Tuesday 26 November 2013

Micellaneous Donations

We  are often approached by one or other of the local organisations with a request that we donate a quilt to be used for a fund raising raffle or auction.

One such organisation is the Concord Cubby,  a not-for-profit occasional child care centre catering for children from 3 months to 5 years of age, located under Concord Library on Wellbank Street, Concord.

In July 2012, we donated a striking black, white & red quilt to a Bingo Night held as a fund raising event and organised by the Cubby's volunteer parent committee.
 
The quilt was displayed for bidding in the silent auctions and it proved very popular with the members and guests on the night. Many people commented on the workmanship and quality of the quilt.  The winning bid for the quilt was $120.

Some time ago (was it 2011?) Jill and Darleen met a lovely young Japanese exchange student called Noriko at a function.  They decided that she should be given a quilt as a memento of her time in Australia.  Noriko (bottom left in the photo below) came for a visit to one of our meetings and selected one of the strippy quilt as you go quilts we had at the time. 

 
It was actually a collaborative quilt we made over several weeks at the hall.  Organised by Cheryl, some of us brought machines to the meeting, so we had several sewers, someone ironing, and someone cutting strips to be pieced.  It was a great way to reduce our stash of small bits of excess wadding and fabrics.  Not only that a "sew-in" like that is great fun to do.

An update on Noriko is that she went home after her time in Australia, but then decided to return.  She is currently living and working in Melbourne.

In March 2013 we donated these two lovely quilts to the Rotary Club of Drummoyne.  Each year the select a charity or sometimes tow, for their fund raising events.  This year one of the charities they are supporting is the Foundations.au Project.  Here is Hilary Lloyd, Drummoyne Rotary Club's President, with Darleen & Jill at a meeting in February at which the quilts were donated.


This was a project started by Rosie O'Halloran in 2008.  The organisation opened ​"our place", a children's home in the town of Kabale in Uganda at the end of January 2010 to support children both in the wider Kabale community.  

Rotary's first real fundraiser was held on the 22 February 2013 It was the Annual Summer's evening of art, music, food and wine in the beautiful grounds of Sydney College of the Arts, at Park. 

Another recipient of two quilts over the past couple of years, has been St Patrick's Church, Mortlake.  The parish is building a new Presbytery, and the proceeds of the Annual Parish Dinner (held in July this year) have gone towards the cost of the build.  I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of either of those quilts.  Sorry.

Our two latest donations were to the Barnwell Park Golf Club at Five Dock, and the Gladesville Sporties Club, both of which had fund raising events for charities.

The Barnwell Park Golf Club held their Charity Day on the 18th September 2013.  Here is the quilt we gave them for the raffle:

 
This quilt was made by Dasha from a stack of large scale hexagons donated to the group some years ago.  It is one of three we managed to construct from the stack.  Thank you to the anonymous donor! 
 
We have received a lovely letter of thanks advising us that our quilt, along with other items donated for the event, raised over $15,000.  This was split between Lucas Gardens Special School and the Coronary Cary Unit at Concord Hospital.  A terrific effort on the part of the fundraising committee, don't you think?
 
The Ladies Bowling Club at Gladesville Sporties held their annual Pink Charity Day for Breast Cancer on 29 October 2013.  This year the Charity Day raised $4,062.00.  Another great effort.  There is a lovely photo on the web page I have linked to above with all the ladies dressed in pink.  There are even a couple of terrific hats in there.  Well done ladies.


This quilt was made by Jan & quilted by Dasha.

Monday 28 October 2013

Concord Community Hostel, MS Society & Minnamurra Aged Care Facility

 Concord Community Hostel
 
Back a long while ago, someone donated bits of a quilt which was half made.  In quilty terms that is a UFO or an Unfinished Object.  There were quite a few blocks completed, all the fabric required to make the top and, as a bonus, the pattern was with it.
 
Recently, Robin took it home with her, and in double quick time finished it off, including all the quilting.  Here it is
 
 
 
Each of the 9 blocks were constructed onto a circular piece of fabric, and then appliqued to the background. 

 
All of the applique was done by using a variety of machine embroidery stitches.  Each block was different both in the fabrics, and pattern and also in the stitches used in the applique.

