Well, well well ... another successful Quilting Bee happened today, the weather was perfect and the company just splendiferous .... what more could we ask for??
Present today were Yvonne, Amber, Kay, Win, Janagi (who brought along her son to show him what we do), Pauline, Grace, Rachel (and Charlotte), Gail, Christine, Joy, Isobel( and Ayla). A slightly smaller turn out than we have had in recent meet-ups, but we still managed an impressive amount of stitching ... interspersed with chatting.
Gaynor had some wonderful news for us ... on Thursday she entertained the crew from 'Guide to the Good Life', the Channel 7 lifestyle program hosted by Nicky Buckley and Andrew Gaze and sponsored by APIA. The producers of the show had heard about our project through an article last year in a local newspaper and was interested enough to contact us with a view to giving us a little 'airtime' on their show.
Gaynor tells me that they spent a considerable amount of time at our 'Barn', learnt lots about COM, spoke to Keith and Helen Greenwood (Founders of COM) and were most interested in what we are doing for children half a world away. The upshot is a feature segment on QFO on Guide to the Good Life, which will go to air in late May. The show screens on a Sunday afternoon at around 5p.m ... watch this space for the screening date .... pretty exciting huh? Also on Thursday we received a large donation of fabric from Spotlight ... which was (I believe) linked to the shows promotion of our cause. How wonderful and kind people are ... we are truly blessed!! The fabric is utterly scrumptious, thank you SO very much!!!
The fabric donations from Spotlight ... and we have the promise of MORE apparently ... PLUS batting!!
Joy was soon hard at work, colour co-ordinating the donation into containers for our shelves ...
And on the subject of donations, we must also thank Vivienne Harris and her neighbour and friend Bev for the HUGE amount of backing fabric (and other fabrics) which they so kindly gave to us. Our Pauline was their connection to QFO and she wanted to make sure that we knew just how wonderfully generous they had been. Many heartfelt thanks ladies!!! Also thanks to Teresa Blackmar who has given me more generous swatches of shirting fabric which will be put to good use in the assembly of our quilts.
Now after that wonderful news, and the kindness of our supporters, we were spurred on to stitch our little socks off today ... and stitch we most certainly did!!! Below is the proof positive ....
Here we have Gail & Grace busily handfinishing biondings on quilts in our 'stitching corner' of the Barn.
.... and here is Rachel. After a 3 hour drive from her new home in the country ... she was sitting down on the job ... one would have thought she'd had enough of sitting, but no .... not our Rachel :)
Pauline and Yvonne weren't letting the grass grow around their sewing machines either ...
Now no quilting get together would be complete without the obligatory 'Show and Tell' segment ... so here we go ... am afraid I didn't take notes as well as I should have, so I am unsure whether this first quilt is Janagis or Kays ... ooops ladies, best I go to the 'naughty step' for ineptitude eh?
Lovely use of some pretty fabric panels ....
Am pretty sure it is Kay hiding behind this 'beary' cute print ...
Now this is DEFINITELY Kays ... I can see her holding it up :)
... and of course we all recognise Kays handiwork here, her 'signature' dramatic use of black sashing!!
Isn't this just gorgeous? Imagine the pleasure a little child will get from all the crazy cats in these 'windows'!!
.... and this is another stunner from Kay ... her clever placement of fabric is an absolute delight!
Another shot of this 'beary' nice quilt ...
Amber had not been idle either, combining this pretty panel with some lovely co-ordinating border fabric. She is an absolute delight to have on our team .... and already has a great eye for colour.
This is a stunner from Isobel .... that chequerboard sashing is actually many small squares of fabric, cut and 're-pieced'. The colours used have picked up the tones of the mushroom panels and young Ayla was most proud of her grandmothers efforts.
I adore this fabric!!!
"Now .... where was I ....?". "Doing a great job as usual Joy ....". Gaynors right hand woman!!
... and Christine was kept busy too .... not a corner of our Barn was not being put to good use by at least one of our QFO team!
Kay and Janagi, discussing the layout of some blocks that Janagi had created ...
And after a positive 'stitchfest' of a morning, it was time for a welcome break to refuel ..
This months theme? Seafood and salad .... and most delicious it was too!!
Gaynor, Rachel, Yvonne and Amber ....
Amber and Pauline .... who is rarely seen without a smile. Quilters are by nature a happy bunch!
So many bears, so many colours .... these fellows were in need of a little 'cosmetic' surgery, and after a few noses were put back in 'joint' they will be heading off to India to brighten up the life of a child in one of our COM Homes.
Speaking of which .... I very nearly forgot to mention that earlier this month we sent off our 1001st quilt in a container bound for India. That's halfway to our initial goal of 2000 quilts. Not a bad effort for a little bunch of ladies and their 'offsite' stitchers and friends who have stitched so many wonderful fabric hugs for India (and not forgetting those that we stitch for in China too!!).
And that just about wraps up the April edition of this Blog .... and a most exciting newsy edition it was too!!!
Our next gathering will be on May 14th ... the lunch theme (and yes, it IS almost as important as the stitching we do ... well to ME it is anyway!!) will be ... Indian. Most appropriate, given our commitment to that nation thru COM ... and I am partial to a nice curry (hint, hint ladies!!).
Until next Blog (and the screening date information for our magical media moment ...) blessings to all,
Susan
Our Link to Treasure Corner Opshop in Wray Crescent Mount Evelyn .... the brainchild of Helen Greenwood so many years ago, the start of the support for COM Homes in India is listed below. Well worth a visit for the many bargains available, proceeds from the sales go toward the Childrens Homes in India ... 26 so far, an amazing achievement indeed. And Treasure Corner has a 'sister shop' a few doors up in Wray Crescent. FANS (For A New Season), also used to generate funding for COM.
Now our QFO Contact details are as follow:
Gaynor Peterson .... 9756 7950
Rachel Breukel ... [email protected]
Susan Hamilton .... 9737 1825 ... [email protected]
.... and finally ....Links to those that we support and that support us through publicity Links in their own Blogs:
www.chinakidz.org .... for news about the Butterfly Palliative Care hospice in China
www.freetobekids.org/- .... the rescue organisation that frees children from slavery and exploitation
www.com.org.au .... our very own Christian Outreach Ministry in Mount Evelyn
http://kayleenwest.com.au .... for Art with a positive spirit
http://mellyandme.typepad.com .... creative clothing etc for children
www.hopefosterhome.com ... the latest group of babies we are creating crib quilts for ...
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