More from Illawarra Quilters

What a wonderful 4 days it has been with Illawarra Quilters. Each morning on the way to the workshop venue Roslyn treated me with a 'scenic route' so I could capture some more from this fantastic region……

 One morning we even drove up Mount Keira with views of Wollongong and Pt Kembla in the distance……

 and below is the winding road to Sydney……..

 Friday the girls were stitching various projects including pieces for the Peter Rabbit bed runner, embroidered birds or projects from the 'Stitching with Beatrix Potter" book and all using wonderful wool felt……..

 For the last two days we were working on the May Morris Sampler and I convinced everyone that they might just like to have their own pair of my favourite Fiskars scissors! Some girls already had a pair (having been in a class with me before!) so Roslyn kindly headed out to purchase 14 pairs! Mind you she had to raid two Bunnings stores to find enough…….so nice to see everyone enjoying them……...

 The venue was light and airy and everyone had their own very large table to work at………..

At the end of the workshop today I received two incredible and totally unexpected gifts. The Friday girls gave me some beautiful Waterford crystal candle holders and today the weekend girls gave me a lap top computer case….mine has been broken for 5 years and desperately needed replacing. I was completely overwhelmed with their generosity which resulted in tears of joy and mascara running down the face! My heartfelt thanks to Roslyn for asking me and for everyone who joined me in class - as a tutor we are so blessed to have the opportunity to visit parts of our wonderful country while sharing lots of laughs and stories with like minded people……every minute was just fabulous! But it wasn't just in the classroom that I enjoyed myself……we had another gathering last night with more inspiring show and tell. There is too much to share but here are a few……..

 This was Old Mother Hubbard ……oops…it was 'The Old Woman that lived in a shoe'!!! and of course all those children that were made by Julie back in the 1980's! Julie was reminded of it after seeing the Peter Rabbit interactive bed runner in Friday's class……….

 And a little bit of Beatrix Potter appeared too……...

 Glenda's husband was a microbiologist and this was the quilt she made for him on his retirement….what a fabulous way to display bacteria and viruses!…..

 Last night was also a celebration for Roslyn's birthday too…...

 Tonight is my last night away before flying home tomorrow. Thankyou Illawarra Quilters and especially Roslyn for looking after me so well. As I sit here typing this we are watching the news with devastating images of the aftermath of the recent cyclone and flooding in Queensland. To see houses floating down the torrent of water and trees and cars scattered like confetti is incomprehensible. Our hearts go out to everyone affected x