And its the end of year gathering for our stitchers who gathered at Rose Cottage in Monbulk on Saturday December 8th to enjoy a lovely lunch as our end of year 'icing on the QFO cake' for 2018.
An overview of those present.
Present were: Annette our new CEO, Mel (our website guru), Isobel, Win, Susan and Peter, Val R, Maxine, Carol, Alice, Sheryl, Libby and Peter, Julie and Ian, Yvonne and Don, Jenny and Peter, Sinling and Ron, Alison, Stephanie, Joanne, Sandi, Pauline and Chris .... and surprise attendees Gaynor and Reg who we were thrilled to welcome back to join us from their seachange of a year ago.
Apologies and much missed were Deborah, Christine and Val S.
The meal was, as usual, delightful and served by the very attentive staff of Rose Cottage ... many thanks for hosting us again. Always an absolute pleasure to dine here.
And many thanks also to the very talented Peter Stokes .... who kindly used his photographic skills to capture so many brilliant images of our lunch gathering. His snaps far surpassed mine and I am more than appreciative of his handiwork. Particularly the brilliant collage at the end of this Blogpost. Superb!!
Gaynor and Reg with Peter Sansom.
Annette welcoming all to our Christmas Breakup lunch.
Alison and Stephanie ... two of our stitchers ...
Ron and Sinling, Peter and Libby, Ian and Julie, Yvonne and Don ...
Peter, Susan, Sheryl, Alice, Carol, Maxine, Val, Win and Isobel ...
Making our lunch selections from the Menu :)
Roast Beef was flavoursome ...
Salmon was divine ...
Turkey was most pleasing :)
And who can quibble with a delicious Pavlova? Certainly not yours truly ;)
Annette fills us in on all that has been achieved by QFO in 2018 ...
Reg, Sandi, Joanne, Alison, Stephanie, Annette and Gaynor ...
Val, Win and Gaynor ... catching up since last they were together ...
Reg doing likewise ...
Joanne and Jenny ... and we must give a big 'shout out' to Joanne who has, with husband Kim ... kindly allowed us to occupy space at their Shed in 2018. Enabling us to continue stitching and creating for those in need.
It's been so very much a gifting to us and we look forward to being able to 'encroach' on them, with their blessing ... for a little longer in 2019. Many thanks to you both .. we would indeed be 'orphans' without your generosity of heart and willingness to share. Thank you :)
Jennys shoes ..... the ladies will understand. It's all about the shoes .. and aren't they divine?
Not to be outdone ... my attention was directed to Sinlings snazzy footwear too ;) It's a 'girl thing' folks ...
Alison and Stephanie ...
Alison and Libby ...
Carol, Sandi and Maxine ...
Sinling, Win, Yvonne and Val ... looks like folk are beginning to depart ...
Sheryl and Alice ...
Yvonne, Don, Jenny ... and THOSE shoes ...Isn't the colour divine?
Val and Yvonne ...
Sinling ...
Sinling and Libby ..
Gaynor, Sheryl and Alice ...
Carol, Sandi, Maxine and Sinling :)
And that winds up the photographic side of things ... almost. But before I finalise this Blogpost I'll give a brief overview of all that has been done by QFO in the year that is nearly over ... according to notes I took yesterday.
We have created 60 Beanbags with our furnishing fabric ... for Indonesia. As well as many aprons also for the Hohidiai School there.
We gifted 50 quilts to the Babes Project which supports young mothers in raising their infants.
Quilts were also given to CPEC for the Cerebral Palsy children having therapy sessions there.
Different Journeys .. the Autism Spectrum folk also received some heavyweight quilts for passing on to a local school for classroom comfort with children on the spectrum.
Billanook College received quilts from us for taking to their Thai Service project on the Thai Burma border.
The Boomerang Bag ladies in Mount Evelyn were gifted our furnishing fabric for use in their eco friendly shopping bags created to reduce the reliance on plastics.
Mustard Tree Op Shop in Lilydale received the remainder of the furnishing fabric which we are sure they will have no trouble recycling into useful projects,
And finally ... it pleases me to announce that following our Festival of Quilts at Mont De Lancey last month ... we had a winner in the 'Viewers Choice' part of the Quilt Challenge and it was Sandi and her 'Springtime on the Peninsula' quilt. We hope that Sandi enjoys spending her voucher ... on fabric of course ;)
Winner of the Puffing Billy Pass for contributing feedback on or Forum was Irene Ferguson. Many thanks for participating Irene, enjoy the train ride :)
And that wraps up pretty much our year to date. Hope that you enjoyed following our journey and I look forward to sharing more with you in the weeks to come .. as and when more news comes to hand. In the interim enjoy the brief hiatus between now and Christmas day and may your Christmas be beautiful, blessed and everything that you could possibly wish for,
Blessings,
Susan
Co-ordinator: Annette Stone .... phone 0407 648 618
email: silauran@netspace.net.au
Blogger: Susan Hamilton .....phone (03)9737 1825
email: shamilton@aanet.com.au
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