Quilts For Orphans

Aaaand it's August already .... and a VERY wet one it was too ;)

                                

And here we are again ... with all the news that's fit to commit to our Blog .. from the August 'gathering day' at The Shed. 

We welcomed a new stitcher this month and it was lovely to meet Cheryl .. she joined in with Christine, Rose, Mel, Sheryl, Sandi, Denise, Win, Val, Pauline, Yvonne, Jenny, Annette, Alison, Libby, Julie, Isobel, Emily and yours truly :) So it was pretty much full house and, considering the abominable weather we were experiencing, most heartwarming to see such a great attendance of intrepid quilters.

Firstly I will showcase the wonderful donations that arrived both in our mailbox and delivered by hand. And to get the ball rolling we were most appreciative of this gifting of 'destashed fabrics' from our very own Julie. These will most certainly reappear in quilts very soon :)

Next we unpacked and admired 4 beautiful quilt tops created by Jenny Pickering from Badgers Creek .. thank you so very much Jenny .. these are just delightful and will please the recipient who will enjoy the warmth of your gifted fabric 'hug'.

Next, from our newbie member Cheryl ... who is self taught and very talented .. these four beautiful quilt tops. Apparently Cheryl has discovered a great Youtube tutorial site .. 'The Midnight Quilter' and clearly is a very good student as these are just delightful.

And here is the Link (hope it works) to the Youtube tutorials. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLjp-yIkiW1qAM-OX4StCCg?reload=9

Next .. from Doreen .. who you may recall visited us a couple of months ago and shared her folder of amazing quilts she has created .. this lovely fairy themed top which she has kindly gifted to us ...

And from our Christine this beautiful quilt top. All those seams meeting beautifully. How DOES she do it? ;)

Pauline has been busy too .. with a distinct theme of Cars :) Two were identical ... so I 'saved' digital 'film' by only snapping one ;)

Then it was MY turn. Yes, you read correctly ... I got off Facebook and onto my trusty Janome (even had a long overdue service for the poor thing .. and threw these offerings together. Please be kind ;)

And finally .. a series of images .. showing young Emma who is 8 and 3/4 and has created her first quilt. Afterwards and with the overseeing of our Jenny, Emma was 'walked' thru the process of getting it almost to quilting stage. Here are the pictures .. and she is indeed a very fast learner too :)

Emma on the right .. with younger sister Grace on the left ...

Then it was time for refreshments :)

Annette sharing some of the efforts at our recent Makers Marathon ...

Jenny showing our newest stitcher Cheryl 'the ropes' ... 

All the busy, busy stitchers ....

Kym ... who has very kindly allowed the QFO folk to use his 'mancave' since we became orphans when The Barn was no longer available ... he's a gem :)

Libby and Rose collecting some 'homework' stitching to tide them over till next we meet :)

And this  ^ .... simply because I loved the clever piecing on it.

And that makes it just about a 'wrap' as the saying goes. Other than these little memos that popped into my emails late last week. Grab your calendar and 'save the dates' .. as the saying goes :)

 

And before I close .. another reminder of our very own FOQ for QFO ,, in November. Are you entering a quilt top into our Challenge? Rev up your trusty sewing machine and get creative. Cut off is approaching next month :)

And that, dear Reader .... IS a wrap for this Blogpost. Hope you enjoyed. And now to our 'regularly scheduled' postscripts where we give you all the Links and 'stuff' and tidy up all the loose ends. 

Till next Blogpost, 

Blessings,

Susan

 

CEO 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. 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

 

July sewing day at The Shed .... wet weather did not 'stop play' ;)

Well here we go again ... latest Blogpost for your enjoyment. Grab a cuppa and a comfy seat, crank the heating up because its chilly, chilly, chilly outside :)

Now before I get into the 'body' of the Blog .. a quick 'Heads Up' for an Event this coming Friday that may appeal to those in the immediate area. See below for details of the Hohidiai Choir Tour as it visits the Lilydale area as part of its time in this country. Suggest you contact the Lilydale Baptist Church for any details that I may have missed. 

 

This Professionally trained choir are touring Australia from 30th July – 6th August. Energetic, Talented & Uplifting.
Come and listen to their English and Indonesian songs, Traditional dances and Inspirational Testimonies.

