Hello again my lovelies ... here we are with all the news that's fit to type ... for our March 2013 Blog entry. We have much to share ... including news of a spot QFO will occupy at the Monbulk Quilt Show NEXT Saturday March 16th!! More on that later!!
But before I get into what we were kept busy with last Saturday at our regular Working Bee ... I will share with you the contents of an email that was sent to Gaynor from her son Chris in Kolkatta India.
You may remember that last year we made and sent off a swag of Christmas stockings for the kids at the FreeToBeKids home ... so that they would have something of their very own to celebrate Christmas 2012. Well, the stockings were extremely well received, as the email below tells us, and Chris was also kind enough to forward us pictures of the children and Staff with the stockings. I think the smiles on the faces say it all!!
Firstly the email Thank You:
"Hey Chris,
How are you?
Attached are some pics of Christmas and the Christmas Stockings that you're
mum and friends made. They were such a great hit with our kids and staff
and helped to make Christmas Time really special for us. Please pass on my
heartfelt thanks.
Pray your year is off to a fabulous start!
JT
Quote from our FreeToBeKids Blog Entry:
Once again our friends at 'Quilts for Orphans' have come through for us in
creating some beautiful patchwork treasures. This year they made Christmas
Stockings for all of our Children & Staff. These lovely works of art were
hung on our walls in the days leading up to Christmas and were used for
Staff and Children to send messages of love and Christmas wishes to each
other. We appreciate so much the work of these generous quilters who helped
to make Christmas special for our Children."
The children and Staff ...
Each stocking was personalised for each child ... no two were the same ....
Aren't the childrens smiles awesome ?
Love this picture ...
:) Just in case we didn't 'get' how excited they were in the first picture ...
A Christmas to remember for this young man :)
Lots of surprises inside too :)
Reading the notes inside each stocking ...
Not too dissimilar from scenes at many homes on Christmas morning I imagine ... :)
Aren't they gorgeous kids?
Decorating the walls ...
:)
:)
.... last pic ... and thank you SO much to Chris peterson for sharing these with us. I know that our little band of willing stitchers always get such a buzz when they see how happy their efforts have made the children.
And we will be brightening the lives of another 300 (yep ... you read that right!!) in a few months ... when the quilts that we spent last Saturday stitching pockets onto and packing up for the container to India this month arrive mid-year. These quilts will be headed, as far as we know at the moment, to the new COM Home in Orissa and we will be looking forward in time to receiving pictures to share with you later in the year ... when the quilts have been distributed among the children in the Home.
it was a pretty hot day, Melbourne being in the vicelike grip of an extended spell of extreme summer ... and part of the long weekend, but we still managed to get the assistance of most of our band of QFO ladies to turn up and we were kept incredibly busy as the pictures to follow will show.
'Present and accounted for' on Saturday were Yvonne, Christine, Pauline, Val, Win, Sandi, Karen, Cathy, Julie, Jenny as well as yours truly, and Gaynor. We also had Mary Van Keulen and her husband John drop by to help. Mary was soon enlisted to stitch pockets, whilst John helped Reg, Val and Karen with the cramming of quilts into the polythene bags for transport. And we had a surprise visit from Janagi ... we have sadly missed her smiling face in recent months as she recovered from health issues. So good to see her again!!
These were the bags full of quilts ... which had to be unpacked and re-packed in polythene bags for the journey to India later this month ...
And this is just the 'tip of the iceberg' ... wait till you see the finished stack!!! Ten quilts to a bag ...
These had yet to be folded ... Reg really enjoyed that part ... kept him busy!!
Here he is .... demonstrating to Marys husband John the procedure for cramming the quilts:)
Cathy and Julie busily stitching pockets ... as Reg prepares a quilt for packing ...
While Reg and John were kept busy folding and packing... Mary shared with us this beautiful hand quilted work of art that she is creating. Appliqued and intricate ... it truly was beautiful and we appreciated her bringing it along for Show and Tell .... just stunning!!!
