Don’t Look Now Workshop – Part 1

Wow, wow and more wows! What a fabulous weekend I have just had. All of the hours of preparation were soon forgotten once we were all set up and things were underway. Of course I had fifty million worries about things that could go wrong and really the worst thing to happen all weekend were the tears from my 3 little ones when I got out of the car each morning…..I think we have a teensy bit of separation anxiety going on. So our weekend started at 9am on Saturday morning and we got to know everyone and a bit more about Kellie and her gorgeous quilts.
everyone getting to know kellie
We had ladies come from all over Sydney, Wollongong, country NSW and one lovely lady came all the way from NZ to do the weekend with her very special mum, Janet of Quiltsalott. It was also lovely to have Catherine Sanchez, the editor of Homespun, join us too.
introducing herself
After the introductions it was straight down to selecting our fabrics and preparing our applique. I love kellie’s method of appliquing through your quilt sandwich. It gives your work such a nice look and feel, but oh man does she ever make it look easy. You actually do the applique with your feed dogs down so it definitely takes some practice and concentration and will take me more practice but it’s worth it.
kellie shows us how it's done
I was so proud of everyone…they were so quiet and studious all weekend. You could tell we were there to do some serious quilting and learning and I’m sure Kellie thinks we’re one of her best groups….hehe….Ok well I do!
more students hard at work
The day flew by….we took quick breaks for coffee, sweets and sandwiches and it was back to work again and before we knew it the day was over. Half of us stayed back for a drink and some dinner which was a nice way to end the day. We went to papaya thai in cammeray and what a gorgeous place! The food was just beautiful as was the company.
yum yum dinner
I did get teased by retro daddy when he said ‘ oh look here come the party girls rolling in the door……at………’ and he checks his watch ‘ 8.30!!!!!’ In our defence we’d had a long day and I was ready for bed.

dinner

Sunday really flew by. We learnt kellie’s method of free motion quilting, something that took me the day to get used to because I’ve never been taught a design before so I had to correct myself from going the wrong way with my spirals.

how to do our swirls

Kellie sure makes it look like a piece of cake and everyone was doubting their own work but as I went around the room I was so impressed by every single person’s work. It was just gorgeous….more of those pictures coming soon but here is Kellie’s sample quilt sandwich.

kellie's free motion

I then made the very difficult decision of allowing kellie to quilt my cushion for me – oh it was such a hard decision to make! No, not really but she’s taken it home with her to finish and I”m feeling very special but also very motivated to do my own version so each of my girls can have one for their bed. Here is Kellie’s beautiful quilting on my cushion. Ok, well she did my tree and two of the leaves – no prizes for guessing that!

kellie's quilting

Before we knew it the day was over. 4pm had arrived and we took lots of photos of all of us and our work and then it was time to say our goodbyes, pack up, load up the car and take kellie back to the airport. 

everyone
I can’t thank Kellie enough for coming up to do the workshop for me. I don’t own a bricks and mortar store and have never organised a whole weekend workshop and I was so glad she put her faith in me and it was such a success. She is a natural teacher who had us laughing all day and was so patient and lovely with everyone. I also have to thank each and every one of the 19 ladies who came along and attended the workshop because no students would have meant no workshop. Everyone was so happy, cheerful and hard working all weekend and made it so much more worthwhile. Thank you too for helping me get all set up and just making it all run smoothly!

all the happy students

Of course I also have to thank the lovely retro daddy who took care of the little people and got me there and home each day with a smile on his face. Will I do it again? You bet! Next year, watch this space…. In another post I’ll share pictures of Kellie’s quilts and everyone’s work! Until then I have umpteen loads of washing, lots of healthy food to cook for my children who keep calling out for chippies and lots of work to catch up on!

Comments

  1. That looks like a great weekend of quiltling – LOVE the spirals!

  2. beautiful quilts. looks like fun!

  3. Corrie, they look absolutely divine creations! How they’ll be treasured. Were they experienced quilters or novices as well? I am keen to make a quilt for one of my littlies so am eager to find out anything I can about quilting.

  4. I wannnaaaaa gooooo!! Her glasses are booked near me and I;m desperate to go! Just open her ‘Little Monsters’ Pattern and got a little over whelmed…personal instructions would be great! Looks like you had a wonderful weekend. Well Done Corrie for organising everything!

  5. Isnt Kellie just lovely Corrie! I knew you would get along. Her quilts are absolutely gorgeous and I really must pull my finger out and do some of her patterns she sent to me, I just get scared I think trying to do such a good job of her wonderful designs! She does seem to make everything look easy but I guess she does have lots of practice. I look forward to seeing your gorgeous cushions finished too.

  6. You did a fantastic job, my grand daughter has got one of Janet’s Pillows she made using Kelly’s pattern.

    cheers
    Christine

  7. Had a great time Corrie!
    So great to see you looking so well and to see all your little ones again. I’ll post pics of my cushion soon. I have a date with an seamripper first :-)

  8. Corrie, Thank you for organising a fantastic weekend! I learnt so much and can’t wait to get my pillow top finished. :)

  9. Kellie is an awesome teacher and it was such a fantastic class, I’m so glad you talked her into it.Thank you for all that you did.

  10. What a great workshop!!! I would have needed something like that last week (I did my first free motion quilting…..with just the guide of on line tutorials and it was VERY hard)
    Congratulations on the organization.

  11. Fantastic! Glad it went so well Corrie!

  12. What a fabulous weekend!!!
    Everyone’s work looks wonderful!!

  13. Next year? I want to BE THERE!! What a fantastic workshop!

  14. Love, love, love that quilting. What a sensational weekend.

  15. you have a lovely weekend!
    Everything is so beautiful and you are all so happy!

  16. Thank you Corrie I had a wonderful weekend.

  17. Hi! I so enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for the many smiles you bring me! You have inspired me to start sewing…then maybe quilting. You and your family are beautiful!
    Thank you for sharing!
    Love,
    Margherita from Canada

  18. Wow! It looks like you all had a fantastic time. I just read Janet’s post and now I’m so envious — to have her there too — I would have been in heaven with the three of you. Sheesh — probably more than the ol’ ticker could take!!!

  19. Thanks for a great weekend Corrie, I really loved it (although need years more of practice before I produce anything even like Kellies) and also thanks for your little goodie bag – love my pins and fabric, very sweet of you.

  20. Looks like it was a great weekend!!

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