Once again, Kate joined us at the cottage for an extended time. This time one of our sewing lessons was how to make the Retreat Bag by Emmaline Bags, a free pattern that I’ve made countless times myself. It’s a great introduction to bag making for a beginner, even with a zipper and a metal frame.

Last time Kate was at the cottage we took a trip into Perth to shop at Perth Fabrics & Crafts and she fell in love with a beautiful leafy print with different shades of green on a black ground. She found a lime green from my stash for the lining that coordinated really well with the main print and chose a great dark tealy green from my stash of Aurifil thread.

Just like last time, Kate was a great student. She quilted the outer fabric and learned about using the walking foot with the guide attachment so all her quilting lines were equally spaced, she did a wonderful job carefully inserting the zipper and she made a couple of pockets for the lining according to the instructions. Her toiletry bag was a great success.

Part of our lessons this time also included cutting out and starting to sew together a pair of shorts made from more of this great leaf print. We ran out of time to complete them so that job will have to wait until Kate’s next visit to the cottage in early September. Maybe I can talk her into modeling them and include the photo in the next post.

It wasn’t all sewing while she was there. Her good friend Renelle came for a couple of days to spend time with us and she dubbed it “Camp Galna” because of all the activities she took part in while there. Her list of activities was as follows:

Reel ‘Em In Fishing School
Kayaking with Kate
Intro to Golf
Beginner Bagmaking
Wordle Basics
Chipmunk Domestication (LOL)

When she comes back next time the itinerary will include Sewing Fun With Sharon and Cribbage 101 and whatever other activities that she and Kate can come up with to keep everyone busy and happy. We had a wonderful time having her there.

I took a day to myself after Kate returned home and visited a quilt store in Prescott, Ontario called Watergirl Quilt Co. I had purchased fabric from them online before and also visited their booth at a few quilt shows in the last couple of years, but this was my first time at their brick and mortar store and it’s only 40 minutes away from the cottage. It’s beautiful shop, bright and airy, with a great selection of fabrics and bagmaking supplies. I found a few of my usual brights to add to my stash. I highly recommend a trip to this shop if you’re in the area.

It’s only 3 weeks until our annual retreat at Elim Lodge so there will be more amazing projects to share with you next month. Enjoy the rest of your summer and we’ll catch up again soon.

More Cottage Sewing