Weekend Retreat at Rydal

My Stitching group spent last weekend

in the picturesque village of Rydal.....

We booked out The Rydal Mount Function Centre....

It was a perfect spot for stitching, eating, drinking and relaxation....

This is the lounge room with wood fire

and ample seating for late night stitching... 

Dining Room and fully equipped kitchen....

We all made various meals over the weekend.....

Friday Dinner was Lasagne by Fran, Rocket Pear Walnut

and Parmesan Salad by Kate and Apple Pie

with custard and Cream by Lorraine....

A quick trip to the Rydal Pub for the 2 single girls on retreat

 after dinner to check out the talent was in order but alas in the

 population of 60 there are not many eligible bachelors....ha ha!

Di and I did meet Fiona from Backyard Blitz but I was a bit star

 struck and forgot( was forbidden by Di) to get a photo....

Next morning it was out into the conference room that fitted 9

of us with loads of room to spare for some Stitching....

The girls all look very busy indeed....

It is one of the old school house rooms

 and was full of natural light....

I worked on constructing the court house steps on my

 Lynette Anderson my garden wall hanging....

I had three joined together by lunch....

I think I kept getting distracted with all the other ladies projects...

After lunch which was Potato and Bacon Soup by Roxanne....

Alison Jo and I went for a lovely walk around the block

 which pretty much covers Rydal town....

There a some nice accommodation and B&B's options....

We all fell in love with Rose Cottage

and the owner showed us through....

This is the old office building at the Police Station

converted into accommodation....Too Cute!

I think I could run away and live here.....

A nice sunny spot to sit and stitch at the railway station

 which is also converted to accommodation....

Dinner was Green Curry with Rice by Jo and Bread and Butter

Pudding with preserved Cherries by Judy for dessert.....

I managed to finish my top on Sunday before we all

packed up and headed back to reality....

Perfect weekend spent with great friends at a great venue....

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

Little Miss Hadley's Quilt off to the Quilter

I braved the freezing cold weather yesterday afternoon

 and met up with Belinda Betts (Eucalypt Ridge Quilting)

 at the basketball Stadium and gave her my completed quilt top

 and backing for Miss Hadley's First birthday Quilt....

Here it is in the bag ready to go...

I decided to make a scrappy strip to go across

 the back of the quilt with the leftover fabrics...

This is how it looks....The colours in the picture are not

 great but you can get an idea of what I was going for......

Stitched down the last 2 daisies that couldn't be used on the front

 as they were the same colour as the backing blocks....

This is Miss Hadley sitting at my table in my antique high chair

chewing on a piece of slow cooked roast beef.....

What a little cutie.....

I will now wait impatiently for Belinda to work her magic so I

can then get the binding and label on before her birthday....

Until next time, happy Stitching

Kate

Lady Violet's Lace Gauntlets

I have made a fair bit of progress on

 my knitting club project this week...

Right hand gauntlet made and fits beautifully....

I love the lace cuff...

I have started on the left hand one and hope

I finish it before the novelty wears off....

I was never very good a making 2 of anything...Oh Dear!

The true colour is in the top 2 photos although

the bottom pic looks like a nice colour also....

Our Wednesday Sewing Girls are off to the tiny village of Rydal

 near Lithgow this weekend for a chance to finish

 some UFO's, start a new project, eat far too much food

and drink lots of wine....ha ha....

Have a great weekend all....

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

Jellywares Winter Yarn Club....Knitting

I received my first of 3 packages today from Jodie at "Jellywares"

I am taking part in her Winter Yarn Club....

You could choose knitting or crochet....

It is so nice to be receiving happy mail as it has been a long time

since I participated in a swap of any kind....

Inside were 2 balls of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino.....

A project bag....Some yummy mints and 4 pattern choices....

I have decided to go with The Lady Violet's Lace Gauntlets....

Wish me luck girls as I can knit but only basic...

I purchased my double ended needles yesterday and my first ever crochet hook(can't crochet but that is on my bucket list) I hope to get started on these over the weekend....

I think we are in for a cold wet one so a knitting

 project will be just perfect....

Until then, Happy Stitching

Kate

Happy Birthday Miss Molly

Happy Birthday to my beautiful "20 year old" Daughter....

I ask you all.....Where did that time go?????

Sadly I will have to wait to celebrate with her as she is attending University in Newcastle and is in the middle of first semester exams and assessments at the moment....

My Sewing Studio has come to a stand still

because my builder has not been showing up....

He told me today that he will be there Saturday

 Rain...Hail... or Shine....

I told him if he doesn't show that I am going to sell his tools....

I reckon that will get him here....ha ha!

In the meantime I purchased two of these cube

units the other day, they will be the two ends

of the cutting table that I plan to make.....Yay!

