Wow, what a weekend we had in Penola for the Penola Patchwork Party for 2024! There were 16 people who joined us in the historic country town of Penola down the South East of South Australia in the Cobb and Co buildings!
Setup day was the Thursday and the tables, chairs and all the cabling and lighting was setup. The sewing room (and corner room with the pop up shops) was in the old 1857 building
And our eating / show and tell room was next door in the Tregenza Gallery building which has a kitchen for our teas and coffees and delicious food that was being catered for by the Red Shack Cafe and Ian Perry Catering.
I even found some gorgeous embroidered tablecloths (I believe by my grandma and my mum!) to use on the tables… and with some of the last flowers from the garden, this was a lovely space for us to eat and have our show and tell!
My darling @thefabrichusband and my amazing friend Cait and her two teenagers Mia and Josh helped out in the kitchen making sure we had all the delicious food served up! I couldn’t have done it without them!
The Friday afternoon saw people start to bring their sewing machines into the sewing space and setting themselves up and meeting a few people. And Saturday morning we were all off and sewing!
The steady buzz of sewing machines and then, as people started to get to know their neighbours, the buzz of conversation was wonderful to hear!
I did a small trunk show over Saturday lunch, showing off quilts of my various patterns and a few of my most loved quilts. I forgot to bring my Barn Star Sampler quilt though! Doh! But the just finished Edelweiss Quilt from our sewalong was there.
I had brought items for a Said With Love pop up shop which the girls loved! And Kerry from The Rural Stitch Co had a table too and popped in each afternoon to chat with the girls.
Saturday night we all headed to the local Pub for some delicious food and lots more chatting and socialising, some of the partners came along too!
Sunday saw lots more sewing and a few blocks and quilt tops start to be finished! The back room was for cutting and laying out and basting!
Over lunch on the Sunday we had a show and tell from everyone… of the things they were working on, or quilts / bags / makes that they loved. It was fabulous to see so much creativity and beautiful things. I loved seeing peoples use of colours and fabrics! Here are just a few of the goodies we got to see!
Even though it was late June and it was pretty cold in Penola, Sunday morning the sun came out and we went on a bit of a quilt photography walk around some of the stunning old slab hut and stone buildings in the historic part of town. We discussed styling and lighting and some of the props needed to get just the right picture of your quilts!
And then suddenly, Sunday came to an end and our weekend was over. New friendships had been made, lots of inspiration had been soaked up and projects worked on. We packed up and headed off into the sunset!
The consensus was definitely to have another retreat next year, so yay! Sadly we won’t be able to use the same venue next year, a renovation is being planned apparently. So I am on the hunt for a new venue…. and I think I may have found one!
So stay tuned for more information about the 2025 Penola Patchwork Party!
Thank you everyone who came to our first Penola Patchwork Party – it was a wonderful weekend : ) And thank you so much to my helpers, Ian, Cait, Mia and Josh and to Ian Perry for the food and Vic Musolino for letting us use the Cobb & Co buildings!
