Well folks, it's Global Impact month at Careforce Church Mount Evelyn .... and we QFO quilters hope to make a difference in young lives by the continued sale and fundraising we plan to do between now and the end of October.
Each person who supports QFO (Quilts for Orphans) is in turn helping enrich the lives of the children in India and elsewhere that we provide our fabric 'hugs' to. This morning, after church, we added more to our 'coffers' through the sale of some bags and other items and shared with folk about our little project .... to give each and every child in the India COM Homes a quilt for life. Our fundraising enables us to purchase more batting (the middle part of a quilt 'sandwich'). Hopefully we will raise even more funds between now and October 28th .... stay tuned!!!
Our stall at Careforce for Global Impact Month .... and the story of what we hope to achieve ....
Some of the children who received our quilts last year .... we have sent around 800 plus quilts so far.
I am also pleased to be able to tell you that the final figure is in from the 7 days that we spent at Tesselaars Tulip Farm in Silvan. We raised (and I am REALLY chuffed at this total!!) .... $2407.75. How incredible is THAT!!! This means that we can create so very much more for more children in the Homes ... as well as funding more of the barn erection for our dedicated workspace.
Our barn is slooooowly taking shape, we are snip, snip, snipping away at the red tape ... and we hope to be set up soon. When this has taken place we will be in an even better position to create many more quilts for the children that we are helping. Will include a couple of pictures taken yesterday ... to show where we are at ... and the lovely garden that Reg and Gaynor are creating out in front of our barn. Picture us stitching out there on a sunny day .... perfect!!
Gaynor is explaining to the quilters all the extra bits'n'bobs that we have been required to have done to meet engineering specifications ... we could macrame a decent wall hanging for our barn out of the tape that we have had to negotiate over the last few months ....
Janagi, Amber, Joy and Yvonne are getting pretty excited as it all takes shape ...
The beginnings of our own little garden plot .... something to contemplate whilst stitching outdoors ...
Gaynor has decorated the 'stump' with all manner of small birds which will soon be peeping from between the ferns and plants ..
Now after checking out the barn progress we went indoors for a little 'Show and Tell' ... I admit I got a tiny bit sidetracked, so haven't identified each quilt top with its' creator ... but am sure all our stitchers will know who sewed what ...
Well .... there you go .... this is Kays, and I remember we were all chuffed that she had managed to find fabric in her stash that matched the centre panel ... it all came together rather nicely I think :)
Yvonne did the quilting on this one ... if you enlarge your viewer on the computer you will be able to see the detail .... and below we show the backing, this will brighten the day of a small child in India!!
Another of Kays creations ... and so very softly pastel .... Yvonne will no doubt be able to make some lovely quilting patterns along the borders on this one ... further down in this Blog entry I will show you a brilliant pattern that she incorporated into another quilt top .... she's an absolute whizz!!!
Pauline and Amber kept themselves occupied with bindings whilst watching the 'Show and Tell' ....
another quilt top that will no doubt have its blank panels embellished beautifully before finishing ....
Have seen this particular 'Log Cabin' pattern design in these fabrics done several times before ... it's very effective...
..... a close up ....won't the children LOVE this!!! Yvonne quilted it in a 'Greek key' pattern .....
Now this one has been seen earlier I think .... but is now back from the quilting 'process' and is ready for binding ....
Yes .... here it is back in 2009 .... sometimes it takes us a while to get thru the backlog for finishing off ..... but if you 'zoom' in on lime coloured sections in the top picture you should be able to see that the wait was worth it ...
Jan, one of our newest 'recruits' ... is deciding borders on this one ....isn't the rose print fabric pretty?
A spot of stitching before lunch ... Gaynor handstitching bindings whilst Christine and Alice keep their machines whirring away .... mine was unattended because .... (insert drum roll here...) I was taking the pictures :) but I got back into it immediately after .... honest!!
Annette and Elizabeth took advantage of the beautiful warm day and did 'cutting and piecing' on the verandah ....
.... while Jan and Lois handstitched bindings on the couch indoors ....
.... and Pauline, Yvonne and Amber did likewise in the other corner ....
Soon it was time for a well earned break ... and lunch ... today 'Subway' ... and delicious it was too!!
Then a spot more 'Show and tell' ... this is the quilting that I mentioned earlier ... Yvonne has THE most amazing machine ... see what it can do ...