Until next time, Happy Stitching

Kate

Celebrating in The Chook Shed Part 3

After listening to the sound of falling rain most of the night we woke on Sunday morning to a lovely wet setting that definitely didn't dampen our spirits....

Chooky, Jenny, Maree and I were back out in The Chook Shed for our final day before we all headed back to reality....Chooky may well have been messaging any one of you at this very time....

Such a multi tasker.... 

I left a little Birthday bundle of fabric with Chooky....

Looking forward to see what she makes with it...

The pressure in on Girlfriend!!!

Miss Jules arrived with a batch of freshly baked

scones for morning tea....They were delicious!

Selfies with the girls on the Lounge....

Then it was sew sew sew to get my little

sewing bag finished before I left.....

Such pretty fabrics from Lynette Anderson....

 

 

 And Ta Dah! A finish.....there is as much work

in this little bag as there is in a whole quilt....

I just love how well it matches with my little needle book that

 I made at a punch needle class with Anni Downs way back when?

Jenny also finished the binding and label for

the quilt she had made for her dad....

I bet he got a nice surprise that night when

she gave it to him....Well Done Jenny!

Alas all good things must come to an end and

at 4pm I headed off back to reality....

I am a bit worried at how happy Chooky is to see me go...

 I think it's because I didn't steal any of her old relics

 that I had my eye on over the weekend....Ha ha!

It was a wet and slippery drive on the first leg

of my trip but I made it safely in the end....

Can't wait to do it all again next time....

I hope you have all enjoyed my account of the weekend!

3 blog posts in 3 days....look out girls I just may well be back!

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate

Celebrating in The Chook Shed Part 2

I was rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I staggered to Chooky's

 kitchen last Saturday morning to see what was happening.....

It was still dark after all!

The eager sewers were all up having breakfast at 6.30!!!!!!!!!!

I'd forgotten just how early these bush folk start their days......

A girl does need beauty sleep after all! Lol

After brekky and a shower it was out to the Chook Shed with slippers in hand ready to get out my blocks and work out a layout I was happy with. This is a quilt I helped Miss Molly start quite a few years ago....She was keen to start with until she announced to me that she hadn't inherited the sewing gene and it has been in a box under the bed ever since. I pulled it out earlier this year and stitched the daisies on. We now have a gorgeous new cousin "Little Miss Hadley" who will be getting this quilt for her first Birthday in September.

Out came my "Vintage" sewing machine Bernie.....

 Ronnie and Sue also had old Bernina's with them on the day.

 It's amazing what these old beauties can churn out

( and yes I was talking about us and not the machines)

Belinda was busy with a quilt she had started previously,

gorgeous lady and that smile of hers was infectious.

Miss Jules was hard at work on a quilt she is

making for her Mum in fabulous colours.....

This is Sue sewing up her doll bodies.....

 I didn't get a picture of them but they were oh so sweet.

Sue's machine was even older than my Bernie.....Love it!

Ronnie had been up since 5 so she could bake a loaf

 of fresh bread for our lunch.

 She was cutting out like a demon.....

I will need a Ronnie in my studio to cut out for me.

I loved The fabrics...by the end of the day she had ironed,

 cut and constructed most of her blocks.....She was on fire!

Jenny was hard at work on her Dresden quilt she started at

 Kerry's retreat at The Cottage on the Hill"

The design wall was overflowing when we all

moved out to The Chook Shed Deck for lunch.

The quilt at the top was the one Chooky was

 working on and Miss Jule's to the left.

And lunch definitely did not disappoint.

Freshly baked bed by Ronnie, Homemade Pumpkin Soup

 by Jules and bubbly by Chooky...... 

I think Chooky's smile says it all....don't you!

After lunch I cut and sewed the borders onto my flimsy...

I am very happy with the result as these are colours

 I definitely would not of chosen but it will be perfect for

 Little Miss Hadley and oh so snuggly because it is flannel.

I even made the binding.....I will show you more of this after I

 make the backing and the quilting is complete.

The rest of my afternoon was spent

working on another UFO....

My sewing bag from Girls Day in the Country with

 Lynette Anderson.

I finished off my pocket and pinned the hexi panels to

the main bag fabric ready for Sunday morning

 stitching on the coach with Maree....

That is where she spent the whole day

 hand stitching and hiding from my camera......

We then decided it was wine o'clock.....

lucky our fridge was stocked up!

 We headed inside for dinner with good intentions to

 return that evening but it didn't happen......

RSA was in force....no drink Stitching!!!

Jenny's Lasagne was on the menu for dinner....Yummo!

with more bubbles to wash it down.....

And what a way to end a fabulous day but with a

foot rub by Kate for our Hostess with the Mostess!!!!

Girls can somebody please fill up my glass ?

Say tuned for Part 3 of our Shedversary Celebrations....

 

Until next time, Happy Stitching

 

Kate