Sunday 7 December 2014

December 5th

Greetings all!
Our day started with Grace running us through all the goodies which were shopped ready for Stepping Stone House Christmas Party. Thanks to all members who contributed to the $ collection for the shopping to be done. Thanks also to Grace and the shoppers, and those who wrapped everything. Items for the hamper can still be brought to our own Christmas Party which is next Thursday, 11th December. BUT THAT WASN'T ALL...........! Next came four wonderful quilts to be donated to Stepping Stone House residents, and another four waggas into the bargain! It's a great feeling knowing what an extensive and quality gift package we will be presenting to this worthy group. 
Thank you to everyone who worked on the quilts in any way. They are displayed below for your enjoyment. Something to be proud of indeed!



















Lastly a shot of the 'pile' of goodies all packed together and ready to deliver. Happy Christmas to Stepping Stone House.


We're all looking forward to the Christmas Party next week. Don't forget your glass, and remember the starting time is 11am but the door will be open at 10am for setting up. If each member brings a plate of some party offering, we should have the usual feast! Party 'games' and activities are well in hand, but remember no one is obliged to participate unless they wish to. We want everyone to enjoy themselves in whichever way they like. Dress up or down, whatever you like. I'm sure we'll have a ball!

Show and Tell turned into a mega- marathon this week, probably because it will be the last for the year. It was amazing! I'll try and get all the matching people to their quilts below, but it was flat out difficult keeping track as the quilts just kept coming and coming. Anyway, enjoy.........

First the 2 baby quilts for the Grace Centre by Jenny.....





And three more by Sue D.........(note the cute back of the doggy one!)









Next came Helena with three quilts, the first done by the 'Orange Group' for community use...



The next by Helena herself for her parents bed, ready for Christmas.....



And finally a quilt Helena won in a raffle. She was very surprised at the resulting quilt! She didn't think it looked like HH Quilters style, but we all admired it anyway. Lucky girl!


Margaret D showed a stunning quilt she made from Turkish and Thai fabrics. What a combination! A luck friend will receive it.


Margaret also showed us one she did which she described as very brown! It's fascinating......



Kerry displayed her Dad's birthday quilt which is very nearly finished. It will certainly be cosy, and is looking great Kerry! All that hand quilting!



Cate was visiting from Queensland and showed two quilts, both using the quilt-as-you-go technique. The first has amazing striped squares of tiny strips. Beautiful work Cate!



The second has been made for some friends' wedding. They specifically asked for blues and brown. I think they got what they asked for. Gorgeous!



And the back



Molina showed a lovely jungle quilt for her Great Garndson. Gorgeous!



Jill made this little wall hanging for some friends who have just moved to aged care. She wanted them to have a small 'something' homey and Christmasy to take with them. A lovely thought, and a lovely piece of work!



Iris showed a quilt she made from the embroidered hems of her nephew's childhood curtains. His mum didn't know what to do with them and asked Iris. The rest is history, and so will this quilt be. All the tiny embroideries have been encorporated into the quilt with the names of his own children now. Room has been left for any subsequent children, and the message on the quilt is "When daddy was a little boy". It's a delightful quilt and story Iris. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. It exactly represents the history of quilting and the passing down of stories, however small. I hope my feeble attempts to capture the embroidery have been successful. Everyone there enjoyed examining it close up!

And on that note I'll sign off. For those who can't get to the party next week, have a happy Christmas with family and friends. May you all keep safe and well. It's been a wonderful year.
Cheers, Elva











Friday 28 November 2014

November 27th

Well, it was a much quieter group this week. Fewer girls, and plenty of room to move around!

Everyone was working quietly away on this and that. The year is clearly slowing down. Only two more weeks till our final meeting for the year, and our Christmas Party. Hope everyone can make it. Don't forget to bring along your finished aprons for a smallish fashion parade! I have quite a few here with me, but there are still a few outstanding (mine included!)
Also don't forget to bring a plate of something scrumptious to share from the table. A glass will be handy for having a Chrissy drink or two as well. A few of us have been nutting out some fun activities to break up the eating and drinking a bit. Let me know if you have a favourite that you'd like to share and we'll try and include that. It should be fun! Items for the Stepping Stones House Hamper can still be brought next Thursday before it's all wrapped up. 

