I have almost finished piecing my Pemberley quilt and I am in love. This is a truly magnificent quilt if you are happy to be in it for the long haul! It is worth it and will be a family heirloom. I will post photos of my pieced top as soon as it is all together, hopefully this week! Similarly, Longbourne has a place in my heart, Lol, and in my cupboard as a WIP (work in progress). I am well on my way with that one. All of Katrina Hadjimichael’s Jane Austen series quilts are achievable for a confident beginner due to the techniques Katrina uses and the ongoing support she gives through our private Facebook page. Because of their complexity, Katrina does not sell the patterns for her Jane Austen quilts, preferring to pass on the piecing instructions firsthand in the classroom. So, Katrina and I have had a chat as I realised that each year I am offering her latest quilt in this series which means others do not get a chance to make one of her older quilts like Pemberley, Longbourne, Netherfield etc. Yes, the list goes on as there are now eight quilts in this series! To overcome this, Katrina has agreed to teach three quilts in the March retreat, being Pemberley, Longbourne and Lambton. Wow, she is a gem! Bookings are open so scoot across to my retreat booking page to check out the photos and get your booking form and deposit in as places will be snapped up fairly quickly.

Katrina Hadjimichael’s wokshops are proving to be so popular we have decided to repeat her Lambton workshop at Victor Harbor. The workshop in February 2017 is full and has been closed off. I have vacancies for the March 2017 workshop so please go to my retreat booking page and complete a form if you are interested in attending this fantastic event. Katrina and I have had some discussions about her machined quilts and have decided to run a two day workshop in August 2017. There will be three quilts to choose from, Spikes and Specks, The Way Forward and Bloomin Logs. This workshop will be held in the Adelaide Metropolitan area. I will be able to confirm the venue later in the year. This event has some bookings already so if you are interested, go to my retreat booking page and complete a form.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of Katrina Hadjimichael’s company at Victor Harbor as she conducted a workshop on one of her beautiful Jane Austen quilts, “Rosings”.

The lovely ladies who attended the weekend worked late into the night on Friday and Saturday to get as much of their Georgetown Circle completed so they could move onto the applique.

This is my friend Bron with Katrina working on her foundation piecing.

Katrina is a very dedicated, generous and talented quilt designer/tutor. Her Jane Austen quilt series are beautiful and she keeps adding to the series, each quilt unique. We had a sneak peek at the next one that is almost ready to go to Veronica Appleyard for quilting.  Sorry, no show and tell here, you will need to visit Katrina’s blog for her release.

The most exciting news is that Katrina has agreed to make this an annual event for The Quilting Room and to extend the workshop to three days.  Next year she will be teaching Pemberley. This is the first quilt Katrina made in the Jane Austen series. Stunning!

Which means I need to get a move along with my Rosings quilt! To keep me on track, I will post my progress. As you can see from this group photo I am way behind all of the others but someone had to do the cooking! That’s me standing at the back next to Katrina.

The following photos are where we stay and the beautiful views while we sew. This is the 1920’s Beach House in Victor Harbor.

These are the beautiful views. My apologies for my car spoiling the scenery.

The yatch club opposite sets sail on Sunday

The other exciting news is that we now have a Jane Austen club that will meet every three months.  This is a support group for people working on one of Katrina’s beautiful quilts. Katrina does not sell patterns for her Jane Austen quilts so you will need to attend a workshop with her first to be eligible to join this group. She does have other patterns for sale and is currently running a block of the month. We will be meeting at Hettie’s Patch, thank you so much Lorraine. Chris O’Brien is coordinating this group and I understand she has some fun things in mind. Please contact me for Chris’s details. Katrina has also hinted she will be having some input into the group. Mmm sounds interesting!

Wow, I can’t believe how hot it is here in Adelaide today.  We are having a heat wave and today the temperature will hit 46 degrees Celsius.

It is a good time to think of being by the seaside.

How exciting, we are on countdown now for Katrina Hadjimichael’s March workshop in beautiful Victor Harbor. Just imagine sitting in the front room, ocean only fifty feet away with the cool surf rolling in. Yachts sailing by and yes, we are sewing! How much better does it get. Oh, of course, the yummy home cooked food plus there will be an on site shop. Lyn Buttfield of Quilters’ Quarter’s will be there with her mobile shop and she has been stocking up on the latest reproduction fabric. All of that plus you get a quilty goodie bag to the value of $25. There are still a few vacancies so if you are thinking about coming along, don’t  hang out for too long. Katrina doesn’t sell her patterns for her Jane Austin quilts so attending a class is the only way you are going to make her beautiful quilts. I have attached some close up photos of Rosings so you can see how beautiful this quilt is.