They will be performing at Lilydale Baptist Church (Hull Road Lilydale) on Friday 19th July, at 9.30am
Morning tea to follow (Women’s Event)

Also there will be an Evening Session on the 19th July at 7pm – Cuppa to follow – All Welcome.

And .. for an Event of a less musical, but equally enjoyable 'Theme' ... we offer this 'heads up' for you. Grab your calendars and flick forward to September folks:)

And a bit earlier ... our very own Makers Marathon on Friday week in Wandin :) Save the date ...

But wait ... there's more!! And sooner too .... starting this week ... all the tea cosies you could wish to see!! And raising money for an extremely worthwhile cause .. :) At the Warratina Lavender Farm in Wandin Yallock. 

Now to our Blog .. with all the news of our sewing day at The Shed on Saturday July 13th. It was an incredibly damp day but our spirits weren't impacted and we stitched away to our hearts content. What better place to be when its pouring outdoors .. than inside with a quilt on your lap, stitching bindings and chatting eh?

Present on Saturday we had Yvonne. Win. Pauline, Deborah, Sandi, Jenny, Alice, Annette, Sinling, Mel, Sheryl, Rose, Libby, Christine, Emily and yours truly :)

Offsite supporters had been busy and we were blessed with donations for our little ministry. Firstly some beautiful knitted items and fabric pieces from Janet Hill ... many thanks Janet for your generous heart and lovely handiwork. These items are just gorgeous :) Janet also gifted us four delightful quilt tops .. clever lady :)

Love your quilt tops Janet, and so will the children that will be wrapped in them before too much longer :)

We were also blessed by Kirsty who has gifted us recently with a lovely quilt top and now follows up with three tubs of brilliant fabric for US to get creative with. Many thanks Kirsty ... we so very much appreciate your kindness,

So much scrumptious fabric in these tubs ... look out for them in future QFO quilt tops Kirsty :)

And as blessings come in, we get feedback on blessings that have gone out ... recently we gifted a quilt to the founders of COM (Christian Outreach Ministry) Keith and Helen Greenwood on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary.

Longtime followers of QFO and this Blog will recall that COM was the Ministry that 'kickstarted' our own QFO Ministry over a decade ago when we initially created quilts for their Childrens Homes in India.  Keith and Helen have had the very biggest hearts for those in need in that country for decades and it was a pleasure to be able to acknowledge this personal milestone in their lives.

May they have many more years of shared happiness together whilst bringing light into the lives of others.

And from the Belgrave South Primary School. Acknowledgment of a  QFO gifted quilt for their recent fundraising Event :)

And now on to our 'Show and Tell' part of this Blog. Always a delight to share with you the many talents of our members. First 'cab off the rank', so to speak .. is Sandi who cleverly crafted the following three tops.

Next we have Christines 'Challenge' Quilt top entry ... something to hopefully stir the competitive creators out there who might just like to give her a run for her money in the 'creating stakes' for our upcoming Festival of Quilts in November. Nice needle turn applique Christine ;)

And now for some happy snaps of our intrepid Saturday stitchers who braved the inclement weather to fill The Shed with joyful chatter and camaraderie ...

Rose and Alice in the handstitching corner ...

Annette and Jenny .. discussing the Challenge Quilt competition ...

Sheryl showing her 'hands free' technique for attaching bindings ;)

Libby and Sinling .. hard at work but still managing a smile :)

Deborah .. working on a project for our partnering with the Prison Network Ministry.

Win, Emily, Yvonne & yours truly at the machining table, Pauline in the background also busy as could be.

And that just about wraps up this months Blogpost .. other than to share again the Flyer for our November Festival of Quilts and suggest that you consider entering our 'Challenge Quilt' competition and also participate in our 'Makers Marathon' .. all at the beautiful Mont De Lancey in Wandin. 

Many blessings till next Blogpost,

 

Susan 

 

CEO 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. 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

The Lyrebird Quilters High Tea pics :)

 

Well ... we put together a table .. and took photos on the day ... and this is the result. Looks like a magnificent turnout and a High Tea to die for :) Enjoy!!! 

 

More news as and when it comes to hand. In the interim .. enjoy looking at these pictures of some pretty amazing handiwork.

