Retreat 2016

Thinking about coming to the retreat next year?  

Hurry up and book!

 

In 2016 we'll be cruising away on the P&O Pacific Pearl to Moreton Island. For more info about the route, see here.

 

We have a maximum of 150 places for SCQuilters and we've already had 88 confirmed bookings.. Over 100 EOIs have gone out.

How do I do it?

First, of course, you have to be a SCQuilter to participate. See the info about the group at the top of the page.

 

Then you need the EOI. The info for that is in the files of the SCQuilter Yahoogroup.

 

EOI needs to be sent in and once payment is confirmed, we'll send you the booking information. To be part of our group, you MUST book through our travel agent and not P&O directly. This is most important - you won't be included in any events if you are not part of our booking group. 

Then you can join our Facebook group and Retreat Yahoogroup for chatting about Retreat matters and getting to know your fellow Retreaters.

 

So time to put on your deck shoes and pack the champagne!

Scquilters Retreat 2016

Breaking news!!!

The 2016 Scquilters Retreat will be a cruise.

Leaving Sydney July 7th - 4 nights

More info coming soon.

EOI's will go out by the end of August.

Thanks for the support!

The fabulous SCQuilters Retreat is fast approaching, so we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the many sponsors who make the event a reality. Many of them sponsor us regularly and we hope you'll support them too!

Appleyard Cottage

Baghdad Quilting Supplies

Bargain Box

BeBe Bold

Bella Patchwork

Bluebell A1 Quilting

Blush & Willow

Busy Thimbles

Clair's Fabrics

Clover

Colour Streams

Craft Collections

Crazy Patchwork Lady

Cynthia's Ark

Diana Chalk

Elna Sewing & Jan's Patch

Fabric at the Right Price

Foofaraw Australia

Keep Quilting - the Rule Steady Lady

Kookaburra Cottage

KoolKat Quilting

J T Leutenegger Pty Ltd

Marion Prime

Material Obsession

Minky Bear and Me Fabrics

My Patch Quilting

Professional Quilting Service

Punch with Judy

Quilters Blessing Patchwork

Sew Simple

Simpson & Scarlett

Studio Mio

Stuff n Bears

The Remnant Warehouse

Threadbear Quilting & Patchwork

Treasured Textiles Australia

Wabi-Sabi Designs


Thanks, everyone!

Patchwork, Quilting & Embroidery Retreat

18-25 September 2015

Charters Towers - All Souls St. Gabriels School

For further details and the full Retreat Program, please visit;

www.facebook.com/charterstowerspatchworkquilting

OR go to the following web site and click on Events - then September

www.charterstowers.qld.gov.au

Workshop features include:

Traditional and free form quilting
Applique, embroidery and beading
Jewellery Design


Contacts:

Deanna Fryar
Mobile: 0409 043 417
Email: gdfryar@bigpond.com

Dianne Single
Email: divinity_beauty@bigpond.com

Margaret Franz
Mobile: 0468 344 872
Email: margaretfranz@ymail.com

Registrations now open and will close 12th June 2015

Gunning Patchwork Weekend

Gunning Patchwork Weekend is held each year on the last weekend in June. Perfect timing to break the winter blues! Each year, the weekend attracts well known tutors, but the focus is on completing your projects, eating good food and having fun.

This year's workshops:

• Wool felt applique with Heather Prickett
• Silk Shards Wallhanging with Fiona Hammond - learning how to hand-paint fabric with Procion dyes and how to make your own silk “paper”
• Feathered Stars with Robyn Cawdron - A beautiful pieced feathered star quilt block, a challenge for the more experienced!
• Eva Doll with Edith Buckley
• Carol’s Quilt with Carol Tabonne - a scrappy quilt with a pattern of lights and darks.
• Make a backpack and small bags with Ann Maree Jacobs

If none of these appeal, you can attend the FAT Quarter.  FAT stands for ‘Finish and Talk’. You get great morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, a warm venue to sew in, and the company of like-minded stitchers at a rock-bottom price for one day or two days.

For more information and entry form, go to the Gunning Patchwork Weekend site.

Retreat is coming to Canberra...

