Quilters for a two week Fabric and Cultural tour of Bali.  We don't usually have such a short time between trips however when we were invited to go it was an opportunity not to be missed.  Will post on the blog this trip when we get back

 

Until next time

 

Dorothy

 

 

 

Quilting Cruise workshop

I have been working on four different versions of my second workshop on the 2nd Australian Quilting Cruise next January.  My workshop is titled Bali Treasures.  I will be going to Bali on a fabric and cultural tour with a group of Canberra Quilters next September.  I will be looking for batiks to put together as kits for this workshop.

The second version is adding turned applique machined onto the background using monofil thread.  They could also be needle turned.

This design does not have to be done with batiks.  My third version was made using 9 fabrics from the Essentials Too Damask collection.  These colours were not colours that I would usually use.  It is good to get out of your square sometimes.

I collect cat fabrics and had a piece with 3" squares with cats and a matching allover fabric for quite awile in my stash not knowing what to do with them. The 3" squares were perfect for this design.  Needless to say I did not use the coordinating fabric from my stash but took the fabric to 'Simply Stitches' in Wagga and chose eight matching fabrics to complete the project. I was happy with the resulting quilt.

Bookings are going well on our 2nd Australian Quilting Cruise.  Our adds in Quilters Companion and DUO Quilts came out this month. However, the group price freeze that we have for the cabins on the ship is ending on Monday.  The cabin prices for any future booking on our cruise will unfortunatly go up then.  If you are interested in this cruise if you book befor then you will get the old price.  The deposit of $450 is fully refundable until the 15th October.  If you book now you have until then to change you mind if necessary.

If you are interested in coming on this fabulous cruise with myself and Amand Daly contact our booking guru, Lorelle, by email. lorelle@thecruisecrew.com Alternatly you can contact me at russeldr@bigpond.com

A Quilting Retreat at Sea is a great way to combine your passion for Patchwork and a pampered holiday together. 

Until next time

Dorothy

Australian Quilt Cruise Workshop Preview

Amanda Daly's second workshop is a memory quilt of the cruise.  This quilt offers offers techniques including raw edge applique, raw edge reverse applique, partial seams. The picture shows the New Zealand version.  There will be a choice of this a Pacific Island,  with gecko's turtles, hibiscus flowers and palm trees etc, and an Australian version, will be gum leaves, flannel flowers and banksia etc, as well.

In the Round - New Zealand Version

I am working on my second workshop and will have it posted soon.  This uses batiks however it can also be done in a variety fabrics.  At the beginning of September Tony and I are going to Bali with a group of quilters from Canberra.  We will be visiting the batik factories and I hope to bring back fabrics to put together kits for this workshop.  I am also going to do a version with turned machine applique.

Happy quilting

Dorothy

Australian Quilting Cruise Update

Keeping Warm

Here we are six months out from our next Australian Quilting Cruise.  It is almost snowing here.  In fact one of the ladies coming on the cruise was speaking to me at lunch time and it was snowing where she is at Kanama, near Batlow.  Just thinking about curising to the Pacific and being able to quilt on the way is waming me up.  My animals have taken position by the fire.  They are not venturing too far from the house.

We have to date 15 quilting ladies plus some partners and friends booked on the curise.  We have a lot of publicity going out over the next couple of months so if you would like to come or would like more information please contact me.

I have been busy in my sewing room putting together quilts to show for my two classes.  I have managed to finish quilting one of them.  Seven to go.  Have done (or will do) four variations on each of my classes.  You know quilting rooms are very hard to keep tidy.  I seem to have fabrics everywhere.

Amanda has posted some of her samples on her blog.  Hop over there and have a look. http://amandaspatch.blogspot.com.au/

I am still waiting on the batics to arrive for one of my workshops.  Will post the finished quilt when I have it completed'

With the school holidays upon us and snow not far away we have a lot of bookings.  Just after the holidays I have 7 ladies from Albury coming for a retreat so we will be very busy over then next few weeks.  Still hope to fit in the patchwork.  Seem to be sewing later at night. 