Blessings,

 

Susan

And all of a sudden it's June .... and we gather to sew for QFO :)

Our May 'Gathering Day' ... and all the news and photos of the day :)

Well ... we gathered again at The Shed on Saturday May 11th and it was the busiest of days, with my camera working overtime, capturing all the wonderful quilt tops that had arrived in the post from our offsite stitchers, as well as some that were delivered to us when we were at the April CWA event just two weeks ago. 

Present on the day, to help admire, fold and organise the incoming tops for our 'production line' were Isobel, Val. Deborah, Annette, Win, Sheryl, Libby, Julianne, Yvonne, Sinling, Julie, Christine and yours truly. A slightly smaller attendance, but as Mothers Day was the next day .. and it was rather chilly ... I'm not surprised that some of our ladies were no doubt kept busy planning for the weekend.

Pauline had been rather busy and sent in a large bagful of tops she had been working on ..  some smaller cot/lap size and some single bed size tops ...

Next .. from Kay Freyne .. who used to stitch onsite for us in the Barn, before she 'seachanged' several years ago. Delighted that you have blessed us again with your inimitable 'signature' piecing style Kay ... and thank you so very much for your awesome handiwork :)

We then opened a wonderful parcel of quilt tops from Nellie Sutherland .. who is part of the Made with Love quilting group. This incredibly generous group of quilters have previously blessed us many times with their handiwork .. and Saturday was no exception.

And from Jo in Monbulk ... a wonderful donation of fabric ... awesome and thank you so very much. We do appreciate your kindness and this fabric will be put to very good use :)

And .... see that wheely crate behind the fabric ... can you imagine what we use it for? Well the next picture explains it all .. we have almost gone 'full production line' at QFO and have implemented strategies to streamline our processing of our fabric 'hugs'. And this bin is part of it ...

Well this 'bin' is where the quilts awaiting the hand finishing of bindings live .. and as you can see we had plenty to keep the hand stitchers busy on Saturday ;)

Next we showcase three UFOs that our Yvonne had custom quilted for us .. she does a magnificent job and the appliqued one was particularly challenging. Came up a treat eh?

Then we heard from our own Julie who told us of a project in Timor that has connections with the Goulburn Council. There is a 10 bed hospital in Timor that we are planning to gift 20 quilts to. Julies friend Maggie provided us with photographs which I am sharing here. 

 

And ... a couple of public service announcements ... with a quilt flavour ;)

And for the benefit of those wishing to be off-site long distance contributors to our quilt ministry .. here are the sizes we work with :)

Lunch break for our busy stitchers .. here we have Libby, Sinling and Julianne ...

And the rest of Saturdays gathering ... 

And that just about winds up this months Blogpost. Apologies for the delay in getting it out into cyberspace .. have been multitasking with upcoming church bookfair ... not enough hours in my day ;)

Cheers all and I'll now get this into cyberspace before it gets any dustier ;) Our regular Blogpost ending is below with all our contact details and those of our supporters and quilt recipients,

Blessings,

Susan

CEO 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. 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 CWA Event of April 27th .... an overview ... with pictures :)

Well here I am again .. to share with you the news and images of our recent collaboration with
the good folk of the Wannallock and Wandin CWA who ever so kindly hosted our recent fundraising
and outreaching Event ... I will now pass over to our leader, Annette, who filed this report after the April
27th QFO 'Ein Plein Air' Quilt display in Wandin. Pictures will be 'peppered' through her report for
your enjoyment. Above is a copy of the article in our recent local paper ... giving us some much appreciated
publicity for the event. 

And we had certainly been busy in the lead up to this day .... stitch, stitch, stitching away. Creating many and
varied items to offer as part of our fundraising efforts. 

 

*****************************************************************************************
And now for a word from Annette ...

What a great day we had ladies. Thank you to all the volunteers who fetched, carried, made,displayed, sold,
welcomed and chatted in the weeks, days and on the day of the exhibition at CWA Wandin. A delightful venue
and a pleasant day .... if on the chilly side, but no rain.Still a good turn up. 



Many connections were made, an opportunity to gift 20 quilts to the Queen Elizabeth Project with Monbulk 
CWA being the contact to that work. Below we have Ineke (right) delivering our quilts to the Queen Elizabeth 
Centre.

