Well Hello there my lovelies ... here I am with another Blog post ... so grab that cup of coffee, put your stitching aside for a moment, and prepare to be entertained as I fill you in on all that happened at our March QFO Working Bee, held yesterday at our barn. Plenty of photos and some heartfelt thanks to some lovely stitchers who have blessed us with their gifts in the last week or so.
But first a Roll Call, and we welcomed another recruit to our ranks ... Gaynors daughter in law Karen inveigled her friend Denise to join us, and we hope that yesterday was the start of a wonderful connection between us all. Welcome Denise!!
We also had a fairly full barn as we also shared our workspace with Lois, Maxine, Carol,Christine, Win, Pauline, Yvonne, Amber, Val, Isobel, Jan, Karen, Alice, Jill, Emily, Margaret, Jenny, Tracy, Gaynor (of course) and yours truly ... aka the Scribe:)
We soon got down to stitching, interspersed with some lovely Show and Tell moments ... but before I get onto that I must thank the folk who blessed us with their handiwork ... so without further ado ... here goes!!
Margaret Watson, a friend of our Julie Robinson sent us a lovely Quilt top and we thanks her very warmly for her kindness ... isn't it just beautiful?
Christines friend, Cheryl, also sent us a quilt top .. I'll upload the picture first ... apologise for the quality of the photo ... blame the camera (as you do!) and faithfully promise to get a better pic for the next Blog ... in the meantime ... just imagine Pablo Picasso took the next shot .... and I am SO sorry Cheryl. This is one of those moments where I truly wish the dog HAD eaten my homework ..:(
'Do not adjust your set .... the problem is with the photographer' .... :(
Next we have another quilt from one of Christines friends ... this time Lorraine ... :)
... no malfunction this time,so I am gathering the tatters of my credibility and pressing on ...
Our next Thank You is a 'Biggie' ... both to the Guide to The Good Life (and the continuing blessings that flow onto us from the programme they did on us last year) .. and to the wonderful Quilters from Agnes Water in Queensland, who saw the show and were prompted to stitch for us.
This was the letter we received from Karen Thompson :
... and I will now continue with pictures of the articles in the local paper she sent us ... which gave a wonderful overview both of the work of her Group, and a nice 'heads up' for our project too .... many, many thanks Karen ... and to all the wonderful members of your group. As you said, some of the ladies completed quilt tops at home (Gina and Margaret) and Val Marwick saw the show and alerted the quilters to our work ... so many thanks to you all. A wonderful effort which we all appreciate so much!
Also a BIG Thank You also to the Quilters Shack in Bundaberg, which donated a huge amount of fabric to the Agnes Water Quilters so that they could bless us with their work. So much kindness ... we are humbled.
And here is the box containing the 42 quilt tops ... isn't the fabric scrumptious?
Just two of the 42 quilt tops we received ... you will surely see more 'down the track' as our Yvonne custom quilts them before despatch to China and India:)
Now our next Thank You is to our Jans friend, Julie .... who went through her 'stash' and so very kindly gave us a marvellous donation of books, patterns and fabric (the fabric will be sorted and stitched by Jan ... so pics will follow soon) ... in the interim, here is a small sample of the patterns that Julie gifted us with ... and some works-in-progress to start us off:)
It seems that more of our quilters have their very own bunch of generous friends who willingly stitch for us too ... these 'unseen angels' were not overlooked on Saturday either ... first we had Jennys friend Cheryl ... who made these two lovely quilt tops for us below:
Pretty stunning colours, don't you think? Many thanks Cheryl for your kindness :)
Noelle had also been busy ... creating this dramatic quilt top with fabric donated by her friend Fran ..:)
Now our ladies had not been letting the grass grow whilst others were doing all this stitching, so I will now showcase the works of Val, Alice and karen .... :)
Here is Val .... with some of her work ... I wasn't quick enough to capture all of this one ...
But I DID get this beauty .... and am loving the 'colourwash' effect Val has done here...
