38th Birthday

 Hi Everyone,

Last week and this week we are celebrating our 38th year. We should feel proud that our group has been going for so long. We have made hundreds of quilts and waggas over this time and made many donations to a number of charities. We are celebrating over two weeks so hopefully everyone can join in the celebration as we cannot all gather in a single group.

Susan St J. called in. She has been very ill and spent some time in the Chris O'Brien cancer hospital. We gave Susan a wall hanging that the hospital wanted and also a quilt for them to raffle.

Baby quilts: Robyn had some good news. Westmead will take our baby quilts again. In fact the hospital called Robyn to say they had none! We can certainly fix that with so many of us making them during the lockdown.

Meg had a brochure advertising the Great Australian Craft Show 6. It will be online from Thursday 10  to Sunday 13 September. There will be 120 craft shops, event specials and demonstrations. All exhibitors will be online to chat.

Website: https://gacs.craftalive.com.au/

FB Live Feed :www.facebook.com/craftalive

Show and Tell:

Iris and Robyn were given these soft fabrics and have made a quilt for Community.

Two from Carolyn for Community.

Sue Stev. has made this lovely quilt for her granddaughter.

Sandy made this 'happy' quilt during lockdown.

A wagga from Meg for her grandson. His great grandfather had a tailor shop and many of the fabrics are samples from there. 

A perfect wattle  in full bloom on my walk this morning.

A community quilt from Carolyn.

Until next week ....

Full House

 Hi Everyone,

We had a full complement this week with the return of Alison, Meg and Lin.

I had forgotten the August birthdays but caught up with August and September birthdays - 11 members all up. Happy Birthday.

The day started for Iris and me meeting a mother from Hunters Hill Public School who had originally approached us with a commission for the school's 150th Anniversary. She had organised a meeting with the headmistress and year 6 students at 9:30 for us to hand over the wall hanging.

The children were delightful and asked many questions about the making of it ( I posted a photo on last week's blog). They were quite taken with the design. It was a great success.

As it is our Birthday month in September - 38th in fact - we will have a celebratory drink and individual cupcake for next week 10th and the following week 17th so nearly all of us will be able to celebrate.

Don't forget to bring a glass. I will have paper cups as backup.

During the morning we had a visit from The Womens' Refuge- Sallianne and Ruth. We donated 8 quilts to them. Sallianne spoke to us about the refuge and how the lockdown has affected them. She reiterated how much the quilts mean to those who come to the shelter. To be able to go to their cupboard and choose a quilt they like and then be able to keep it when they leave, means so much.

Well done everyone.

Suzie sent me an update on our other charity, Days for Girls. The group has not had meetings since March. Some ladies are continuing to sew kit components at home. There is no information to date as to when they may be able to return to in-person workshops at the scout hall.

Lord Mayer's Picnic Quilt:

Iris has been informed that they will not require a quilt this year. This is the first time in many years that we haven't had a commission from them.

A reminder about Community quilts:

The quilts we make for Robyn - a mother and child refuge - require labels to be attached. They are the same labels we use for the Baby Quilts.

Show and Tell:

Grace is finishing a beautiful quilt that Adrienne had not completed.  Grace has machine and hand quilted it. I took a photo of the centre to show the exquisite work.

The centre block from a Wagga made by Sandy.

Jenny made this colourful round quilt for a granddaughter using a 9 patch block and a sheet. It is just as colourful on the back. 

Sheila had this lap quilt hidden away unfinished for a long time. Now finally rescued it is very pretty in blue.

Alison found this photo from our 1989 quilt show. She loves the patchwork outfits. There was also a statue of a Sphinx on the stage! Unfortunately the resolution is not very good.

Until next week .....

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 .....