 

 

We also had visit from Carol and her friend Ros, our Timor Leste contact, as well as a couple of stash 
donations .... pictures below. from locals attending the event. Thank you so very much to these generous hearts.

 

We also were given leads to a works in Kenya and Cambodia  to follow up, and interest in our Gathering days.
 


The CWA ladies hosted the afternoon tea. The event had a distinctive French feel as the following pictures
show. Tres elegant don't you think?








And we also had a rack of knitted goods, gifted from one of their members Pauline,  for us to sell. Thanks
so very much Pauline.




Karina Noblett, Group President CWA , who opened our Festival of Quilts last year, visited and spent quite
a lot of time chatting with both CWA and QFO people. She is keen to enter a quilt in this years upcoming 
Festival of Quilts  exhibition at Mont De Lancey in November.

The workmanship of the quilts was much admired and the display looked amazing along the fence line.

 



 

Thank you all again for being cheerful and energetic coworkers . A very successful day in so many ways.
I trust you have been able to rest and be refreshed today.

Annette 

CEO 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. 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

 

Special Post from our CEO .... for those who follow our QFO 'journey' ...

Just a short and sweet Blogpost to share from our CEO the very latest in the Quilts for
Orphans story. So without further ado here are the words from Annette Stone.

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

At our March Gathering Day, Quilts for Orphans held a 'General Meeting'. This
followed our recent incorporation as a 'not for profit association'. Incorporation
provides some legal protection and accountability. But we'll still operate as we
always have - a group making 'fabric hugs' for those in need!

Our AGM will be held at the September Gathering Day. The 'Committee' will have four
general members in addition to the executive (President, Vice President, Secretary,
Treasurer) and that the 'interim Committee' will operate until the AGM.
 We continue to welcome everyone to our group. No Membership or Joining fees will be
charged. Membership applications are available from 

secretary@quiltsfororphans.org<mailto:secretary@quiltsfororphans.org


There is no pressure to become a Member - we welcome everyone, members and
supporters, who want to help in our endeavour to help those whose lives are
brightened by our quilts.

Annette Stone
Quilts for Orphans.

March 27th 2019

And ... in between our sewing days ... we still connect and receive :)

Quick short but very sweet Blogpost ... following our Deborahs most recent 'outreach' on behalf of QFO at the Kallista Market. She was gifted a rather nice amount of 'destashed' fabric from Joan Reid ... thank you so very much Joan. Your kindness is much appreciated and the fabric is just wonderful.

I look forward to seeing this lovely stash incorporated into quilts for those in need .. watch this space to see your gifting to us being repurposed into quilt tops by our willing stitchers at The Shed in the very near future.

Till next Blogpost,

Blessings

Susan 

 

The March Blog ..... Part Two ... our sewing day at The Shed :)

Aaaaand ... here we are again ... with news from our stitching day on March 9th at The Shed.

Present on the day we had Sheryl, Yvonne, Jenny, Julianne, Annette, Val, Pauline, Carol, Maxine,Mel, Alice, new members Rose and Denise, Sandi, Julie, Libby, Christine, Stephanie, Joanne, yours truly .. and another new member (but very experienced quilter) Doreen. So we had a beautifully full and extremely busy Shed. And lots to Show and Tell before we got down to stitching up a storm :)

Firstly a lovely completed quilt gifted to us by Elaine who attends Evelyn Village Craft.

Lovely work Elaine and this will most surely bless a child at one of the organisations we will be partnering with in 2019. We have some new contacts which I will share with you all later on in this Blogpost ... places across the globe to gift our work to.

Next, from Heather Lownds we have two delightful cot quilt tops ... with extra fabric too :)

Ooops .. am mortified that I didn't get someone to hold them up for the photo, so very sorry Heather. Will try and rectify after they have been quilted .. we had SUCH a busy day on Saturday. I needed a cup of tea, a Bex and a jolly good lie down by the time we finished.

From Emma Covey we received an extremely generous donation of fabrics which we look forward into cutting and piecing into our quilts ... thank you so very much Emma. Your kindness will help us create fabric hugs for children far and wide.

