AGM for 2021

 Hi Everyone,

We had a robust Annual General Meeting this week. 25 members attended. It was wonderful to see faces we haven't seen for a while. The minutes will be forwarded to each of you.

Messages were sent from Sue D who is in London and from Laurel who was having a sewing get together with friends near her home. 

 The discussion topics at the end of the meeting were welcomed. Both Grace and Sandy were wearing their name badges. I must say they looked really good. We have fallen out of the habit of wearing them. Marie G remarked that we should make an effort to wear them again. Many agreed.

The topic of the kitchen was also mentioned. Many of us prefer the simplicity of self catering for lunch. Perhaps we can have further discussion about this. As there is still a lot of uncertainty about COVID  I prefer to let things stay as they are for the moment.

Grace also mentioned that it is our 40th Ruby Anniversary this year. We have traditionally all contributed to making a quilt with each of our names embroidered onto it. Grace will think of a design for us.

Another challenge we have is for the RPAH prematurity unit's worldwide celebration in November. We have offered to make 40 baby quilts for this. Their special colour is purple and shades thereof. They require even only a splash or two of purple. They don't have to be all purple.

Remember that all baby quilts require cotton wadding. It will be too confusing to have some use polyester and others not.

Show and Tell:

Alison has finished a quilt she started a while ago. Lots of paper piecing. It is for her granddaughter when she is a little older. a lucky little girl.

Baby quilts from Beryl R, Grace and Sheila.

Grace has finished a quilt that was donated to us. Grace has hand quilted the borders and turned the binding to the back so the pattern was not lost. A lovely quilt. 

Ros made this fun quilt and used all her leftover batik scraps for the backing.

Another photo of baby quilts from Grace.

Grace also made this quilt using a centre piece from a Kathy Doughty's design. Lots of hand quilting too.

A closer look at Sheila's baby quilts.

Until next week  ........

A Welcome Visitor

 Hi Everyone,

It was our fourth week back this week. We had 18 members come for the meeting.

We miss those who are not coming. Some are unwell or busy with family commitments. We hope to see you all soon.

Alison has discovered a group who work to raise funds to support the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown.

She invited one of their volunteers to come to speak to us this week. 

The group is called Little Wonder and is a Parent and Support Committee for the hospital's Newborn Intensive Care Unit. It was founded by a group of mums who had experienced first hand the incredible work at the centre..

Their spokesperson was Olivia and what a charming lady she is. Olivia had three premmie babies at the hospital. All three are thriving now.

They give patients gift bags for St Valentines Day, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Christmas. Obviously a very important and special group.

They are delighted to accept many of our baby quilts. In fact Olivia left with 80 baby quilts. She was delighted and said they will all be gone for Valentines Day. They can use as many as we can make for them.

Olivia mentioned the World Prematurity Day which is on 17 November 2022. The day is to raise awareness of preterm births and the concerns of preterm babies and their families worldwide.

Their traditional colour is Purple - dark purple or shades thereof.

We thought it will be a great idea to make 40 quilts for this day in November. It is similar to the Kangaroo Challenge we did a couple of years ago.

Housekeeping:

Council has been onto me about concerns from a group who use the hall after us on a Thursday. Please be vigilant with pins and needles. I know we search until we find a 'lost' needle. We need to double our efforts. We will always need to vacuum the floor thoroughly after each meeting.

Show and Tell:

The 'thank you' card from the Little Wonder group

Jenny finished  a shawl made for her 6 year old granddaughter. It is so sot. She will love it.

Until next week ....

 Hi Everyone,

A small group gathered this week. As always it was a most enjoyable meeting. 

Next week at noon, we have someone from RPA Hospital Newborn intensive care unit coming to speak to us about their organisation and requirements.

The unit looks after more than 950 sick and premature babies each year. The hospital has a very active group of volunteers to support the unit.

