ISewolation Post No. 2

I am excited to tell you that we might not be able to meet, but boy are we active!

First up, Cheryl and Bev had permission to go to the hall last Tuesday. They have taken batting, a selection of backing fabrics, labels and other supplies, including the tub of pinned quilts waiting to be quilted and those which need backings and wadding. The plan is to have a hub where people can come and do contactless collections of quilts to be quilted and other supplies and drop off those completed.  

Bev and Cheryl have also taken all the finished quilts from the cupboard and there will be a delivery of 7 singles and 13 laps for Palliative Care Concord Hospital by Bev. There are also a lot of children's quilts which will be going to Domestic Violence in due course.

Here are the quilts to be delivered to Concord Hospital Palliative Care Unit, probably this week.  I should think you have seen most of these before, but there are some I haven't seen, so they must have been missed somehow.

This last one was one of the tops donated by Shelly and Susan from Pittsworth in Queensland a few months ago.

Evelyn has advised that she and Robin had a request from a nurse for headbands with buttons on them to which the elastic on the masks could be attached, because the elastic was chafing the back of the ears. They have made a hundred of these, which have been delivered.  She also sent a photo to show us what they looked like.

A couple of weeks back, we were contacted by Canada Bay Council asking if we were able to make some masks for the children in Westmead Hospital.  Cheryl and Lesley put their hands up for that, and between them made 40 masks which have also been delivered.  Lesley sent me some photos of a sample from that too.

Word too from Jennifer who has been at her home in the Blue Mountains (80km west of Sydney for those who aren't local).  Their property was damaged by the fires which swept through the area earlier this year.  She writes:

"I have been up the mountains mostly, cleaning up from after the bushfires across our property in December. Lots of pile burns ie bonfires, lots and lots of hard work moving logs etc and burning. So let’s say quilting has taken a back burn! in my life for the moment."

Heartbreaking work, but thankfully her home was saved.

So.  All of us working towards our goal of helping in our community.  Well done ladies!

Self Isolation Post No.1

I was planning to post to let you know that our little group has "gone into hibernation" until this dreadful virus plays out its course and that my blog posts may be few and far between for the next goodness knows how long.

But on Friday Jill sent around a Newsletter to keep us all informed about what has been happening since we closed the doors.  And there is a lot, so I thought it might be more cheerful to share the news with you.

The day after our last meeting, Jill had a phone call from Dale Larson of Drummoyne Rotary to ask if we had any quilts for raffles for a fundraiser for Kathleen York House.  The fundraiser was called "Strong Women Symposium" and was to be held at Parliament House on Tuesday 24th March.

Jill gave Dale three quilts, a single and two cute kids quilts.

 

 

We actually haven't supported Kathleen York House for ages, so it was great to be able to help that cause in some way.

We haven't heard back whether this symposium went ahead.  Difficult to know as things are being cancelled everywhere at the moment.

Maria emailed to let us know that the quilts she passed on to Domestic Violence Service Management a few weeks ago were very well received and the ladies and children were so grateful that others care and think of them in this time of trouble.  Domestic Violence Service Management provides direct services to people experiencing domestic and family violence and homelessness and is a new avenue for us to donate to so it was wonderful to get that feedback from them. 

Last week we were contacted by Lillian from Crookwell CWA (Country Women's Association for those who are reading this overseas) She sent information on the outcome of the quilts we gave them to raffle for Drought Relief and a bit of history of the CWA.  The Crookwell branch opened in 1922. The first 2 quilts we gave them raised almost $700.  The proceeds were sent to an area north of Lismore, an area very badly affected by the drought. The other 2 quilts raised over $600.  This was distributed to the surrounding areas of Crookwell. All in all a great result.

I had a beautiful email from a lady whose sister in law was unfortunately in the Palliative Care Unit at Concord.  She received one of our quilts.  I don't know which quilt since we donate a lot to the Palliative Care Unit.  Here is the email in part:

"Good afternoon lovely people,

Today my beautiful sister in law received one of your stunning quilts. It is just beautiful and the quilt is made of blue and yellow material which was perfect because blue is her favourite colour.

Your quilt has made a world of difference to my sister in this her final days. The care and comfort it is providing can not be measured.

We thank each and everyone who has given their time to make such a wonderful gift.

Thank you for caring, words are not enough to express our feelings towards your group."