We were totally blown away to have this 'UFO' donated to us very recently from the folk at the Seville 'Fiddle Rug' Group ... Sheryl had a lot of fun attaching the few pieces that made up the whole and we look forward to seeing it completed before long. Utterly knocks my socks off to think that so much work can go into a piece and then be gifted away to us. So very generous :)

Sheryl also completed the 'I Spy' quilt top recently gifted to us .. she's been a busy lady ;)

From the Hill Stitchers @ Emerald Hills a wonderful donation of tops, blocks, fabric destashings and strips. More than enough to keep our hands incredibly well occupied in the weeks ahead. Thank you so very, very much :)

From Janet Hill we have this delightful knitted owl ... which will be gifted away with a quilt .. and four lovely themed quilt tops. Beautiful fabric and I can't wait to see them quilted. Thank you so very much Janet .. as always, we are most touched by the generous hearts of those who support our ministry with their handiwork.

From the Montrose CFA Quilt Show a lovely gifting to us from Sydney Hammond, pictured below..

Sydney Hammond donated her aunts quilts to QFO’s at the end of the day

And, gifted to us by a fellow stitcher we met at the recent Monbulk Quilt Show .. some absolutely delightful quilt tops and a table topper .. pictured below .. how incredibly kind. Thank you so very much :)

Those who attended the Makers Marathon at Mont De Lancey last year .. as part of our Festival of Quilts .. will be pleased to see how the handiwork of the Marathon ended up. As shown here below by Christine and Sheryl. Stunning isn't it? 

Now a peek preview of a piece that will be completed and on display at the Wandin CWA Quilt Display 'Ein Plein Air' in April. Details of this Event are further down the page.

In accordance with the French 'theme' of the day Sandi pieced together this rather delightful quilt top using fabric recently gifted to us in a major destash from my friend Janet. Gorgeous retro style and will look magnificent when completed. Well done Sandi :)

Next Annette took to the floor and filled us in on planned 2019 QFO quilt giftings and the connections which we will be pursuing in the year ahead. 

So far we will be looking at once more getting quilts to India via Keith and Helen Greenwood whose work in that country through COM was the catalyst for the very creation of QFO nearly a decade ago.

Another contact has been made .. also in India .. with Ambassadors for the  Leprosy Mission in that country, Joe and Maria Bast. We look forward to being able to fulfill the needs in these areas through the good graces of these wonderful people. Follow their story at https://www.leprosymission.org.au

We are also looking at gifting some of our smaller quilts to local Aged Care Facilities for use as knee rugs for their elderly residents. It's great to be able to combine both the local AND the global when it comes to sharing out our fabric 'hugs'. 

And a further renewal of 'partnership' will be taking place when we respond to a request made toward the end of last year from the wonderful folk at the Prison Network Ministry. You may recall we created for them a year or so back and the work that they do is absolutely heartwarming. Their 'mission statement' refers to the work that they do as .... 'Supporting Women, Inspiring Change, Restoring Lives' .. and they do it brilliantly. 

We have also had a request from South Africa for our quilts (details yet to be confirmed).. so it will be an absolute privilege to be able to share with you during the year on the results of well and truly meeting each and every one of these mentioned needs for our fabric 'hugs'. So very exciting :)

And ... a tad belatedly .. but I totally lost sight of the fact that with the original report on the quilts we handed over at Billanook last year, the framed picture of the students from the previous trip to the Thai/Burma border wasn't too clear.

So I made a point of properly snapping the lovely framed picture that they gave us back then. Better? This shows the students on the trip that they take annually .. with the quilts we gifted them for distribution .. and the children who will sleep under them now :)

Now for a few 'happy snaps' of the ladies at work at The Shed on Saturday ..

Libby, Rose, Denise, Julie, Alice, Julianne, Carol and Maxine .. all busily stitching bindings on our quilts. Our hand stitching corner is always a hub of activity and conviviality :)

Yvonne ... our hardworking custom quilter ...

                                                            .... and Pauline one of our founding members

When she's not the Queen of colour matching and piecing .. Sandi wields a mean iron ;)

Jenny ... training the next generation of quilters ;)

And ... the next thing you know .. they're flying 'solo'. They grow up so quick ;)

Val .. busily machine attaching binding to one of our quilts .. after which it goes to the hand stitching corner for finishing off.

