A Quiet Day

 Hi Everyone,

 18 members arrived this week. Due to the closure of the Harbour Bridge some were unable to come. It took me a lot longer than usual and Helena was in traffic for 2 hours. Beryl B set off to catch the bus which took ages to come. After trying another couple of buses she gave up and eventually returned home around midday.

Gill had some news from Doreen. She said Doreen misses us and often thinks of us and sends her love.

Felicity has been in hospital again with a broken leg but is home now.

Heather gave Grace some beautiful woolen fabrics for our waggas. Grace and Gill were thrilled. Thank you Heather.

I missed the August birthdays but will include them this month with the September acknowledgments. I am somewhat out of kilter, what with no upcoming quilt shows to tell of, no real news from anywhere. It will be interesting to see if the Darling Harbour show does go ahead at the end of October. I am doubtful.

Sandy has 7 quilts ready to be donated to the Hornsby Womens Shelter next week. It will be interesting to hear how the shelter has been coping.

Blue Jacobs Ladder blocks:

Please bring or send any blocks you have. Jenny and Iris arranged the ones we had on the design wall. Photo below. You have to agree it looks pretty good. It was very nice to see Jenny. She has been unable to come for many weeks.

Show and Tell:

Jacobs Ladder blocks in progress

Gill put squares of corduroy together for a lap quilt for Robyn. Beryl R was feeling cold and wrapped it over her shoulders to warm up. She looked very cosy.

A quilt top donated by Rhonda T. The backing and binding were provided. Judy put it together and quilted it. This is for Community.

Sue D. with three cot quilts for Robyn.

A cot quilt from Robyn S.

The Hunters Hill Public School approached us for a wall hanging to celebrate their 150 year anniversary this year. Iris conceived the idea and with help from Grace, this lovely wall hanging is finished. Iris and I will present it to the Principal next week ready for their celebrations.

Lovely work Iris and many thanks. The jacaranda tree holds special significance for the school.

Until next week .....

Lots of Quilts

Hi Everyone,

Lindy was in town this week and joined us for our meeting. It was a nice surprise to see her after a long time. Also Gill joined us. We had 20 members this week.

Robyn S. and her group have taken a couple of the quilts that were donated by Rhonda T. to be finished. They found some backing fabric in the cupboard that will suit nicely. 

I have finished another one of Rhonda's and am about to start on a red and green one.

Meg's group will start back from next week. It will be lovely to see them.

It was disappointing that our retreat has been cancelled. Perhaps 2021 will be a better year for us all.

Kathy is preparing a zoom workshop. If you are interested in joining, let me know or call Kathy.

Show and Tell:

Three quilts from Grace for Robyn's refuge.

Four from Lindy.

Baby quilt from Robyn S.

Five very pretty baby quilts from June.

Until next week .....

Another Enjoyable Day

 Hi Everyone,

We had 22 members this week. As you can imagine there was lots of chatter, catching up with each other and genuinely enjoying seeing and speaking to everyone. It is true we are social animals and this virus has brought this very much to the fore.

Thank you to Joy who arrived with two bags of the biggest lemons I have have ever seen. They were a welcome gift and quickly disappeared.

Akiko helped Narelle put together a quilt top that Narelle had bought from Achieve (The Sewing Basket). It is very pretty and will be for Community.

Helena was knitting as she loves to do and does spectacularly. This time it is a cotton top. Ann A. is also a knitter and loves to see the work that the knitters bring in and often wear.

Sandy was busy with her new Community Coordinator job. We have lots of treasures in the cupboards which she is discovering.

News about our Retreat in October:

Both Quilt NSW and Eastwood are going ahead with their retreats at Kurri Kurri this year, as we are.

Narelle has received information about the new rules to be observed. The COVID  situation is being taken very seriously by TAFE NSW.

* Accommodation is single room only.

* The cottages can only have two guests, each with their own bathroom. There are 5 cottages but these have been snapped up by the girls who were present this week. 17 of us have already signed up!

* There are 21 motel rooms - all to be single occupancy. 

* Extra cleaning and sanitation will take place each day in  the accommodation, the conference and eating areas.

* No buffets. All meals will be served by TAFE staff and no service at the bar. Tables will seat 6 persons only.

* Minimum numbers have been reduced to 18 but we can have a maximum of 30.

Prices - Motel $630 and Cottages $440 per person.

It is difficult to plan anything definite these days. I hope all goes well and we can have a fun weekend away in October.

Show and Tell:

A close up of Bev's quilt she made for the Womens' Refuge. Many were fascinated by how the blocks were put together. Hence a ruler appeared and fingers pointed to figure it out. A simple block that looks way more difficult than it is.

A Community quilt from Bev. Lots of vibrant colour.

 

The full quilt from above.

Until next week .....

The Show that Wasn't

Hi Everyone,

As it is Sunday afternoon, under normal circumstances we would be hosting the final afternoon of our 2020 show.
At 3:30pm we would be drawing the winners of the two raffle quilts. At 4pm we would be closing the doors and starting our pack up.
Sadly it was not to be.

Suzie L. sent me a text which I read out to the 16 members who were at Thursday's meeting.

"Hi to my quilting family.
So sad that we are not together today at the Town Hall setting up for what should have been a spectacular show as always!
Same time, same day in 2021 hopefully, fingers crossed!
Love Suzie."

We had an enjoyable albeit quiet meeting on Thursday. Jill R. called in with some fabric bits and pieces for us and has more that she will bring another time.
Jill is facing a shoulder operation unfortunately. It was very good to see her.

Show and Tell:

A cot quilt for Robyn Jnst.

 One from Robyn S.

