Leonie’s Ladies: Quilting Retreat March 2022

Leonie Fraser is a highly talented quilter who lives in Manton. Leonie recently organised a quilting retreat from the 17th - 20th March in Wollongong for eleven appreciative ladies.

Leonie made her first quilt back in 1980, and then it was purely by accident. Leonie went to a TAFE class purely to make up the numbers: the outreach TAFE teacher would only run the class if there were ten participants. Leonie couldn’t be the reason the class didn’t go ahead so she put up her hand. She had long been of the view that quilting was quite potty: after all, why would any sensible person cut up perfectly good fabric only to go to the bother of sewing it up again? But from the first snip Leonie was hooked, in fact, she was the only person in the group to finish a quilt.

Leonie credits her love of sewing to her mother, who taught her how to make clothes and also how to undertake skilled embroidery. Leonie found her love of sewing has stood her in good stead throughout her life and once she started in the workforce it became her release, and helped her relax in her down time.

Leonie is now retired, but when she was in the workforce, she was a teacher, a consultant for the Department of Education, a part-time lecturer in education at universities, and finished her career as a deputy-principal and principal.

Leonie’s retirement years have enabled her to take her sewing to a new level. She was the President of the Wentworth Quilters in Sydney before coming to Manton, went on to be the Vice-President for three years after her move, and is currently a member of Quilters’ Guild of NSW Inc, operating as QuiltNSW.

Leonie has a lot of experience organising quilting retreats. When she was still at Wentworth Quilters she was the Retreat Coordinator and set up five or six annual retreats. Then when Leonie started teaching at Canberra Sewing she realised that people wanted to have time out of their day-to-day lives to dedicate themselves to uninterrupted quilting time, so she went ahead and put her hand up to organise retreats. For three years now Leonie has organised and conducted successful quilting retreats, fortunately avoiding COVID lockdowns and surges.

IMAGE: Leonies Ladies Quilting Retreat March 2022

The twelve ladies who participated in this years’ retreat, which was held at the Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort, came from Canberra, Sydney, Boorowa, and the Yass Valley. Some of the quilters were seasoned virtuosos, while others were new to the craft. However, skill levels didn’t matter, because all were respected and nurtured. Participants came armed with their quilting sewing machines and brought along their own projects to work on. The venue provided ample space and each quilter was allocated two tables positioned at right angles to allow for sewing and cutting. At the conclusion of the retreat a Facebook group was established where members can share projects, ask for assistance, and continue the new friendships that have been forged.

If you would like to learn more about next year’s quilting retreat, or you would like to talk to Leonie about obtaining individual and group demonstrations, assistance, and lessons please contact Leonie on 0405 468 206 or email Lffraser@bigpond.net.au.

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