Last Saturday we had lots of fun making quilts for the Royal Childrens’ Hospital.  This is a spin off from the Bushfires Quilting Bees  of last year and it’s the third time we’ve gotten together since all the Bushfire Quilts were sent off………first to make a quilt to support a lady with Breast Cancer, then making 2 quilts for a Women’s Shelter but this time everyone was on a roll!  We made (or almost finished and gone home with lovely sewers to be completed) 12 quilt tops!!!!  What an amazing effort.  Who could have believe there was so much productivity buried under all that chatter and laughter?

(Sorry I forgot to take my camera………thanks Suzie for the photos……but somehow between our two computers the files are quite big so might take a while to load this post!)

Kay turned up with a bundle of appliqued hearts already done and these were made up into 3 quilts.  It was amazing to see the different effect from differently colored borders…….all the inner blocks were similar but all 3 quilts ended up looking completely different.

Bron turned bits and pieces from the boxes into this gorgeous quilt……another good lesson on working with what you have.

And as usual Maggie was head down and stitching…….she is amazing.

Along with the ‘regular girls’ we had some lovely ladies come along and iron and watch and learn………thanks Pam and Patsy and Elaine!

And the effervescent Jeanette brought along her Show and Tell……..a divine quilt she has done for her old High School to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary.  It was truly stunning.

BUT we still have lots of fabrics left to work with so there will be more opportunities to join in the fun and make some charity quilts later in the year.  Meanwhile we have another day planned on Saturday June 19th especially to quilt and bind all the tops that have been made.  Everyone is welcome so please email me if you would like to join us.

Last Saturday  a group of lovely ladies got together and spent the day cutting and sewing and ended up with two completed (almost!) quilt tops.  These are made from left over fabric from our Bushfires Quilts and are destined for a Women’s Shelter.  It’s such a fun way to spend a day!  Thanks girls to all of you for joining in.

Thanks Susie for the photos (I forgot my camera!!)…..sorry I can’t post more but can’t manage to make them small enough in size to load quickly.  But you can find other accounts of the day here and here.

PS.  We missed you Bron (and a few other blogless girls who usually come along) but are planning our next get together on May 1st when we will be making children’s quilts for the Royal Children’s Hospital, so mark it in your diaries!  If anyone else would like to join us you are most welcome – please just email me to let me know.

This afternoon 5 of us had lots of fun making a quilt top………it’s to be donated to a lady with Breast Cancer.  As always there was lots of chatter as the sewing machines whirred away.  It’s so great that we get just as much out of making quilts for charity as the people that receive them!

Bron concentrating hard!

Suzie

The completed top – a good afternoon’s work

Our next get-together is set for February and we are planning on making quilts for a Women’s Shelter so watch out for details if you are keen to join in………

As we had some fabric and blocks left over from the Bushfires Quilting Bee and because we all had so much fun on our Quilting Bee days we decided to get together a few times a year to make quilts for different charities.  Additionally Victorian Textiles kindly donated another roll of batting for us to use.  So I’d promised to organise another get-together for October but time has gotten away and October is here! 

So……it’s short notice but there are a few of us getting together on Saturday 10th October (yep that’s right THIS Saturday!) from 12 noon to 5pm at Ashburton Uniting Church, 7 Ashburn Grove, Ashburton 3147.  Our aim is to complete a quilt top (or two if there are lots of people able to come along) in the afternoon and being October we are making it for a local Mum recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

Anyone who would like to join us is most welcome – just drop me an email so I know to expect you.  And there will even be yummy afternoon tea…………

How much can get achieved in a day when there’s a bunch of friendly, creative ladies together in the one place?  The answer on Saturday was LOTS. (Warning – be prepared for LOTS of photos in this post!)

Lots of completed quilts brought back for show and tell……..

Lots of handsewing done to finish off even more quilts………

Lots of sorting through other fabrics and planning even more quilts……….

Lots of working together and sharing……….

Lots of sewing and quilting…………

Lots of fun but a great sense of achievement knowing they are all going towards a good cause.