This week marked the 10th anniversary at Hunters Hill Quilters for a group of five who started together on the same day. They are Suzie, Audrey, Felicity, Judy S and Deb L. Congratulations ladies! That must have been an interesting entry on November 25th ten years ago!

Joy was telling us about how she has a map of where to go for good quilting fabric if you find yourself in Tokyo! She's a mine of information that lady!

We think we've found someone to fill Audrey's shoes as treasurer next year, thanks to Audrey's husband's great suggestion of how to make the job more manageable. TBA........

Kathy D told us some great tales of her travels and of a remarkable quilt group she visited. Some interesting suggestions for activities were passed on. Kathy would also like everyone to know that on Saturday December 6th, there will be a sale at the shop and a Swap Bucket. In addition she mentioned the many new and interesting courses and workshops for next year. See the website and/or blog for details, or ask Kathy when you see her.

Just a few Show and Tell items this week. Things are slowing down.

Janet and Beryl B made these two baby quilts for the Grace Centre. Lovely






Robyn J made this interesting and attractive quilt from her recent Canadian adventure. A striking effort!
What a souvenir of the trip!



Well, there you have it. Thanks to all those who have already responded to my email regarding the request for a visit next February. So far it seems that my hunch was correct, and people have the same hesitation about it as I do. We can talk more at group on Thursday.
See you all then. Enjoy the weekend.
Cheers, Elva

Friday 21 November 2014

A very packed hall!

Hi everyone.
There was an amazing roll up today. So many ladies quilting and chatting away happily. Great to see!

Maybe it was because they all knew that Coleen was coming along to set up her little 'shop'. I know I gave in to temptation and I suspect plenty of others did also. Thanks so much Coleen. We have all stocked up for Christmas presents, either for ourselves or for lucky friends.

Akiko is back, all tanned and relaxed. She actually did some shopping for us on her honeymoon, which impressed many of the girls. Thank you so much for the two lovely books you bought for us Akiko. For peoples' info they are "The Hawaiian Quilt" and "Sashiko Design". They have been passed into the very capable hands of our librarian Janet, who will process them for borrowing.

Thanks to Helena for holding the fort for me last week while I was away. Always reliable and accommodating. Good on you Helena!

Don't forget that donations are still being received for Stepping Stones House. These can be given to Grace next week and Helena after that. Goods for the hamper can be brought along at the Christmas Party where the hamper will be put together and wrapped for presentation. Thanks for all your generosity girls. A reminder that the hamper goods needs to be non-perishable and well within use by date. Thanks.

DATES FOR THE DIARY!

11th December - Christmas Party (starts at 11am)

15th January - HH Quilters resumes weekly meetings

19th February - HHQ Annual General Meeting
                          a reminder that at the AGM we will be looking to fill 4 positions on the committee
                           these are - Treasurer, Show Convenor, Community Quilts Co-ordinatior, and
                            on the sub-committee Communications Person.

Please keep in mind that we are a suburban quilting group, so these and all other positions are performed as best as our skills enable us to do. In addition, there are many people in the group who have done these positions before and are always ready to lend a hand with advice and experience during the transition. I can certainly attest to that. Also I have found that taking on a position in the committee has opened the whole group up to me. I now know so many more people better, and have made many new friends. It's well worth jumping in. Plenty of help and support available!

And now for some "SHOW AND TELL"

A lovely lady called Sharon came to collect the finished quilt we did for the Lord Mayor's Picnic. Well done everyone. It looks fantastic! Sharon was thrilled and fascinated with its design and textures. 
Thanks to Susan for driving the whole thing and to Helena who I think did the quilting. Here is the result:




The next quilt was made by The Black Group with Joy, Helen et al. It is an eye-catching design, and they have made it for the community quilts collection. The name will be decided by the time it's handed over. Well done girls!




Sheila made this beautiful bag, which was gorgeous. Unfortunately the camera must have moved a bit, but soft or not, I'm including the shots to give you an idea of her wonderful skills. Hope you can make out the Sashiko style pattern on the base. Well done Sheila!







And last of all. And only because I had to find out by accident and bully her into letting me show it, here is a cute and very usable iPad cover design by Hayley. You really come up with some fabulous work Hayley. We're so glad you've joined us! And wouldn't these make a great item for the stage sales at our next quilt show? Perfect!






