The 2011 Townsville Sewing and Embroidery Retreat
The fifth retreat in Townsville on the first week end in November was a huge success.  Ladies travelled from Atherton, Ingham, Halifax, Hughenden and Bowen (as well as locals) to participate in a sewing experience they will never forget.  Much laughter and sewing emanated from the sewing room.

Some of the completed projects.

"Now, what is the next step ?"

Another lady used raw edge applique for a project.

Some of the ladies at the Townsville Retreat.

Braiding - with Christmas fabrics at our Townsville retreat.

A placement and positioning exercise.

This baby's quilt was created with a patchwork technique taught at a previous workshop.

The Cut Around Tool was used to create this Japanese style wall Hanging.

WAll to wall sewing at the CWA hall.

R and C Fabrics - Mossman
A series of workshops held at Mossman to expose the ladies to new and challenging techniques.  The energy and concentration was addictive as each person created their projects.  Thank you again to Romona and Cathy for providing this opportunity for the Mossman ladies.

The Mossman CWA hall was a buzz with sewing.

Concentration on the needle turn process.

Learning a needle turned trapunto technique.

Congratulations to these girls for their quit tops.

Another basket weave top.

Lynelle completed her Trapunto wall hanging

The Mossman ladies enjoyed making this basket weave quilt top.

This Friendship quilt top was completed at the workshop.

I have sewn my very first zip !!

Beginning the quilt of flowers.

Are we there yet ??

At another class, the children created a zippered pencil case.

The children are very proud of their effort.

Jane showing the children the next step.

Working at the Flinders Poppy Centre.

Connell and Alex with their lined patchwork bags.

And the girls are not to be outdone.

Constructing the Flannel Flower

Demonstrating a technique.

Lyn creating the Wattle bloom.

The Hughenden children with their appliqued back pack.

And from the front.

Wattle and Flannel Flowers.

Completing the art quilt. 

The Hughenden Girls  working on their Art quilt.

With the eight 3-D flowers completed, the next step is creating a quilt hanging.

Sue stitching Charity quilts

Susan Completing a UFO quilting project.

Another Australian flower

Creative patchwork piecing
for beginning sewing at Hughenden

Connell learning how to insert a zip.

Stitch and Flip piecing technigues.

Concentration with bobbinwork

Learning to use the school sewing machines at Hughenden.

Focussing on bobbinwork technique during a class at Sewing Essentials.

The ladies at Sewing essentials concentrating on learning a new technique.

For the advanced quilters, we used a 10 deg wedge to create an amazing butterfly. 

Darwin workshops, July
Dragonfly Fabrics yet again, played host to a range of creative sewing classes. It is a wonderful time during which friendships are renewed and the love of sewing is affirmed. The Darwin ladies were very focussed on their projects.

Many butterflies were stitched at the class, so, does that mean it is a fluttering of butterflies ?

One very special granddaughter will receive this backpack for kindy.

Just love the colours, and what a great way to make a large quilt !!

Julie with her project using circle insertion.

This quilt , commenced at a previous workshop
was proudly shown as a completed project.
Congratulations on a unique piece !

Learning new techniques.

There was never a dull moment with these enthusiastic ladies.

Patchwork Friendsy Retreat  This Retreat held at Gennazzano was a wonderful opportunity for the participants to sew, make friends and laugh.

Hard at work "retreating" !!

We have finished our quilts.

Another two wonderful projects completed.

Checking the results.

Brenda has finished her quilt.

Senior Citizens - Greenvale
This group of enthusiastic ladies hosted a basic patchwork weekend. They worked solidly to complete their projects. Congratulations to you all for a great time, much laughter and lots of learning.

Geraldine concentrating on borders.

Children's sewing class - Hughenden
Children are experiencing the creative side of sewing while learning the basic construction processes.  Their first project was an eco-friendly foldup shopping bag.

Connel and Tayla with their foldup bags.

The ladies planning the quilting of their projects.

Susan's completed wildflowers.

Jordan, Annie and Georgie with their bags.

Lesley working on her backpack.

Lyn J. finishing her flower.

Lyn's completed wildflowers.

Susan working on her backpack.

Lyn and Bronwyn at the Hughenden workshop.

Sue completing her Desert Pea.

Margie creating her Desert Rose.

Flinders Poppy Craft & Resource Group, January and April - Hughenden
Members of the Hughenden Craft and Resource Group come together for weekend workshops for an ongoing creative project, the wildflowers wall quilt.  Some participants travel over many kilometres of black soil roads just for each weekend.

Lyn W. with two of her wildflowers.

Karen helping with the fabric preparation for the workshop.

Piecing patches.

Caught measuring the quilt.

9-Patch underwater scene

Heads down working.

Sewing is a great leraning experiences in Mossman.

Concentration at each machine in Mossman.

Patchwork Friendsy, Edmonton - March
Colleen organised a great workshop where the ladies made a zippered tote Bag.  ladies could either machine emboider or applique the feature panel.  fabulous resultes were achieved by each participant.  Thank you Colleen for a fun day.

Jane with two beginning sewers.

Mossman CWA hall.

The concentration is intense.

The combination of colours really work well.

R and C Fabrics, Mossman - March
Romona and Cathy hosted another series of wonderful workshops in the local CWA hall at Mossman.  The ladies were treated to a varied range of sewing experiences which were enjoyed by everyone.  Thank you to Romona and Cathy for their hard work in bringing it all together.

Dragonfly Fabrics, Darwin - January
During the big wet season experienced by Queensland and the Northern Territory, I ventured to Darwin to work with the ladies from Dragonfly Fabrics.  While it rained, we stitched up a storm.  Many thanks to Judith from Dragonfly Fabrics for a great time.

Almost finished !!

Will I put this here ?

Double sided patchwork.

Inge with her pieced and embroidered convergence wall hanging.

Margaret with her Stripper's party quilt top.

Chain sewing at its best.

Serious concentration.

A very bright Stripper's Party quilt top.