Hello again folks ....!!! Well I have a lot of ground to cover in this months Blog ... where do I begin .... the 46 quilts we had to prepare for despatch on Monday to India, the surprise visit from Maxine all the way from Geelong, the wonderful donation from Marleen in S.A from her personal 'stash'? Decisions, decisions, decisions .....!!!
Perhaps I should start with a roll call of the wonderful ladies who came to our Quilting Workday on Saturday April 4th ... and what a brilliant turnout we had indeed!! We welcomed some lovely new faces ... Grace, Margaret, Betty and Pam .....
Here we have Grace busily stitching pockets onto quilts ... and Margaret who almost had to get dragged away from the sewing machine for lunch... she stitched non-stop all day ... awesome effort!!
Well .... it's now more than 24 hours since I started this Post ... only to have had it interrupted by a power failure that rendered me unable to use the computer (glomm), sewing machine (glomm again) or oven (hoorah!!). But here I am ... back and on full power to complete all the news that's fit to print about our wonderful days activities at the last Working Bee .... so here goes .... :)
Aren't these quilts going to bring a smile to the faces of the kiddies in India when they are delivered?? This is Pam with some of the beautiful appliqued quilts that she has made for the children .... great work Pam!!
As well as our newcomers on Saturday we also had our familiar band of regular stitchers ... that dedicated troupe who come along in the face of hail, rain, shine ... even heatwaves ... and we are more than grateful for all that they do. So I will thank Yvonne and her grand daughter Amber, Janagi, Pauline, Lois, Joy, Inge, isobel, Lesley and Win ... and of course our dual 'Hostesses with the Mostest', Gaynor and Rachel ... and not forgetting Chief Cook, Bottlewasher and maker of that famous Beetroot Salad ... Reg the Reliable!!
Here is Amber,at only 12 years of age our youngest quilter .. and she is doing a brilliant job, isn't she?
Here is Janagi getting valued input from Grace and Amber as to the final layout of her quilt ... while Lois shows off her handiwork to an appreciative audience.
Now for the life of me my mind has gone totally blank on the identity of the maker of this stunning quilt ... I CAN tell you that they were camera shy ... though I suspect you may have guessed that already!! Possibly Isobel, maybe Joy .... perhaps Lesley .... I will attempt to unfog my grey cells and let you all know later ... OK, it's now 'later' ... and I have just been reminded by Rachel that Isobel (winner of our 'Encouragement Award' at the Cot Quilt Challenge earlier in the year, made this gorgeous quilt. Way to go Isobel .... you are an inspiration!!
Carol and her adorable son Angus joined us on Saturday, Carol is a recent addition to our team of quilters and Angus was most amenable throughout what was a very long day for a little tacker.
Rachel explains the intricacies of mitred corners to Angus .... we'll have him quilting soon enough!!
Joy, Isobel and Janagi merrily stitching away indoors while Yvonne 'slices and dices' on the front porch.
Would you believe that Isobel, previously a non-stitcher, actually won this awesome machine as a door prize at Spotlight 3 years ago? Little did she even dream back then, that she would one day be part of a Quilting Bee .. and just how useful that prize would be!! This little machine was responsible for the stunning Paddington Bear quilt that I showed earlier in this Blog. And Janagi stitches away busily on her trusty machine too ... these ladies are just wonderful members of our group and do wonderful things for our project ... :)
And soon enough we were ready for refreshments after an incredibly busy morning .. so we took a well earned break for lunch & a chat (not that we don't manage to talk whilst stitching anyway, as you do!)
Then we hopped right back into work, so much to do .... and those quilts to prepare for the trip to India with our Careforce COM Twenty20 Cricket team. Bindings to be finished, pockets to be stitched so that the cards prepared by the Sunday School kids could be tucked into them for the children in India. We really had our work cut out for us .... the Mission team departed first thing on Monday morning, and will be away from April 5th to 18th, during which time they will be able to supply an entire orphanage with our quilts ...... thanks Team Twenty20!!!
After a flurry of activity ... as if we ever don't 'flurry' ... we are done and dusted. The 46 quilts are completed for the orphanage in Hubli and will soon be distributed to the 23 boys and 23 girls who live there. Hopefully I will be able to show you photos of the children with these quilts when the Mission team return ...... then we will be working toward the next shipment which will take place in September.
