Well Folks ... these are some early snaps of our group ... back in 2007 and again in September 2008 .... and now I'll show you the comparison between that little gathering of happy stitchers ... and the crowd that attended our most recent Working Bee on Saturday May 9th 2009. Are you ready? Well have a look at THIS!!!!
Back Row L>R: Barbara, Yvonne, Isobel, Susan, Jenni, Joy, Emily, Lois, Win and Christine.
2nd Row L>R: Gaynor, Kelly, Hayden and Adam.
3rd Row L>R: Janagi, Amber, Pam, Laura, Tracy, Margaret.
4th Row L>R: Gail, Sue, Laurece.
Front Charlotte, Rachel and Tom.
We also had Noelle drop by, unfortunately she had departed before the group snap was taken, though I did manage to catch her with Margaret before she took her leave :)
So we had an outstanding attendance .... 23 eager stitchers turned up ... and it was very nearly a case of hanging out the 'Full Up' shingle at the bottom of Gaynors driveway! Had her cat been around, it would not have been able to have been swung at all ... that's how little room we had indoors! The photo below was actually taken AFTER some people had left toward the end of the day!!
Among our 'Newbies' on the day, we had Pams daughter Sue, who was so chuffed at seeing her Mum in a recent Blog that she came from Hoppers crossing to work with us today. Here we have them looking at pictures from India of our orphans with some of the quilts we have sent over ... and Sue proudly showing a quilt which she had been working on for us .... isn't it lovely?
We also welcomed Emily, and her daughter Laura, who had seen an article in a recent Leader local newspaper about our efforts, and travelled from Upwey to be with us for the day. we soon got Emily busy stitching with Isobel. It's wonderful to welcome new faces to our group and to see how seamlessly they fit in and start chatting away together .....
We had Yvonnes sister Barbara join us too. They have been collaborating off-site, with Yvonne making the quilt tops and Barbara taking them to her home and quilting them. Here are some snaps of what they brought back with them on the weekend .... pretty productive effort I think! What a team!!
And here they are ... hard at work again .... this time 'on-site' :)
Jenni, as always, was happily being productive ... she will shortly be leaving us to move interstate ... I HAVE told her that she can commute, but strangely enough she found that concept a little hard to work into her plans. She will be sorely missed though, as a constant encourager and giver of quilting tips to newbies ... an absolute asset to our group! Can only hope that she will put us in her holiday plans and visit now and again ... :)
It was truly wall-to-wall ladies at this get together .... these shots below show just how desperately we need to get a larger workspace ... almost had to get outside for air!
But now ... before I do some more Show and Tell I must make a couple of announcements lest I forget... and a few Thank You mentions as well ... so here goes:
On May 28th, 29th and 30th QFO has been invited to participate in the 'Quilts Plus' exhibition at the Ringwood Church of Christ at 13 Bedford Road, Ringwood. This invitation will give Gaynor and Rachel the opportunity to share what we have been doing for the children in India with the people visiting the exhibition. Phone Pat on 9870 4414 for details. Promises to be a wonderful show, so pass the word and put the dates in your diary folks!
Gaynor, Reg and Joy have also begun a new fundraising project for our group. They have hired a stall at the Carribean Gardens Market in Scoresby. They believe that once we have become established as 'regulars' on the Wednesday market day, we should be able to create a worthwhile outlet for fabrics and creations that have been stitched using our donated upholstery 'stash', as well as giving good publicity for QFO. So if you are in the vicinity, please look out for their stall and tell your friends and neighbours too. Carribean gardens are located at Scoresby/Rowville. Melways reference 72H9.
And there will soon be a stunning bride, gliding down the aisle on her wedding day ... wearing a gown purchased from us. Remember peoples .... we still have many beautiful new wedding gowns, donated by Yvonne .... for sale. With proceeds going toward our QFO fundraising. Sizes 10 to 16/18 ... and all just GORGEOUS!! So contact Gaynor or Rachel if you wish to view these creations .... inspection will certainly not disappoint!
'Country Threads' magazine have approached us with a view to doing an article on QFO ... how amazing is that? The email contact came completely out of the blue ... and I have handballed it to Rachel (who is soooo very good at interview stuff!) ... so I look forward to letting you know more as soon as we have been able to give them all the information they need for an article.
NEWS FLASH. NEWS FLASH. NEWS FLASH. NEWS FLASH. NEWS FLASH. NEWS. FLASH NEWS FLASH..
Got your attention? Terrific! Sitting down? Good!! Grab your hats ... we have put a deposit on a workshed!! After many months of creative whining I am finally able to tell you that Gaynor has been able to put a down payment on a workspace for us. It is an American style barn, with mezzanine floor for storage and ground floor which we will be able to fit out for workspace. With luck we expect to see the 'bones' of this dream begin to take shape in about 6 weeks .... and I'll certainly be sharing pictures here, so stay tuned! We will still be rasing funds to complete this project, so don't expect me to stop badgering you just yet for ongoing support. But how wonderful .... to be able to finally envisage a time in the forseeable future ....that we can allow Gaynor and Reg to resume some rather more normal homespace than they have had over the last 2 years.
