Yes Folks... that's right. Today was the day that the Quilters for Orphans upped sticks and carried/hauled/dragged all the stitchin' stash stuff from Gaynors house to just a few short metres across the yard to our .... (insert drum roll *here*) .....dedicated QFO Workbarn.
We welcomed Joy, Rachel and Charlotte, Pauline and Chris, newcomers Julie and Ian Robinson, Sandi, Isobel,Yvonne and Don, Tracy,Janagi,Noelle (and Jenna her trainee Guide Dog), Gail, Win, Annette and Alice who all put their shoulders to the wheel and helped us move.
Couldn't resist taking a snap of Jenna ... and she was SO well behaved during all the tumultuous unpacking and stashing of all our fabric. I guess we may well see more of her during her 12 month training period with Noelle .... she certainly blended in well :)
I busied myself recording the unpacking for posterity and this Blog ... and I think you'll agree that the wait was well worth it. We have been through much trauma and stress leading up to this moment, which has been in the pipeline since 2009 ... but today we finally got to see all our fabric cosily settled into the shelving in our dedicated QFO 'home' and the workspace is just AWESOME!!
Here it all is ... ready to be transported from Gaynors home ...
Looks a little different when all the 'stash' has been cleared eh?
Eventually this little sofa set will take up residence in our workbarn too ... so that we can still handstitch our bindings and pockets in comfort ...
Our version of the 'red carpet' leading up to the entrance to our workbarn ....
Pauline, Yvonne, Sandi and Tracy admire our 'beeyoutiful' barn ... it truly is stunning!!
So much space, so light and airy ... this will indeed be a delightful place in which to create our fabric 'hugs' for the children in India and China ....
Storage for 'quilts in progress' ... these are awaiting bindings and pockets before despatch...
Shelving for all our cotton fabrics and fat 'quarters' and bindings. And of course the all important tea table front and centre (we all know stitching is hungry and thirsty work!!) ...
A cuppa before we all set to work unpacking and storing all our fabrics and bits'n'bobs .. here we have Rachel, Pauline, Joy, Yvonne, Alice and Tracy ...
.... and Isobel, Janagi, Gaynor, Annette, Rachel and Win ....
.. a group shot before we all set to work unpacking and storing away ... Reg didn't have a skirt, so Pauline kindly shared a corner of hers so he wouldn't feel left out :)
Yvonne and Joy help put away the bolts of fabric that Win is carrying ... wait till you see it finished!
Tracy stacking bolts on our brilliant cutting table ...this sturdy table was specially made for us and will be an absolute 'plus' when it comes to cutting without backstrain. We will be getting three matching (but lower) tables for sitting and sewing using with our machines ...
Bags full of fabric ready for sorting and storing .... what a job!!!
We even enlisted the help of Paulines husband Chris who was willing to stay and help sort fabric ..
Men at work ....... Yvonnes husband Don and Reg .... supervising ....
Rachel and Joy ... hard at work sorting fat quarters and smaller lots of fabric into boxes ..
... a break for lunch ..... we had all worked up quite an appetite and it was .. (as usual) .... delicious!
Each of the windows in our workbarn frames a pretty piece of the outdoors ... and the fabric in these curtains show it to advantage ... the roses are from Gaynors garden, aren't they beautiful too?
... a mother and daughter moment. Rachel travelled all the way from her new home to spend the day with us ...
... while Julie Robinson ...(from Prayers and Squares) joined us with her husband Ian.
Julie said she actually enjoyed ironing ... so we let her get some creases out of fabric to be stored ...
Doesn't this look wonderful .... and the light in this room will make it so much easier to match shadings when selecting fabric for our quilts.
These machines have been donated for our use .... and some for despatch to India ...
Hardly looks like we have made a dint in it ... makes me wonder how Gaynor found room to move in her home with all this fabric taking over :) But we will soon see this put to rights!!
But see how beautiful it looks when it is on the shelf ... what a delight to the eye!!
We even have storage for fleecy fabric ....
... and stretchy fabric ...... or was it the other way around? My head was spinning with fabric overload by the days end!! These fabrics will be used for the 'Hugs' we make for Chinakidz and also the New Hope Foundation in China.
All the little touches that go toward making our workbarn a 'home away from home' ... this hanger was a barnwarming gift from our off-site quilter Maxine.
Mustn't forget our Mezzanine floor ... the wedding dresses now have a new storage place ... we will also be storing our completed quilts for India and our fundraising saleable quilts up here. Money generated from the sale of these items goes toward purchasing the batting needed for the centre layer of our quilts, as well as other supplies needed for completion of our fabric 'hugs'.
Janagi, Sandi and Win ... looking over the mezzanine area ... deceptively roomy ...
I thought this was an abstract artwork ... but closer examination proved otherwise ...
... Gaynors handiwork ... isn't it beautiful? And the fabric board it is pinned to will be handy for laying out our quiltblocks before final stitching. Just what is needed when unsure of 'patch placement' ... :)
Soon we were all feeling a little jetlagged ... and it was time to depart ... but we had made a pretty good start to setting up our dedicated QFO workbarn. And I can assure you it will be looking even better by our next working bee.
Now I MUST NOT FORGET ... that prior to moving from Gaynors to our new 'home' today, and since our last working bee in 2010, we had received some more quilt donations and fabric ...
... so I must thank the following generous souls who felt moved to send us their gifts from the heart for our project. Libby from Kains Flat in New South Wales sent sets of three matching quilts for China ...
We also received donations from Marleen Russell in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia and Silvie Bevan in Mornington Victoria ... seems that word of our project stretches far and wide ....
Pat Taylor from lakes Entrance sent us a quilt top.... pictured below ....
Vivienne Bahr from Huntfield Heights in South Australia sent us a huge bag of fabric ..
And Julia Ozolins from yarragon sent us two lovely quilts ... pictured below ... thank you So very much. How wonderfully kind of these ladies ... and how much we appreciate their generosity :)
So all in all it was a pretty wonderful day today ... and I look forward to sharing more pictures with you after our NEXT Working Bee which will be on ... March 12th ... lunch theme will be Quiche and Salad. The day will begin at 9.30am and continue till around 3.30. There is no compulsion to stay the entire day, but we usually have SO much to chat about whilst stitching that very few leave early :)
I will now put this Blog to bed, so to speak, and look forward to sharing again with you soon. I have another story up my sleeve concerning Chinakidz and a very special little girl ... but will put that tale together probably tomorrow. Always leave the audience wanting more is my motto :)
Blessings till next Blog .... and a HUGE thank you on behalf of Gaynor and Reg to all who helped us move in today ... and all who support us in so many ways along our project to provide a fabric hug for each child in each COM Childrens Home in India, as well as the children in the Butterfly Hospice in China and the New Hope Foundation (also in China) and the FreeToBeKids Foundation in India.
Blessings,
Susan
You can contact us for further details on QFO by calling Gaynor on 9756 7950
or email myself on
or Rachel at