I know, I know ... you've all been waiting for me to get my tail into gear and do my Blog update.... and I've been a tad sloooow. But ... on the upside, in the time I have been procrastinating my little cotton socks off, I have received updates from the Butterfly Hospice ... and some lovely pics of wallhangings created for us from Lynn in Mildura, so it will give you even MORE to digest with your cuppa and chocolate biscuit, won't it??
I also have pictures (received via our Isobel)... of the quilt sets that we recently sent to the New Hope Foundation in China, together with the extract of the email of appreciation for our efforts. So much to share with you in this Blog update and it is always heartening to know that our quilts are happily received on the other side of the world.
First cab off the rank will be Lynns' pictures, some delightful work in these and I'm sure you will be impressed. They will surely delight the children in the Home in China ... Lynn is extremely talented and has blessed us many times with her beautiful quilting and willingness to create for us....
The 'Flower fairies' are a personal favourite of mine and I'm sure the children will love them too...
Some Australian animals in this wall hanging ... and Lynns' quilting will enhance them even more...
Chinese themed flowers and pagoda in this one ... and the red and purple is very eye-catching!
Another beautiful Flower fairy ....
And this one will certainly brighten a wall too ... sunshine yellow and just beautiful! Thanks Lynn!!!
Now .... from the New Hope Foundation .... a snap of the quilt sets we sent .. and the 'Thank you' from the Homes Director Dr Joyce Hill. We must also thank the wonderful ladies from Bundaberg who contributed so much to this consignment. I mentioned them in an earlier Blog post ... their efforts were an immense help to us :)
"Hi Isobel,
Topsy arrived a few days ago with 17 sets equaling 51 quilts. They are absolutely
what I expected re colors and sets and they were most wonderfully made.
Thank you so very, very much. Please see attached pictures.
I will be thanking you and your group in our monthly newsletter at the end of this
month.
With gratitude
Joyce
Dr. M J Hill MBBS. FRACGP. AM.
Director
New Hope Foundation
And also from China .... news via our Joy, who has been sponsoring a cot at the Butterfly Hospice .. on the cots little inhabitant ... 'Swallow', who has made wonderful progress healthwise and will soon be setting off for her new home in America. I will include the original update on Swallow when she was much younger ... and the latest picture and news of her. A magnificent improvement in such a delightful child I'm sure you will agree!
I'm kind of hoping I have managed to insert the upload/download correctly ... being a tad computer challenged there is always the chance that I have messed up the process ... but fingers (and toes) crossed that it works!!
Now ... on to news and pictures from our May Working Bee ... and what a lovely day we had, and were kept incredibly busy too!!
Present were Isobel, Val, Win, Alice, Maxine, Carol, Yvonne, Jan, Christine, Karen, Lois (her last day before returning to the States), Julia, Joy, Margaret, Emily, Gaynor and Tracy ... very nearly full house indeed!
Between our last get together and this one we received a trio of lovely quilt tops from Julia Ozolins, one of our loyal off-site supporters. The pictures below are of her handiwork, and very pretty they are too! Many thanks Julia!!
I love the colour combination of blue and yellow ... always works together beautifully!
... and the mustard, navy and red works nicely here too ... lovely combination Julia!
And finally ... a lovely floral offering ... cute daisy effect blocks ... again, thank you so much Julia :)
Next we had three cot quilt tops created by our own Val, who put some 'Sew Blessed' blocks to good use.
Such pretty soft colours in these ..... don't you agree?
This 'pretty in pink' top was created by our Jan .... making great use of many shades of pink here:)
Carol, Julie & Maxine busily binding wall hangings and quilts for us while the sun streams thru the windows of the Barn. What better way to spend a sunny Saturday eh?
Lois and Yvonne were also equally busy stitching ....
While Gaynor and Win discussed bindings to go on the wall hangings we are currently creating for the International China Concern (ICC) Home in China.
