Friendships Gained

One of the very best outcomes of travelling to different places to teach is the people you get to meet.

I had a truly memorable time in the tutor house with the other tutors.  It was a sheer delight to meet and get to know the following very talented ladies: Irene Blanck from Melbourne; Amanda Daly (who I already knew slightly from Sydney); Rachelle Denneny from Adelaide; Juliet Fitness from Waitakere, New Zealand; Pam Furniss from the Central Coast, NSW; and Jacqui Karl from Palmerston North in New Zealand.

We all clicked immediately and had some great fun together, especially at 5 o'clock which we dubbed our "happy hour".

We have decided to collaborate on a secret joint project, but you will have to wait to find out more about that!

Then there was the delightful Quilters Guild of South Australia Quilt Encounter Committee ladies.  They were all delightful and so helpful.  They all worked extremely hard to make sure all of the tutors had everything we needed and to make it a very happy place for everyone.  These ladies had replaced the previous Committee which had organised this event for the past twenty years.  They did a fabulous job. Congratulations ladies!  Only nineteen more years to go.

On my day off Heather from the Committee took Amanda, Irene and myself to a beautiful silk scarf shop (retail therapy) and into the city.  Later in the afternoon we had lunch at Brighton and a walk along the pier where we saw dolphins surfacing!!!  The sun had come out so we were very lucky girls.

Then there were all the students.  I had ladies who had travelled from all around Australia to attend my classes. They came from Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and of course local South Australian girls. Everyone was there to learn and have fun.

I was also delighted to meet Helen Campbell who had already invited me to teach at one of her Retreats by the Sea at Victor Harbor, SA.  I am travelling there in March 2014 to teach "Rosings".  During one of our many conversations, Helen introduced me to "amigurumi".  For the uninitiated, like myself, these are small to tiny crotchet stuffed creature toys which originated in Japan.

When some of the other tutors had their day off they found me one and brought him home.  He is a small yellow and white rabbit which we decided to call "Mr Darcy".  He became my little mascot.

Here he is:

If you are interested, you can Google "amigurumi" and see what comes up!  Amazing.