And now for some THANK YOU messages to pass on through this Blog .... we continue to be blessed by the kindness of generous souls and I wish to thank the following people for their recent contributions ...
Judy (and Bob) Reall, my longstanding email penpal and a retired schoolteacher, from Trout Creek, Montana USA .... who has followed our story from the beginning. As a longtime quilter herself, Judy knows exactly how much effort and love is put into a quilt. She kindly sent me a cheque/check which has converted to $A70 and this was given to Rachel this weekend ... this will be put into 'furbishing the interior of our workshed when it is erected, and I look forward to telling Judy that a part of her care and interest for QFO will be in our project :)
Also thanks to another friend, Sandi Kraft, who recently received an upgraded sewing machine, courtesy of her Mum ... and so wanted to give us her 'old' machine ... a neat little 'Brother' model, shown below. Sandi is using her new machine to create Western Riding costumes for the show ring ... using mock suede fabric purchased from our upholstery stash. So it's a win-win situation all round ... neat eh? This little machine will be useful for those times when we get an extra set of hands and need a spare machine ... so thanks Sandi ... very handy :)
I am also including some pictures of the quilting done for us by Lynn in Mildura. You will recall I featured her recently in a Blog entry when Pauline, one of our longstanding members, visited Mildura on holiday and Lynn kindly undertook to quilt a number of our quilts. Her work is just beautiful, her whizzbang machine has adorned quilts with stitched bears, ducks, bees and many other patterns. Thank you SO much Lynn!!
Lunch at this working bee was 'Take Out' ... and for the benefit of Pauline who was unable to make it .. I am able to let her know via this Blog that it was 'Subway' salad roll platters from the nearby Belgrave store... and it was deeeelicious!! The store also kindly GAVE us some cookies as dessert ... so I am taking this opportunity to thank them for their generosity. Aren't we the spoilt ones!!
And whilst the grown-ups were re-charging their batteries ... the children were kept occupied as well ... and I must say they were all beautifully behaved ... we hardly knew they were there at all ..!!
After refreshments we got back into the business of stitching busily away ... but not so busily that I was not able to dash around snapping away for the Blog and posterity :) So here are some of our ladies hard at work as ever ....
Janagi is as pleased as can be at the quilt which she completed ENTIRELY on her own, from start to finish ... a great effort Janagi!! And Margaret didn't let the grass grow under her sewing machine either ... as you can see with her effort ... :)
And Lois sourced some great fabric for a 'Map' quilt .... some child will LOVE tracing a world voyage on THIS quilt ... isn't it great!
Later, Win and Amber ... together with Lois and Christine ... were hard at work on the back porch cutting fabric from our enormous upholstery stash. Thank goodness the weather wasn't tooooo chilly for them! Poor Amber had a sore 'wing', due to a playground tumble during the week... we told her that quilters play 'nicer' and she should choose her companions a little more wisely in future ... we can't have our stitchers damaged ... we need them too much!!! Hopefully she'll be back at the machine sewing before too long!
We also probably are sailing a leetle bit close to the wind with the child labour laws ... Kelly recruited young Adam (just turned 3)to the cause ... and says she can hardly wait to get BOTH twins quilting!!
Now how is this for 'product placement'? Take notice Janome ... by a strange coincidence, and totally unplanned, we found that we had four Janome sewing machines doing stitching duty on the one table. Now ... if I mention Janome a few more times and do a bit of creative whining (and I'm jolly good at THAT!!) ... they might see their way clear to throwing some surplus product our way? Gaynor tells me she could really do with a 4 spool overlocker for our work! I operate on the principle that 'if you don't ask you don't get' .... so Janome .... listen up!!!!
And here are a few of the quilts (some surely stitched on a Janome!) that will go in the next shipment to India. There are 100 completed quilts here ... all stunning .. and all will be eagerly received and duly treasured by the COM Homes kids. This pile should furnish two orphanages with quilts and when I get the next batch of pictures from the recent trip to India I will upload them here for you to see ... we sent 46 quilts there last month and I can't wait to share the photos of the happy smiling children taken then .. :)
I'll finish this Blog entry with some random snaps of some of the beautiful quilts that have been created ... and some of the absolutely scrumptious fabric that we have been able to put to such good use for the benefit of the kids in India. We have some incredibly talented stitchers among our group ... and the way that the fabric has been pieced with interesting variations/combinations is just stunning! Take a bow ladies ... you are truly awesomely talented! A number of these are the ones that were quilted by Lynn in Mildura ... she really WAS busy on our behalf!!
Ooooooh ......... look at these beauties folks!!!!
So ... there we go till my next Blog entry folks ... and I say again, that I am truly privileged to be involved with such awesomely good people, each and every one of our stitchers and the many others involved in this project is wondrous indeed and blessings to you all ...
Till next time ... happy stitching and blessings ... and don't forget, to see where and we are next meeting, and all our contact details, just click on the menu on the right hand side of this page and you will be miraculously transported to all the information that you could wish for :)
Susan