.... speaking of which ... here is a wall hanging created by Jan .. and destined for China!
Margaret had been equally busy, piecing this pretty pale green and pink kit quilt together....
... as had Tracy ... with this pretty blue/lemon/green quilt top, created from one of our 'kits'...
Emily has been busy making pencil cases ... part of our fundraising efforts perhaps, remind me to ask:)
Maxine helped carry some of the curtains destined for the ICC Home out to the car ... these will be decorating the rooms in the Home and adding the finishing touches, together with our wall hangings and beanbag covers.
Win and Val getting in a last minute bit of stitching before lunch .....
Which was 'Italian' ... and 'bellisimo' ....:)
Aaaahhhh ..... pasta!!!
Back to 'Show and Tell' .. and we have Christine ... with her friend Lorraines 'Nine patch' created for us. Many thanks Lorraine .... this is an absolute stunner!!
Also her friend Vicki created this pretty floral quilt top for us ... gorgeous fabric in this too. Thank you so much also Vicki!!
Not to be outdone ... Christine came up with this vibrant little number herself ...
As well as this one ... clever use of colour and shape .... nice work Christine:)
Now while we had all been 'Ooohing and Aaaahing' over the Show and Tell ... there was also cause for more gasps ... as we had been 'gifted' with an amazing donation from a stash that was almost unrivalled in its sheer size and variety. Many thanks to the very kind folk who shared a family 'inheritance' with us. SO many boxes of craft stuff that will be put to extremely good use both by us in our work, as well as in the fundraising aspect of our mission.
Buttons by the boxful, I hesitate to guess how many, we let Gaynor do the counting (pictures to follow!)
Bits'n'Bobs ..... by the bazillion!!
Fabric by the fat quarterful...
Craft magazines by the cartonload ...
What an awesome donation ... many, many thanks to the family of the 'stashbuilder', your kindness will be put to incredibly good use and we appreciate your thoughtfulness muchly:)
Now as I mentioned earlier .... we are farewelling Lois once again. She has been such an integral part of our group over the last few years and we were so pleased when she came back to us after her last repatriation back to America. She will be returning to the States ... and we can only hope that the powers that be will somehow or other allow her to call Australia 'home' again sometime in the future. She has contributed so much to our little band of stitchers both with her pleasant company and her incredibly talented fingers ... who will ever forget the delightful finger puppets she has created for our fundraising? Safe travels Lois ... and do keep in touch ... we will miss you!!
A quilters 'hug' of the non-fabric kind for our Lois!!
And they even roped me into the picture ... a very rare occurence!!
Now .... you will recall I mentioned the 'bazillion' buttons we had been gifted ... well here are a few ... and we decided to sort them into sets. Now whose silly idea was THAT? Oh yes, I believe it was mine ..... oooops!!
Ooops indeed!!
.... and this was 'only' a couple of jars worth of buttons .... the rest is yet to come, as they say:)
Well ... this should keep Gaynor busy for a while I think .... makes a change from sorting fabric:) Do you detect a slight air of desperation in her eyes as she thinks not only of the buttons she has sorted ... but of the many hundred STILL to be collated? Or am I imagining things .....:) Keep up the good work Gaynor!!
And on that note I will finish off this months edition of the Blog. We next gather at the Barn on June 9th ... the lunch 'Theme' will be Chinese ... as an homage to the children that we stitch for in China. We will start at around 9.30am .... stitch and chat till around 3.30 ... though there is no compulsion to stay the entire time.
Please keep in mind the Links to the places we are creating our quilts for and also we thank other Bloggers who have supported us through publicity in their writings. I'll list them below .... and thank you all for not only reading this Blog, but for the many ways in which you support and bless us as we continue to provide our fabric 'hugs' for the kids around the world. Blessings all...
Susan
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
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.
http://english.chinaconcern.org/
... and our newest recipients of quilts .... in Ethiopia
http://www.lolachildrensfund.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.