Quilts For Orphans

I'm baaaaack!! Did you miss me?

Well folks, here I am again, after a brief 'sabbatical' in sunny Queensland. Can't say I missed the Melbourne wintery weather a single bit. Though it was a tad odd to see Brisbane residents in woolly jumpers and puffy ski jackets on a 25 degree day ;) Apparently that is a cool winters day for them. Wonder if they are using quilts at night there too .... ;)

Anyway, without further ado I will commence our July Blogpost before it turns into August :)

Firstly some wonderful pictures just received from the Assistant Principal at Manchester Primary School. You may recall that we recently gifted a couple of heavy quilts to the school for use in their classrooms for children on the 'spectrum' who would benefit from the comforting weight of a heavier than regular quilt. Below is the text that accompanied the lovely photos of the children under their quilts ... and I also thank the parents of these two children for allowing me to share the photos too. Its so heartwarming for our stitchers to see how much their efforts mean to those who are at the receiving end of their work. Many thanks to you too.

Hi Susan,
Sorry it has taken so long to send these photos through. I wanted to make sure I had
permission from the families first. Both of these students have responded very well
to the blankets and although they are available for all students to access it seems
that these 2 are using the blankets the most. As you know, the blankets are very
special!

These photos have not been staged........both students go to the blankets when life gets too tough.

Many thanks,
Sonia    

 

When these pictures are viewed in relation to the  text image I uploaded at the top of this Blog Post ... it all comes together just as it should, don't you agree?

And now onto the photos taken by Annette our leader ... at the most recent sewing Saturday at the Shed. Thanks Annette for doing such a wonderful job in my absence :) As you will see, we have been the grateful recipients of many pieced quilt tops, some wonderful knitted items, assorted handcrafted cards and other wonderful bits 'n' bobs ... and also welcome special visitors ... our 'QFO founder' Gaynor and husband Reg Peterson ... who dropped by the Shed on our working day. So very sorry I missed this special visit :(

If I have mistakenly attributed these donations to the wrong donor, please accept my apologies and feel free to message me ... was working between an email and a phone message and probably needed a bucket of stronger coffee to get myself 'in the zone' ... ;)

Firstly, from Marlene in Redcliffs ... this wonderful donation of beanies, booties, cards and pendants .. how incredibly generous Marlene and we are most appreciative of your kindness to us. 

And from Julie in Mount Eliza, these lovely quilt tops .. thank you so very much Julie ... these are just gorgeous. 

 From Heather in Narrawallee ... some wonderful quilting fabric ... many thanks for your kindness and generosity Heather ...

From Sandy ... this lovely aqua and navy grid pieced quilt top .. so nicely put together.

From the incredibly generous folk at U3A in Nunawading  ... fabrics and stitchers 'bits and bobs' which we will enjoy putting to good use. many thanks folks :)

 

From Jane .. many fabric pieces which we will enjoy incorporating into our quilt tops .. thank you so very much Jane :)

And ... from down by the seaside ... this wonderful 'gifting' of the day ... a visit from our Gaynor and Reg ... how very wonderful to welcome them back into the 'fold' so to speak :)

 We will meet up again on Saturday August 11th at our temporary (and increasingly cosy) accommodation at 'The Shed' and once again I will be looking forward to sharing with you the happenings of the day.

Till then, many blessings and happy stitching,

 

Susan

 

 

Co-ordinator: Annette Stone  .... phone 0407 648 618                                                                                                     

email: [email protected]

Blogger: Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825

email: [email protected]

Our postal address (for donations) is  P.O Box 398 Monbulk Victoria 3793

And .... we are www.quiltsforphans.org 

On 'social media'  aka Facebook find us at https://www.facebook.com/QuiltsForOrphans/

Check out the following Links:

http://www.facebook.com/Chelseaonesock .... for delightful retro fabric childrens clothing

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

We also stitch for the following Childrens Homes ....

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.hopefosterhome.com ... the babies we are creating crib quilts for in China ...

www.zoehopeproject.blogspot.com  .... giving hope to children in Zambia.

http://english.chinaconcern.org/  ... more children in China that we have stitched for ...

http://www.lolachildrensfund.org/ .... in Ethiopia

http://www.fikelela.org.za/orphan.asp .... the Fikelala AIDS Project in Capetown

http://mifanmama.com/Shining_Star_2.html the Home for vision impaired children in Shanghai

http://www.austchamshanghai.com/about-us/csr/mifan-mama.aspx

www.jewelsofhope.org ... the project we stitch for in Lesotho Southern Africa

http://www.thebabesproject.com.au/

http://elishacare.blogspot.com.au/

http://rangescc.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/elisha-care/

The Matombo Village Project vimeo.com/217129149

www.ujamaachildren.com

 

Overview of Quilters for Orphans ... from 2014 onward .... all about us.

Updating our cover Page brings us up to date now with the incredible outreach our group of willing stitchers have made since the inception of QFO back in 2007/2008. Back then our 'mission' was to provide children in 26 COM Homes in India with tangible 'hugs' in the form of quilts which would wrap them in love from across the other side of the world. This we achieved over the intervening years between then and now.

Since then we have been approached by other needy childrens organisations, in China, Ethiopia, Zambia,Indonesia, Uganda ... as well as our very latest project ..... ageing Holocaust survivors in the Haifa Homes in Israel. Who would have thought that a small group of ladies could touch so many lives ... as well as enrich their own? It truly is an absolute blessing to be involved in this Group. 

Where there is a need ... and where we are able to meet it ... we will. There is truly no better feeling than to give ... and our quilts and other stitchings that we have been able to provide ... well, we trust that lives and hearts are brightened wherever they are received.

