September Sewing

There hasn't been a lot of sewing brought in through September as a lot of people have been away so I have combined the photos from both September meetings into one post. 

What has gone on is a lot of sorting & co-ordinating of fabrics.  We made a decision that our fabric stash was unmanageable, so we've gone through the boxes sorted into colourways, pulled the smaller pieces and chopped them into strips and squares and put them into packs for future sewing.  We also pulled some of the bigger pieces and pieced them into backings.  The boxes are looking much better.

That's not to say that we haven't managed to make one or two things.

Robin has brought in this top.

 

And this one made by Jill and quilted by Robin is destined for the Charity Day raffle at the Barnwell Park Golf Club to be held shortly

 

This is Jan's lovely applique.  A variety of leaf shapes in pretty Autumn colours. 

 

 

Jill brought in 4 tops which she has made.  These are actually for her son, who is very involved in various animal protection societies, not for Stitching Hearts.  She brought them in for Show & Tell and will be used by her son for raffles.  There's cats and zebras and chooks.  All very appropriate.

 

Colleen brought in the last two.  This one is one made by Colleen with some help from her friend Margaret.  It is such a pretty top.  Sadly the soft pink in the alternate blocks has not photographed well.  She has gone home with some border fabric to put on it.

 

And this one was made by Colleen's friend Maureen.  Maureen has donated a number of other quilt tops to Stitching Hearts, but what makes it so special is that she is legally blind.  Go Maureen - what a star!

 

An update on the Samaritans.  I told you about the quilts we donated to the Wickham Student Accommodation project here.  After that trip to Newcastle, Jan & I were telling the others about the place, and some of the stories which Barbara had told us.  Robin interrupted me mid sentence, and said "do they need clothes?".  It transpired that she had a load of clothing which her children had culled in her boot, and which she was on the way to putting into a charity bin.

 

A quick phone call to Barbara resulted in another trip to Newcastle, with a bootload of young adult's clothes.  They went down a treat.  A quote from Barbara's follow up email:

 

"The clothing was just about all taken within 2 hours!!!  One minute it was there and the next it was gone!!  It was well received."

 

We will be supporting that organisation further, with more quilts and other things as required.

Samaritans

On Monday, Jan and I drove up to Newcastle to deliver some quilts to the Wickham Student Accommodation facility, run by the Samaritans.

Samaritans are an organisation providing disability services, disability care, youth, family, mental health and community support within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, which covers the regions of Newcastle, Central Coast and The Hunter.

The Wickham Student Accommodation facility provides accommodation and mentoring to homeless youth.  Part of the requirement is that the individual must be enrolled in a course of study; school, TAFE, university etc.  Students are provided with assistance in job placements at the completion of their studies and with self managed accommodation in the private sector.

Our contact there was Barbara, the manager of the facility, who took us on a tour of the building.

Source

The building was originally the Wickham Public School, which opened at this location about 1900, and closed in 1976.  The building was purchased by the Samaritans from Newcastle City Council in 2012.  It has since been converted into 23 units, mostly one bedroom, but there are 2 units with 2 bedrooms and a couple of studio apartments, all with bathrooms and kitchens.  Most of the units have such tall ceilings that they have a mezzanine floor in the living area as well, a great spot to study.  There is a communal lounge and laundry.  The ceilings are high and the hallways are wide.  The ceiling height windows at the front of the building open out onto spectacular views of Newcastle Harbour.  

 

The small garden at the front was planted out by the Lions Club, and OzHarvest provide perishable food supplies on a Friday. 

 

We had been requested to provide a queen size quilt, a double bed size quilt, a little boy's cot quilt and one for a newborn girl due in October.  Here is what we took with us:

 

This is for the baby girl

 

 

And the one is for the little boy

 

The double quilt

 

And the queen...

 

I took this one outside to photograph, and Tibby was out like a streak of lightning.  It was interesting though.  Normally she goes straight up onto the quilt and settles down for the duration.  This time she put out her paw suspiciously, gave it a tiny pat, and then turned away!

I asked Barbara to pose with a quilt, and she immediately went for this one.  Judging by the grin, I think she liked it.

 

And then she took up the baby quilt

 

During the time we were there, Barbara spoke about what they were doing, and told us a few stories.  What an inspiring organisation!  I am so glad that we were able to help in our small way.

Last Goodies from August

I have been very slow in getting these photos up to show what came in during the last meeting for August.  It was a big day.

Edited: 26 September - I made quite a few errors in this when I first posted it, so I am correcting it and giving credit to the right people.  Apologies for my errors!

First up, Cheryl brought in 2 lovely scrappy quilt tops, a Disappearing 9 Patch

 

And a pretty top in Japanese prints.  I love the little 9 patches used as cornerstones.

Jill made a top destined for Anglicare.  It is a kids quilt, with little red monkeys on bikes and carts and doing all sorts of fun stuff.

 

This one was originally a bunch of blocks which made their way to us from Aussie Heroes.   They were sewn together and quilted by Evelyn.

 

Jill also made this top which is to be donated to the Barnwell Park Golf Club when it is completed, for their Charity Day raffle to be drawn on the 14th September

 

 

Robin was super busy!  These were panels which she joined up to make a quilt top, then quilted.

 

And these were a bunch of orphan blocks, made put together & quilted by Evelyn.

 

This quilt was a collaborative quilt made by the Friday Quilters rather a long time ago and donated as a completed top to Stitching Hearts.  Robin quilted it. 

 

Orphan blocks rescued by Robin.  This needs a border or two to finish it off before its quilted.  The Bow Ties are 3-D.

 

Gorgeous 1930s top made by Robin

 

 

Jan brought in a top, with seriously cute appliqued chooks on it

 

A close up of one of the chooks.  Isn't it a delight?

 

And a lovely medallion quilt

 

These tops are by Dasha.  If you read my blog, you will recognise "Pink Fizz"

 

"Blue Nines"

 

and "Green Beans Please"

 

And the top donated by Friday Quilter friend, Di, fixed and borders added by Dasha 

Coleen made this lovely quilt.

 

Last but not least, this flimsy was made and donated to Stitching Hearts by Theresa

 

Next up I have to tell you an inspiring story about the Samaritans, but you will have to wait for a day or two as its another Stitching Hearts day tomorrow, and I won't get a chance to write that post.