Donations of knitted goods, baby quilts, larger quilts etc are welcomed.  Gift donations are hugely helpful to use as prizes for their raffles and various events. Gift bags are given to each family in the unit on special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, Mothers Day, World Prematurity Day and Fathers Day. 

I look forward to the meeting and to learn more about the organisation.

Wadding for Baby Quilts:

To avoid confusion with the baby quilts, we have decided that the cotton wadding that Robyn S looks after, will be used in all baby quilts. This includes those made for the Aboriginal Unit. 

Show and Tell:

Carolyn brought in another 10 baby quilts.

Until next week ....

Second Week Back

 Hi Everyone,

We had a small group at quilting again this week. Now that school holidays are over we may see more members next time.

We all enjoy catching up with each others' news so the noise level doesn't diminish.

QuiltNSW News:

Quilt NSW has split from their association with Expertise Events. They are working towards having their own separate show and are looking for a suitable venue.This year is their 40th anniversary. Their intention is to revitalise the show. 

Their show has never been about making money. Like all quilt shows the aim is to showcase members' creative talents. 

We look forward to their decision.

Show and Tell:

Carolyn didn't bring her standard 10 quilts this week and no one had anything ready to show.

However Suzie saved the day. She has put together all our windmill blocks from the lockdown and made this beautiful quilt below. It will be for sale at our show in August.

Most of you will have already seen it on our WhatsApp.

Until next week ......

Welcome to 2022

 Hi Everyone,

A new year and a busy one ahead for us as we prepare for our show in August.

15 quilters came on Thursday. Not a lot of sewing was done but we all had plenty of news to catch up on.

It was an enjoyable meeting. We had an email from Sue D who is currently in London with her family. It was good to hear from her. She missed her sewing so much she has bought a machine to use while she is away.

We also welcomed a new member - Jane - who is looking forward to making quilts for charity.

AGM reminder: Our AGM will be held on 17 February at 12 noon.

Show and Tell:

Marie G. made these two lovely quilts for the Womens' Refuge:

Pamela was very busy during lockdown. The six quilts below are from her. Grace did the quilting on some Pamela hand quilted as well.

17 baby quilts. 2 from Beryl R, 5 from Alison, 10 from Carolyn

Until next week ....

End of Year

 Hi Everyone,

After another disruptive year it is time to farewell 2021 and look ahead to 2022.

The quilts for Charity have been delivered. Bear Cottage were particularly pleased with the 8 Teenage Boys' quilts. They are usually receive pink quilts and the boys miss out. 

If you are looking for a project over the break perhaps think about making a teenage boy's quilt.

Size is slightly larger than single bed - approx. 60" x 78".

Christmas Party starting at 11 a.m.

Next week will be our final meeting for the year and our Christmas Party.

What to bring:

A plate for yourself.

A glass for drink.

A plate of food to share with everyone.

A Christmas hat - the most outrageous, beautiful or crazy as you like. The best will win a prize.

We will resume meetings on 20 January 2022.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and look forward to a busy year in 2022.

Show and Tell:

5 Baby quilts from Carolyn

Two quilts from Carolyn , both quilted by Jenny

A baby quilt from Sheila

Until 2022 .....

Donations

 Hi Everyone,

Another enjoyable meeting this week. Discussion about Christmas lunch, vacuuming the floor after each meeting and of course lots of chatter.

Sandy has been busy sorting the many quilts ready for donation.

Jenny had an idea for our Christmas challenge which she is going to detail on our WhatsApp group.

Donations:

* Iris is taking 6 quilts to the Hornsby Womens' Refuge.

* Sandy is taking 8 quilts to Bear Cottage.

* Susan H is delivering 8 quilts to a Womens' refuge in a local Parish area.

Show and Tell:

Three from Iris.

Quilt using scraps from the cupboard by the Orange Group.

Pretty Flowers from Robyn S.

A Bonny Hunter design from Jenny.

Two below from Susan D.

Until next week ....