A day filled with blessings

Before I head off to bed I had to share a couple of things that happened today.

1. Several very generous donations were given to me today - enough to cover the cost of ALL the batting AND some of the backing fabric - SUCH a blessing!
   
   
2. I had a phone call from ANOTHER group willing to help assemble quilt tops - thanks Diamond Creek gals :-)

These came at the perfect time (isn't God's timing fantastic?) as I'm hoping to get as many quilts finished as possible by the end of these school holidays - so we can get them out to our families who need a 'snuggle'.

If you have blocks/tops/quilts ready to give to me, email me and we'll get together.

THANK YOU wonderful people.










... one of the tops finished over the weekend.







A xo

William!!!!

Hmmm ... like I need MORE challenges - now I have to race William to get the seat at the machine!

... wish he could sew!

A xo

What's a 'normal' school day?

Over the past weeks I have arrived at work on Monday morning to find parcels filled with wonderful quilt blocks, and others have been handed to me as I have been making my way around the campus - it certainly spices up my 'normal' week. :)

Thank you Christine, Cora, Sue and Cathy ... (have I left anyone out? Let me know if I have).

One of these bags was filled with 2" squares ... I can feel a scrap quilt coming on!







A xo

First Bristol ... Now Rhode Island ... wow!!

Imagine my joy, when I arrived home from school, to be greeted by these parcels, neatly lined up across the end of our pool table like little soldiers. They looked so CUTE.
The postmark and label gave away their origin - Westerly, RI ... how excited was I? Well ... again ... just a 'bit'! You'd have thought my last 'frenzied opening' would have taught me a lesson - NO - I guess I'm a slow learner. I opened them, one after the other, and piled the contents on the table, counting them as I went ... 30! 30! I could scarcely believe it!

THANK YOU Margaret and Charlotte - you're treasures.

A xo

Elm Creek supports Plenty Valley

'Where's Elm Creek?' I hear you say ... no it's not in Victoria ... nor is it in Australia ... not Bristol ... in fact - not anywhere - in reality! Elm Creek 'lives' in the Elm Creek series of books written by Jennifer Chiaverini - and, yes I admit it - I'm an addict. :)

The fact is, I'm SO addicted, I belong to a group that meets once a month - we don't stand and verbalise our addiction (that's taken as a 'given'), instead we discuss the latest book on the list and assemble our 'blocks of the month' - all going into our quilts 'in the style of Sylvia's bridal sampler' (fellow Elm Creek 'addicts' will understand what I'm talking about).

How then, has Elm Creek supported Plenty Valley? Libby, an 'Elm Creeker' gave me these quilts when we met this month. The second quilt was made by one of her patients - seems like quilting discussions can be worked into 'any' conversation.

THANK YOU Libby and Corrie.

A xo

The Clifton Quilters - Bristol

I have been blown away by how far news of our quest has spread. In this case, I believe it was via the Teacher Librarian 'world network'. Heather, Arlene and Jane are members of The Clifton Quilters in Bristol, and they were deeply moved by the scenes they saw of the fires. Here are their contributions that 'arrived' on my doorstep.












The trouble is, I was SO excited (and a tad overwhelmed) by what lay inside the packages ... that I piled them up on my table as I opened each package - the problem is ... I lost track of 'who sent what' ... I can't apologise enough for muddling it all up ... but it was just soooo fabulous! Thank you!!

Here is the 'sum' of their packages ... sorry I can't match each with a name ... but I Do love them all :)

A xo

More Blocks

Blocks have been regularly arriving, and my Thursday Night team have been working on making them into quilt tops - I'll post the 'finished' tops later on.

Thanks to Anita, Jo and Janet for these.

I have to admit that working with blocks that I haven't made has been a real challenge for me. I've had to work with colours I wouldn't normally use - and that has taken me WAY out of my comfort zone ... it's been FABULOUS ... I think I've learnt more about colour in the past weeks than I have in last 10 years!

Thank you lovely people :)

A xo

We have batting!

Thanks to Leanne (Leanne's Quilting Service in Greensborough) we now have enough batting to finish ALL the quilts - at 'cost' price. Thank you SO much :)All I have to do now is find the $ to cover the cost.

A xo

Some finished quilts

Some of the packages have contained finished quilts. It's a lovely surprise to pull out, and snuggle, a finished quilt.

Vicky sent these from NSW

Kim

A xo

Quilt tops

It's been wonderful arriving at school, or coming home, to parcels filled with gorgeous quilt tops. The diversity of colours and techniques cover the full range of the spectrum - and reflect the individuals who made them.

Here are a few of the quilt tops that have arrived and are waiting to be quilted.

Anita

Barb

It's been a real challenge for me to find the sashing, border and backing fabrics for all the quilt tops. Choosing colours has always been a fearful task for me. As a relatively 'newbie' quilter I have to say it's been a learning 'vertical'. It's been wonderful - I have learnt SO much about colour - I'm no longer afraid. :-)

A xo

Embroidered blocks

Not all the blocks have been pieced ... these are embroidered - how beautiful.

Lucille

Janet

A xo

Our fabric stash

I thought you might be interested to see the fabrics we have to work with - most donated by wonderful people, others purchased for sashings and backing.

Spotlight purchases

From Genevieve and Anita

A xo

My 'home team'

As is their usual way, William and Gidgee (better known as 'that Midge') are my constant 'helpers'. William is the sewing overseer, and considers himself the cutting/laying-out/machine 'King'.

Midge, on the other hand, is my 'Girl Friday'. Packaging is her forte, and she is always 'there' to inspect every crinkly bag that arrives (and departs).
Thanks 'team' ... you're a great 'help'!

A xo