Our latest update from Jan on the SCQ 2015 Retreat committee really whets our appetites!

This retreat is about remembering 1915, not in a sad way but focussing on how it was for the womenfolk, how they taught each other skills and were ingenious at making do and creating a social life. It's not so much re-enacting as reactivating this sharing of knowledge and fun, in 2015 style.

The venue, Hotel Realm Canberra is definitely 2015. Two enormous ballrooms will be at our disposal, one for eating meals and one for socialising. You can stay at the hotel at a discounted rate but other accommodation  is available elsewhere, if you prefer.

To encourage us to learn from each other, there will be no traditional workshops with external tutors and extra fees. This year we have called on our own members already attending to share their knowledge by running either demonstrations or “have a go” tables. There will be a published timetable of what's on, so you won't miss a thing!

  

Fun activities include:

• Michelle Law demonstrating how to make a simple skirt – we can all sew the most complex blocks and yet some of us are totally intimidated by the mere thought of whipping up a simple skirt for ourselves. So if you think you can’t make a skirt, come and surprise yourself.
• Bernadette Brickley demonstrating sock knitting, which had quite a following at previous retreats. Bernadette has many tips and tricks and simple patterns that a novice can easily pick up.
• Wendy Watkins, professional quilter of Honey Pot Quilting,  giving a talk on how to prepare a quilt for professional quilting so you can get the best result possible and avoid extra costs.
• Wyn Roper giving a talk on Quilts of Valor. Come and hear about the project, see what people have made and maybe get inspired to make a charity quilt at home.
• Jenny Bowker talking about Modern Quilting. If you're looking for a change of direction in your own quilt making, or want to attract and inspire new quilters who may think that quilting is just traditional fabrics and methods, this is a talk and slide show not to be missed.

Others are still in the panning stages but will include crochet, needle turn applique and English Paper Piecing (EPP). The organisers are happy to receive suggestions.

Of course, no retreat would be complete without the "siggy swap", a great way to meet new people. Put your name down, make your signature squares and swap away!

 

Then there are Challenges. Your first challenge is to make your own name badge. Very generous sponsors are donating prizes, so it's time to get started!

 

The second challenge is to use the block that has been especially designed for this retreat by our own Heather Hanneman. Heather took inspiration from the Rising Sun badge which is appropriate for the era as well as 2015. Instructions for the block are on the website. This challenge is open to everyone in Southern Cross Quilters, not just those attending the retreat.

 

The third Challenge is “Accessorise like a 1915 Quilter” Challenge. There is still plenty of time to consult Prof Google or your library or even just your imagination, and to produce something that depicts you as a quilter with accoutrements for your craft back in 1915.

 

Participating in any or all of the challenges is not compulsory, but there are some great prizes. 

  

There has been a lot of interest in the Monday shop hop, although it's not part of the official retreat. The Shop Hop came about because we realised that people travel from far and wide to come to Retreat and we all love to check out the local quilt shops. For some, it's been a way to fill in time until their travel times. In the past, there have been 2 or 3 coachloads of SCQuilter Retreaters heading off to the shops.

 

This time we are offering only one shopping bus. We're also offering a Tourist Trap bus, for those who would like to visit our national institutions with someone with local knowledge. A third bus is the Snow Bus, since, for some SCQuilters, Canberra is as close as they get to where it snows. While you may see some snow on the Brindabella ranges at Retreat time, if you want a closer experience, we have organised a coach to take you to the snow, via a quilt shop (so you don’t totally miss out on shopping), and via the Bredbo Christmas Barn so you can pick up a bauble or fairy or two.

 

 To take part in this wonderful retreat you must be a SCQuilter and have completed the EOI and Registration forms. You don't have to pay the registration immediately – see the web site for details.

 

Oh and when is the Retreat exactly?

July 31st - August 2nd 2015

Time to plan a little fun...

Yes, it's SCQuilters Retreat time again!

Registrations are now open for the Canberra Retreat.

Our theme this time is “Remembering 1915”.

