Here we go, let's hop into the time machine to go back to October 2018 to the Misty Mountain Getaway.


The Misty Mountain Getaway is an annual retreat  held in the lovely small of Dorrigo in Northern NSW. 
Imagine 6 days of workshops with different tutors set in a town of historic buildings and beautiful scenery. It makes sense that many participants from all over Australia return each year. In fact quite a few have been to every retreat since it began 15 years ago.

The streets of Dorrigo are lined with beautiful old buildings. 

Which made a wonderful backdrop for the Hanging of the Quilts on the Saturday. 

The forecast was for rain but the weather was on our side and it ended up being fine.








I never get tired of seeing quilts blowing in the wind.

Misty Threads is the colourful patchwork shop in the center of town. So perfect for stocking up on just the right fabrics for our projects. 

But of course the main reason we were all there was to Sew, Learn and Share. 

The were 7 tutors with classes in different venues around the town. 
From Left to Right we have Rachelle Denenny, Kathy Doughty, Wendy Williams, Chris Timmins is standing behind Wendy, then there's me and Diane Cevaal, Jan Clarke was also teaching but somehow she escaped from this photo. 

My first workshop was Whizz Bang! As usual I was too busy teaching in my class room to think of taking photos. Our 2 days of Whizz Bang fun certainly whizzed by in a colourful whirl. Here we are with our show and tell. 

 So many gorgeous circles of delight, in such a wide range of colours and fabrics, but I could have easily scooped them all up and put them together into one big colourful quilt!






Here's a behind the scene photo.. Sometimes people ask if these quilts are suitable for beds. Absolutely!! The nights in Dorrigo were chillier than I thought so after the Whizz Bang workshop was over I put my favourite teaching quilt straight on my bed. Colourful and cosy, and wonderful for adding that homey touch to my room.

At the end of each day there would be a gathering in a different venue each night. People would get up and share their show and tell, sometimes it was finished quilts from past years, or the blocks that had been worked on during the day. We would oohh and aaahh over what the different classes had made. 



So wonderful to see my Chunky Blooms quilt glowing under the lights. 

My next workshop was Gypsy Carnival. A fun one day class. I loved seeing everyone's beautiful fabric combinations. This is a great quilt for showing off a favourite fabric.

 It was a wonderful bonus to have Dee of Quilting Dee blog in the class. We've chatted through our blogs for years and years, and she was even lovelier in real life.

On my day off I went for a walk to enjoy the beautiful vistas. The clouds were particularly beautiful  that day, the sort of clouds that you would expect to see in a renaissance painting with angels and cupids flying amongst the fluffy peaks.





The last 2 days were spent making Chunky Blooms.

For this workshop I bring in real flowers as inspiration. I was so impressed with everyone's interpretations. 










Some flowers are beautiful blooms from the garden of peoples imaginations. 




You can see from my funny face how pleased I was with the beautiful floral display that was produced over 2 days. I really was so impressed at how everyone approached the workshop with such enthusiasm and creativity. 


Another highlight of the retreat were the delicious cakes made by the local ladies auxiliary for our morning tea. Ohmygolly, they were soooo goood!!  How wonderful that it was a 6 day retreat so we could try different ones each day. Yummo!!

I'm super pleased to say I've been invited back to The Misty Mountain retreat again this year. It will be lovely to see everyone again and to enjoy the camaraderie, and also to spend time in the spectacular surrounds. 

Beautiful sunrises every morning. The sky would change second by second and I'd watch it transform as I waited for my morning pot of tea to brew. 



There was a waterfall at the bottom of the garden. 

 It's a shame photos don't capture the big sound of the crashing water echoing over rocks, and then the closer sound of the water lapping on the bank where I was standing and the birds chattering.



There are those big fluffy clouds again!


Thank you Misty Mountains Retreat and Dorrigo. See you next year for more fun and fabulous times!! 28th Sept - 3rd October.

To get more details you can visit the website here
Follow their instagram @mistymountaingetaway
Or follow along here with me and I'll let you know when sign-ups open.