Well folks .. here we are again, frantically stitch, stitch, stitching as we prepare for next months Festival of Quilts which will take place at Mont De Lancey in Wandin in November. I'll re-upload our flyer further on in this Blogpost in order to refresh your memory as to the dates and the order of 'Events' we will be offering.
We all presented at The Shed for what will most likely be the last time, as we have .... *insert drum roll here* a new 'Home' on the horizon ... but more about that later. In the interim I'll do the Roll Call and let you know that on Saturday we had Yvonne, Val, Christine, Cheryl, Win, Sandy, Jenny, Emily, Sheryl, Deborah, Julianne, Alice, Stephanie, Alison, Mel, Pauline, Libby, Rose, myself and we also welcomed a new stitcher in Jennie ... welcome, welcome, welcome :)
But ... before I upload Saturdays pictures, a belated apology for not acknowledging in photos the wonderful donation of stitched bits which we received in August .. from the generous heart of the extremely gifted Jennifer Knol. Jennifer has blessed us over the years with her handiwork and this time around we received some lovely UFOs and other items to be incorporated into our fundraising and gifting bits and pieces.
Many, many thanks Jennifer .. we are always humbled by your bountiful blessings to QFO.
And now onto more fabric 'blessings' received by us, some of which will be both gifted into our 'giving quilts' and some used as part of our fundraising for batting as we proceed throughout the year to come.
First, from Christines friend Caroline ... these lovely fabric blocks .. I particularly liked the many eyed 'Alien' peeking out from the edge of one of the piecings :) I look forward to seeing these incorporated into a quilt for a child we will bless with a QFO fabric 'hug'.
Next .. a box of wonderful vintage looking flour bags, reminiscent of the bags used during the Great Depression which were repurposed into quilts and clothing so many years ago. These came from a contact Deborah made at the Kallista Market.
But wait ... there's more :) Correct me if I'm wrong (as can happen) but I think I attributed these stitcheries below to the 'Monday Girls at the Monbulk Hub'.
And below .. from the ladies at the Boronia Church of Christ .. a wonderful donation of quilts and fabric ... bless your kind hearts and clever needles.
Definitely a 'Full House' on Saturday ... standing room only ;)
Aaaand ... threads for us .. from the Knox U3A folk via our Alison .... many thanks .. threads are always welcome :)
And via our very own Val .. two generous donations ... from her daughters work colleagues Mum, and also a donation from her daughters mother in law which also included a nicely pieced quilt top in lemon and grey (a colour combo that always looks good I think)
Many thanks for your generous hearts ladies .. regular gifts such as yours enable us to continue creating and blessing those in need of a fabric 'hug' with our quilts.
And from long time supporter on the Apple Isle .. Carmen .. these lovely childrens quilt tops. These are just fantastic Carmen :)
Now a bit of 'Show and Tell' as we showcase our on-site stitchers work :) Firstly from Christine. This lovely green and stripey block combination. Love it :)
From Cheryl .. one of our more recent members ... these five tops .. and a completed quilt. Cheryl claims to be a relative 'newbie' quilter .. but the piecing skills in her tops suggest otherwise .. aren't they lovely?
And from our very newest member ... Jennie ... these four lovely quilt tops. Great fabric choices too, these are wonderful Jennie :)
And from our Pauline ... these three cute childrens quilt tops ...
And that wraps up our donations and Show and Tell pics .. and now on to our news report.
I am beyond pleased to advise that, just as our donations come in .. that we will be passing on our quilted 'hugs' very soon. We have been able to partner with an organisation called Mukti who have been in existence for many, many years and we are thrilled to be able to say that we will be gifting them in the vicinity of 40 quilts very soon. Twenty quilts will be heading to Sri Lanka and a further 20 will be sent to India. This pleases us all greatly. We will also be connecting with an orphanage in Sierra Leone and they will be also blessed with quilts from us. How incredibly good is that? I look forward very much to hopefully being able to share with you some pictures of these quilts when they reach their destination :)
In the interim I will share the Link to Mukti so that you can see for yourselves the awesome work that they do for those in need across the globe.
I have also been advised that Julie Adamson, the talented lady from the Victorian Quilters who will be opening our Festival of Quilts as well as hosting a Trunk Show .. will be taking away with her a number of our quilts to present to the Very Snuggly Quilts group at the Royal Childrens Hospital. https://www.victorianquilters.org/
I can also advise that as well as the Trunk Show that Julie is doing at our FOQ .. that Karen Martin from Miss Martins Quilts will also be hosting a Trunk Show. So you will all be totally spoilt for choice as far as entertainment is concerned at our Event :)
Please direct any queries to our Website, rather than to Annette as indicated on the Flyer .. as she is still in recovery mode following recent surgery and will be fully focussed on her health for the interim.
And FINALLY .... the news that I promised at the very start of this Blog .. after a couple of years in the 'wilderness' .. I am beyond chuffed to announce that QFO will soon have a new HOME!!
Yes .. you read that correctly ... after much effort from our Committee we have managed to secure a five year (so far) leased accommodation in Hoddles Creek and with a modicum of luck we will be all set up for our February sewing day in 2020. We look forward to again being able to host our Quilt Fairs on 'home ground' as well as our monthly 'themed' and always popular lunches that were always such a pleasurable part of our monthly quilting days at The Barn ... are you excited? I am!!
We have been most appreciative of the loan of Joanne and husband Kyms 'mancave' at The Shed .. it was an absolute godsend to us .. but we can now give Kym back his space and allow him full use of the workspace that he so very generously allowed us to use after Gaynor and Reg relocated. So here are what will most likely be the last pics taken of our gathering at The Shed ... and I look forward to sharing what we think we will probably call 'The Hall' when we are all set up for 2020 :)
And folks ... that just about wraps this Blogpost up .. other than to say make sure that you have popped the dates for our Festival of Quilts into your calendars and make a plan to attend one or more of the offerings that we have organised for your enjoyment.
Till next Blogpost,
Many blessings, and please keep our President Annette in your prayers as she regains her health ...
Susan
Contact us via our Website : www.quiltsforphans.org
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. Chelsea has blessed us with her destashing of fabric.
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 have also stitched 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
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