The end of an Era : Nundle 2017

On Thursday I loaded up the car and headed north as I have many times before, to the place where this blog first started in 2011, Nundle NSW. It was time for the 10th annual Girls day in the country

as I drove north I had the opportunity to see the beautiful country side as the sun went down at the end of the day. 

Friday seen us head out to the cottage on the hill, as we have done so many times before, then join together at the Peel Inn for lunch as we had done for the past several years. On Friday evening we all joined together at the camp kitchen of the Fossickers caravan park for dinner and a bit of show and tell. there was some gorgeous quilts to see and lots of inspiration abounded.

Saturday morning seen us all hovering outside the hall in the drizzling lane waiting for the doors to open, to what would be our last Girls day in the country, but we wouldn't know that for many hours to  come.

as we arrived at our tables we discovered asian steaming baskets



this lead to some intrigue as to exactly what the project was to be . . .had Kerry finally decided to teach us how to cook? . . . . LOL

However to our delight we soon discovered that the steaming baskets would soon be transformed into a gorgeous sewing basket. We each had received a circle cut from an antique double wedding ring quilt.  That piece of antique was so soft in my hands and I imagined all the love that had gone into making it , the years it had spent keeping people warm and feeling cherished. I wondered where my quilts would be in the future and would they feel so cherished.
The quilt was imperfect but that was the charm of the project, as we were to use the pieces of wool strategically placed to cover the imperfections.

by the ending of the day my sewing basket had been painted a beautiful French blue, we had a choice of three colours red blue or green,  it had a pincushion which Bonnie Sullivan, our wonderful tutor sat with us at our table and showed us how to create  and the embroidery on the antique quilt was well underway.

by three pm we all knew that this was the last time we would all be gathered here together, this was our last Girls day in the country.

despite the smiles there was a lot of sadness,
 although you could almost hear the wheels turning as we all considered how we could gather together somehow to continue our tradition of, for some, the last 10 years




that evening we gathered together for dinner and some of us continued to work on our projects, I was totally besotted and was starting to make subtle changes to make my basket my own.

early the next morning I sat with my hands warmed with my cup of tea and contemplated the past  8 years and the impact that GDITC had had on my life.

I now have friendships near and far that were germinated right there in Nundle, those friendships  mean the world to me. I have travelled throughout NSW to spend delightful hours with this wonderful group of girls.  I have made beautiful projects that were either commenced at Nundle, inspired by projects either seen in Nundle or by members of my GDITC sewing group.  That first trip to Nundle certainly had a huge impact on my life, and it has all been for the better.

as I packed my suitcase to leave my hand brushed over the little Jewellery case, designed by Anni Downs which was my first GDITC project and I thought to myself I will always have Nundle, there is little pieces of it scattered throughout my home and my memories are full of it's laughter and Joys.

as this door closes I look forward to what comes next

and I want to thank 

Kerry

for starting GDITC and bringing together such a wonderful group of like minded souls

Chooky

you truely are an inspiration

you brought us all together as we stitched away in our virtual sewing community

gathering as often as we cold in person.

it's been a wonderful journey

as the saying which we all diligently stitched on Saturday says

our souls are fed by needle and thread 

and that thread will bind us always

à plus tard

(see you later)

Googy Girl