Well here we are again .... and I think our ladies were all more than ready to thread up their machines and start stitching when we gathered at the Barn on Saturday February 9th!!
Joy and Kay ... Val and Yvonne ... all catch up :)
Our newest member .... Jill ..... while in the background Karen (and Ethan) check out the fabric and Win prepares a cuppa :)
We welcomed back Karen, Joy, Sandi, Cathy, Christine, Pauline, Win, Val, Amber, Yvonne, Maxine, Carol, Tracy, Jan and Alice. We also welcomed back Kay ... who had moved house in 2012 ... and Julie who had been unwell for a time last year. We were also pleased to have join our ranks of stitchers Jill, who comes to us with a wealth of quilting experience ... as well as Gaynor and yours truly. So our Barn was almost bursting at the neatened seams:)
Now naturally we will start off with our warmest of Thank You acknowledgements to folk who have kindly sent us quilt tops and fabric along with words of encouragement. Firstly Julia Ozolins from Yarragon ... who sent us this splendid quilt .... and isn't it a stunner!!! Yvonne custom quilted it for us ... and did a brilliant job :)
We also had a parcel of wadding, kindly donated by Pat Watson .. a patchworker .. and we thank her sincerely too, as batting/wadding is always a pressing need for us ... and the costliest part of our QFO quilt making process . We were also blessed with an almost complete roll of batting .... courtesy of Carol from Wantirna Health .... and Elsie Blick who has given us metres of fabric and threads ... and Val Scrimshaw who has donated fabric backing for our quilts. How awesome are the folk who encourage us thus!!!
Linda Johnson from NSW also kindly donated many fabric pieces, including some lovely apppliqued blocks, which we will most certainly be able to integrate into a quilt top to show you all in a little while,
Now we are not too sure who donated this box of goodies ... but Thank You so very much ... as the crib size quilts and toddler size clothing inside will fit the bill perfectly for our latest childrens Home ... in Capetown. More about that later!! So many thanks ... anonymous benefactor ... you filled a need for us!
We will be spreading our talented stitching 'wings' a little for our next Fundraising Open Weekend ... in November .... and Gaynor has suggested some patterns to keep us busy ... 'here are some she prepared earlier' ... and which were then custom quilted by Yvonne....
Now another couple of quilt tops ... for your approval ... from both ends of the colour spectrum ... pastels ... and vivids!!!
Our Joy has been busy whilst we were on our Christmas break...and here is what she had been up to ... quite an impressive amount of stitching ... which will go a long way toward brightening the lives of the children we provide with quilts ...
This fabric came from Diana in Mornington ... who was so generous to us with her donations of much fabric last year ... so Joy pieced it into a quilt top ...
A 'Dresden Plate' ... we plan to incorporate some of these into the quilts we will be making for sale.
Gaynor found a Link which offers free downloads of quilt patterns ... and we will be making good use of this when it comes to creating future quilts suitable for sale as part of our fundraising ...
Amd while we were planning future quilts ... Val spoke about the newest childrens Home which has approached us to have quilts made. We will be providing the Fikelala AIDS Project in Capetown with sufficient quilts to provide fabric 'hugs' for 16 cots for babies ... and quilts for bunks for a further 36 older children. Pretty awesome stuff ... and I will look forward to telling you that they have been made and despatched ... am sure they will be much treasured by the children so far away.
Then it was Gaynors turn to 'hold the floor' ... telling us that the founder of COM, Helen Greenwood, would be dropping in to help us pack up the next shipment of quilts to be despatched to India within the next fortnight. Here we have Maxine, Win, Joy, Kay, Yvonne, Val, Karen and Amber listening on .....
Julie, Jan, Carol, Maxine and Win .................
Now on to more 'Show and Tell' .... firstly from Sandi ...
This will go down a treat with a smaller child ...
Pretty in pink :)
Ooops .... almost missed snapping this one ... :)
Next was Win .....
I liked the fabrics used here to such good effect ....
And Val used bright colours to good effect with horizontal stripes ....
Now Kay had not been idle whilst settling into her new home. She returned to us with a swag of tops!
Love the 'Retro' feel to the Australian animal fabric used in this ....
Love this one ... an absolute zoo of animals :)
Lavender and green .... a combination that works well here ...
I like the angling of these blocks .... :)
Vintage kiddie pics .... love them!!!
Another of Kays 'trademark' uses of black for drama :)
... and finally ..... the last of Kays quilt tops. Think you'll agree ... she had been VERY busy :)
Next 'cab off the rank' was Jan ...
Pretty use of lavender/lemon and pale greens ...
And finally ... Christine shared her quilt tops ...
This was sent to us .... partly completed .... so Christine finished it off ... and nicely done too :)
Love this .... highly effective use of colour ...
Now while all the Show and Tell was taking place, we had a bunch of ladies steadily stitching pockets to the backs of quilts destined for India .... and they kept up a cracking pace ... so that there would be no delay in fulfilling the need for more quilts for the children in the COM Homes. Here we have Alice, Carol, Julie and Maxine ...busy, busy, busy!!!
While Yvonne sorts fabric into sizes for further stitching ....
And Kay peruses our fabric stash ....
Amber, Gaynor, Christine and Jill ... in pensive mode ....
Jan and Tracy also check out the fabric, while Karen works out dimensions or somesuch :)
.... and Ethan insisted he be 'snapped' too ....
Soon it was lunchtime ... the 'Theme' being cold meats and salad ... and scrumptious it was too!!!
Tasted every bit as good as it looked!!
We also had a special celebration ... as Amber is now 16!!! Which of course meant ... cake and candles!
Amber has been an integral part of our group from the start and it has been an absolute delight watching her grow into the lovely young lady that she is ... 'Many Happy Returns Amber!!' :)
Now I mentioned earlier that we would be having Helen Greenwood ... the founder of COM ... join us, and here she is ... with Reg. Helen was with us to oversee the packing of quilts to go to India.
And here are Reg and Joy, doing the measuring ... to see how many quilts per bag we can squeeze in.
Helen .... clearly pleased with the end result ....
And that just about wraps up our first Working Bee for the year ... but before I close ... I'll share again a 'snapshot' of the places our quilts go ... and you will see that we are well on our way to reaching many corners of the globe with our fabric 'hugs'. The following 'snapshots' are places that we have reached ... in addition to the Christian Outreach Ministry Homes in India ... of which there are 26 Homes, housing around 50 children per Home. Not a bad effort for our little band of willing stitchers eh?
And that's it Folks ... till next month, when I will again regale you with pictures and news of what we have been up to with QFO.
Now our NEXT Working Bee will be held at the Barn on March 9th ... and the lunch 'Theme' will be Quiche and salad ... can't wait!!!
And finally ... the bit where I give you a gazillion 'Links' to all the important stuff that you may like to read up on. Covering how to contact us .... and all the people that we are connected with through the work that we do ... and the support that goes on between us as we seek to make life just that little bit more comfortable for the children whose lives we wrap with our quilts.
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
And their very own Blog ... which is beautifully written and contains inspirational stories on the children in their care. See the Link below:
http://butterflyhospice.blogspot.com.au/
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 later on 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 ... apparently 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 to set in place plans for Christmas 2013, it will be here sooner than you can imagine !!!
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 now ... the Fikelala AIDS Project in Capetown
http://www.fikelela.org.za/orphan.asp
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
Blessings all,
Susan