 
I think anyone would agree that it has turned out a stunning quilt.  Robin then quilted it all by outlining the different shapes on the blocks, and then stippling in the background.
 
The whole quilt was finished with a scalloped edge (not an easy bit of construction).

 
Robyn deserves a round of applause!  It is one of the most beautiful quilts I have seen come through our doors.
 
The quilt has been donated to the Concord Community Hostel at Rhodes as a raffle quilt.  This is a Residential Care hostel unit with a 22-bed Residential Care secure dementia unit.  We have still to hear how much was raised by the raffle.
 
MS Society
 
Several weeks ago, the group presented 8 single bed quilts to the MS Society for their Respite care unit at Lidcombe.  The Studdy MS Residential Unit at Lidcombe in Sydney is a facility operated by the MS Society providing long-term accommodation and short-term respite for people with MS who have moderate to high care needs.
 
We received a lovely letter of thanks which included this fabulous collage of the quilts presented:
 
 
Also included was a photograph of one of the members of Western MS Social and Support Group, while on respite in the MS Residential Unit, with one of the quilts on his knees.

 
So lovely to see the fruits of our labours being used and enjoyed.
 
Minnamurra Aged Care Facility
 
Minnamurra is a Presbyterian Aged Care's facility in Clements Street, Drummoyne with 65 beds.  Over the past month or so we have been working on quilts for this facility.  It is planned to present the residents with the quilts at Christmas time, as some residents do not have family or friends who are able to visit at that time, and the staff felt that it would lift their spirits. 
 
More on that as we start to deliver the quilts.
 

Thursday 17 October 2013

Several Visitors

Over the last two times at Cabarita we have had some visitors with us.

First up was Shirley who visited us for lunch last time. 


Today Margie, Darleen's daughter came for an hour or so. 


And then we noticed this fellow, tucked away behind the piano on the stage.....

 
An adult Brush Tail Possum.  We think that he fell through the ceiling in the main hall.  One of the ceiling tiles has dislodged and there is a gaping hole.  We called the Council, but he will have to stay there overnight.  Hope he doesn't do any damage before they manage to collect him.

 


We put some water out for him, a pear core, and half a banana.  All of these were consumed in short order.  I don't know how long he had been trapped in the hall, but he was very thirsty and hungry.

Colleen brought in some quilts which have been donated to us.  These two are complete:



 
This gorgeous quilt is just a flimsy, so needs to be quilted.  It is rather large, so we have planned to use this as a raffle quilt sometime after it is completed.

 
And here is a close up to show the detail.


Today has been a dreadful day - temperatures in the high 30s with strong, gusty winds and devastating fires across the state.  There are two really bad ones near Sydney - one in Camden and one in the Blue Mountains, and something like 30 other bad fires in other parts of NSW.  Poor Ellen got a call mid afternoon to say that her daughter's home had been destroyed.  She of course dashed off home. 

We need to pray for the people who have lost everything, that there are no lives lost and that the fires are brought under control before too many more homes are lost.

Monday 1 July 2013

Drummoyne Meals on Wheels

Earlier this year we had agreed to make quilts for all the clients of Drummoyne Meals on Wheels.  We passed over the quilts in 2 batches, both batches were of about 2 dozen quilts each.

The following photos are a selection from the second batch which we handed over io 10 May 2013. 

Enjoy.....

 
The centre square of in these blocks were fussy cut from a fabric which featured sea birds in flight.  Terrific use of scraps from a novelty fabric, and a great way to destash those bits of blues and mauves.

 
This started out as a panel featuring Maxine and her cronies. Don't you love Maxine & her cranky comments?  Hope the person who received this quilt got some laughs.
 
 
 
And this was a panel featuring Japanese ladies.  Essentially the same quilt but the two quilts were so very different. 

 
A Disappearing 9-Patch in "boy" colours.  The same basic block in different fabrics and different layouts makes such different quilts.

 
A simple double row of small squares teamed with a tone on tone fabric.  Such a pretty quilt, and a great way to use up those pesky little leftover bits of fabric.