A recent quilt top 'discovery' .. needing a slight trim at the cutting table and some borders methinks ..

Sheryl, Sandi & Libby. Our day is almost over & it looks like Sandi is making her getaway ;)

Your turn will come Sheryl ... be patient ;)

Rose and Libby at the cutting table ... their day is not yet over :)

I asked Denise, one of our newest members to 'work the camera baby' .. and this was the result. See .. we have fun here at QFO in the Shed .. serious fun ;)

And whilst I'm more often behind the lens .. this time I teamed up with Sheryl and Libby at the cutting table below :)

We also welcomed to QFO this month Doreen .. a teacher and quilter with several decades of quilting behind her and thus a wealth of experience to share with us. Here are several pictures taken on Saturday ... with Doreen sharing just a few of the many quilts she has stitched. We look forward to her valued input as we continue making our fabric hugs.

Doreen, Joanne and Annette ... and below Doreen shows the many quilts that she has completed over the years .... an impressive gallery indeed.

Brilliant piecing and a magnificent 'body of work' Doreen. Looking forward immensely to your input to QFO.

                   ......................                   STOP PRESS               ...............................

Wanallock and Wandin CWA are hosting a Quilts for Orphans Exhibition. With Quilt sales.

Where: 48 Hunter Rd, Wandin North

When: April 27th ... 9.30 am till 4 pm Refreshments: Devonshire teas & scones

Enquiries: Annette Stone Mob: 0407 648 618

Quilts for Orphans started when one woman, following a battle with cancer, sought to reach out to those in need. Now, quilts are sent worldwide.

Exhibition sales are a means of raising money to purchase batting and supplies to make quilts for those in need, here and abroad.

Quilts for Orphans now includes many ladies who gather to enjoy the camaraderie & friendship of sewing fabric hugs for this cause.

Quilts will be displayed en plein air (outside) ...with Devonshire teas to be enjoyed.

Celebrate Autumn, bring your family & friends, enjoy the company of quilters & country women.

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

And folks ... that just about winds up this edition of the QFO Blog .. absolute pleasure to be able to share with you our plans for our quilt giftings during the coming year, and I look forward to seeing and sharing pictures of our quilts wrapped around those at the receiving end :) 

So, till next Blogpost, a warm Thank You to those offsite stitchers who have blessed us with their donated tops for our ministry and their destashings also. Without your generosity we would not be able hand out our fabric 'hugs' to those in need both local and global. And Thank You to those who come out each month to the Shed to share in our journey and our friendship.

Many blessings all,

Susan

CEO 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. 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

Time Marches on ... and so does our Blog ... Parts 1 of 2 ... we've been busy.

Well here we go again .. all the news that is fit to Blog ... and we have been busy, busy, busy. 
First part of this months blogging will focus on the trip that some of our members made to
beautiful Ivanhoe recently. Invited by the Ryder Cheshire Victorian Homes Foundation to
participate in their 'Quilts in the Garden' fundraiser, we were more than happy to take this
opportunity to support them as well as share with their visitors a little of what QFO is all
about. Ryder Cheshire has 94 beds at their facility in Ivanhoe .. which caters for those who
come to Australia for medical treatment. They also support a facility in Timor-Leste.

Annette soon secured a spot in the shade ... it was an extremely hot day but as you can see
she was more than well protected from the blistering heat.
   
           
Here we have Annette our QFO CEO with Carole McLennan from Maggie Robertson Design.
 
And with our very own QFO stitcher Alice Peet who has been sewing with us since we began.
Behind them are the QFO quilts which we brought to display. We were happy to be able to
bless the Ryder Cheshire Foundation with seven of our QFO quilts for their fundraising and
distribution to their facility in Timor.
 
Peter from Ryder-Cheshire presents the winning quilt created by Carole ... stunning isnt it?
 
And here we have two of the visitors on the day .. resting with a background of quilts behind 
them. 
All in all a lovely days and another connection made between QFO and recipients of our work.

And that concludes Part 1 of the March Blog ... and on to Part 2 ... where I tell you all about
our quilting day at The Shed on Saturday March 9th.

Susan