What fun it was to see the ladies from Retreat with their projects today. Some projects still need a little work to finish, but it looks like a lot of sewing went on. And a lot of talking too apparently, and not necessarily to other people, but to themselves and the sewing machine and the person who designed that stupid pattern!
Don't forget next Wednesday 20 September is at The Old Station Teahouse on Cape Hillsborough Road. Ring Delma 49590284 if you want to go and haven't put your name down yet.
Wednesday 27 September will be held at the Women's Centre in Shakepeare Street.
Wednesday 4 October will be back at the Northern Beaches Community Hall again in freshly painted surrounds!
Flo won the badge draw today and the raffle was won by Marlena.
Show and Tell of some finished / partly finished items from the retreat.
Joan and Charmaine made identical cat pieces this year. Constructing this required metres of gladbake for the base pattern (drawn up from a pinned picture on the internet), the individual pieces and the pattern for cutting the fabric. The right ear alone was an afternoon's work. Made entirely from Kaffe Fassett fabrics with a contrasting bright and bold background fabric. The applique was done with Floriani Appli-Kay Wonder which is a pressure sensitive webbing and makes the whole process more manageable for something with hundreds of pieces. Charmaine wanted to call hers Jack after her cat and Joan thought hers was a bit of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat but they don't want Tomcats hanging on their walls, so they will be Jackie and Josephine.
Cheryl too had a Kaffe Fassett connection with this pattern of his called All Stacked Up. The fabrics include some batiks she brought back from Bali and some she won in last year's raffle. (We believe there are yet still more batik quilts to come.)
Robyn was working on a quilt with Japanese fabrics and black so there was a lot of time in dull work conditions when she just could not sew with black thread. So she made some microwave bowls. This was last year's mystery retreat project and they were such a success that her sister ordered one for everyone in her tennis club. Robyn has the making of them 'down pat' now.
Helen had admired a placemat Delma had done in this pattern and so decided to make a really really big placemat. Almost finished it at retreat, only two more borders pieces to go, but it did mean she didn't get a chance to work on that tricky Spinning Wheel BomB quilt.
Marlena showed her usual prolific output by waking up 3 hours before everyone else and sewing her little heart out.
Marlena machine appliqued this zebra pocket for the front of a Quillo.
It is a fairly small Quillo, but Marlena's grandson is only 5 months old so he has a lot of growing into it to do. The side with the pocket is white minkee fabric and it will be a real cuddle blanket. But white minkee for a boy? Obviously a first time mum ordered this one!
Marlena has made lots and lots of bags, but this is the only one that has ever taken her 10 hours to construct. The pattern had quite a few bugs in it.
The matching wallet was similarly frustrating.
This one however is a quick and easy project. Fold some Prairie Points from the box of leftover 2 1/2" squares you've collected, place them on a line on your teatowel, fold the teatowel over and seam them in, open, press and topstitch. And you have the cutest little handmade gift.
This was made with the little Twister ruler recently demonstrated at Needleworx. It went together easily and if the corners didn't match it didn't matter because they are covered with the little red berry beads. Marlena was shocked though that the fabric started out as a 36" square and the hanging has ended up around 12".
These are pillow bands made to match the quilt Marlena has recently finished for her bed. What's the use of having a new quilt if there aren't matching accessories?
As opposed to the 10 hour bag, this one took just 30 minutes. Made from curtaining samples, it is large and light and made especially for taking on trips where you intend to bring home more luggage than you take! There is a band on the other side which just slips over the handle of your luggage so you don't even have to carry it when it's full.
This year's mystery project had everyone take a 10" square of fabric and a 16" zip resulting in a little cube pod or a flat baglet. (Didn't manage to get the right terminology for these!) In any case, they are a cute little project and now house everything from sewing supplies to phone chargers.
And in other 'non-retreat' Show and Tell
Di has been working on more recycled projects with some clutch bags made from men's ties. Making pretty lacy rosettes was her go-to motorhome holiday project so she had to design some little bags to stitch them to as well when she came home.
This bag is recycled jeans with a pretty rosette, lace trims, beads and feathers.
Liz's latest quilt for the Women's Centre features some transport fabric bought from Spotlight. It is hand stiched and hand quilted as usual with a cuddly (and cheap) fleece backing.
Marlena showed her usual prolific output by waking up 3 hours before everyone else and sewing her little heart out.
And in other 'non-retreat' Show and Tell