 
Striking floral fabric and basic white, made up into "Square in a Square" blocks and alternated with blocks of the same floral fabric.  Looks great don't you think?

 
The last of the quilts made with Di's blocks.  You'll find photos of some of the others here


A simple and effective way with some great fabrics.  Love the yellow border.  Yellow is a colour rarely used, but really looks great.

We were invited to join with the voluteers delivering the quilts, so several of the ladies were able to go on the day.  The Mayor of the City of Canada Bay, Angelo Tsirekas joined in as well.  There is a Council Newsletter which was published about the day here

And a week or so later, the following article appeared in a publication called the Burwood Scene

"Stitching up Hearts for Meals on Wheels

Stitching Hearts Charity Group is a group of local people, sponsored by the City of Canada Bay, who make patchwork quilts for donation. On Friday, 10 May they delivered 31 quilts to Drummoyne Meals on Wheels with representatives helping to deliver the quilts alongside usual meal deliveries.
The Drummoyne Meals on Wheels and Stitching Heart teams

The Drummoyne Meals on Wheels and Stitching Heart teams
 
Ms Marie Waldie, a Drummoyne Meals on Wheels client for nearly two years, had a special visit when her meal and quilt were delivered by mayor, Cr Angelo Tsirekas. Marie was referred to Drummoyne Meals on Wheels by a local doctor who encouraged her to use the service.
 
“From talking to Marie it became clear how important Stitching Hearts and Drummoyne Meals on Wheels are to some people in our community,” added Mayor Tsirekas.
Drummoyne Meals on Wheels is managed by City of Canada Bay and receives funding through the HACC services, which are designed to work together so that frail aged people or those with a disability can remain in their own home. The service over 800 chilled and frozen meals per month to clients residing in Five Dock, Drummoyne, Rodd Point, Russell Lea, Wareemba, Chiswick, Abbotsford and Canada Bay and always interested in talking to people who would like to volunteer. To find out more, call 9745 6260.
Stitching Hearts are on the look-out for donations of fabric and material. To donate call 9743 5450 or email: stitchinghearts@gmail.com . "
 
The two ladies on the far right are Stitching Hearts ladies Robyn & Jill.

The Canada Bay Council also uploaded this photo to their Facebook Page

 

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Claffey House - second donation

Well its been a long time since the last post.  That doesn't mean our little band of troopers has been idle, just the scribe!

We have all been sewing busily, and in the last month or so we have sent out several batches of quilts to a number of different locations.  The first of these was to Claffey House about a month ago.  This is a Women's Refuge, and we have already made a donation there in the past, but as the turn over in clients would be frequent, we felt that we should send another batch of quilts to "top them up" so to speak. 

As usual we began by pulling all the completed quilts out of the cupboard to sort and select the ones for donation.  This being a refuge, we wanted a few childrens quilts as well as ones for adults.  The quilts were all laid out on the floor in the hall.  Don't they all look impressive?


 
 
It is always amazing to see them all spread out.  You beaver away from week to week, and mostly we don't complete a whole quilt - someone begins by making the flimsy, then its brought in for matching with backing and wadding, usually done by someone else, then a couple of the ladies will pin baste the quilt, and then someone just grabs a couple for quilting.  Then the quilted quilt comes back and mostly it goes to someone to stitch on the binding.  We have a couple of ladies who love the hand sewing, and they take 2 or 3 each time we meet to hand sew the binding on.  Suits me fine as I find that dead boring!!
 


 
 
Cheryl and Darleen deep in discussion.  Wonder what they were talking about??
 
 
 
 
The quilt block used in this quilt is called "New York Beauty".  It is really quite a difficult design to stitch, and I think it is just stunning.  Such gorgeous bright colours and such a lovely quilt.
 



 
 
This is made with the good old "Disappearing 9-Patch".  I was amazed when I first saw that, as it is really a very different layout to the usual one, giving the whole quilt quite a different look.

 
 
This one was a fun quilt!  In December, Jackie challenged us all.  She gave everyone an identical little parcel with four different fabrics.  The challenge was to produce some 12" blocks over the Christmas break.  It was fun to see the different interpretations as the blocks came in.  Then Maria and Evelyn teamed up to put the quilt together.  Well done everyone.
 
