Ooops I did it again... RETREAT SCRUB STITCHIN 2018

So, back here, I blogged about a retreat, and how fate determines what happens. 

Well last weekend it came to fruition, I would have to say from the feedback so far... its up there with the top retreat events I have organised.

and today marks the 1 week from post retreat hangover - its taken me this long for my feet to land. 

The Lead up to the retreat was crazy for me with me being home only 5 days in 14 so packing and organising a retreat that was 7 hours away just left me feeling like I was in a whirlwind.  Thank goodness for my level headed co- pilot, and photographer extraordinaire and wonderful Daughter Bianca. I've been asked to pop a link to her Instagram account - she needs followers (wink wink). As most of the photos in this post are hers. 

 So our 5 day road trip/retreat began of course with an early start that lead to coffee and we had to travel on lots of long straight roads before arriving at our destination of Camp Cypress in Baradine. Which is close to the Warrumbungle National Park.

My Partner in crime in organising this retreat Chookyblue was there ready and waiting for us to begin our set up and kit packing. And before long our Main Dining Hall went from an empty room to this set up for 36 lovely ladies.

With the far end of dining hall set with roses for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

After months of planning, and many weekends gathering together Chooky and I can finally reveal our wonderful project we designed for the ladies to work on over the weekend and what was enclosed within these lovely brown paper packages.... you all know I love to sing that song..... brown paper packages tied up with string these are a few of my favourite things..... 

Our accommodations - were comfortable and all the ladies were happy with the amenities. What was amazing was the grounds, Bianca did capture some amazing photos of the venue in all lights.

Our Friday Night was our fun Dress up Pretty in Pink evening... we dressed the dining hall accordingly. And if the ladies weren't already showing us that they were having an amazing time. This evening was the pinnacle of the weekend. Friendships and " a united tribe" was forged.

And after a few drinks the shenanigans evolved. From confetti balloons, snap chats and weddings it all happened.... considering how much sewing developed over the weekend I think Friday night, perhaps not much productivity evolved or perhaps it did....but in the light of day.....

On Saturday mornings early start, the night before's shenanigans may have proved a little harder for some. Bacon and Eggs the breakfast of champions was needed for the surprise trip we had planned. The ladies were told to be finished breakfast and ready with sun screen, hats, walking shoes and a little hand stitching outside the dining hall by 8 am. And the big bus arrived.... and then they all started.... what, where, when even the driver was under hush hush.... 

We headed of on a tour of the Sculptures in the Scrub walking tour in the Dandry Gorge. This was a 3 km walk through some beautiful bush land, and apart from my bloody Knees it really was beautiful. But yes after asking if there were more stairs when I was halfway through.... and being told "I don't think so" I did swear out loud when I encountered that walking up stairs, then down a light incline, meant that we went up then down lower than we started we definitely had to go back up.... and those last stairs were my undoing... but even with 2 knees that are shot I did achieve it in 2 hours. So I have to be proud of myself.. 18 months ago I wouldn't even have tried it. And the views and sculptures were worth the next 24 hours of agony really. And Bianca was amazing to keep my spirits up when the pain was excruciating.

And the view leaving the scrub was just as stunning looking back over the Warrumbungle's.

So what did I work on, well relaxing was important, but down the rabbit hole quilt grew a little... and really just enjoyed watching everyone work on their projects. Including Bianca that English Paper Piecing really took some concentration but my excitement was hearing her say she would like to make a quilt using this technique... I secretly knew that she would once she started. 

We had finishes.... our Winning three... on our made podium, yes the commonwealth games featured over our weekend.  

The kits in those lovely brown paper packages the ladies received came in these colour ways, if you are interested I have some of the charm packs still available and the pattern. Just message me for prices. 

Other completed projects over the weekend as there were many, here is just a few we managed to capture.

 

One of my lovely gifts, from a time passed when I through this tiny project in disgust at a weekend away last year, the lovely Diddles retrieved it and finished it for me. It will now be a precious memory reminder that from something broken can come something precious.

The other gift from our Make it or Fake it - is a lovely stitched note book... I slipped it straight into my handbag before taking a picture.

One of the lovely ladies, decided prior to attending the retreat, that we could all join in a block share and create this beautiful gift for Chookyblue, without her a lot of us would never have crossed paths. So I helped with some email details and kept it all sush!! The excitement of Donna's face was priceless and more can be seen here on Susan's Blog.

One of the two Charity Quilts that we created over the weekend... this is the cream and classic quilt range of 12 inch pieced blocks. The other was a white and brights quilt. I didn't manage to capture a photo of this one on the wall. Below are the two blocks I created for the quilts. The one on the right is cream and classic... but the photo is a little too bright compared to real life.

And it came to an end .... the local paper came by and managed to snap a picture of us all. Here we are, new and old friends, from all walks of life, from down south, out west and up north of this amazing country we all call home. Nic from Nyngan described us best over the weekend, she understood the magic of being with like minded women, working with fabric, threads and needles we stitched as one "tribe". Finding that tribe is hard, but once your do magic happens, and love abounds. And well silly people like Chooky and I, we decide we can do it again, watch out 2019 Scrub Stitchin Lists are formed.

Heading home was just a spectacular in images.... those Warrumbungle's are spectacular as was the sunset. And Yes we saw the hippo Chooky!!!

Till next time Hugs