Quilts For Orphans

More fabric giftings .. we are blessed indeed ...

Thoroughly blessed just after our last sewing day .. . to receive fabric donations for our 'stash'. Firstly from Rae ... this wonderful gifting of much good quality plain fabric, so very useful for sashing, cornerstones and other quilting uses. Thank you so very, very much Rae .. and your sister also .. for generously thinking of us. Much appreciated, look out for it in our future projects :)

And from Eleanor and daughter Bethany .... this wonderful bootload of fabric and stitcheries which our Sheryl collected last week. An amazing array of wonderful colours and patterns and these stitcheries which I am sure we will be looking forward to incorporating into our work. Just awesome!!

How very fortunate are we at QFO to have such generous hearts supporting us in this manner. Thank you all so much,

Till next Blogpost ... which will be very soon as I share with you pics of our new piece of machinery .. stay tuned ..

 

Susan 

News from Billanook following our last gifting of quilts for their Thai Service Project in 2018.

 

This just came thru in my emails . .. so am sharing it with photos received from Billanook ... this letter to our Jenny Stokes from Billanook College.

Hello Jenny,

While it was some time ago now, looking back at these photos brings back lovely memories of handing out your beautiful quilts to the students at Aubaan Muang Papu school. We were incredibly lucky to be the ones sharing the quilts you had spent your time and hard work creating with the students of the school.

 

The quilt giving pictured was part of a larger celebration day where the school students and our Billanook students performed dances and songs for the audience. We shared your quilts along with school stationary, sports equipment and books and spent the day celebrating the opening of the school’s new lunch hall. This hall was funded by money raised by the Billanook students who attended the service project who also worked at the school in the days prior to this ceremony; mixing cement for the floor, bricking walls and rendering.

Thank you for the effort that you all put in to making these quilts and the many others you make, all of them helping to comfort and bring warmth to children in need.

With best wishes to you all,

Anita on behalf of the Thai Service 2018 team.

First Blogpost for 2020 .. and coming to you with news and pictures of our new QFO 'Home' base ;)

Well here we are, at the start of a fresh new QFO year and in our new 'home' at Hoddles Creek ... I look forward, in this blogpost, to sharing with you the interior shots, as well as all the things that happened at our first get together under its roof on Saturday February 8th :) 

Aaaaand ... here we are ..... 

Present on Saturday we welcomed back a lot of familiar faces and met some new folk too ... which bodes well for an exciting and productive year under the QFO banner. We enjoyed the company of Sandi, Joanne, Deborah, Yvonne, Christine, Val and Val,Isobel, Jenny, Julie, Sheryl, Julianne, Mel, Pauline, Cheryl, Libby, Alison, Annette, Alice, and myself .. and welcomed new members Joy, Ann, Denise, Pat, Helen and Lucy. Quite the (nearly) Full House indeed ;)

We also welcomed Dawn Taylor, representing 'Jewels of Hope' from Lesotho (pronounced 'Lesootoo') in South Africa. We have previously gifted them quilts and Dawn came on Saturday to tell us all about the empowerment that selling the jewelry created by the children over there gives. Jewels of Hope is on the front-line in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. It works in the midst of despair as children become orphaned due to the pandemic affecting the region. As hundreds of children have become parentless, the desire is to give them hope for their future and for eternity. Jewels of Hope provides a means of income generation for vulnerable children that is both safe and legitimate, whilst enabling the children to continue with their education.

For more details on Jewels of Hope. please visit their website at www.jewelsofhope.org and for more information on helping this project or purchasing jewelry, please contact Dawn at [email protected]

One of the poorest countries in the world, and one which has an unemployment rate of 49%, Lesotho nonetheless enjoys 300 days a year of sunshine ... which, might I add, seems only rivalled by the smiles of the children looked after by the Jewels of Hope organisation.

The children learn, among other things, the Principles and Practice of Business thru the Program, which helps to give them usable skills for their future. 

Dawn also came along with cakes of this amazing soap .. and its 'backstory' of generating funds for the Philippines.

Now among our visitors today we welcomed Helen, Denise, Pat and Ann from the Steels Creek Stitchers, who blessed us with an amazing number of quilt tops  ... just so incredibly kind of them. Pictures are below .. they also blessed us with a sizeable box of fabric for which we are most grateful :)

Thank you so very, very much ladies .. your contribution to our quilt gifting 'stash' is most appreciated and we look forward to blessing those in need with your fabric 'hugs' in the not too distant future. According to our records, between October and the end of 2019 we were able to gift 110 quilts to those in need both locally and globally. We look forward to doing even more as the year progresses. 

We were also visited on Saturday by long time supporter Nelly Sutherland from 'Made with Love' quilts in Endeavour Hills. Nelly has previously been incredibly generous with her groups quilts and once again we thank her so very much for their kindness to us. This time, in addition to the quilts, Nellys group kindly gifted us a roll of cotton batting (so very useful) and a Janome sewing machine which will come in jolly handy as being put to use by stitchers needing one on-site here.

And now a few candid shots of our new space .... pretty schmick eh?

Pauline and Sheryl in our kitchen ... so much room and perfect for organising our refreshments. Speaking of which, here they are :)

The Handsewing corner ... with Libby, Alison, Julie .. and one of our lovely new visitors whose name, I'm afraid to say .. totally escaped me. Profuse apologies ... I'll try better next time :)

Work tables just awaiting sewing machines and stitchers ...

And here we have .. Val and Val ... doing great stuff at our work tables :)
Jenny, Isobel and Sheryl chatting at our 'quilt top recording table' where incoming tops are 'registered' for tracking purposes as they go thru the 'process' toward gifting.

