Sewing Retreat

I'm finally beginning to sort through my photographs from the last few months (or longer - oophs!).  I came across the Fabric Hoarders Sewing Retreat from last year and had to finally post about it.  Such a great weekend with a great bunch of people!  Its the second retreat the group organised and this one was a little larger than the previous AND catered!

On our way to the retreat, I finally made it to Pete's Emporium in Porirua with the wonderful takahe bites and the fantastic Sixty Six Stitches.  Despite the less than sewing related images on the front door, inside contained a few treasures.

But a lot of tat too!

I did spend a bit of time actively NOT buying stickers (my collection being a little excessive as is).

A row of tulle...

Rows of ribbons and sequins...  Obviously there was a lot of fabric on display too!

The next sewing retreat is coming up soon, I'll have to see if I can stop off on the way...

So on to the retreat:

We stayed in Riverslea Retreat near Otaki.  The owners were so accommodating if somewhat bemused by the presence of so many sewing machines (I brought my machine and overlocker and many others did the same) in what is sometimes a more spiritual retreat space!

We each got half a table in the main hall and there was spill out room in the dining room and the hall for cutting out, spreading out and ironing.  Bliss!

There was even an outdoor sitting area for wine hand sewing.

As most people knew each other from the normal monthly meet ups, it didn't take long to get settled.  Though I did organise a little sewing craft and table quiz for Friday night to get us in the creative mood.

Hand sewn and embellished cards based on the idea behind this card.

There were some really lovely finished cards - as suspected, we're a crafty, creative lot.

And here's the currently reigning FH quiz champions!  (Essentially I just googled sewing quiz questions.  Not sure I'm up to thinking up a few more for the next retreat - table quizes are not my thing)

Riverslea is beautifully situated quite a bit away from the state highway and close to a swimable river.  We were really quite spoiled.

Having contacted Levana in Levin about a possible Saturday visit, they were kind enough to move their monthly opening (I think the original date clashed with a NZ celebration in happy coincidence).  So lots of fabric stroking, coveting and quite a bit of purchasing ensued.

I need to remember that Levin also houses Cordall and should see if we can organise a fieldtrip to them on the next retreat.  Some lovely foldover elastic!

This has seriously wetted my appetite for the next retreat!