Oops it’s after midnight so I’ve ‘missed’ Sunday Stash again!

A favorite Amy Butler from her first range Gypsy Caravan.  Had it for ages and hesitant to cut into it now……..

Wow, what a great day!  Last night I didn’t even have the energy to turn my computer on let alone type words in a sequence that would make any sense………but today I’m eager to share all that happened yesterday at our Quilting Bee.  It was a great day on so many levels.  Firstly, we were all there with the purpose of doing what we could to help those who have lost homes and family in the recent bushfires.  And what an effort girls – about 30 quilts in progress!  Secondly, what fun spending a day together sewing, chatting, eating, meeting new people and being inspired by each other’s creativity!

Set up ready to go…..

Work in progress……

Sewing………

Unpicking……….

Eating……. (thanks to 4 very special girlfriends who baked morning and afternoon tea for us – you know who you are!!)

Choosing colors……..

Planning………….

Some of the lovely quilts in progress………

First-ever-quilt!!!!!

The gorgeous Jeanette displaying her quilt backing bought in Singapore in 1967…….and red travel case taken on the same trip (now her sewing bag)!

She’d made this quilt for a friend of hers who had lost his home on Black Saturday and she had painted the border fabric with bleach to get her desired effect!!

Thank you so much to Dale, Bronwyn, Kaye, Diane, Suzie, Tracy, Maggie, Anne R, Michelle, Pam, Jonina, Jodie, Jeanette, Jo and Anne H for your great efforts and making the day so much fun.  Thanks also to all the lovely ladies who sent blocks, quilt tops or fabric to be used.  And to Lynda and the other kind lady (please email me and let me know who you are if you read this as I don’t remember your name!!!) who dropped in fabric and blocks on Saturday.  Last but not least thanks Yvonne for helping set up on Friday afternoon and then coaching the Angels to a 16-9 win in the first netball game of the season!

We are all getting together on Saturday 23rd May to bring back completed quilts and have a finishing off day – then we will be delivering the quilts to people we know who need them – packed in bags sewn by Mum’s sewing group in Bendigo and accompanied by gorgeous gift cards made by a friend Karelyn.

Have been sent lots of lovely blocks and even quilt tops for the ‘Bee’ on Saturday………and lots of lovely ladies have promised to come along also BUT there is always room for more!!!  So please if you have some time to spare on Saturday consider popping in (just shoot me off an email so I know who to expect) and do some sewing, cutting, chatting or just have a cuppa.  It looks like we will be making at least 20………probably more like 30 quilts SO we are going to need lots of help with quilting!  Thanks to anyone who I’ve already spoken to about hand quilting or machine quilting – I’ll be in touch with you next week. 

Meanwhile here’s a small sample of the gorgeous blocks that lovely girls have sent to me…………

Thank you so much to Jenny and Kylie who have generously supplied some extra backing fabrics and to Spotlight and Victorian Textiles for their donations also. 

We also decided at UFO tonight to raffle one of the quilts to raise money to get lots more of them professionally quilted………so stay tuned for the details of the raffle quilt (think it will be the one I make from this tutorial in lime green, blue and white………probably!)

From the show……….

A gorgeous print from the very gorgeous Kirsten Doran.  Probably for Sewjourn – either a cushion for the lounge or to stretch over a canvas.  Need to stop buying things for there though and give our house here a bit of a spruce up……..  By the way, weekends for this year are filling up fast so if you are thinking about booking, please contact me soon.  (Mid-week stays are a very economical alternative and there’s more choice of availability).

Pink Chocolate by Nancy Gere……..more new fabric from AQC.  Planning to make Portsmouth Pattern from Somerset Patchwork.

This one is my FAVOURITE!!!!!

For a list of this week’s other stashers pop over here.

A day late I know but last night I was recovering from 4 days of AQC.  I picked this up at AQC on the weekend – I was very controlled really considering I spent four whole days surrounded by yummy fabrics!  This is a Japanese fabric called Komachi and I bought it from Be Be Bold the gorgeous stall with lovely ladies opposite us……..I couldn’t look at all their goodies all weekend and not buy a few things……………

Also got to meet Jodie who was helping on Emma’s stall – can’t wait to see her new project!!!

…and only one more to go at AQC.  It IS lots of fun but it IS exhausting!!  The response to Sewjourn has just be fantastic though – talking to so many people who have already been there, girls who have heard about it and planning to go and then those who didn’t yet know about it but were really excited when they found out!  Thanks so much ladies, you have really given me a boost!

And of course being with Karen and Meredithe is always so inspiring – their knowledge is amazing. 

An added bonus is being opposite the Homespun and Australian Quilters Companion stall and having Kellie’s gorgeous quilt to look at all day.  It is going to be featured in the April edition of Homespun…..and I promise you IT IS BEAUTIFUL!  Kellie is so very talented.

We are also opposite Be Be Bold Japanese fabrics - delightful girls with stunning fabrics – a bit dangerous to be standing looking at them all day.  And not far away is Kimono Buttons - fabric set in resin and made into buttons – well worth checking out.

Actually , I make it sound like we have been standing around all day looking at other stalls which is not at all true as we have been VERY VERY busy.

These are some of the lovely fabrics on our stall.

The third one is Pink Chocolate by Nancy Gere and it only arrived in yesterday – it sold like hot cakes today – in fact so much so that my favorite fabrics in the range are not even in the photo – gone! – luckily there is some more at the shop

I always leave the shows full of ideas and ready to sew but usually by the time I get home I am just ready for bed.

I did manage to make this brooch for a friend for her birthday one night though.

And tonight was the School Bush Dance which was heaps of fun……perfect weather, great company, happy kids and a glass of champagne!

Well this isn’t strictly my Sunday Stash but it’s from a huge stash of fabric that Spotlight have kindly donated for our Quilting Bee.  Thanks so much Spotlight – they are great!

The response has been wonderful – there are still many ways you can help out if you would like to.  In particular we need to get hold of some more batting and need some people to help with quilting the quilts.  Of course, any way you would like to help is greatly appreciated and if can come along on the day, fantastic! 

The lovely Bronwyn and her helpful husband have designed a button to put on your blog to let others know about our Quilting Bee.  Thanks so much!!

(PS  If you need instructions on how to add to your blog, Bronwyn has it all covered here)

Going through my stash tonight pulling out fabrics that can be used for the Quilting Bee……..would love to hear from anyone who may be able to do the same.

These are to make this bag.

Somehow it dosen’t seem right to be posting about fabric though with all that is going on in our state this weekend.  We’ve listened to the news reports all day and each time there is an increase in the number of people who have lost their lives in these devastating fires fresh tears well up.  My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost loved ones, property, been injured or touched in any way by the fires this weekend.