It's being held at Hotel Realm, a 5-star hotel on National Circuit, Barton on Friday 31st July – Sunday 2 August 2015.  Places are filling fast so it's time to get your bookings in! 
So to tempt those SCQuilters who are still undecided ………

1. Send your EOI and payment in and receive a registration pack straight to your email address.

2. The registration email you will receive will be requesting information pertaining to the actual retreat only. 
This time, registration emails will request information only about the actual retreat.
Other items that have traditionally been included in the registration process will follow later once they are finalised. For example, apparel and merchandise ordering will be separate to registration, and bus shop hop information will come later. As has always been the case, these items are a separate cost and additional to the retreat cost so splitting them up may make some options more affordable. 3. The cost of registration is $390 per person.

BUT….
An earlybird discount is being offered, if full payment is received and cleared by 28th February 2015. Earlybird registration is $350pp.

Payment in instalments is still available at $390pp, made in 3 instalments: the first of $100 by 28 February 2015, then a further $145 by 30 April ($245 total) and then the final $145 by 30 June ($390 total), end of financial year. We hope these payment options will suit everyone and mean more SCQuilters can attend.
There will be no workshops to pay for at the Retreat. Instead, there will be many choices of demonstrations, information sessions, and come-and-try groups that attendees can participate in, to share in learning a new skill or trying an old skill. In the past, these skills would have been learnt from someone who as already skilled”.
In some cases, the subject will be a very new take on the ways learnt in 1915, or a totally new phenomenon reflecting the ways of 2015.

More information on these activities will be announced in the coming months, as the subjects and teachers are finalised. These teachers are fellow SCQuilters, as the philosophy of this retreat is learning from one another, as people did in a hundred years ago.
For those who have already sent in their EOI, you can expect your registration email by the end of next week – thank you for your patience.

If you want to register but haven't yet sent an EOI, do that first. Go here to complete your EOI and send it along with your EOI payment of $20.

If you're not yet a SCQuilter, now's the time to join! Go to https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/scquilters/info and follow the prompts to join.
 We're looking forward to hosting you in Canberra in 2015 and hope you can come for a weekend of fun!

More retreat 2014

Here's a photo from the 2014 Retreat venue, showing some familiar faces in the foyer...

And an eye witness account from Joy:

 

The venue was great - all contained in the one building and within cooee distance of each other. The venue was excellent - a very big sit and sew room - the lighting was not the best, but trust SCQuilters, this did not deter them - all those little portable lights came out. 

The entertainment on Sat night was fabulous. The Bee Bop Dance Troupe - from a local dance school did a great couple of routines. Their ages ranged from about 5 to 16 and the little ones did a routine by themselves - just beautiful.

Excellent speakers. I especially loved the talk by Trudy Cowley & Dianne Snowdon who spoke about their book Patchwork Prisoners, a story of their extensive research into the women prisoners on board the Rajah who made the famous quilt. 

 

Some sewing or handwork was done......a lot of walking around town and environs by others, and of course lots of chatting and laughter.  There were quite a few shopping bags and parcels - this not including the shop hop purchases!

It was a fantastic retreat and I would like to thank all the committee members (there were not many of them) for all the work they did in making it such a great retreat.  

SCQuilters do get around!

Here's the amazing SCQuilters retreat banner, sneaking out to take in the sights of Launceston...

 

...the Art Gallery...

... the museum..

...the City Park...

... a quick trip for some essential supplies...

.. and a little rest afterwards..

... then back to the Grand Chancellor for more chatter, sewing and maybe even a little lie down.

(Thanks to Fran Williams for this bit of chicanery!)



A SCQuilter's view of Retreat

It was a fantastic retreat and I would like to thank all the committee members (there were not many of them) for all the work they did in making it such a great retreat. The venue was great - all contained in the one building and within cooee distance of each other.

We had, I think, approx. 95% of attendees at the Thursday night dinner. The venue was excellent - a very big sit and sew room - the lighting was not the best, but trust SCQuilters; this did not deter them - all those little portable lights came out. 

The entertainment on Saturday night was fabulous - the Bee Bop Dance Troupe - from a local dance school did a great couple of routines. Their ages ranged from about 5 - 16 and the little ones did a routine by themselves - just beautiful.
Excellent speakers. I especially loved the talk by Trudy Cowley & Dianne Snowdon who spoke about their book Patchwork Prisoners - a story of their extensive research into the women prisoners on board the Rajah who made the famous quilt.

