Another catchup post -

The weekend before we went to Pittsburgh for Quilt Market, a group of us had our annual retreat.
The peninsula of Whangarei Heads is beautiful, with lots of coastline, and the camp where we stay is a lovely spot with a gorgeous setting. Admittedly we are mostly heads down at our sewing machines but it is always nice to look up and take in the view. There are always some good walks to be had, as well, along the coastline.

Always something happening out on the water.

We had a full house this year (18), luckily most of us have Sew-Ezi tables so
we all fitted in (still setting up and waiting for later arrivals in this pic).

We decided to host a Pink Ribbon morning tea while at there to raise money for The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.
Prior to retreat we needed to organise a few props -

Using 'breast cancer' fabric we sewed and sewed...

...and made this gorgeous table runner,
perfect for our tea party.

And for a bit of fun, can you spot the
special biscuits I made, keeping to the
theme of the occasion?

We also thought it would be fun to wear a quirky hat. For some reason this hat
won the  most votes as favourite!

This fundraiser carries on until the end of the month. I have a special fundraising page if anyone wants to donate a little ... this year the funds raised go to research. The link is in my sidebar or *here*. I was asked if it is possible to donate via PayPal, this isn't possible. They will only accept credit cards. I haven't reached my goal yet so any further donations, large or small would be gratefully accepted!

This year I took a lot of little projects to retreat so in a way felt that I didn't achieve much, but I guess they all add up!

I did start a new quilt, my new Red and White one for the SewCalGal challenge.
Lots of learning which I will share another time.

I made a recipe book cover for one of ED's friends.

..and decorated a hand towel as a gift for another friend.

A few of us decided to make this bag.
Very cute, a lovely shape.
This pattern is by Gathering Stitchers and can be
found *here*.

All so different!

It was a great weekend, lots of laughs and creativity. Of course we all took far too much food and too many projects. Looking forward to the next one :-)

Today was the first chance I have had to unpack my sewing machine since retreat  - I made a few simple blocks and feel whole again. The days are definitely cooler now so hopefully I can have a few more dates with it!
Have a great week and happy stitching,