 

The 'Process' ... complex, but all part of our new QFO tracking and accountability set-up. And below we have the pictures of the 'behind the scenes storage area. So good to have all this room for our stuff :)

And now on to a bit of 'Show and Tell' from our on site stitchers ... first we have Paulines efforts .

So incredibly colourful .. and hasn't Pauline been busy since we last gathered?

Next we have Cheryls quilt tops .. zoom in on the red blue and white .. the nautical fabric is gorgeous ...

And now from our Val ... and pictured with fabric gifted to her by her daughters friend Jean .. this top ... just lovely.

From our Christine .. two single quilt tops, and isn't the vibrant Dresden Plate combo just stunning?

And finally, from Sandi .. we have three cot size and one single bed size top .. again pieced with precision .. she's a perfectionist :)

Now a few more random shots of our new workspace and then an 'ad' for an upcoming Event that QFO will have a table at .. 

Natural light, as well as overhead lights and fresh air ... a great working combo :)

Above we have Yvonne, Julianne, Deborah and Nelly ... 

Sandi and Cheryl .... 

View from our kitchen servery window ... and below we have Pauline and Christine at the cutting table. 

We even have a balcony for those that like to take in the fresh country air whilst stitching .. or even just having a cuppa break ;)

Aaand .... before the final bit of this Blog .. we were pleased to be able to farewell Dawn Taylor from Jewels of Hope .. with a stack of quilts to take back to Lesotho. Looking forward to seeing pics of them some time down the track when they are wrapped around their new owners :)

Aaaand now ... our first 'participating' Event for the year ... so save your pocket money AND the date and pop along to support us and the CFA. The Event is hosted by Karen Martin of Mrs Martins Quilt Shop and we thank her very much for allowing us space to display our wares. See you there.

 

And dear reader, that just about wraps up this Blog .. we meet again at Hoddles Creek on the second Saturday in March (14th).. BYO lunch and a plate to share for morning tea .. as well as your enthusiasm and sewing machine. But don't fret too much on the latter if you don't have a machine as we do have a couple of QFO machines available for use.

OOOH!! .. speaking of which, I very nearly forgot our BIG NEWS. We have purchased a Gammill Long Arm quilting machine and will be training those interested in it's use. This will lighten the load for our Yvonne who has single handedly been custom quilting our tops pretty much since we started. We hope to have the machine set up in a week or so, ready for our next gathering. 

Such an exciting year ahead ... and now to hit the 'publish' button and send this baby into cyberspace for your enjoyment :)

Blessings to all,

 

Susan

Contact us via our Website : www.quiltsfororphans.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.quiltsfororphans.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

 

Moving to The Hall – Office Chairs and rubber castors ... and a BIG Thank You to generous hearts.

 

Well here I am again .... making use of a relatively quiet Monday and some inclement weather .. to sit and Blog, Blog, Blog. And here is the last Post for the day. Words provided by those involved with beginning the set up at our new home in Hoddles Creek. Pictures also attached and some Thank You mentions to the generous hearts of those who have facilitated some of the finer things needed to make our new home even spiffier. 

We’ve all been busy lately, packing up everything at The Shed and getting ready for the move., and planning what equipment we’ll need at our new location.

At The Shed, our machine sewers have enjoyed using the adjustable office chairs that belonged to the owners.

So Jenny has been busy sourcing adjustable office chairs and working out the best way to protect the timber floors at The Hall.

Five office chairs were located on Facebook Marketplace. When Jenny explained the work of Quilts for Orphans, Jake, the seller, decided to donate them all to us! Thank you so much, Jake!

Peter and Jenny took the trailer to Ivanhoe East to collect them, and then delivered them to The Hall.

Jenny found out that replacing the regular castors with ‘rubber castors’ was the best way of protecting the timber floor. She wrote to Slipstick, an Australian company that manufactures and distributes rubber castors, as well as a wide range of products to go under furniture to protect floors. Jenny initially asked if we could purchase them wholesale, but also invited the company to consider supporting our group by donating some sets of castors. The owners of Slipstick responded, saying they would be delighted to sponsor our group by donating 12 sets of castors for our office chairs! Thanks so much, Slipstick, for your very generous donation. You can check out Slipstick, and the extensive range of products they have for protecting floors and furniture at https://www.slipstick.com.au  They’re also listed on our partnerships page on our website.

They also sent us ten packs of various sized pieces of ‘furniture felt’, to put under chairs, tables, and other furniture to protect the timber floor! 

At the Working Bee, Jenny and Ron (Sinling’s husband) swapped over all the castors on the five donated chairs!

Ron, Jenny and Sinling ...

We’ve since been given an additional four used office chairs by Allen and the team at Excellence IT – they are in Boronia, and online at https://excellenceit.com.au  They had the chairs advertised on Facebook Marketplace and decided to donate them to our group! Thanks so much.

With another one Jenny found at her local Op Shop, and a couple more in her shed, we’ll have a full complement of adjustable chairs for all our planned ‘sewing stations’ – all with lovely rubber castors!

Eager beavers at the Working Bee. 

Its not a QFO gathering without food and I think some of the 'five basic food groups' seem to be covered here. Am I right?

Not sure what Deborah had done to be banished outside .. perhaps crumbs on the new homes floor? Trust they'll let her play inside in February ;)

Aaand that wraps it up till I have more to report. We hope to be in our new home for the first Gathering Day on February 8th ... after which I will have another Blogpost with even more photos of all the ladies cosily ensconced in their new QFO abode at Hoddles Creek. 

Till then,

Blessings to all,

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