What lovely feedback, and this sweet lady has taken the time and trouble to send it at what must be a truly sad time in her family's life.
We have also received an email from Stephanie at Canada Bay Council, asking if any of our members might be interested in making face masks for the children at Westmead Childrens' Hospital.  Some of us have put our hands up to make a few.  Another good way that we can help those in need in our community. S

So although we aren't meeting, we are certainly still sewing!  Not many photos this time, and there may not be any at all until we meet again, but at least you know we are still in there and sewing.  I suspect that the next meeting might have a humungous pile of quilts.  LOL

Bye for now, and keep safe.
 

First July Meeting

I wasn't able to get to the meeting this time, so Evelyn stepped in to take the photos and Lesley took some notes, so that I could still put up a post.  Thank you ladies!

Jill and Maria went to the morning tea organised by the Senior Citizens Centre.  This event is an annual event and we donate quilts to be passed on to Westmead hospital.

Jill took 4 lap quilts to Meals on Wheels.  You might remember that we made a quilt for each client of Meals on Wheels, for both Burwood and Concord depots a couple of years back.  The ones delivered this time were top ups for new clients.

We also donated 12 single and 19 children's quilts, 16 beanies, 10 scarfs and 2 knitted rugs to Sanctuary House.

Robin brought in 35 quilts tops donated by a group of ladies from Shepparton in Victoria, which the kind ladies delivered to Robin at the recent QuiltNSW quilt show. I will be posting photos of these as they are finished.  How generous are these ladies!!

Here are the quilts for this week.

The first 6 quilts were made by Evelyn:
 

 

Bev made this one

And quilted this one, made by Dasha

And this one made by Jill

A Disappearing 9 Patch made by Robin and quilted by Maria

Maria made this one too

 

 

Maria also quilted this one made by Jill

 

Helen made 2 flannel wraps for kids....

 

And made all these beanies and scarves.

And that's all for today.

Second Meeting for July

Last week we all met for our second meeting in July.

Jill told us that we had delivered 7 lap quilts for the mums and 7 quilts for their kids to Kathleen York House.

We have also had a mention in the Concord Senior Citizen's Club's President's Report advising that Melica Milic from Westmead Children's Hospital had accepted our donation of baby wraps and quilts at their morning tea on June 26th.

Here are the quilts which came in this week. 

The first two were donated by Yvonne, a friend of Robin's from QuiltNSW.

 

Thank you Yvonne!

 

Next is a quilt made by a friend of Dasha's, Gillian from Friday Quilters.  It was quilted by Cheryl.

Cheryl quilted some great feathers in each block.

 

Cheryl also quilted this one made by Dasha.

 

 

And Evelyn made the last two.



 

Each time I post I show photos of the finished quilts, but that really doesn't give the full picture; there is just so much that goes on each meeting that never makes an appearance because it is "background" stuff.  So starting with this post, I thought I would put together some stories of the quiet ones who work away in the corners and are never seen by the public.  Without them, we wouldn't exist!

 

Today I want to start by talking about the donations.  We get a large number of those, mostly fabrics, but sometimes part finished tops or blocks (we call them UFO's or Un-Finished Objects), and occasionally a completed top or quilt.  This is part of what came in this week (I wasn't quick enough with the camera, and some had already been taken for sorting). 

 

This week's donations came from Lesley and Yvonne, and piles of that were novelties featuring animals especially dogs.  Amongst this generous haul were several completed quilt tops made by Yvonne (remember the first two quilts I showed you earlier in this post?)

 

Each week Ann sorts the donations, measures and folds the fabrics and then finally stores them into colour piles in the cupboard.  The smaller pieces go into tubs stored under the stage, and the UFO's in a separate tub.  Ann patiently toils away keeping our stash in some sort of order.  This cupboard is where the larger pieces for backings etc., are stored.

You should have seen that cupboard before Ann decided to take that job on!!  Awesome job Ann. 

Group members often grab some fabric from the stash to go with the quilt they are making, or for borders.  Quite often you'll find one of us rummaging around for some inspiration too. 

This is Coleen.  She does loads of the ironing, and is always available for the other back of the scenes jobs.  She almost always manages to source the donations for us too, and brings in huge quantities from her contacts.

 

The last couple of weeks she has been in the back corner, quietly putting together a quilt top.  Remember I told you a few posts ago about the kits Evelyn has been cutting up for us from the scraps? 

 

Jackie has been working with Coleen, and is also putting together a top.  Here she is laying out the rows; she's nearly finished hers - hers is the green, and Coleen's the purple on the right.

 

Jackie is usually in that back corner piecing backings, and many of the quilts you see featured in the posts have backings made by Jackie.  She makes life heaps easier for the others doing that.

More on the back of the scenes jobs next time.