And also the set of 3 quilt tops that she created for China and the New Hope Foundation.
Next we have Alice and the pretty pink and blue top she made .... such a sweet combination of fabrics.
And finally ... last but not least ... Karen and her 'heartfelt' quilt top and wall hanging ...
Karen had actually made quite a few of these quilt tops in various colour combinations ... just stunning!
Now a few more snaps of our quilters talents ... before a random overview of the days 'works in progress' as our stitchers all sat and chatted.
This is Gaynors own 'project' ... which will eventually grace her home ... beautiful, isn't it?
And here is one of Gaynors lovely bits of handiwork ... a lovely appliqued wall hanging ...
And the next few pieces are from Christine ....but my mind was having a wander as I took the pic, so am not quite sure of the full history of these pieces. Glad I am not being evaluated on the quality of my reporting skills this month... think I'd surely fail ...
And now the random snaps that I promised, of our ladies all hard at work stitching ... and clearly having a jolly good time doing so ...
Karen and her friend ... and our latest recruit ... Denise. Busily ironing ... well, someone has to do it:)
Alice .... handstitching bindings .... this was a task that most were doing on Saturday ... and what nicer way to spend a pleasant day eh?
Maxine ... putting the finishing touches to a quilt that was featured in our last Blog ... now nearly done!
And Carol ... also new last month ... and looking so very much 'at home' already...:)
Amber .... who has been much missed over the last couple of working bees .... welcome back!
Lois and Yvonne .... and more bindings to stitch ...
Goodness me .... lunchtime already? Here we have Tracy and Christine ... sharing a cuppa and a chat.
I blinked and I almost missed it ... but lunch was salads ... and delicious....
And in the meantime Margaret was busy .... 'measuring twice and cutting once' ... as quilters do:)
While Yvonne and Amber collaborated over a quilt ...
Win threatened me with all manner of mischief if I took her picture' ... but I did anyway:)
Much happy chatting in the 'chat room' corner of the barn .... while the needles 'flew' thru the bindings.
Jill, Alice and Noelle .... obviously having an absolute ball ... we truly have the happiest stitchers!
Jenny .. with a panel which had been donated to us ... now discussing with Gaynor whether it needed another border before it could be made into a wall hanging for one of the Childrens Homes in China.
A discussion on the relative merits of 'bindings and backings' for Pauline and Jenny ...
... and whilst all this was going on .. we had a small cake cutting ceremony for our very own Birthday Girl ... Tracy ... who thought there was obviously no better place to be on her special day ... but with us!
So ... after cake/cups/chats and much stitching and laughter ... we concluded this months Working Bee and looked forward to having equally as much fun NEXT month.
We meet again in April ... on the 14th to be precise. The Lunch 'theme' will be Indian ... so I am looking forward to a fine feast of curries and pappadums ... my favourite. For those attending, a small plate to share ... with the theme of the day ... would be appreciated, as well as a gold coin donation to assist Gaynor with the power bills associated with running the Barn for all our machines and power usage.
We start at 9.30 .... run thru till around 3.30 ... though if someone has a pressing engagement that overlaps we will not refuse to let them leave early :) ... and we look forward to another day of stitching for those precious children in India, China and Zambia.
Our contact details are as follow:
Gaynor Peterson ... phone (03)9756 7950
And Gaynor NOW also has email ... [email protected]
Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825
or email: [email protected]
Our postal address (for donations) is now P.O Box 398 Monbulk Victoria 3793
And don't forget to support the Blogs and organisations that we both support and publicize for their connection to us ...
www.chinakidz.org .... for news about the Butterfly Palliative Care hospice in China
http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d6a59784e7a45314d6a673d0d0a&sb=1
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 in China ...
www.zoehopeproject.blogspot.com giving hope to children in Zambia.
and of course ... our latest project
http://english.chinaconcern.org/
And finally .......
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 have been built through funds raised by this shop, an amazing achievement indeed.
Till next Blog ... blessings to all,
Susan
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