March retreat

Judy and I stayed at an Airbnb in Ballarat last weekend to do some sewing.  I actually did some sewing wheeeee!  Although I did hours and hours of sewing I only came home with one block finished!

I usually don't adhere too many appliqué pieces onto the backing at once but I wanted all my blocks ready to go once I arrived at retreat.  Here is my layout before I did the Possum and the Tasmanian Devil so that I could work out what colours their clothes should be.  I managed to do all the prep work before going to retreat so I was really pleased with myself.

We changed our routine this time and instead of going to the quilt shop at Ballan we went via Gisborne and stopped in at Patch n Quilt and, a new to us, store Hummingbird Quilting.  But we did do our usual stop at Gail's Patchwork Emporium via the unsealed road through the forest which is always an adventure and we went to Spotlight where we walked out empty handed!  And guess what?  We didn't go to Beechworth Bakery!  Instead we went to a lovely café in the shopping centre across from Spotlight.

Judy's haul.  I bought some wool in Gisborne but that was all.

We've stayed at this accommodation in Cardigan previously and it's nicely set up for a couple of sewing ladies.  The only fault is that the lighting is terrible!

My plan was to thread up my machine and blanket stitch around every piece of appliqué that used that colour before changing threads and stitching the next colour.  It meant I didn't have to keep rethreading my machine but that also explains why I only have one block finished!  I did a lot though and most of the blocks only have the black (eyes and noses mostly) to finish.

Here is my work and Judy at the beginning of the first day.

And here is my work and Judy at the end of the last day.  We did move I swear!

Here are some blocks partially stitched.

And my threads!  This was taken half way through the weekend when I had to prove to Kate that I had actually been sewing for a change!

I also did some more flying geese.

And may have had a glass of wine.  Or two.

Judy was busy.  She made lots of bindings and finished some baby quilts for Sunshine Hospital.

Worked on this quilt.

And this one.

Judy also did a bit of this and that and the other.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait to go again!

I'm currently doing the worst job a quilter can do and that's taking in clothing.  Ughh!  I swear I'd rather sew a whole new outfit from scratch than alter ready made items!  These are scrubs and for some reason I can never say no!  My friend would have been better off reordering new sizes but they wouldn't have arrived in time.