So there you have it. A full and fantastic day. Enjoy the weekend everyone. Try to keep cool, especially today and Sunday. See you all next week.

Cheers, Elva

Tuesday 18 November 2014

November 14

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH COLEEN
Thursday 20th November

A great day at quilting!
I managed to do a lot of quilting and not to much chatting!
Am on a deadline!
But there was a great buzz going round in Fairland Hall.

Helen had a very inspirational show and tell.
Specially for all the grand mothers and parents to young children!
a nice package


open the roll, only a fat quarter

Cars are safely kept in the pockets at the back of the race court
Play mat and toys in one!
Unfortunately I still have problems uploading my photo's, so I can only show the backs of those lovely quilts!





Marie Grove cot quilt


Stepping Stone House,

We are supporting Stepping Stone House again this year.
You can make your donations to Grace.


I do apologise for this late post.
Am struggling with the updates etc... on all my different devices.
Prefer the straight forward stitching and quilting!


Happy Stitching,
Helena

Sunday 9 November 2014

November community day

Hi everyone.
A brief blog this week. A very small group at Quilters last Thursday owing to many girls being away on courses etc. 

I still haven't heard from Coleen as to when her little 'shop' will be happening, but I'll contact her before Thursday to find out for you. I know many people look forward to it so much before Christmas.

Final preparations for the Christmas Party will be nutted out at a committee meeting on Thursday 20th November, so stay tuned!

Cheryl is in rehab and slowly on the mend!

Show and tell was pretty extensive with many community quilts ready to be delivered and on show.
Apologies if the names of the quilts or the group's that made them are in a muddle. My faithful photo-taker Helena was away and therefore the shots were taken by two of us on two different devises!! I've learnt never to do that again! Anyway, here goes.......

This little gem was done by Jill for the great-grandchild of a friend. The centre piece of crossing hearts includes some 100 year old Nottingham lace! Very beautiful Jill. Lucky child!



I'm pretty sure that Iris's Blue Group did these community quilts called variously "T- Break", Croosroads 1 & 2






The next called "Ships Ahoy" shows the front and back. Sadly I can't tell you who made it. That got lost in translation so to speak!






Jenny S and Grace can take credit for this beautiful one called "String Stars"




And next, Suzie has completed this cute one called"Beach Huts"



Well, that's it. Sorry for the delay in getting the blog to you. I won't see you this coming Thursday as I'll be away in Adelaide. Hope you all have fun. See you the following week!

Cheers, Elva

Saturday 1 November 2014

30th October - bring on November!

It's hard to believe the end of the year is rushing up to meet us! It's been so busy this year, maybe we just haven't been paying attention.

Great excitement and plenty of shopping at the MO stall in the hall. Plenty more at the shop near Birkenhead if you missed getting what you needed. Thanks to the shop assistants who ran it so professionally. 

We welcomed Susan SJ back after about six months away! She looks fit as a fiddle. Travel definitely suits you Susan, but we missed you so much. You could tell that by the cheers as you entered the room!

Cheryl is still in hospital but progressing well. Maybe one more 'procedure' to go before rehab can begin. Always thinking of you Cheryl.

Thanks to Robin S for the clipping from The Hills Newspaper about a violinist at The Grace Centre (Westmead Hospital). In the background of the photo we could see a little quilt doing its work on a crib, which may have been one of ours. It made everyone's heart sing! Thanks Robin.

Our final gathering for the year, and therefore our Christmas party day will be Thursday 11th December. Put the date in your diary and we'll talk more about details of the day later.

Now some Show and Tell!

First a baby quilt for the Grace Centre by June P



And next another one by Marie G



Lovely work ladies. Keep those baby quilts coming! They're much appreciated.


Robyn J made the next quilt from the Alaskan fabric from her last trip. A memento for she and hubby to keep. Gorgeous!




Marie K made the next one to be given away to someone special I assume. Lucky person!





Our new member Hayley has almost finished this top. It's just waiting for a little extra fabric which is on its way. We're very impressed by your designs Hayley!



Iris helped Marie G out with some inspiration in this quilt. She not only made a lovely quilt from Marie's fabrics, but a gorgeous matching bag. This will be given to the community collection.



And the back


Beautiful work as always girls. 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend now that the exhausting heat has left us for a while. We might even be lucky enough to get a bit of rain. The gardens are gasping for it!

Cheers all!