Some sewing or handwork was done......a lot of walking around town and environs by others, and of course lots of chatting and laughter. There were quite a few shopping bags and parcels - this not including the shop hop purchases!

(Thanks to Joy Vale for this description)

Random shots from the weekend...

Countdown to retreat!

Only two more days until a Very Large and Noisy Group of SCQuilters will be descending on Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston to chat, eat, share show and tell, swap sig SCQuares and maybe even sew a bit. SCQuilters all over Australia and New Zealand are packing bags, inundating airports and generally making their presence felt as we speak. Michelle has already checked out the best place to have coffee.

I'm not sure how much we can share here - "what happens on Retreat stays on Retreat" - but with luck we'll have a few photos and some links to share from what is shaping up to be a fantastic few days.

The weather forecast expects cloudy with a bit of rain, and a maximum of 18 degrees, so it sounds ideal weather to keep warm and keep quilting!

Retreat 2014 - Launceston, Tasmania

16-18 May 2014

The excitement is building...it's not long now until 100 or so fun-seeking quilters descend on the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Launceston, Tasmania for the annual shenanigans which may, or may not, involve stitching, talking, eating, more talking, shopping and a lot of laughter and making and renewing friendships.  Is Launceston prepared?  

As in past years, we have received lovely products from our generous supporters, listed below. Please do visit their websites and consider shopping from these businesses - they really help to make our retreats a lot of fun.

Esme's - www.esmes.com.au - Shop 1/216 Charles Street, Launceston Ph: 03 6334 9775 

Motifbyhand - www.motifbyhand.com 

Bebebold www.bebebold.com 

Ladelle www.ladelle.com

Judy Hall www.punchwithjudy.com.au

Lynne Morrison at Cranberry Crafts www.cranberrycrafts.com.au

Leanne’s House http://leanneshouse.typepad.com

Perivale-Guterman Pty Ltd, North Shore Corporate Centre, Gordon NSW 2072

Malanda Quilting, Malanda, Qld. www.malandaquilting.com.au 

Faeries In My Garden, Queensland www.faeriesinmygarden.com.au

Koolkat Quilting www.koolkatquilting.com.au

Aboriginal Fabric Gallery www.aboriginalfabrics.com.au

Kym Colgrave of Professional Quilting Service, Qld www.proquilt.com.au

x

Retreat 2014

The details of next year's Retreat are now available.

Retreat 2014

May 16th-18th
Hotel Grand Chancellor
Launceston

For further details, see the SCQ Yahoogroup or the Facebook site
Scquilters Retreat 2014 Tasmania

SCQ Retreat 2013

Click this link for a video showing a little taste of what happened at Retreat 2013 at Bendigo.

And here's a second video of day 2.

Looks like everyone had a great time!

SCQuilters Retreat 2013

Yes, once again, we're holding a SCQuilters Retreat and, this year, it will be in Bendigo in Victoria from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 July 2013. We had a very successful Retreat there in 2007, so I'm sure this one will be brilliant!

The venue will be the Quality Resort All Seasons Bendigo (you can check them out by following the link). I believe the accommodation at the resort is fully booked already but there's still accommodation at the nearby Golden Reef Motor Inn or Best Western Crystal Inn and, of course, there are many other accommodation options in Bendigo.

There's a great range of classes to choose from, and already a couple of interesting challenges. You can check out the details on the SCQuiltersVIC blog . So c'mon down, SCQuilters!

Last Retreat goodies

These are the last of the companies who kindly donated items to make our Townsville retreat last weekend a brilliant success.

