Sewjourn Blog http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog Sewjourn quilting and craft retreat - a place to relax, create and enjoy Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:53:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Kate’s Quilt http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/kates-quilt/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/kates-quilt/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:17:17 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2200 One finished quilt. (During the summer hols)

One very happy 7 year old daughter.

One 11 year old who thinks I need to start her quilt IMMEDIATELY!

NB: Photos taken with old camera – makes me realise how good new camera is!!!

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/kates-quilt/feed/ 5 Weekend available…… http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/weekend-available/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/weekend-available/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:41:23 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2278 Our weekends are basically booked out at Sewjourn this year (unless mid-December interests you!) but just before Christmas I did have a cancellation for 19-21 March and have been really slack doing anything about it!  Anyhow, it’s only 3 weeks away now but I have finally gotten around to making it available on the Calendar and blogging about it.  SO, if you and a group of friends are free on those dates and would like to book a crafty weekend away please email me.  Alternatively, if there is just you or one or two friends and you would be interested in sharing Sewjourn with some other like-minded crafty people then let me know too and if enough people are interested we might be able to organise a weekend.

 

PS.  The girls who were there this weekend have added their photos to the flickr group.  If you have been to Sewjourn and have photos please feel free to join the group and upload your photos too!

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/03/weekend-available/feed/ 0 Quilting Bee 3 http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/quilting-bee-3/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/quilting-bee-3/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:26:17 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2269 Last Saturday  a group of lovely ladies got together and spent the day cutting and sewing and ended up with two completed (almost!) quilt tops.  These are made from left over fabric from our Bushfires Quilts and are destined for a Women’s Shelter.  It’s such a fun way to spend a day!  Thanks girls to all of you for joining in.

Thanks Susie for the photos (I forgot my camera!!)…..sorry I can’t post more but can’t manage to make them small enough in size to load quickly.  But you can find other accounts of the day here and here.

PS.  We missed you Bron (and a few other blogless girls who usually come along) but are planning our next get together on May 1st when we will be making children’s quilts for the Royal Children’s Hospital, so mark it in your diaries!  If anyone else would like to join us you are most welcome – please just email me to let me know.

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/quilting-bee-3/feed/ 4 Playing with the new camera http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/playing-with-the-new-camera-2/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/playing-with-the-new-camera-2/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:05:31 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2260 The cactus garden has had some amazing flowers on it this year.  Most of them last for less than a day but they are stunning whilst they are out.

……Good reason to have a play with the new camera.

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/playing-with-the-new-camera-2/feed/ 4 Back into the school year http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/back-into-the-school-year/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/back-into-the-school-year/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:51:41 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2252 It’s been a great start to the school year for 2010……..and it’s hard to believe they’ve been back for 2 1/2 weeks already!  I’m looking forward to making the most of the final year with all 3 girls at primary school…….and savouring every moment because it just seems like yesterday that Ella was starting prep and now she’s House Captain with a prep buddy of her own.

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/back-into-the-school-year/feed/ 1 This time last week….. http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/this-time-last-week/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/this-time-last-week/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:00:52 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2224 …I was sipping champagne and getting to know the other 6 girls at our workshop at Sewjourn whilst Kellie entertained us with the story of her quilting journey (and showed us her gorgeous quilts and cushions…….up close!!)

It was the start of an amazing weekend. Lara summed it up beautifully. It’s sometimes hard work learning a new skill. And for me who is used to precise rotary cutting, sewing straight lines and matching seams and points this was out of my comfort zone! But Kellie is a fantastic teacher and her patience and encouragement nutured us all towards producing pieces we could be proud of.

We appliqued…..

And quilted….

And watched and listened….

And unpicked….

And practised….

And stayed up very late………

Needless to say I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the weekend between concentrating hard on learning and cooking for everyone as well.  But it was worth it!  I came away inspired by Kellie and by the other 6 lovely ladies who had joined us. By early afternoon Sunday we were at the stage of hanging the fruits of our labours on the new design wall. 

It always amazes me to see the different color combinations that people come up with……they were all so different but all looked fantastic!

 

These are the faces behind the masterpieces…….

Back L to R: Me, Kerry, Mary (one of the gorgeous girls who made the drive from Canberra to join us), Kylie, Donna (Mary’s travelling companion)

Front L to R: Lara and Leah

What a creative group of girls………and hopefully they all had the chance to relax and enjoy as well.

And here’s some close ups of my first attempt at raw edge applique and free motion quilting………..there’s lots of room for improvement but it’s not too bad (especially when it’s home here and not sitting next to Kellie’s exquisite work!)  The plan for this weekendis to make it up into a cushion……and then there’s the Pretty in Pink pattern to start on……..

 

 

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/this-time-last-week/feed/ 6 Getting excited…. http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/getting-excited/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/getting-excited/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:36:25 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2209 because it’s only one more sleep until Kellie’s workshop at Sewjourn!!  Along with 6 other girls I’ll be spending the weekend sewing, learning and eating!  I’ve gathered together all my threads and fabrics and I’ll be heading off in the morning.  Can’t wait.  So come back next week and hopefully there will be lots to tell……..and who knows even some photos of finished projects!!!

Meanwhile last weekend we had our Giveaway Day at Sewjourn.  A few friends and I spent the day chatting and sewing along with 6 other creative ladies.  Here’s a few photos…………

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2010-01-31_14-13-08

2010-01-31_14-15-42

2010-01-31_14-15-50

2010-01-31_15-28-44

2010-01-31_15-29-08

And Saturday we spent the day doing this!  We’d always planned on having a design wall here so finally it’s ready to go…….just in time for this weekend’s workshop!

2010-01-30_17-40-32

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/02/getting-excited/feed/ 3 Just a minute………in January http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/just-a-minute-in-january/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/just-a-minute-in-january/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:59:52 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2206 Reading

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Steig Larsson - can’t put down the last book in the Millenium trilogy. (But not any blogs as I haven’t had regular internet access)

Celebrating

Daughter No. 1’s eleventh birthday

Enjoying

Relaxing family time over the holidays, lots of sunshine and swimming and the fact that the girls all had a happy start to the new school year on Thursday

Looking forward to……

Kellie’s workshop at Sewjourn this weekend!

Crafting

Finishing off lots of projects (photos to come as soon as I master how to upload from the new camera) including daughter no. 3’s quilt, doing my Around the Block sewing

Planning (or dreaming)

About some exciting travel plans……..

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/just-a-minute-in-january/feed/ 2 It’s arrived…. http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/its-arrived/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/its-arrived/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:52:56 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2191 Finally.

box

Big box.

bubble_wrap

Lots of bubble wrap to play with.

leads

Loads of instructions, cords, plugs etc.

close_up

Hopefully loads of good photos (certainly loads of good fun!)

nikon

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/its-arrived/feed/ 4 Paint http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/paint/ http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/paint/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:58:14 +0000 Jan http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/?p=2185 Lately I’ve been feeling like all our decorating and handyman efforts go into Sewjourn which doesn’t leave a lot of time, energy or money for home.  But just before Christmas our deck wall which had been bare cement sheet for about 5 years got a splash of paint……..and it looks great!

 deck_1

Part of the delay was choosing the colour but now that it’s done it’s fantastic.  One of the best things is that the color changes with the time of day.

ella_lucy_deck

deck_2

]]> http://www.sewjourn.net.au/blog/2010/01/paint/feed/ 2