2010 Wrap-up and Queensland Floods

As we have started a new year I thought it was time to post about the
progress of quilts made and donated for the year. Over the past 12
months, I sent off 497 quilts to various agencies. They have gone to the bush fire affected areas of Kinglake and Flowerdale as well as to people who lost loved ones in the fires; sent to East Timor; and to Pakistan
after the earthquakes there; donated to the local women's refuge for the
ladies and teenagers who participate in their programs; to a group which
supports refugees who have been settled in Vic; to farmers in Sth Aust.
who have been made homeless after droughts and then floods; as well as to some individuals who were in need of some support. They have all been shown on the blog site at http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com
I haven't made all of these quilts from scratch and have received
many beautiful quilts, tops, blocks and fabric from many generous quilters which has made it much easier to give support and quilts when needed. Now that these floods are devastating Qld and NSW, I've been busy making quilts so that I have a supply ready to send up there when
needed. I was unable to send them after the last floods in Qld as I was so busy with the bushfire quilt appeal but I want to support those areas now as the quilters from those areas were so generous with donations for the bush fire quilt appeal.There will be quite a period of clean-up
required and as some houses will have been submerged for some time, they will most likely start off with needing to replace everything that they owned. Of course donations of money are needed at the moment but I also expect that quilts will be welcomed when the time is right. I've heard that they have enough clothing for those people affected and I'm also making tote bags and pillowcases as they will be useful and also are a good way to give out quilts by placing a quilt in either a bag or pillowcase. At the moment I'm also putting quilts together using
QAYG blocks and it makes it so much easier to get them made quickly when I've received donations of the blocks.
If anyone has a little time and a few scraps of fabric and batting
then I would welcome any QAYG blocks again, measuring 10.5" square. Also
any tote bags and pillowcases would be very helpful if you have the time
and the fabric. I have been using the complimentary bags which are given
out by lots of companies now, or even the green bags sold by the
supermarkets, and I just sew a pocket over the printed logo. They will
be useful for the quilts at first and then can be used for their
shopping etc. There's no need to send me finished quilts but if you have
any to donate I can post a collection point when that is available in
the affected areas.
I hope that this year is a much better one for all of us and that the
New Year brings lots of laughter and good health for all of us.
I'll post another tutorial about how to make the QAYG blocks on my next post for anyone who is interested.
I also forgot to say that the quilt on my previous blog post was from donated QAYG blocks and I only had to join them together.
Stay dry, Jan Mac