Quilts For Orphans

COVID 19 AND QFO .... PLEASE NOTE.

ALL OUR STITCHERS AND SUPPORTERS PLEASE NOTE:

Due to Stage three restrictions in Victoria QFO operations will be postponed until further notice.

 We will all keep stitching away at our respective homes and look forward to gathering again when this challenging time has passed.

Stay safe. 

 

Susan and the Quilters 

In light of the Coronavirus .. QFO have implemented a change to operations for the duration.

The only sensible path to take. We take the health and wellbeing of our Members most seriously as I'm sure you all understand.

 

Hi to all QFO members and supporters

COVID-19 is of serious concern to us all. At present QFO activities at the Hall would fit the 10/4/2 (people/space/distance) rule implemented by government but rightly so, we are greatly discouraged from getting together as a group.

To that end the Committee has devised a way for us to still operate and be mindful of our obligations to our community to help stem the spread of the corona virus. Therefore there will be no more Gathering or Work Days in the Hall until the 10/4/2 rules are lifted.

So here is the operating plan for the foreseeable future. Only one or two people are permitted in the Hall at any one time. This is the best way to be responsible but remain accessible. To get the ball rolling, I will be at the hall all day this Saturday 26/3/20 from 9.30am to 3pm to enable you to collect work and select fabrics.

After this Saturday, you will need to email me (Deborah Woodward) [email protected] to make individual arrangements.

I’m not about to ask who is coming or what time as that is not the QFO way. Just arrive when it suits you throughout the day. I’m sure the people movements will work OK.

Lets hope for a lovely day to have all the doors open where I get to greet you with a smile. 😊

As always please call or email me anytime. We are all in this together!

Deb Woodward

Vice President

0409 192 514

 

 

 

 

Marching into March ...... 2020 ... a quiet gathering, but enjoyable nonetheless. And a visitor from the States.

Here we are again. And it was indeed a much reduced attendance of stitchers at our sewing day on March 14th. The present Coronavirus scare kept several of our regular members away, but those that came enjoyed the companionship and we managed to get quite a bit done anyway. And there was plenty of cake to share ;) 

For those wondering how the Coronavirus is impacting the Butterfly Hospice that we have stitched for in the past, might I direct you to the Link at the bottom of this Blog where you can get the most recent update on how this awesome organisation is faring. 

Now, present on Saturday at our Hall in Hoddles Creek were: Libby, Isobel. Yvonne, Julianne, Christine, Jenny, Cheryl, Deborah, Lucy, Sandi, Joanne, myself and my friend Judy who factored in our March gathering day when planning her trip to the Antipodes from Florida USA. Pretty neat eh?

And here is my friend Judy ... who indicated that she'd be more than happy to assist Christine in trimming quilted tops for binding.

Cheryl and Deborah ...

We had several wonderful donations of quilts and tops gifted to us and first 'quilts off the rank' so to speak were given to us by Elizabeth. Many thanks Elizabeth for your kind heart ...

Now, with the installation of our 'all singing all dancing' Gammill Longarm quilting machine our members have been able to increase their skillset and embrace the joys of quilting our gifted and created tops. Here we have Isobel, Jenny, Libby, Julianne and Yvonne.

And here is some of our members handiwork ... not too shabby eh?

More donations .... this needleturn applique is rather pretty .. not quite sure who gifted it to us .. but thank you so very much :)

From Judith Howard of the 'Wednesday Quilters from Balwyn' ... these two delightful tops ... Judith and the rest of her donation to us feature further on in this Blogpost.

The amazing Nelly Sutherland from 'Made with Love' quilts arrived with another awesome donation for us ... both completed quilts and tops ... thank you so very much Nelly. Your groups generosity is always appreciated.

Deborah doing the quilt folding thing ... ;)

Yours truly doing 'attaching binding' duty ... the light in this particular corner is perfect :)

Our own Sandi had been busy also with this vibrant 'Licorice Allsorts' pieced quilt top ... you may recall we learnt this piecing technique a year or so back. Its very effective I think you'll agree.

And now some of our happy stitchers on Saturday, firstly Joanne ... using that amazing vintage workhorse Husqvarna machine.

And Sandi .... wielding an iron with flair and style ... 

Newest member Lucy .... busily stitching away .. 

Long time QFO member Isobel .. who registers all our stash of quilts and tops.

And my friend Judy Reall from Florida ... with yours truly. Judy had been wanting to be a part of our sewing day for ages.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Now a message that came thru to me in an email from Deborah ....

Hi Team
I struck GOLD today. I met 2 beautiful women who have generously donated fabrics to QFO

Lilian is standing at the back of 'Olive'. My car is brimming with bolts of fabric and many other amazing items. Lilian checked out our web site after talking with a work mate, who shared the QFO story from her friend Sinling! Hows that!! She wanted to donate her 'on line shop stock' to a group who would value and make good use of the fabrics, trims and yarns.

And Judith from the 'Wednesday Quilters' donated a large bag of fabric and 2 quilt tops. (displayed across my couch) I first met Judith at the Mont De Lancey Festival Of Quilts last year where she and her 2 friends bought a quilt each!  A really lovely lady with a beautiful soul. She also makes really nice pikelets  


 I'm still awe struck by these 2 women's generosity and trust in us!

Deb

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thank you both SO very much Lilian and Judith .. your amazing generosity will enable us to make and distribute even more fabric hugs locally and globally as we continue to do the philanthropic stuff that QFO is renowned for. Bless your kind hearts indeed.

And ... speaking of philanthropic stuff ... we have furnishing fabric and even a kit or two with which to create tote bags for Samaritans Purse. Jenny filled us in on the work that this organisation does and if anyone is interested in participating she will happily give you the heads up on how to get involved.

And that, readers, just about wraps up this months Blog post. I look forward to sharing with you as and when more news comes into my little 'realm' and leave you with our regularly scheduled lot of Links and contacts. 

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

 

Our all-singing all-dancing new 'toy' ... which will make our lives at QFO even more fun :)

Quick Blog update before we meet again on this coming Saturday March 14th at the Hall ... we are now the proud owners of a Gammill Long Arm Quilting machine with which to custom quilt our tops. This will help alleviate the workload which has, up till this time, been wholly supported by our very own Yvonne. We trust now she will have a little lightening of the pressure on her .. as well as fine tuning the skills of our Members who wish to be trained in the new 'toys' use, 

Below are some pictures of the arrival, installation and training session on our machine. Please enjoy .. many thanks to Mel for the photos.

Also some pictures of quilt tops we have recently been blessed with .. which will no doubt very soon be quilted on this new toy :)

And that's a quick 'wrap' for the time being .. until after our next 'Gathering Day' on Saturday .. when we will again enjoy the fellowship of our quilting group and stitch away on our fabric 'hugs'. 

Blessings till then,

Susan

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