And here is Mary (centre) .... busily attaching pockets to quilt backs. As I have mentioned in previous Posts, we stitch pockets on the backs of the quilts that we send to India, so that a small toy can be stored in it for the recipient. This personalises the quilt ... I will add the pictures of the toys that will be accompanying these quilts, so that you can get an idea of what the children will receive with this shipment :)
Yvonne and Christine ... doing a quilters take on the Rapunzel story. A never-ending pile of quilts ... with a supply of pockets and threads. And no-one is going home till these two 'ingredients' are ALL paired up and stitched tight :)
Sandi wanted it to be known that she was also being kept busy. So here is the proof .... keep stitchin' Ma'am!!!
Pauline .... keeping her hand in ....
Julie and Jenny ... pocket stitching away ... and speaking of Jenny ... looksee at her Show and Tell :)
Isn't this a real eye catcher?? Clever use of fabric on the borders that complement the centre panel :)
A short break for lunch ... we were beginning to wilt a little in the heat and welcomed the respite ...
Quiche and salads being the order of the day .... and more than a little yummy too!!!
Janagi dropped by ..... and it was lovely to see her again ...
And she had been busy whilst away from us too ... as this quilt top shows :)
Win has been equally busy .... as this Dresden Plate quilt demonstrates ...
Pauline and Val made this ..... and the next few quilt tops ...... a delightful joint effort ...
I mentioned earlier that we were also sending toys to India ... these will be put into the pockets on the quilts as they are distributed to the children...
A little something to take to bed at night :)
So .... after a concerted and intense effort we completed the last of the pockets and Reg, John, Val and Karen folded and squished almost the last of the 300 quilts into the bags destined for India. Here is what the final moments of the day looked like when they had all but finished ...
Pretty impressive huh? ............... 'All in a days work' as they say :)
Now I mentioned at the start of this Blog entry that Quilts For Orphans would be appearing at the Monbulk Quilt Show ... so here are the details. Mrs Martins Quilt Shop is hosting a Quilt Show at the Monbulk Living and Learning Centre ... opposite Safeway (Corner of Main Street and Moores Road) between 10am and 4pm on Saturday March 16th. They have very kindly allocated us a prime position for a stall by the entry door. We will have a selection of our 'For Sale' quilts and other bits'n'bobs to sell as part of our fundraising efforts for 2013. We really appreciate the kindness of Mrs Martins in allowing us to participate ... and look forward to getting more of what we are about 'out there' to people visiting the Show. So pop along if you are in the area ... say Hi and enjoy a pleasant day checking out not only our wares ... but of course all the wonderful items that will be on display courtesy of the Quilt Show!
That almost wraps up this Blog entry .... but before I close I will also give you the 'Heads Up' about another linked service that QFO would like to share with you. I'm sure you have seen on this Blog over the years, some of the amazing custom quilting done by our very own Yvonne Grant. She has passed on one of her business cards to me and so I am sharing details of her services, should any of the quilters reading this Blog require the services of Yvonne and her awesome all-singing all-dancing long arm quilting machine. She has thousands of patterns to select from and would be more than happy to discuss your requirements. Call Yvonne on (03) 97520334 when you have a quilt that needs that little 'extra' to elevate it to one of a kind heirloom status.
And don't forget .... as the year progresses and you think about craft projects of your own ... we still have that awesome Warwick mock suede furnishing fabric at $5.00 per metre for sale, as part of our fundraising for quilting supplies (batting/threads etc) We also still have a number of beautiful wedding dresses ... (contact Gaynor to discuss and view) ... plenty of Deb Balls coming up later in the year ... as well as Brides in need of beautiful frocks ... which we have!!! All money generated by the sale of these items goes directly back into purchasing supplies in order for us to make more quilts for more children. We anticipate doing some quilts for New Guinea very soon, so we will always be in need of supplies for our needs.
And that's it Folks ... just remains for me to share my regular Links and thanks to all who have been a part of our journey along the way ... and to invite you to watch this space in 4 weeks for my NEXT Blog update!! We meet up again on April 13th .... and the Lunch Theme that day will be Chinese :)
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