“In the Pink” Retreat report

Sorry that is has been a week since the retreat, and I have not reported on it before now. Life is a tad hectic around here at the moment, and I shall have more to say about that next week.
It was a fantastic weekend with all things pink, the food, the drink, the fabrics, the auction items, the clothes, the decorations and even the footwear. I took some photos, but not nearly enough. The house was very pink and the girls had gone to a lot of effort. Thankyou to all.









Even Bones the dog, and the lizard in the back yard looked the part.




Serving dinner on Saturday evening, which was shepherd’s pie with pink mashed potato! If you mix a beetroot and feta dip into the mash it is yummy.


It was supposed to be a work on your own project retreat, but I decided that it would be a good idea to use up some of my scrap stash and do a Bonnie Hunter quilt, called Scrappy Trips. As time was a bit short, and I did not have time to design a quilt of my own, I contacted Bonnie and got her permission to print out her instructions that are on her website, quiltville.com. Bonnie graciously sent her permission, and I thank her for this. And after cutting lots of coloured strips, I had the “bright”, good idea to use mainly pink strips. And this has seriously depleted my pink stash. So it will be a good excuse now to shop for more pink fabrics. Each lady received a pack of 100 pink strips in their little case of goodies.Sorry I forgot to take a photo of these. This would make 16 blocks, and then they could add borders, to finish it how they liked. A few girls worked on this project, but a couple did their hand projects. Another lady, who shall remain nameless, said that she does not do “projects”, but watched the others with great interest. Eventually I handed her one of my spare sewing machines, and she started on her quilt. I have received a text message this week, with a photo of her completed quilt, and a message thanking me for making encouraging her to do a project! When I get around to downloading the photo from my phone I shall post it to the blog.



And these are the 2 that sat in the corner, doing their handwork.

The darling lady who “doesn’t do projects”!






Edited Monday morning.... And this is the photo of Raelene's quilt. Maybe she needs to start doing "projects", as it looks fantastic!

This is Val's completed quilt hanging in our local quilt show.

And this is Lyn's finished top with a different layout and border, which looks great too.

Helen made the girls all a gorgeous pink pincushion, with their names on. Thankyou Helen.

As with the other retreats, it was a fundraiser for BCNA. We had lots of donated goods which were auctioned. There was also the pink raffle quilt and altogether we raised just over $1100 for the BCNA.  The auctions are always are lot of fun, and the bidding wars are exciting. A few local girls came to join us and added their bids into the competition.And those 2 ladies who sat in the corner, were the quiet bidders who came in at the last minute. Thanks a lot to all those who donated goods.


The weather was lovely, and lunch was eaten outside.

Raelene also prepared a small hand sewn project, which was worked on by the ladies on Sunday outside in the pergola.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the finished project.

And you can see that they were seated in comfort.


The weekend finished with High Tea on Sunday afternoon. My grandmother’s special cups and saucers had their annual  airing and Rosie cooked some delicious food for us. Thankyou Rosie. Those who stayed another night did not need much to eat for the evening meal!

It was a bit hard to get everyone seated at the table in the one photo, so this in 2 parts, and sorry to Margaret who seems to be cut in half in the centre.





Of course  we had to take the obligatory group photo as shown below. You can see that they are all pretty happy and laughing. Maybe they are thinking about the other group photo which follows!

They told me they were all happy for me to publish this photo of a quilt show! There was a lot of talk about doing a calendar, which is where the idea for this photo came from. I have the calendar that the Broken Hill girls did some years ago, and it is hanging at The Sanctuary.

A great weekend was finished with a good game of cards (Frustration), which was enjoyed by those who stayed an extra night. Always lots of laughs.And notice the pink nail polish!



Sunday evening we were blessed with a glorious sunset, and this is my "attempt" at photographing it.

Well, that’s all folks. Another great time at The Sanctuary. Better go now, and enjoy the roast that my family has cooked for me.
Be back soon, with more newsfromjude.
Blessings, From Jude