Well here I am again ... with more 'Tales from the Tulip garden' ... spent a lovely couple of days over this weekend at Tesselaars Tulip Festival in Silvan. The weather was a little brighter than on RSPCA Day ... as my pictures here will show ...
Some of the 'locals' passing by. I loved the costumes, authentic right down to the wonderful wooden footwear.
Here we have a couple of the lovely young workers at the festival ... aren't the outfits beautiful?
.... and a couple of the lads as well ...
I am pleased to report that so far we have raised in the vicinity of $1300 from the sale of quilts, bags, table runners, doggy wear and other items made by the quilters. Congratulations ladies!!! We still have another day or so of sales at the festival .. so I will report back with the grand total in my next Blog entry.
Here we have Christine ... taking a breather from a hectic sales session .... and I can report back to our lovely quilters that contibuted many beautiful handmade items for sale, that each of you was responsible for some of our total sales ... as your individual offerings were eagerly snapped up!!
This money raised will go a HUGE way toward obtaining batting for our quilts for the children in India ... Gaynor tells me that we will be able to kit out at LEAST 2 of the COM Childrens Homes with quilts. That's over 100 more children able to snuggle under our fabric 'hugs' in the very near future ... AWESOME!!!!
Here are Joy, Isobel, Margaret and Tracy ... just part of the willing team of ladies who volunteered to do duty at the marquee over the days we were at the Festival .... thank you muchly:)
I cannot thank the Tesselaar family enough for their generosity in allocating us a marquee free of charge ... this has been an absolute bonus to us ... and they deserve to be richly blessed for this philanthropic gesture. We have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of their Tulip Festival ... the views from our marquee overlooking the tulip fields made each day spent there so very enjoyable.
Special thanks also to Elaine of Tesselaars staff, who checked in with us as she passed by on her busy way ... and gave us much positive encouragement ... your cheery smile made my day as you passed by on your busy way:) Now .... did I capture you in my happy snaps I wonder?
Think I managed to catch Elaine on the left here ... she was an absolute dynamo ... and always smiling!
Here we have Isobel and Joy enjoying the sunshine .... and the view ... a little later and the tourists almost outnumbered the blooms!!
We met many wonderful visitors to the festival and were able to share with them what we are trying to achieve for the children in India ... as well as for the children in the Butterfly Hospice in China. The feedback we received was all positive and encouraging ... and offers of quilts from other quilters for onforwarding to India were also made. This was so very heartening ... and unexpected!!! Aren't quilters amazing folk? Thank you so very much to all who took the time to chat ... and hopefully you will have been able to check out this Blog too ... I enjoyed sharing this Link with as many as I could, and look forward to your feedback should you care to comment.
And while we were busy 'talking up' the QFO endeavours ... our wonderful (and tireless!) Gaynor was spending her time over a hot Poffertje pan ... .feeding the many visitors to the festival. Where she gets her energy from I do not know!!!
I confess ... I managed to sneak away for a minute to capture these Alpacas on film ... they were our near neighbours at the Festival ... and adorable as could be. I should have asked the owner if he was interested in any of our pet coats!!
The place was packed to the rafters ... (had there been any rafters!) ... this Festival is incredibly popular.
... but soon it was nearly hometime ... and the Tulip fields started emptying ...
... and Gaynor, Joy, Christine .... and Reg ... started to pack up for the day. I believe that we are going to be at the Festival for one more day ... this coming Friday the 8th of October. Will let you know via this Blog if this is not to be ...
And so I leave you, dear reader ... till next Blog entry ... just a small taste of how we have been spending our time since our last Working Bee .... and not forgetting to remind you that our NEXT Working Bee will be held this coming Saturday ... at Gaynors as always. We will start at 9.30am ... stitch away merrily till around 3.30 ... and work our way toward making more quilts for those children across the other side of the world.
And do not forget ... Global Impact Month is nearly upon us, starting on Sunday October 10th ... this is the time of year at Careforce Church Mount Evelyn where we share all that Christian Outreach Ministry (COM) is about. So look forward to showing you the small part that QFO plays in this as we do our bit for those in India and other places ...
Look forward to 'chatting' with you again .... and in the meantime, we are contactable in the following ways:
Gaynor Peterson ... P.O Box 170 Monbulk 3793 Victoria. Phone 9756 7950
Susan Hamilton ... [email protected] Phone 9737 1825
Rachel Breukel .... [email protected]
We are always happy to receive offers of help/fabric/thread with which to stitch our fabric quilted 'hugs' for the children in our COM Homes ... as well as the quilts we make for the little ones in the Butterfly Hospice in China and FreeToBeKids in Kolkatta India. Links to the organisations that we help ... and those which help us with publicity through their own Blogs are listed below.
Blessings till my next Blog ...
Susan
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