"We create our quilts in two sizes .. to cater for the babies and also the older
children in the homes/organisations that we gift our quilts to around the globe.
These quilt top sizes are : 35" x 45" for babies and 55" x 75" for older children."

We welcome donations of fabric and thread, we welcome off-site stitchers ... we welcome the opportunity to change lives, one loving fabric 'hug' at a time. Please visit our Website and share our vision.

http://www.quiltsfororphans.org/

Susan ... on behalf of QFO.

An 'inbetween Blogs' Thank You blogpost. And ...... a very important 'Save the Date' date :) Pens ready?

Hello again Readers …. just a quick Blogpost this time, firstly to thank very much our regular offsite quilting team of Edith and Sylvia for the delightful quilts that they sent us recently. Once again absolutely wonderful thank you both so very very much for your kindness. Also for the beautiful knitted beanies that came with them … is there no end to your talents and generosity?

And from the very kind Kate Wright in Cobram … these beautifully bright quilt tops, together with spools of thread … always a welcome addition :) Many thanks Kate … these are just gorgeous and brightened up a chilly winters day :)

 

Also … a message I just received from our Deborah .. many thanks to these kind ladies in Warrandyte. We truly appreciate you :)

                    'Jennifer and friend from Warrandyte donation of furnishing fabrics. Great for aprons
                       and specialty crafts or quits backing. Jennifer is a member of the Draught Horse
                        group who found us last November at our stall at Mont Delancy Draught Horse
                   Festival. Extremely kind of Jennifer and her friend to gift such a large volume of fabric'

And now announcing ... in order for you to go thru your ‘stash’ and create 🤗 ... our very first QFO Festival of Quilts. Grab a pen and your calendar.

Below ....  we have our 'QFO brains trust' going through the plans we are putting in place for this inaugural November Event. We envisage a number of activities taking place during this Festival, a workshop, a quilting day and other opportunities for those attending to get the very most out of their time at Mont De Lancey. Watch our Website and our Facebook Page for updates as we fine tune all that we hope to be offering those attending.

This Festival is to be held at beautiful Mont De Lancey between Friday November 9th and Sunday November 18th 2018.

Details will be on our website in early August. 

 

Looking forward to an awesome Festival. More updates as they come to hand.

#montdelancey #festivalofquilts #playtime #generoushearts #quiltsfororphans

 

And that wraps up this brief Blogpost … and we look forward to sharing more with you over the weeks to come :)

 

Blessings on behalf of QFO,

 

Susan

 

QFO Co-ordinator: Annette Stone  .... phone 0407 648 618                                                                                                     

email: [email protected]

Blogger: Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825

email: [email protected]

Our postal address (for donations) is  P.O Box 398 Monbulk Victoria 3793

And .... we are www.quiltsforphans.org 

On 'social media'  aka Facebook find us at https://www.facebook.com/QuiltsForOrphans/

Check out the following Links:

http://www.facebook.com/Chelseaonesock .... for delightful retro fabric childrens clothing

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

We also stitch for the following Childrens Homes ....

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.hopefosterhome.com ... the babies we are creating crib quilts for in China ...

www.zoehopeproject.blogspot.com  .... giving hope to children in Zambia.

http://english.chinaconcern.org/  ... more children in China that we have stitched for ...

http://www.lolachildrensfund.org/ .... in Ethiopia

http://www.fikelela.org.za/orphan.asp .... the Fikelala AIDS Project in Capetown

http://mifanmama.com/Shining_Star_2.html the Home for vision impaired children in Shanghai

http://www.austchamshanghai.com/about-us/csr/mifan-mama.aspx

www.jewelsofhope.org ... the project we stitch for in Lesotho Southern Africa

http://www.thebabesproject.com.au/

http://elishacare.blogspot.com.au/

http://rangescc.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/elisha-care/

The Matombo Village Project vimeo.com/217129149

www.ujamaachildren.com

Another 'in-betweener' Blog Post and a visit to kindred spirits in Nunawading.

 

                                                    
Hello again and here I am with another Blog update which will include a couple of Thank You messages and pictures for your viewing pleasure,

so grab a cuppa and enjoy :) A message came through from our leader Annette last week, following a trip she and Sheryl made at the invitation

of the Nunawading U3a Quilters and it was accompanied by some lovely photos which I will share with you. These words from Annette ….

 

                        Sheryl and I had a visit to Nunawading U3a quilters and we have some more goodies to
                        show you. This was their final meeting for the term and we enjoyed afternoon tea
                        following their workday.
                        They are very pleased to send their quilts for distribution through our channels and
                        enquired about the beginnings of the group, our story so far, and quilt
                        destinations.
                       A similar demographic to our group, they meet and work on their projects,
                        occasionally teaching, sharing a technique (e.g. joining curves as in these photos).

 Thank you so very much to the wonderfully skilled ladies of the U3a group … it will be our pleasure to add the finishing touches and quilting to these beautiful quilt tops and we look forward to being involved with you in future endeavours to wrap folk in our fabric 'hugs'.

                                                

      
       

And this delightful completed piece, just gorgeous … thank you so very much :)

                                                    

We also received, yesterday .. courtesy of the Montrose Church of Christ knitters .. a wonderful batch of beautifully handknitted jackets which will be destined for China. Many thanks ladies, it is always an absolute delight to receive the knitted baby items which will bless small infants on the other side of the globe.

    

And that wraps up this brief Blogpost … apologies for the line to the left of the final U3a pic … technology baffles me more often than not .. am just grateful I managed to wrap the words in paragraphs rather than the unending horizontal line that it seemed intent on doing at the beginning of this update ;)

Till next post …. blessings all, and I'm off for a restorative coffee .. a large one ;)

 

Susan