Well folks ... another Gathering Day has 'been and went' and here I am to fill you in on our doings on August 12th as we came together at Hoddles Creek for a day of stitching and fellowship with our QFO crafters. Plenty of activity as we set to work slicing and dicing fabric, trimming quilts and admiring some of the giftings that have come our way since we gathered last in June.
Present on Saturday we had Pauline, Christine, Win, Cheryl, Libby, Sheryl, Jennifer, Annette, Kathy, Sandi, Deborah, Carmen, Joy, Elaine, Yvonne (and her family) .. and yours truly.
Further down in the Blog ... just after lunch actually .. we had a time for a special honouring of a long time member. So grab a coffee and settle in for this months read.
First stitching 'cab off the rank' so to speak was this delightful array of crafting and fabric gifted to us for our fundraising and quilting by Jackie from Somerville.
Firstly some delightful rabbits ... followed by an array of sweet birds, both made and also some pre-cut ready to go.
And a more than generous amount of fabric as she de-stashed for us. Many many thanks Jackie ... your kindness is much appreciated and will be indeed put to good use in our quilting projects.
From Chris Burns ... a delightful 'family' of wise owls ... how cute are these little fellows? Many thanks Chris, so sweet.
And from our Sandi, some Christmas stars & some beautifully pieced table runners. Her'fabric matching' skills are 10/10
And here we have Cheryl hard at work on her magnificent quilting machine. she spends countless hours at home quilting our cot quilts on this machine and her freehand work is just superb.
Below is a batch of 27 cot quilts destined for our outreach to small babes both in the hospital system at Monash and thru Lifes Little Treasures. Cheryl has quilted these at home and returned them to the Hall last week for bindings before despatch. Legend!!
And below ... we have the lovely 'finishing off' of a set of what we call 'orphan blocks' ... gifted to us from the talented and generous Jennifer Knol. Our resident member Sheryl gathered these pieces together and created a table topper. Excellent collaboration methinks.
Here we have our Libby ... performing a bit of maintenance on our Gammill machine ...
Sandi and Carmen choosing fabrics from our wall 'stash' to add to their projects.
The ever smiling Christine working on what look to be bindings for cot quilts.
Sheryl, Annette and Deborah working out the 'why and wherefore' of a gifted mystery piece for our fundraising ..not quite sure what the answer turned out to be ... but it kept them busy with the figuring out.
Our hand sewing 'corner' with Kathy and Jennifer finishing off some bindings. And our Pauline popping past ... to iron?
We are blessed with some wonderful fabrics and this particular cot quilt is an example. Beautifully 'retro' and gorgeous.
Joy busily trimming quilts for us at the cutting table.
Long time QFO member Win, hard at work at our stitching 'corral', otherwise known as the area with our donated Horn cabinets all set up.
Sheryl discovered a 'wannabe' colour coordinating flutterby outside the Hall .. how pretty. It was a tad windy but he held onto that leaf with grim determination.
And the colourful bunting was probably what attracted him to our little hillside spot.
An overview of our very busy space on Saturday.
And ... all of a sudden it was time for lunch. And this month was a return, if you like, to the pre pandemic QFO days of old. With shared food once again on the menu ... woohoo!! We had soups, savoury slices, home baked bread and muffins. As well as 'dessert' for those who finished their first course (and ate their crusts)
A nice gathering around the lunch table for our stitchers ...
Dessert :)
And now to the part where we pay tribute to one of our founding members ... our very own Yvonne. Seen here with daughter Clare and grand daughter Amber. Some of our long time members might recall Amber stitched for us waaay back in the early pre-Barn days .. when we all gathered in Gaynors lounge room to sew our fabric hugs.
I'll now add Gaynor and Rachels tribute to Yvonnes magnificent contribution to QFO as related to us by Libby ... and fear not, we are not losing Yvonne and her talents. Word has it that she's just downsized her amazingly big quilting machine ... and after a short period of thinking ... has bought a smaller 'domestic' machine with which to keep busy. Proof that you absolutely cannot keep a quilter idle for very long at all.
