Our travels take us far and wide and this trip was no exception. For over 25 years we have headed out into Western Queensland to teach new patchwork classes. We've stopped at towns like Winton, Isisford, Ilfracomb and even smaller places like Yaraka.
On my visit out west last year, the women said they thought we should hold the classes later than March. They were worried that the summer storms would turn the black soil road to Yaraka to mud and some of them might get stuck. Yaraka and Isisford take it in turns year about to host the classes and Ilfracombe usually hosts a separate two day class. Most of the girls that attend the class in Ilfracombe then come along to the other one, which was held this year at Yaraka. So we decided to hold the classes in late May, early June.
When we hold these classes in these isolated areas they go for two or three days. The women all bring their sewing gear, their swags and so much good country cooking that their utes are loaded to the top. It is such a fantastic feeling when we all arrive at pretty much the same time. There is such a buzz as we all welcome each other - it's just like coming home. Rob and I have known these girls years and as we only see them once a year, there's a lot of catching up to do.
Once everyone is unloaded, the kettle is put onto boil while the tables are set up. Swags are rolled out and made up with their quilts on top. Next, out comes all the fabric and the machines and then it's cuppa time. The food, well it's nothing short of amazing. So many superb cooks - Masterchef eat your heart out!
Yaraka is only made up of a couple of houses, a pub, the police house and the hall. So when 15 or so women arrive, it's a bit of a population explosion.
I have never seen such a clean and tidy town in all my travels around Australia. Every person travelling around Australia should make this town a must see destination. Soon after going to bed on the first night, the heavens opened and it rained and rained. Everyone knew that we would be staying longer than planned because of the black soil road. Who would have thought that after 25 years of visiting in March and not ever being stuck with summer storms, that we'd be stuck on our first visit in June. These country women know what it's like to be stranded after just a little rain, so no one panicked. They were very happy to have gained some extra sewing days.
Doug, the local policeman, came to see us and said he would let us know when the road would be OK to travel on. No-one was to leave by themselves and he would escort us all out when the road was OK again. We all had the best time, sewing all day and eating wonderful food. We all converged on the Pub at happy hour for dinner and to meet with some of the locals - it was such a blast. Then back to the we all went hall for a cuppa and more sewing until very late. The girls turned out some amazing work during this time.
Doug gave us the nod to say the road would be dried out by about 10am. Everything was packed up and loaded into the utes, the hall cleaned and we were ready to go. We all met at Doug's house and headed out in convoy, one after the other, through all the bog holes and mud - we had great fun.When we got onto solid ground, we all stopped to say our goodbyes, deciding then and there we didn't want to say goodbye just yet.
So we all drove to the next little town of Isisford, stopping at the wonderful information centre - they have the best coffee shop. We all sat around and enjoyed each others company for a bit longer, even Doug joined in the fun. Then we all went our different directions (Rob and I heading to Blackall for more classes) with happy hearts after some fantastic extra days of quilting and enjoying each others company so much.
To all our wonderful quilting friends in the west we say thank you for the best time - we loved it. Pauline
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