Warwick Retreat

Before any more days pass and it becomes very old news, I must tell you about my very first retreat. Two weeks ago, I went with a fabulous group of ladies to Glenrose Patchwork in Warwick, about 2 hours drive away, depending on roadworks.
It was just the best!!!!
Glenis and Percy Pugliese have set up a wonderful home with a patchwork shop , 4 B&B cottages, gardens and a very well appointed retreat room. The photos below should tell you all.

 

Glenrose Patchwork home and shop

'Ivy" - One of the 4 cottages

Inside 'Ivy'

Inside 'Ivy'

The photo to the left and the 2 below are of the interior of the retreat room.

 Here we are busy at work, fuelled by chocolate.

 Now let's just say we didn't starve! Don't listen to the others - almost all of this is ours! Maree made us a wonderful baked dinner. Thank you Maree. The kale is from Aunty Al's vegie garden.

Part of the gardens.

Who won the biggest and most filled bag?

 At the start of the retreat, in the shop, we were given a bag with our name on it. You know just to fill with the pretty things that caught our eye or that we needed to help with the project we were working on. Well that was lethal!
All being well we are going again next year. Can't wait.
Thank you Maree (who organised it), Helen, Teresa, Sandy, Marilyn, De, Alison and Lynda for you company and conversation.
Back soon with what I did,
Take care,
Kayly
PS. We even had a visitor. Chookyblue popped in on her way home.

Lucky Me

I was in a cushion swap.
Look what I received from Aunty Al.

 The cushion is on my couch. My other cushions are looking very dated in comparison.

 I also got yummy chocolate and a notebook, just perfectly sized for my handbag.

Thank you Aunty Al.

Take care,
Kayly

Recent Holiday

Warning - photo heavy post with no craft.  ;-)
Last March/April, Hubbie and I managed to have a 3 week holiday overseas, again in England. Yes , we did pick to go in what turned out to be their coldest Spring in 50 years. Many people we spoke to kept saying we should have been there last year when it was a hot 24deg C.  LOL. Trust us.
Yes we had snow. Something that amused us Queenslanders.

The lane next to our B&B

Sunday morning walk in Snailwell

 We saw.....
 Ancient villages and churches,

 and incredible museums.
(I'm no plane buff, but I was very impressed by Duxford.)

One of the hangers at Duxford

The National Train Museum in York

The Transport Museum in London - very well set out. You start at the top of the building and back in time and work your way down and to the present time.

  

 We saw dykes and windpumps. (Didn't know they had dykes in England.)

 See, we did have blue skies. It was just the wind -gale force, and the chill factor  - minus 5.







I loved this shoreline.  Rocks of all sizes and smoothed after tumbling about in the sea. Heaps of people walking, heads down, looking for the perfect one.

 Hubbie trying to hang onto everything in the wind that was coming straight off the North Sea. Look in the background...England does have sandy beaches!

 We walked the Yorkshire Moors.

We enjoyed many pretty east coast towns including Whitby.







Also castles. This is Castle Howard where both films, Brideshead and Brideshead Revisited, were filmed.

 In London, we got to go to the Agatha Christie play 'The Mousetrap' which is in its 60th year of continuous production.

 How many of you, like me, thought this was a tall sign?
When you see it in films and TV shows, it looks so big. I think the photographers/cameramen must have laid on the footpath to shot it.

Have you noticed no pink beanie or gloves?

It was warming up, 9 degrees - positively balmy.

Looking over to Greenwich from what was once the 'Call the Midwife' docklands.

 Hampton Court was on my must see list this time.

 M&M World was a surprise find. DH was in seventh heaven! We bought souvenirs from here for our son - stickers with his name on, a lanyard, plate etc. We had a winner there. He thought they were cool.

I did give some thought to my crafting while away. At Bridlington, the same place as the stony beach above, the promenade has been paved in at least 4 different patterns. It gave a 3D effect if looked at from the right angle. All just clever placement of colour and line, just like patchwork, really. You can see the other patterns if you use Google maps and zoom right in.

Talking of patchwork, I had better go and organise the baby quilt I only have to quilt. I have just got word I have my first grandnephew on my side. That makes 10 grand nieces and nephews between hubbie's and my families.

Take care everyone,
Kayly

Home Sewing.

Before we went on holidays, I decided I needed some more long sleeved t-shirts. So I dragged these out. Yes, they are circa 1977!

They don't look too flash hanging off a bedroom door, but trust me, they fitted and looked okay on.

 Inside the packet was the size 12 pattern, I traced off the master all those years ago. Let's just say I traced off another larger size this time, and leave it at that.  LOL.
After practising with the old Knitwit pattern, I allowed myself to buy this new Kwiksew one. The blue material above was out of stash. The pink and the grey below came from East Coast Fabric on one of their $5.95 a metre days, so it was not going to be a great loss if it all failed.

 

This fabric was very slippery and try as I might I could not get it to fold and sit neatly.  So I retraced  whole front and back pieces. That also helped work out where the pattern blotches were going to appear on me. It has a cowl neck - something I've never done before. I also tried for the first time using the tape (sort like applique paper) to do the hems - impressed with that and will definitely use it again.

 

 All in all, I was very pleased with my efforts. It looks good on, hangs nicely, and feels great.
There was also a basic pull-on skirt in a warm material, but that's nothing too exciting to look at.

On the craft front, I owe my nephew a 30th birthday quilt. I've at least started all the cutting, but he might have to wait until his 31st to get it. So many little squares and the black ones are hard to see. As he is well over 6 foot tall, I'm making it bigger than the pattern.

Off to cut more squares!

Take care,

Kayly

Not what....

...you want to find when you venture into the sewing area after a five week absence!!!!!!!!!!

It's their revenge for me cleaning them out of the garden shed a couple of months ago.
Brisbane has had a lot of wet weather since January. I think they were only trying to find a dry spot, but why did it have to be my sewing space.
Luckily, I haven't found them anywhere else and no harm has been done to my stuff.

Take care,
Kayly

Redwork Swap

I'm late posting about what I received in the Redwork Swap because I have been lucky enough to have been away on holidays.
So without further ado, here is what the lovely Christine of Time Out Stitching sent me.

Thank you so very much for my lovely sewing compendium. It is the perfect size to fit in my bag for days out stitching while big enough to hold everything I need. The notebook is a good idea.

This is what I sent Maree. Talk about pressure, as Maree is the organiser of this swap.

I enjoyed doing it because it contained a few things I've never tried before.

I had better put my thinking cap on as the next swap is due soon. \

Off to do a bit of blog stalking.

Take care,
Kayly.