* Judy Hall from Punch with Judy -  3 of her popular online classes, so three very lucky people will have a choice to make from her website 
* Lucy Mogilin from Patchwork Orange in NSW http://www.patchworkorange.com.au/　 - an assorted bundle of goodies including embroidery threads, Roxanne glue, Fiskars cutting blade, patterns, a book and 2 Heart templateswhich were added to the Raffle prizes.http://www.punchwithjudy.com.au/shop/online-classes/　 * Rhonda from Sewco in Mt Gravatt QLD - cutting mat, coaster and rulers for each goodie bag.
* Fiona Jackson from Fiona Jackson designs - a complete kit for one of her amazing cushions.　 * Berry Patchwork Shop
* PAPERBARK WOMAN paperbarkwoman@bigpond.com　 PH 0408 892372 or 08 89417142　　  DARWIN NT 0801 - some lovely original fabrics 　
* Leah fromThe Quilters and Embroiderers Store, Salisbury QLD - a very generous pile of beautiful fat quarters for the goodie bags.* SnippitS Graphics from Jane Brook in WA - a lot of her original X Stitch designs of old buildings in Charters Towers, which retreatees will see on the bus trip　 * Fiona Hammond from Chiatanya Designs from Lake Bathurst NSW, just outside Canberra -one of her new Kumihimo brading kits and a cute little box containg a variety of Japanese seed beads, needles and threads.
* 222 Retreat from Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo, Vic- a $200 gift certificate for their crafters retreat in Bendigo.
* A Quilters Hive in Georgetown NSW
* Mulberry Lane Quilting and Crafts
* Threadbear, 58 Hargraves St, Castlemaine Vic.
* Steph from The Quilters Angel at the Village Green Highfields Qld
* Sandy Grey at The Silver Thimble, 113 Oak St, Barcaldine QLD - 2 beautiful layer cakes (of the fabric kind)

We're very grateful to all these businesses who have helped to make the Retreat special. We hope you'll return the favour by supporting them.

More Retreat donations

Generous people continue to contribute to our Townsville Retreat.

Sarah and Emma from Treehouse Textiles, Merricks Nth, VIC. have donated $50 　
Bronwyn van't Hof from Pussycat Quilts, Parkdale VIC has sent a $100voucherr for Patchwork Piecing. Check out her lovely work at 　
Quilted Kimono, Townsville, who will be a trader at the retreat venue, has donated 2 complete bag kits and a fabric pack all in beautiful Japinese fabrics. 07 4775 3380
　
Liisa Dawson from Quilters Corner, Keperra QLD www.thequilterscorner.com.au has sent a box load ofwonderful fat quarters, at least one for every retreater and then some.www.pussycatquilts.com.auwww.treehousetextiles.com.au

Gail Chalker from Sew Creative in Gatton QLD has donated some very yummy fabric packs

Sonia Melville of Craftbasket in Orbost, Victoria
  scissors, Perfect Circles and Perfect Stems templates.
Wendy Whellum from Legend and Lace, Daw Park South Aust www.legendandlace.com  0417084245 donated the Karen Kay Buckley Products, including
 www.thethreadstudio.com sent the most beautiful range of hand and machine embroidery threads, as well as beads, sequins etc.
Dale Rollerson from The Thread Studio

Thanks to all these businesses and we  hope you'll support them in turn.http://www.thecraftbasket.com.au/ 03 51541151 donated the lovely "Breakfast at Tiff's" quilt kit and pattern.www.sewcreativegatton.com.au

Retreat news and donations

Plans are well under way for our annual retreat, which will be held in Townsville this year. Full details are on the Retreat blog http://www.scqtownsville2012.blogspot.com/ but here are some highlights. 

Many retreaters will arrive on Thursday 28th June and will start to mingle with others or look around at some of the many places to visit in Townsville. It has became a tradition to have a pre-retreat dinner on Thursday night. This year, we will be having dinner in the Aqua Restaurant at Jupiters, a lovely spot, where you can eat as much seafood as you can plus lots of other great dishes and sweets.

Registration starts at 2 p.m. on Friday 29th June. Friday night dinner will be a fun night!  Cathy Miller, The Singing Quilter, and her husband John are attending the retreat  and they are going to entertain us with her great quilting songs. Cathy is also bringing along a trunk show for us to enjoy.

On Saturday morning and afternoon, there will be a great variety of workshops. Local merchants are also bringing lots of good stuff for us to buy. In addition to live Show and Tell, there will be a digital Show and Tell, a presentation of our quilts and the stories of their making, put together for our pleasure by Mal (of Mem and Mal fame). It will run continuously over the weekend and will give us the opportunity to see quilts that would be too bulky to bring as carry-on luggage.