And because they are going towards such a good cause we are keen to get ALL the quilts finished as soon as possible so, although lots of generous ladies are quilting away as quickly as they can, we have decided to get quite a few of the tops professionally quilted so that they are ready to go.  To help raise some of the money towards this we are planning a Quilt Hanging on Saturday 20 June.  So mark the date in your diary……more info will follow really soon.

PS.  There’s some more photos of Saturday here.

PPS. Oh….and there was lots of food for morning and afternoon tea too…..

I’ve had a busy weekend but it’s been really inspiring as both days I’ve been surrounded by heaps of creative people.

Saturday was the Bushfires Quilting Bee………..thanks to everyone who came along and for the GREAT EFFORT with all the quilts.

Sunday I visited some lovely girls who were staying at Sewjourn……..and am in awe of all they’d produced in a weekend.

More details about both days (with lots of photos) very soon…..

Had planned a big week of getting organised for the next Bushfires Quilting Bee but have spent most of the week sniffling and blowing my nose instead……..still things are looking good and we have heaps of quilts in varying stages of progress.  Just a reminder, if you intend coming along please contact me so we know how many people to expect.

We are also planning a Quilt Hanging on Saturday 20th June to show off everyone’s hard work and to raise some more funds towards getting some of the many tops that we’ve made and had donated professionally quilted – everyone has been working hard quilting ourselves but there is only so much we can do……..!!  We will be raffling a quilt on the day as well so stay tuned for more details………….

These are a couple more of the completed quilts………….

After a busy few weeks I finally pulled out all the things for the Bushfires Quilting Bee yesterday – and had a minor panic attack when I realised how many quilts are still half done!  But a friend came around last night and we managed to sort through everything and work out ‘the  plan of attack’!  Thanks so much to all the lovely ladies who have been working on quilts so far and have emailed me to let me know they have finished or close to – can’t wait to see the products of all your hard work!  And even more excited about getting the quilts out to the people who need them soon.

Here’s the details for our next Quilting Bee which is this Saturday!  We’d love to see as many people as possible there to help out – many hands make light work!  We have a few tops that need finishing and lots of tops that need quilting and some that need the binding hand sewn.  We also have lots more fabric that people have kindly donated so if there are enough people on the day we’ll have some blocks to make!

When: Saturday 23rd May 9.30am – 4.30pm

Where: LightHouse, Ashburton Uniting Church, 7 Ashburn Grove, Ashburton, 3147

What to bring: Your sewing supplies, fabric, lunch.  Morning and afternoon tea provided.

Contact: Jan Joseland on 0409 964 755 or info@sewjourn.net.au

Thanks to all those I have already heard from but if there is anyone else planning to come along please contact me to let me know……….as a bonus, we had a really fun day last time!

I haven’t done Sunday Stash for a while (life just gets too busy sometimes) but have decided to join in again……

This is the backing and binding for my recently re-discovered UFO.

For more players visit Tam.

After a week of celebrating (and not doing much else!) it’s time to come back to the real world and catch up on all the things that have taken a back seat ……. there’s plenty of work to do, blogs to read, stitches to make…..and of course get organised for our next Bushfires Quilting Bee.  I’ve emailed everyone (I think) who was at the last ‘Bee’ to touch base and see where they are up to with their quilts – sorry if I have missed anyone – please send me an email if I have.  It sounds like all the quilts are coming along nicely!  Well done girls!  And my Mum’s sewing group have kindly stitched up lots of bags to store and gift the quilts in.  And the gift cards are done.  So that just leaves finishing off and probably doing a couple of ‘quilt as you go’ on the day….then we can get the quilts to the people that need them.  If you would like to be involved in any way please contact me.   

Here’s a couple of photos sent to me of quilts that lovely girls have been working on……

As for me…….I’m off here for a lesson on the new machine tomorrow (it makes me laugh how all the instruction books call it a ‘Sewing Computer’ not a machine!) so hopefully I’ll have some good things to show soon too………