A Short Break

We went camping in the mountains for a couple of days after Christmas and I managed to get another string pieced QAYG quilt finished before I left. We had a lovely break with friends and now I'm back to work for the New Year. |
Today I'm catching up on washing etc and plan to get some more QAYG blocks made for another quilt. It's a pity that my sewing room doesn't seem to be any tidier than when I started using up my scraps. I need to spend more time there than on the computer.
Cheers

Blessing Others

Well our Christmas celebrations have come and gone and I've been happy to watch the cricket on TV while I'm knitting hats and jumpers for East Timor babies. Here's some of the finished items which will help to keep some babies and children warm next winter. The quilt is one I've put together from orphan blocks and it looked better than the photo.
I've been lucky enough to have other quilters donate rice bags, school supplies and knitted jumpers and hats for the East Timorese people and I'm happy to know that they will all help to make life a little better for them. I've made at least one hat and a pair of booties a day, most days and still have many bits of wool to crochet into blankets to donate.
I worked 6 out of 7 days just before Christmas, at my paid job, including night shift, so I'm happy to relax a bit at home and watch the cricket. I have a big pile of QAYG blocks finished too and plan to put them together into a quilt later tonight. We're probably going camping for a few days tomorrow, so I'll be taking my knitting and a few books to read while I relax in the mountains with DH and friends. Life is good!

Merry Christmas

Unfortunately I can't wish my friends in Timor all the seasons blessings and a peaceful 2009. However I will be thinking of you all and hoping you all have a prosperous New Year for 2009 as well as a peaceful celebration for family and friends.

Title Change

I've found another blog with the same title as mine so I've added the extra words that were part of my blog address to save on confusion. Here's a couple more quilts from the last shipment to East Timor. One of them was made from donated odd blocks and will make a pretty quilt for someone to keep them warm.

Blessings

We attended the local school's Christmas concert on Tuesday as our youngest DD has been a teacher there for the last 3 years. It will be our last year of this event as she is moving to Melbourne to teach in a larger school next year. We know quite a few of the families at the school and it's been good to maintain the contact over the past 3 years. The kids had lots of fun singing and dancing in front of their family and friends.
I'm still focused on the plight of the Timorese people, especially as we are entering our time of celebrations for Christmas. There is such a stark contrast between the life we have here in Australia and their needs for simple things like food and water. I'm starting a chocolate drive to help raise funds to send medical equipment over there and I'm still networking to find ways to help train the nursing staff at a small hospital in the mountains, as that will bring a big improvement in their lives. We take our health care for granted and people become very impatient if kept waiting to see a doctor, and yet in Timor there was no doctor to provide care and the people waited in line all day to see the clinic nurse. I still think of those people who would have been too ill to walk to the clinic and how they could be given care as well.
On a brighter note I do have plenty of people who will be happy to receive a quilt from the next shipment and this is one of the quilts I've donated to East Timor.
I hope you are all looking forward to a peaceful time of celebration with family and friends at Christmas time.

Christmas is Coming

I finally have the tree up but it looks prettier than the photo shows here. I have also been busy getting more quilts ready for the next shipment to East Timor. I put this one together yesterday from my QAYG blocks using fabric and batting scraps. I love how a quilt can be made from scraps that others would throw away. I have more blocks to make today and I also quilted 2 tops yesterday so I have their bindings to finish.
I think I'll also do some more mindless sewing on some more QAYG blocks and try to get some of my scraps under control.
I'm wishing you all a festive season as you prepare to celebrate your holiday season.

A Seaside Break

We had a lovely break from work so we spent it at the beach. We also managed to call in to pick up some donated blocks from a quilter in Tasmania. Her son had brought them over for us and dropped them off at another SCQuilter's home and we called in on our way to the beach. DH was awake up to me and knows that was a main reason we were on the way to the beach. It was a big reason but I also love Point Lonsdale and Ocean Grove so it was a lovely break. We came back a day early as rain was expected and it has rained ever since. We were lucky to have a couple of fine days and we checked out where they filmed the TV series- Seachange.
I also managed to knit a couple of hats and make crochet squares for another blanket. Now we're home again I'm busy getting some more quilts finished.
WE really need the rain so we're not upset that our trip was cut a bit short and DH was happy to come home to watch the golf on TV.- always a silver lining!!

Our Wedding Anniversary

It was our 29th wedding anniversary yesterday and we had a lovely day together, I sewed up this bag from a half completed table runner which was donated for my charity work. It was easy to convert it into a bag and will make a lady in East Timor happy as she can take her goods to market instead of using a plastic bag. I have some more bits and pieces that I'm giving a new purpose before I donate them and I'm trying to clean up my sewing room as well- a never ending task!!
We spent the evening picking up our youngest DD from the airport, 2 hours drive away from home, and I'm grateful for my 29 years with DH and hopefully at least that many in the future. Today I'm planning to take some quilts to the local women's refuge for them to hand out for Christmas and also finish off some more booties and bags.
I must get the Christmas tree up too and start playing some carols to get into the mood for the season.

Quilts and Friends

Here is the quilt I slept under in Dili , East Timor. I'd donated it about 6 years ago so it was good to see it still going strong and no signs of wear. I stayed at a home for young people run by the Carmelite nuns in Dili. The home provides accommodation while they are studying or working and was built by Australians.
The second bright quilt is one I've finished from donated blocks and it's on its way to Maubisse in East Timor. They love bright colours so I'm sure it will be loved and appreciated for it's warmth as well as its colours.
The last photo is of one of the Carmelite nuns who fed me so well in Maubisse. She was taking some time to do some garment sewing on a treadle sewing machine. There was no fabric in Maubisse so the fabric must have come from Dili or Indonesia. Sister spoke little English but was always smiling and welcoming and ran the household for the other nuns so she didn't go out with the mobile medical clinics.
I miss being able to catch up with the community there and I'm looking forward to going back and meeting old friends again as well as helping out with medical care.
I spoke at a local Rotary meeting on Wednesday and have a couple more lined up for the new year so I'm hoping to spread the word and get more support for these lovely people as the need is great. In the meantime I'm still making quilts and knitting hats and baby clothes as well as crocheting blankets.
We are blessed to live where we do and I'm also blessed to be able to share my quilts etc with others.

Quilts Out of Nothing

I read at one of my online groups that one quilter uses up all her scraps at the end of the year so she start the new year fresh with new projects and new scraps. This seems like a very good plan to me as my scraps always seem to take over my sewing room.
On the other hand I do have lots of strings and thin pieces to make blocks and they go together quickly when I have so many pieces already cut. I make Quilt As You Go (QAYG) Blocks using up all my thin pieces and batting scraps and have been making so many in the past few days that I almost have enough blocks finished to put a quilt together. I call these my Quilts Out of Nothing as they are made using bits and pieces that most people would throw out but I'm able to make a lovely quilt which will keep someone warm. I've shown some of the blocks I made yesterday as well as some of the quilts I've made previously using this method.
Something to think about as we hear so much negative talk about the economy and our money tightens. Perhaps you can make a quilt or two out of nothing and donate it to someone who needs a warm hug.
I doubt that I'll use anywhere near enough scraps to clear out my sewing room but I'm having a pieceful time trying!