Easter retreat report

The Easter retreat commenced Thursday evening when the first ladies arrived, after their 8 hour drive from Phillip Island in Victoria. They were delayed with some heavy traffic on the way, and had a few stops, including some op shop shopping on the way. As there were no others coming that evening, we went "casual" and enjoyed toasted sandwiches and a little liquid refreshment. I had been striving to finish 'that" quilt, but didn't quite make it and had not prepared any food yet. I decided that quilt would now wait until after Easter.

So on Friday morning, I spent time in the kitchen, while the Victorian girls got busy with their sewing projects. The next arrival was due on the train from Adelaide, just before lunch. Gayle and I went down to the station, and decided to wear our bunny ears to meet the train!! I sent a photo of us in our ears to Raylene, just before the train arrived, and she said she would ask them to let her off right at the back so she could pretend she didn't know us!! We received a lot of smiles and waves from the train driver and the passengers on the train!! And then when she alighted from the train, guess who had a better bunny hat than our ears!! She was really into it, and had brought hats for us all.

 There were quite a few projects being worked on over the weekend, as well as some rest and relaxation by some. I did miss a few photos, but here are some.

Lyn had lots to work on, and the first was the binding for this quilt. This is a Mystery retreat quilt from a few years ago, and is called Turkish Delight. It has taken her awhile to get it finished, in between other life events, and I kept asking her if she was delighted yet?? And finally she is delighted, and brought it for show and tell, and to add the binding. I am delighted with how this turned out too, and will be doing this pattern again soon.

Then it was time to get these blocks finished and sewn up.

Another finish, and another smile. There seems to be a pattern happening for the weekend, with lots of photos of Lyn smiling, especially when she won the competition. (See the previous post!)

And then it was on to another couple of projects.

One lady took time out to read some magazines........

..............and then decided to do some string piecing.

Gayle was busy making demonstration blocks for a group project.............

...............and busily worked all weekend, including the evenings...........................

                                                ........................when others were relaxing!

Pat was working on a secret project that I can't show you yet..............she finished piecing the quilt, and on Sunday afternoon I quilted it,....................and then she added the binding...........

..................and had this much to spare at the end!!

Val was not well on Friday, so stayed home until Saturday morning, when she sent a text message to say she was on her way, and to roll out the red carpet!! Unfortunately I had no red carpet, but perhaps red fabric will do???

Sunday morning a few of us attended the Easter Sunrise service at the lake. This is a lovely spot to hold the service and I did get one photo of the sunrise on the water.

Easter bunny found out where all the ladies were staying a left them some goodies.

My binding fairy came to the retreat, and worked her magic on some quilts.

And then she put together a small quilt for me that I wanted to make for a friend. There are so many more things in my head that I want to do, than there are hours in the day, and I am so very blessed to have a fairy friend that does a lot of these things for me. (I just need to get that quilting fairy on the job now to finish this off).

As I had decided that the quilting of THAT quilt would wait until after Easter, I wondered just which of my other jobs I would do in between the food preparation. I felt that a couple of days with some easy piecing was just what the doctor ordered! A piecing fix is great therapy, and as I had already done the cutting for this quilt, it didn't take too much thinking about. It was also a chance to bond with that machine. So Cabin Fever was laid out ready to sew.

All the blocks are laid out on the bed ready to be sewn together.

And by Saturday afternoon, it was Taa Daaa............. and laid out on the lounge for a photo!!! But, can you see what I see???????????

Whoopsie!! Don't think this is right?? Why did I not see this when it was on the bed? (Perhaps I was in too big a hurry??)

Now it is all fixed! (And is another on the list for the quilting fairy!!)

The Vic girls were leaving Monday morning, so the group photo was taken Sunday afternoon. I will tell you that I took 12 photos, and this is the best of them all, and that's saying something. Don't you love the hats??

They are all packed away now for next year.

The Vic girls left Monday morning, and some others Monday evening, and the last one was on the train on Tuesday afternoon. I stated in an earlier post that my Monday did not go as planned. This was because one of the ladies became ill on Monday and had to attend the hospital. She has now been admitted and we hope she is well again soon.

There endeth another fantastic retreat, with LOTS of laughter and fun. It is just amazing to listen to the range of subjects discussed. There were a couple of stories that I thought would make good blog reports, and now I can't even remember what they were. Which is probably good, as maybe what happens at retreat, needs to stay at retreat?? But now that I am thinking about that, it might have been the discussion about advertising and what was good and what was bad, and what was gross? Could it have been the one about men's underwear??

All is quiet in my house again, and life back to "normal". THAT quilt is finished, and been collected and a few edge to edge quilts are planned for a little while now. Still a few jobs to do in the garden yet, and watering continues as the dry weather continues. It is also time to get my head around the cutting and designing of quilts for the June Mystery retreats.

Blessings from Jude