The next three quilts are all little cot quilts.  The first is a pretty little sampler, and the next two are the cutest little quilts made by our Applique Queen, Jan.
 
 
 



 
Back to the adult quilts.........
 
 
 
 
This quilt in pretty soft greens is a rag edge quilt made by Ellen.
 



And this one was a crazy patch quilt in the most gorgeous Japanese fabrics with a dramatic black sashing. 


 
 
And a simple Square in a Square block with sashing and cornerstones. 
 

 
 
Last but not least is a Hexagon Quilt with a difference.  These were huge 12" hexagons that were donated by someone rather a long time ago.  There were almost enough for 3 quilts, and this is the last one to be made. 
 
That's all for now folks.  




Monday 1 April 2013

Rotary Art Show 2010

In 2010 the Drummoyne Rotary's annual show, was held on Saturday, 9th October 2010.  In a departure from the norm, that year there were also collectibles and new & used books.  We were thrilled to be able to be a part of the show that year as well.  The charity being supported that year by Rotary was the Forget Me Not Foundation. 



That is Coleen in the front and Cheryl hiding in the background.  This is the day we had all the quilts out on the floor in the hall, planning which we were going to take to the Show.

We ended up selecting about 30 quilts again, with many of them children's quilts as they are the ones which seemed to sell like hotcakes.

And here is Darleen buried under the mountain of quilts to be taken to the show:


This is a selection of the quilts at the show:


This quilt was interesting to make.  Strippy Queen Cheryl organised a sewing day when we all brought our machines, and strip pieced these quilt-as-you-go blocks.  We made up enough blocks for about 3 quilts that day.  Great way to use up those strips!  We don't waste any fabric in this group.

Red Patch
This one was a single bed quilt in a variety of lovely reds & maroons.

Strip Heaven
Our Strippy Queen Cheryl made this single sized quilt.  So simple to make!  Width-of-fabric strips in various sizes, and in lovely toning beiges and browns.  So simple so effective.  Love it.

Starry Night
Cot quilt in soft pastels with random appliqued stars


Holly
This started out life as a donated pair of curtains which were intended for a little girl's bedroom, and only partially finished.  Cut down, rearranged, re-sewn and quilted.  Hey presto!  A gorgeous quilt for a special girl.


Fish Frenzy
Vibrant colours in this quilt with a funky fishy pattern on the border.

Flag Folly
Crazy patch in a variety of purples & mauves.  Single sized quilt.  The patches do look a bit like a bunch of flags!


Saw Tooth
What do you do when someone donates a bundle of Flying Geese units already pieced, with no pattern or other fabrics to go with it?  Well you add some coordinating squares to fit, sash it, and put on a Saw Tooth border of course!  This ended up a lap quilt, as the Flying Geese limited the size. 


Inner West Courier Thursday, 7 October 2010 p.6
The Show and Stitching Hearts were promoted in a column of the Inner West Courier on Thursday, 7 October, 2010 on page 6.  That is Darleen on the left & Cheryl at the back.  You'll recognise some of the quilts I have uploaded onto this post in that photo.

The article reads:

"Quilters stitch up a show for charity

Experience an old-style country fair in the middle of the Inner West at Drummoyne Rotary's annual Art, Quilt, Collectibles and Book Show on Saturday.

Stalls lined up with hand-stitched quilts, preloved and new books, one-of-a-kind works of art and much more will fill the Drummoyne Civic Centre for an all-day fair.

All proceeds will go to the Forget-Me-Not Foundation, which helps the survivors of child abuse.

'This time around we hope to raise $300 for the foundation', Drummoyne Rotary member Dr Lorraine West said.

'Mental Health doesn't get anywhere near enough support.'

Stitching Hearts, a group of volunteers who meet in Drummoyne to make quilts for the needy, will be selling some of their best quilts at the fair.

The Drummoyne Rotary Art, Quilt, Collectibles and Book Show is on Saturday from 9am to 5pm at the Civic Centre, 1 Marlborough St., Drummoyne.
For details or to get involved in Drummoyne Rotary contact Graham Yates at grahambowtie@gmail.com or call Lorraine on 0414 883 289."