I'll now transcribe Libbys talk for the benefit of our readers. And pop in a few images of the slideshow that was set up to honour Yvonne.
Words passed on to Libby by Gaynor, our Founder, together with her daughter Rachel.
'Through a connection with Rachel (who modelled wedding dresses), Yvonnes involvement with QFO began around 14 years ago. Yvonne had been the owner/manager of Tatters Wedding store in Monbulk for many years. When she finished up her business and 'retired' Rachel recalls meeting Yvonne emerging from the Bendigo Bank and after a conversation about QFO ,,, Yvonne was 'in' as the saying goes. This was around 2008/2009. At this time young Amber, Yvonnes grand daughter became involved too. Gaynor relates that Yvonne would willingly raise her hand for any project to be undertaken by QFO and she was (and still is) an absolute blessing. Rachel remembers Yvonnes wicked sense of humour and that no matter the task set before them .. Yvonne had a way of getting it done. Yvonne surprised us all when she purchased a magnificent Gammill and it didn't take very long at all before she was producing the most amazing quilting on our creations ... taking them to a whole new level. I think we've all seen how she 'matched' the computerised quilt pattern to the individual fabrics in the quilt.
(I'll leap in here and make mention of an example .. cowboy fabric being matched with a quilting pattern of boots, stetsons and lassoos. Beyond amazing!)
Back to Gaynor and Rachel ...'Special orders like the aprons we made for the Prison Network Ministry, or a project for Chinakids or Hohidiai ..like bean bags and others .. all accomplished with Yvonnes expertise. In 2020 Yvonne kindly lent her expertise to teaching others how to 'drive' our own hand guided Gammill quilting machine in the Hall. Passing on her own skills and passion and now ... at the same time ... tackling and learning the new skill of free motion quilting on her new domestic machine at her home.
Since 2008 QFO has created around 5000 quilts (our fabric 'hugs') and such a goodly portion of these have been personally quilted by Yvonne ... what a magnificent achievement and a true blessing to our little Ministry.
Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts Yvonne.
How it all started for QFO ... Quilts for the children in the COM Homes in India.
Yvonne and grand daughter Amber .... stitching in Gaynors home in Macclesfield ... pre Barn days.
So. Many. Quilts ... all destined to wrap the recipient in love. And many quilted by Yvonne.
Gaynor, Rachel, Yvonne and Amber in our former home 'The Barn' in Macclesfield.
A swag of quilts gifted to Billanook students for carrying to their Thai/Burma outreach collaboration.
In our new home at the Hall in Hoddles Creek.
And Yvonne happily 'driving' the Gammill for us in the Hall. What a treasure she continues to be.
It's an absolute blessing to have you as part of QFO Yvonne and I think I speak for us all when I say we appreciate each and every thing that you have contributed to our little Ministry from the very first day that you joined us. Bless your heart.
And I think that just about winds up this Blog ... I'll choof off and find the Links to some of our latest partnerings for your perusal ... and I'll add them below.
Heavenly Trimmings ... http://heavenlytrimmings.com We have been asked to create Blessing Bags which are stitched pillowcases in which to package parcels for Courageous Kids battling chronic and life threatening illnesses.
Also Change the One http://www.changetheone.org which provides ongoing relief, care and assistance to people and communities in remote areas of Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
And that's pretty much a wrap folks ... I'll footle off now and stretch my shoulders in preparation for a session of bowl cosy stitching for our next fundraising effort. Watch our website for news of upcoming Events and follow our Facebook Page also.
Till next time,
Blessings,
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://kayleenwest.com.au .... for Art with a positive spirit
https://lifeslittletreasures.org.au
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
http://heavenlytrimmings.com
http://www.changetheone.org which provides ongoing relief, care and assistance to people and communities in remote areas of Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
Comments