Caroline Sharkey called Sewing up a Storm in the Desert.
I have wanted to visit Uluru or Ayers Rock as it used to be known for years and decided that this was my chance and booked in for a week of fun, classes and sightseeing. It was such a well organised event and the classes, food and tours were wonderful.
I stayed with another Waverley Patchworkers member called Marion and we got on really well. We arrived on Friday afternoon in time for registration.
The next morning was the official opening and we were entertained by Dwayne on the Didgeridoo, he is very talented and the emotional performance set the tone for a great experience.
Our Bernina sewing machines were all set up for us in the classroom and they had a special Sewing up a Storm skin on them. The machines were ours to take home so it is a wonderful memento of the trip.
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| My Sewing Machine |
I had decided to do a 3 day class with Sophie Standing, an English tutor who lives in South Africa. Sophie is a very talented free motion embroiderer on the machine and she specialises in sewing African animals but she uses commercially printed fabrics for a very unique look.
Sophie Standing gave us all a high quality photo of one of her quilts as a gift.
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| Elephant by Sophie Standing |
She also gave us a pattern and kit to make a Spinifex Pigeon, a bird found near Uluru .Here I am sewing my pigeon.
I was out of my comfort zone with the floral fabrics but after a very short pause I just decided to go with it and see what happened. I am glad I did because I think I was the only one who actually finished at the end of day 3! Of course they all looked different because we all had different scraps of fabric and it was up to us how we placed the fabrics.
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| My Spinifex Pigeon |
What did I learn from this class? I learnt that I could use floral fabrics and still get a realistic result. I also learnt to be more free with my stitching and add more darks than I am used to.
It was a great experience; Sophie was fun but firm teacher who encouraged us to do our best work. Caroline and her crew made the experience even greater with every need attended to including delicious lunches and morning and afternoon teas. Pop up shops for us to spend our money and prizes. Every morning we'd find a little gift next to our machine.
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| Gifts |
We were very spoilt. Bernina were also very generous with the sewing machine at a greatly reduced price as well as gifts to celebrate their 125th birthday.
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| Bernina Gifts |
We stayed a week and the class went for 3 days and so the rest of the time was for sightseeing. Caroline had arranged some wonderful tours and dinners and I'll talk about them in my next post.
Marion and I signed up for a dot painting class taken by one of the local Aboriginal women. Here is my little canvas ready to go.
Christine spoke to us with an interpreter and explained and showed us the implements that women used to use and she demonstrated some of the symbols that the Aboriginal people used in their paintings. She then asked us to paint our story.
It was a very relaxed experience and even though the paints were well used and the brushes not perfect we managed to get into the zone.
Here is my little painting about my family. It is about how our family live amongst the trees and how one daughter has also made a home in the trees but another has made a home near the sea. I have also painted my myself and daughters and granddaughters sitting together and my husband, and 2 sons and grandson all sitting together but we all live together under the same starry sky. Certainly not perfect but a great experience.
We stayed at the Desert Gardens Hotel and the Artist in Residence was a glass jewellery maker called Christine Stewart. She offered a class once a day and so Marion and I booked into one. I made a pendant showing Uluru.
I also bought a beautiful pendant made by Christine and I love wearing it. The pendant will always remind me of my special trip to Uluru.
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| Glass pendant by Christine Stewart |
We packed so much into that week with sunrise and sunset tours and dinners of all descriptions but that will have to wait for my next post.
Bye for now,
Linda
4 comments:
Wow! I'm jealous, exhausted and so very impressed with your trip! So many exciting moments you had as well as productive moments!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Looks like a fantastic retreat, and the gifts you received are special memories.
Thank you Robbie, it was a very busy week but we loved every minute of it
Thank You Jude, we were certainly spoilt when we were up there.
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