Isn't this just incredible ...??? And what a great finish to an already lovely quilt. Now imagine a little child in India, tracing the letters, as he or she snuggles under this quilt ... what a bonus!!
And finally ... .we get to see what Elizabeth and Annette were doing out on the verandah as we toiled away indoors ... they had been quite busy indeed! Isn't this lovely?
So ..... there we go Folks, another Blog done and dusted ... except for .... THE RECIPE!!! Now I made this yesterday and promised faithfully that I would add it to the Blog. I can't promise it meets the Heart Foundations 'tick' ... but it was rather scrumptious .... and popular .. so here 'tis!!
ALMOND COFFEE SLICE ..... and only a gazillion kilojoules per slice!!! Makes 35 pieces.
200g Malt biscuits ... crushed 125g melted Copha
2 cups shredded coconut 395g can condensed milk
3/4 cup chopped almonds 3 teaspoons instant coffee powder
Flaked almonds to serve.
Coffee Icing:
1 teaspoon Instant coffee powder 1 tablespoon boiling water
1 and 1/4 cups icing sugar mixture 1 tablespoon softened butter
Line a 20 x 20cm lamington pan with baking paper. Combine crushed biscuits, almonds, coffee powder and coconut in a large bowl. Add condensed milk and melted Copha and combine well. Press firmly into tray and refrigerate for an hour or so.
To make icing: Dissolve coffee powder in boiling water and add to icing sugar and butter. Mix well till combined.
Drizzle icing over slice, cut carefully into pieces and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Serve.Try to stop at one piece.
Now ... after that bit of indulgence, lets get back on track and remember why this Blog exists. It has been created to show you the difference we are trying to make in the lives of children half a world away. To do this we need your suppport. Its isn't all scrumptious lunches and chit chat (though that IS nice)... we aim to create 2000 quilts and we need help to do this. Whether it is by a donation of thread and fabric, an offer to join us on one of our Working Bee days, or by purchasing some of our sale items to generate funding for batting etc.... we need your help. So please spread the word. We are helping children in the COM Homes in India, the disabled children in the Chinakidz Butterfly Palliative Care Hospice in China, FreeToBeKids in Kolkatta and the New Hope Foundation, also in China. So many precious children ... all deserving of our fabric 'hugs' .... and you can be a part of this project too!!
We still have scads of Warwick and microsuede furnishing fabric avaliable for sale at $5 per metre, we have those stunning brand new wedding/debutante dresses, donated by Yvonne (aka Mrs Tatters of Monbulk) for sale, we have dog coats in various sizes, quilts also to sell, tote bags ... so many items that we are using to generate funding for our task. So contact us now .... what are you waiting for??
Contact details are as follow:
Gaynor Peterson .... 9756 7950
Rachel Breukel ... [email protected]
Susan Hamilton .... 9737 1825 ... [email protected]
And when you still have leftover money and are wondering what to do with it ... why not contact Jill Malcolm at COM on 9760 8040. She can organise some awesome Christmas 'giftings' for you. Instead of give, give, giving to people here who are already blessed with so very much ... and who consequently end up with an overload of handtowels/socks and ties that will end up in the back of a cupboard or donated to the Opshop ... why not buy a chicken for a family in India who can then raise eggs and generate an income. Why stop at a chicken ... buy a whole goat!!! You can purchase a mattress for one of the children in India for a measly $10. Or kit them out for school with a satchel of school supplies for not much more. Did you know that we have some children from our COM Homes that are now starting university ?? How wonderful to have been a small part of this process!. Do your 'gifting' in a family members name ... and give a gift that keeps on giving. I know it's a cliche, but it really IS more blessed to give than receive ... try it and see how you feel about it once the cheque is in the mail. Imagine the recipient at the other end ... picture their faces ..I know you won't regret it!!
Our next Working Bee will be held on Saturday November 13th ... and the lunch theme will be BBQ and salad ... so BYO meat ... and a salad to share. Reg will be firing up the 'Barbie' ... and a jolly good time will be had by all, that I can promise you!! And our final get together for the year will be December 11th .... doesn't time fly when you have it in fronmt of you in black and white??
Blessings to all ...
Susan
Links to the organisations that we help ... and those which help us with publicity through their own Blogs are listed below.
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