Will keep you posted on the quilting progress over the next few weeks.

Until next time

Dorothy

Thread Painting Workshop

Broughton Castle England
completed thread painting

Last weekend I had the pleasure of giving a Thread Painting workshop to a lovely group of ladies at the Supurb Patchwork Shop Boorowa.  Boorowa has a lovely Patchwork shop owned by Ruth Davis.  This shop is a credit to a small town.

Photo of the garden at Broughton Castle England that inspired the thread painting

The ladies spent the first day learning different thread painting techniques and on the second day we created a picture with a painted background and the details thread painted.  My example used a photo taken on our trip to England May last year.

two of the ladies concentrating

The weekend was most enjoyable.  It was nice to be thread painting again after all the patchwork that I have been doing for the Australian Quilting Cruise next January. 

Painting the background

Starting to thread paint

Work well on the way

Completed Mini Landscape 2½" x  2"

One of the comments made on the was not having to keep getting up to the iron.  Lunch on Sunday was at the pub accross the road.  Ann comented on turning up with paint on her hands.  All part of the process.

Planning for the Australian Quilting Cruise is well on the way.  Amanda has posted on her blog the one day workshop that she will be doing.  This is titled 'Postcards'.  Have a look on her blog for her examples.  They are great. http://amandaspatch.blogspot.com.au/

We have had several bookings for the cruise.  Most of the oceanview cabins are booked.  There are limited number of these left however, inside cabins and the small balcony cabins are still available.  Email me if you would like more information on this cruise.

Dorothy

Australian Quilting Cruise 2013 Workshop News

On the last cruise the ladies put forward suggestions for workshops on the January 2013 quilting cruise.  I have put together a quilt that can incorporate some of these ideas.  A larger quilt was suggested. This quilt is designed to use a cutting corner ruler but this is not necessary.  The quilt has 12 main blocks of 12" square.  I have incorporated a 6" or 8" centre panel into these blocks.  Six of these panels can be done in one of several techniques.  I have focused on three of these.

The colours in these photos are not the best. 

One being hand embroidery.  I am not a hand sewer and this took a bit of procrastinating on my part.  It is good sometimes to get out of the square that you work in.  My passion is free machine embroidery.  Once I came up with a theme the designs did come.  I would draw one then embroider it.  I had 'Shakespears Flowers' as the main fabric.  The embroiders fitted in with this theme.

Close up of two of the embroidered panels

I also have this fabric in a butter colourway and am doing another version of this quilt using the lovely 3" panels that is part of the range.  I have not finished this as yet.  This photo is put together in Photoshop to give you a bit of an idea.  The pink and sage is not as dark as shown here.

One of the other requests made on the last cruise was foundation piecing.  I have Incorporated six foundation pieced blocks in this quilt.  The fabric is Michelle Hill's 'Morris Meadows'.  I love the rich colours in these fabrics.  The colours are totally different to the 'Shakespear Flowers' fabric. I have this in a black and pink colourway as well.

Fussy cutting also goes well with this quilt design.  This version of the quilt is using 'Bouquet Gallery' which has a wide boarder fabric.  All the fabric in this quilt come from this range.

Fabric with 6" panels also work well with this design.This quilt has 6" flower panels with little verses. 

I am putting together a bright quilt using 6" cat panels.  This is the centre only still has to have the borders added.

The finished size of the quilt is about 60" x 70" depending on the width of the outside border.  Again the colours in the photos are not very good.  They look better in real life.

This pattern can work with a wide range of fabrics.  Blocks could also be machined embroidered.  I have a limited number of kits for all of these versions.  However, I will be providing a fabric list for those who would like to use fabric from their stash or to use something different.  If you want any further information on these please email me.

Hopefully I will have all these quilted before the cruise.

Dorothy