Now as I mentioned at the beginning of this Blog, we also had some wonderful happenings on Saturday. Starting with the incredibly generous and mouthwatering (well it WAS mouthwatering for a stitcher!) donation of the most scrumptious fabric from the personal 'stash' of Marleen Russell from O'Halloran Hill in South Australia. Thank you SO much Marleen ... your donation is just magnificent and the quilts that it will be made into will indeed be treasured by the lucky children in India. How I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of strangers whose hearts are touched by our project ... bless you!
And then ... yes there is more ... I did promise you more ... there was a knock on the door ... and Reg announced that there was someone to see me!! Surprise, surprise, surprise ... all the way from Inverleigh, 30km the other side of Geelong ... a huge drive ... was Maxine Mossop. We had emailed back and forward some months back and Maxine had expressed a desire to help our quilting for orphans project. Well 'help' is an understatement, for in her car boot she had 27 of the most beautiful completed quilts that I had seen ... and she was giving them to our children in India. To say that we were all blown away by this was to put it mildly .... I think the term 'gobsmacked' would be a fitting description of our reaction!!
I think the expression on Rachels face says it all ... don't you??
Here Maxine describes her quilting technique to some of our quilters. She told me that she has been previously involved in making quilts for Timor and other charitable causes, we are blessed indeed that she has chosen to share with us ... and the children in India will surely derive immense pleasure from her magnificent handiwork. Thank you so very much Maxine ... and we look forward to seeing you again ... if that's not tooo cheeky of me :)
Now it's getting rather late ... 20 to midnight to be precise, so I will have to reluctantly put this Blog to bed now before I fall asleep at the keyboard. I will add a final picture to round off the wonderful day that we had ... then remind you of our next Working Bee date before toddling off to bed ... so without further ado ... here is Miss Charlotte with a cheesy grin from ear to ear amid the quilts that Maxine brought :)
Now our next get-together will be on May 9th at Gaynors. Address is 345 Macclesfield Road Monbulk (just in case the Blog has tempted some potential newcomers to our happy little group of quilters!). We will start at 9.30 am and work thru till 4.30 ... though there is no compulsion to stay the entire day ... we love it if you do, however :) The lunch theme for the day will be 'Take Out' ... which means that you bring $5 and we surprise you with something 'Take Out' ... mysterious eh?
Don't forget that Gaynor still has absolutely scads of Warwick upholstery fabric for sale at $5 per metre, all proceeds going toward our Quilts for Orphans project. And we still also have 40+ magnificent brand new wedding dresses for sale... 'Best Offer' ... so let all prospective brides and the newly engaged folk know about our wonderful opportunities to obtain the gown of their dreams!
So you can contact Gaynor on 9756 7950 to discuss fabric and gown viewing, email Rachel [email protected] or myself [email protected] and we will be pleased to answer any queries that you may have about our project to provide quilts for the children in the COM Homes in India.
Still hoping to be able to tell you that we have new premises from which to work, so that Gaynor and Reg may 'reclaim' their home ..... so remember to pass the word around about what we are trying to achieve ... and that with a proper workspace we may be able to produce even more quilts for the children in India .... it would be just wonderful if we could rehouse our project before winter sets in ... that verandah gets awfully chilly and Rachels fingers turn purple in the cold as she quilts away for India.
So ... till I next 'Blog' ... blessings to all and thank you so very much each and every one who is supporting us ... without your generosity of heart we would not have been able to achieve even a fraction of what has been done so far ...
Susan
P.S: Rachel has just updated me on our 'Shedquest' .... she has located a shed measuring 12m x 9m which suits our needs perfectly. The cost will be $7800 ... and it will need to be ordered within the next week or two. This is brilliant news ... HOWEVER ... we are still somewhat short of the asking price and need to raise more funds URGENTLY!! So please spread the word about our fundraising ... we so desperately need this shed .. it truly will answer our prayers. Tell everyone you know about our need and this amazing opportunity that we cannot let slip thru our fingers ..... and support us in any way that you can. Think of just how much more can be achieved if we are able to set up in a dedicated workspace .... :)