Helloooo my faithful Blogreaders far and wide ... here I am again, with all the news that's fit to commit to cyberspace and Blogworld ... from our October Working Bee on the 13th of October.
Our 'Roll call' on Saturday rustled up Joy, Win, Pauline, Val, Karen, Christine, Gaynor, Cathy, Jan, Carol, Maxine, Alice and Emily .... and we were soon flat chat busy, making Christmas stockings for children in India and pricing bits and bobs for our Open Weekend in November. I'll post a pic of the flyer that will be appearing around the area ... and feel free to remind all and sundry of our wonderful 2 day fundraising venture!
But before we were heads down and plying our needles we had an acknowledgement to make for one of our 'off-site' contributors ... the lovely Jill Kerrison in Tasmania, who sent us this beautiful 'shabby' quilt which will soon be wrapping a child up in the warmest of fabric hugs. Isn't it lovely? And thank you SO much Jill for your kindness...
Definitely MORE than acceptable Jill .... and SO pretty too!!!
We also received a parcel from the wonderful Gayle Cunningham in Rockhampton Queensland, another of our awesome 'off-site' contributors ...
.... and we hope that you can manage a visit to one of our Working Bees too Gayle!!!
This will most certainly brighten the day of a small child won't it? Soooo colourful :)
And speaking of children ...a special THANK YOU to two very special children ... Min and Na-Rae ... the grandchildren of our own wonderful Joy. These two children have purchased and donated a lovely selection of toys to be included in our quilts when they are sent off to India. Many thanks Min and Na-Rae, I am sure that they will be absolutely cherished by the children who receive them.... I include the picture below of your generous gifts and thank you on behalf of all the quilters too:)
Isn't this lovely ...:)
We then showed off a couple of the quilts that will be sold at our Open Day in November ... the first is a lovely quilt .... Queen size ... created by Yvonne ... this will be priced at around $350 ... the quilting and fabric is just gorgeous, don't you think?
Showing the backing fabric .... which tones in well with the front piecing ..
A close up of the custom quilting that Yvonne has enhanced her Oriental themed quilt with .... nice:)
Another quilt which will be offered for sale is a single bed size ... 65" x 45" ....
I particularly liked the gingerbread-man custom quilting on this one ... as I'm sure will the purchaser:)
Is there nothing that Yvonnes quilting machine CANNOT do?
The next item I will show is a beautiful NOT FOR SALE piece by Val ... this will be on display on our Open Weekend .To show that our members have many talents ... this piece comprises cross stitch inserts completed by Vals late mother ... and is joined by stitcheries that Val herself created. All together it makes a wonderful heirloom piece.
Isn't it brilliant?
Val shares the history of the piece with Win, Pauline and the rest of the group ....
Joy had been busy since we last saw her ... creating aprons for small cooks. These will be available for purchase at our weekend in November ... aren't they gorgeous?
Sturdy, practical AND pretty ... what's not to love about these little lovelies eh?
Yvonne had also been busy producing ... these stunning custom quilted cushions ...
These cushions are in 2 or 3 different sizes and will be priced from $10 upwards ... VERY affordable, given the amount of quilting involved.
Wouldn't these add real pizzazz to a sofa somewhere? Absolutely stunning!!
Jan, meanwhile, has not been sittling idly by. She has been beavering away at small Christmas stockings, Santa Sacks, Table runners and placemats ... all just wonderful ... and all for sale in November!
Hasn't she been busy!!!!
Just a sample of the placemats and table runners that Jan has created ... am sure she gets more than the regular 24 hours in HER days!!! Such a busy stitcher!
Emily had also been very busy ... creating neat little zippered pencil cases for sale ... clever lady!
Soon it was time for lunchbreak ... and this months lunch theme was 'Takeout Day' ... which meant a selection of delicious Subway salad rolls ... yummo!!!
The ladies form an orderly queue ....
... and cake .... did I mention cake? Can't say our diet wasn't beautifully balanced:)
How scrumptious are these rolls eh?
Soon it was back to work though, as we had a heap of organising to do in order to make our Open Weekend fundraising event a success ... as well as completing the stockings for India.
Yvonne, Win and Val kept busy .... adding the finishing touches to the Christmas stockings we are making and sending to India. Each one different ... as they will belong to the child recipient for life.
Just a few of the stockings that will be going to India ...
Meanwhile we were still busy pricing our gifting of craft odds and ends for sale next month. the table was swamped by 'stuff' .... :)
And a small sample of the beads and craft items we were pricing for sale. These items were part of a hugely generous 'bequest' we received earlier in the year .... and the money raised by their sale will be ploughed right back into providing more quilts for the children we stitch for in India, China and elsewhere.
... and we have buttons by the score .... I think Gaynor will be mightily pleased to see these all sold. So many buttons that she grouped into sets and bagged up .... there must have been at least a thousand!!
Vintage buttons, novelty buttons, fancy and plain .... in every colour under the sun and all affordably priced :)
We have a selection of craft kits for sale too .... from 'Isabel' .... and the 'Keeping Room' ...
...to 'Rupert' .... complete with carrot:)
From a necklace and bracelet kit ...
To all things cross-stitch ...
.... and fabulous 'Fat Quarters' ...
As well as our mock suede furnishing fabrics, wedding dresses and all the other wonderful things that we have to tempt you with ... I think we can almost guarantee that we will have something for everyone at our Barn in November!!
So on that note I will leave you to start planning your visit to us next month. Please spread the word .... the more funds we can raise through our sales ... the more children in Homes overseas we can provide with a quilt. And that, in a nutshell, is what it is all about really ... sharing a little bit of our blessings to children in India, China, Zambia, Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Look forward to seeing you at the Barn!! Should be an AWESOME couple of days!!
And for our Quilters ... our next Working Bee will be on November 10th ... lunch theme will be BBQ and salad ... and I'm sure we will have plenty to chat about over lunch THAT day, as we will review our Open Weekend ... and make plans for a follow up in 2013!!!
Now the regular round-up and sharing of folk that support and encourage us ... and also those that we stitch for ... Links below ...
Our contact details are as follow:
Gaynor Peterson ... phone (03)9756 7950
email ... [email protected]
Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825
email: [email protected]
Our postal address (for donations) is P.O Box 398 Monbulk Victoria 3793
Check out the following Links:
http://www.butterflych.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.
Don't forget that you can support COM and the children in the COM Homes in India by making donations to them via details on their website. I believe they may also have a range of products which can be 'gifted' to the Homes on your behalf and which would make a wonderful 'reverse' Christmas gift this year. For your efforts COM will provide you with Thank You certification .... you can purchase mattresses for the children, school supplies, chickens which will enable the families to have a source of income from the eggs produced ... I believe you can even purchase a GOAT!! How incredible to be able to give a family on the other side of the world the independence that owning a milk producing goat would provide. Give it some thought and contact COM now!!!
Now on to the rest of our Links .....
http://kayleenwest.com.au .... for Art with a positive spirit
http://mellyandme.typepad.com .... creative clothing etc for children
http://mrsmartinsquiltshop.typepad.com/ whose customer blessed us with awesome fabric
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.
And for those on Facebook ... check out the Treasure Corner 'Page' via this Link ... it's another way of sharing the COM story with the world ... and I get to share our Quilts for Orphans news thru there too ... whats not to love about THAT???
http://www.facebook.com/#!/TreasureCornerOpportunityShop
And on that note .... I'm awaaay till next time we 'meet' via this blog..
Blessings to all ..
Susan