 Baby quilts from Jenny

 A quilt from Susan H. for her nephew's son and Susan's godson.

Susan always embroiders the name on the quilt. She is waiting to know what it will be.

 A quilt top put together by Mercedes F. from more of Cheryl's large collection of fabrics. This is a charity quilt. Cheryl's stash seems endless.

 Elva finished her wall hanging for her friend from her friend's souvenir Japanese fabrics bought in a tourist shop while touring years ago.

Until next week ......

Fifth Week Back

Hi Everyone,

We have been back in the Hall for 5 weeks now. It has been a happy time.
We had 22 members this week and Jenny called in to drop some blocks and quilts off.
Laurel came all the way from Bowral just for the day and Helen K. was back after many weeks.

Joy had a phone call from Hayley this week. Hayley misses us and wishes she could travel down to see us. Unfortunately this will not be feasible for a while.

The photo that was posted on WhatsApp showing a little baby wrapped in one of our quilts:
 the quilt was made by Susan H.
Westmead has a special relationship with the hospital in Alice Springs and sometimes sends some of our quilts to them.

Baby Quilts:

If you have any baby quilts for Westmead, please keep them at home until we know when we can send them onto the hospital.
There is no room in the cupboard for storage at the moment.
If you would like to bring them for Show and Tell I will photograph them for the Blog but take them home afterwards.

Community Day:

Next week is the first of the month which is normally our Community Day. There will be nothing planned but if your group is working on a project, feel free to bring it along and work on that.

Show and Tell:

Baby Quilt from Jenny

Baby Quilts from Marie K.

 Baby Quilt from Helen embroidered with the words 'hugs and kisses.

 Two quilts from Laurel for Robyn's charity.

 Iris finished her quilt intended for our Show this August, which has been cancelled until 2021.
Very pretty and beautifully hand quilted.
It was finished with 7 days to go - if our show had gone ahead this year.
I have a feeling Iris will be making something different for the 2021 show.

Three more baby quilts from Jenny (stars,foxes and robots),which I will include next week.

Until then .....

Noise Level Rises

Hi Everyone,

21 Members arrived this week. Then Gill called in and stayed for a while which made 22! As you can imagine the noise level rose to a crescendo as there was so much to talk about. Wonderful!

I have friends who belong to Eastwood and Northbridge quilters. Neither group has gone back yet.
Our roster system works well, with 4 members from each group attending.
If we continue to stay vigilant, stay away if not feeling well and hand sanitising, we will be safe.

A number of mask patterns have been shared. I made one this weekend and will make a couple more.
Ask around if you need a pattern. I think they will be required more and more.

It seems everyone is knitting. Bev arrived in the most amazing top this week. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo to show you. Perhaps Bev can send me one so I can post it next time.
My daughters and two granddaughters have been knitting rugs and blankets, slippers, and hand warmers.
Even my grandson has learned how to knit and is sticking with it.

Show and Tell:

Heather told us that Val Duncan had passed away. She used to sit with Norma and Doreen. I remember that she always had to have a cup of coffee first thing when she arrived.
Heather has put together a quilt that Val had made. Every block is different and it is a magnificent quilt. Heather organised for it to be professionally quilted. Her husband is going to mount it on a wall at their home.

Red Group made this Churndash quilt from a photo on a calendar. It will go to Community.

Six Baby Quilts from Sheila

The cutest little dog we saw on a walk this week. It is Cavalier/Pomeranian mix called Lily. She looks like a toy.

Until next week ....

Third Week Back

Hi Everyone,

We had a group of 15 this week. As usual lots of news to catch up on and stories to tell.
It was good to see Helena this week. She was wearing the beautiful cardigan that we had seen in progress on WhatsApp. It is even better in 'real life'.
Helena organised the zoom meeting this week. It was lovely to see familiar faces on the ipad and they listened in to my talk and watched the Show and Tell.

Susan St J. has had a serious cancer operation and has been in the Chris O'Brien Cancer Centre. She has now been transferred to rehab. We wish her well.
In the centre, Chris' wife, Gail, runs a quilting group that is very therapeutic, particularly for patients undergoing treatment. Susan suggested that we donate one of our quilts for them to raffle. Anything they sell attracts a lot of money because of her high profile.

Felicity must have been in the hospital at the time and visited Susan in ICU.

QuiltNSW has cancelled their show this year.
Expertise Events is still going ahead with the Darling Harbour show 29 October to 1 November at this stage.

Retreat news:

We have booked our retreat for the end of October. However there are some changes.
There will be no sharing of rooms and the Cottages can only have two people.
There is ample room for social distancing in the sewing room but only 20 can be accommodated in the Dining area.
We can therefore have a maximum of 20.
Give it some thought and a decision needs to be made during September whether to go ahead or cancel.

Alison has had word from Council and our show dates are confirmed for August 12-15 2021.

Doreen: Gill has passed on a message from Doreen. She thinks of us often and keeps up with our news as much as possible. She is doing well which is great to hear.

This week Iris handed over her job as Community Coordinator to Sandy W.
Iris has done a magnificent job for 5 years but it is time now for someone new to take over.
It is one of our most important jobs. It is our way of connecting with charities and organisations that need and can use our quilts. We are always on the lookout for organisations in need.
The best of luck Sandy.

Show and Tell:

Baby quilt from Helena using the Jacobs Ladder block

 Helena finished the heart quilt that she taught us in her workshop 

 Cute trucks from Narelle. Bev introduced us to this pattern. It is so effective.

My 15 minutes of play by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Used lots of scraps but ended up with more scraps!

 I found a pile of 2.5" by 4.5" rectangles and made a baby quilt.

 My Jacobs Ladder baby quilt.

Until next week .........