Friday
I was picked up by Robyn and Geoff to get to Hurstville station in plenty of time for the 9:45 south coast train. We met up with lots of others at the station and then on the train.
Our bus and driver Ben from the Berry Bus Service who drove all 46 of us to the Nowra Quest Motel where we settled into our rooms and had lunch.
Back on the bus to drive to Meroogal, an old home now owned by the Sydney Living Museums. We had a private tour of the current art exhibition which reflected the home and the people who lived there. Did you know that this house was home to four generations of women! It sounds a little like the Norwegian Bachelor Farmers of Lake Wobegon.
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| One of the art exhibits - a baby's bonnet made from tea bags and decorated with natural materials. |
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| To enter the house we all had to either remove our shoes or wear shoe cover-ups. Guess which I chose. |
Back on the bus to the Quilting Patch in South Nowra for a bit of retail therapy for those who needed it. What a pity this has such a small sign and set back off the main road. I've never seen it before even though I've had many shopping trips to Bunnings just over the road.
When we were dropped back at the motel Robyn and I went for a walk around the pond in the park across the road to get a bit of blood flowing then back to prepare for dinner at 6pm.
After dinner we all gathered in the conference room to sew and chat with dessert and tea until eventually retired to bed by about 10pm. What a happy crowd this was and an opportunity to be inspired by the work of others and to chat about options for my own project.
Saturday
Up for my toast and coffee soon after 6am. We met the bus at 8am and travelled to Berry where we had breakfast at the Fig Tree Cafe at about 9am. Far too late for me but a good time for Second Breakfast.
We then had free shopping time at the Berry Quilt & Co where we each had a $20 credit as a way of reimbursing fees. I bought thread and a few tools and only spent about $8. Robyn and I went shopping for clothes and browsing the town. I spent much more there.
Off to the Uniting Church hall for our meeting and show and tell at which I showed my chook quilt and told the story behind it.
One of the other ones that I was inspired by was a decorated vintage embroidered tablecloth. It has given me some ideas for the doily quilt I am planning.
The Berry Quilters group put on a fabulous lunch and we had a talk by Denise Griffiths about how she does her stunning Australian Native quilts.
As Robyn and I had already browsed I had a bit of an empty afternoon wandering Berry again then sitting under a tree chatting to others before the bus collected us for our return to Nowra.
Dinner at 6pm again then a sewing supper at which I finished the "boro" work on my last little Japanese quilt. I am now almost happy to call it finished. Just the binding to go.
Sunday
Our first journey of the day was a bus trip to Bundanon, the Arthur Boyd home out of Nowra. The drive out was narrow and windy and the last 5km were a gravel surface. It is definitely only a single lane drive with pull-offs for passing. Once at the house we split into three groups and had a guide show us inside (with lots of artworks by the Boyd family). Again it was a shoes off house.
I loved the detail of this painting done on a Eucalyptus leaf.
There were kangaroos lounging on the grass in the paddocks as it was such an overcast and drizzly morning.
We were then taken to the studio kept as it was left. A lovely wooden structure with lots of light.
Our trip out of Bundanon was a little scary even for Ben, our driver from Berry Bus Service. The road had become a little slippery in the wet and we had to manoeuvre around 4 cars on their way in. But we made it to the top thanks to Ben's driving.
Our next stop was back in Nowra to see the quilt show. I was interested in the way this quilt used scraps. We had lunch there too.
Then back to the Uniting Church Hall in Berry to have a talk by Carolyn Collins about dying and printing on fabrics using leaves and other plant bits and pieces. This was extremely interesting and I am inspired. I especially liked the printing on paper option.
Because the busses were replacing trains from Berry to Kiama our driver Ben offered to drive us straight to Kiama instead of to Berry Station. We were so glad as by this time it was teaming with heavy rain. This meant we got a train from Kiama an hour earlier and home to our own beds at a really good time.
In all a great weekend. Thanks Megan for your superb organisation.
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