On Saturday night, we are taking a sunset cruise to Magnetic Island, followed by the Gala Dinner at Peppers Restaurant. Check the Retreat blog for more details of the high jinks planned for this night.

On Sunday Morning, there are more workshops and merchants, another opportunity to sit and sew,  share ideas and socialise. At Sunday lunch, the 2012 retreat committee will hand over to the 2013 retreat committee. But there still time to fit in a workshop or some socialising, before it's time to leave exhausted at 5pm. Some diehards will stay until Monday for the Shop Hop and trip to the historic Gold City of Charters Towers.

Now doesn't that all sound like fun?

Many quilting businesses kindly donate to our annual Retreats, and our Townsville Retreat is no exception. We're grateful to these businesses for providing goodies to make our Retreat memorable.

Liza Jewellery http://www.lizajanejewellery.wordpress.com/ - A beautiful sea shell with (real) pearls necklace
Robert Gordon Pottery, Pakenham, VIC - a range of goodies.
Dianne Mitchell from Attic Quilts, Berwick has sadly closed down but has donated a range of patterns and a lovely Attic Quilts Bag.
The Patchwork Tea House, Warburton VIC http://www.thepatchworkteahouse.com/  - 2 X packs of Four lovely overdyed cotton floss
Mrs Martins Quiltshop, Emerald VIC http://www.mrsmartinsquiltshop.com/  - a $30 gift voucher for in store
or on line.
Liz Stanway, Teddlywinks, Mt Evelyn, Victoria PH: 03 97364821 150 packaged patterns and 150 printed stitcheries
Jane from BeBe Bold, Lismore NSW PH: 02 66219188 http://www.bebebold.com/ - 3 Bag patterns, a bag kit
a Lamb kit, 2 Shakio kits and some fabric
Liz and Dianne, Aboriginal Fabric Gallery, Alice Springs PH: 08 8952 6163 http://www.aboriginalfabrics.com.au/ -  20 beautiful fat quarters of Aboriginal art fabric
Sylvia Barry, Fishpond World Ltd - One Block Wonders by Maxine Rosenthal
Kathy & Geoff Adams from Kool Kat Quilting in QLD, PH: 07 46968746 www.koolkatquilting.com.au
-  $100.00 Gift voucher

The support of all these business is very much appreciated so show your support for them by visiting their very inspiring websites or by saying hello and thank you in person.

And now a blast from the past: Retreats

SCQuilters has been running annual retreats for its members for many years.


Our first Retreat was in Brisbane, in 1998. We were very impressed that 60 SCQuilters attended. For the first time, we had SCQ t-shirts, mugs and other merchandising, a trend that other Retreats have followed.

In 1999, we went to Adelaide, SA. Here's a photo of the organising commitee, the Retreating Angels.

Our 2000 Retreat in Hobart, Tasmania inspired a song by Cathy Miller called Just Look Up, on her CD One Stitch At A Time. It honours the Airing of the Quilts over the balcony railings at the hotel venue, which literally stopped traffic.

Retreat 2001 was on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland.

In 2002, we went to Perth, WA.

Melbourne hosted Retreat 2003.

The Retreat in 2004 was in Auckland, New Zealand

Retreat 2005 was in Sydney. You can see the marvellous free pattern, designed by Di, which all attendees received in their goodie bags here.

Retreat 2006 was in Canberra. We particularly liked the SCQ logo in the council garden bed opposite!

Here are some photos of the 2007 Retreat in Bendigo. These are the portrait quilts:

Here's one of the participants in the Chinese Gardens. And there's still more photos here. And yet more.
Retreat 2008 was in Perth for the second time. Here's a member's blog post about the Retreat and here are her Retreat swap blocks.

The 2009 Retreat was back in Adelaide. This time it was called the Wine and Roses Retreat.
Here's some of the participants on the first day

and the raffle quilt.

Our 2010 Retreat was in Bathurst NSW and there are photos from a retreatee, here and here, and from another, here.

Retreat 2011 was in Kiama. Check out images a video here and the raffle quilt here.


There may be further Retreat photos in the future!