I met up with Lesley Lowe again yesterday and she once again very kindly brought over a large number of donations from the Kyabram (Vic) quilters. They have been very busy knitting and the sweaters, beanies and scarves will be so appreciated as we are in the middle of our cold weather now. They also donated 9 quilts which are shown on my other blog as well as some quilt tops. The ladies have been very generous with their time and talents and the warm garments and quilts will help to make life a little warmer for the people who receive them.
I also sent off 6 large quilts to Cat to distribute to the people of Christchurch (New Zealand) who are facing many challenges in staying warm this winter after the earthquake. I did say that 500 homes won't be re-built but I got that wrong and it is actually 5,000 homes which must be incredibly hard on the Christchurch communities and I hope that the quilts will help to remind them that we are trying to support and send comfort.
Today I contacted a group of volunteers who are helping farmers recover in the Charlton area after the floods and they gave me a contact person who may be able to distribute quilts for me. However when I rang them they said that they had quite a lot of blankets donated and if someone was feeling the cold they were welcome to take a blanket. Having already sent 30 quilts for distribution I've decided not to send any more unless they would personally give them out to people who suffered damage to their homes. I only make two stipulations when donating quilts and that is that they aren't sold or stockpiled and I can't be sure that these things won't happen if I send more quilts as they kept talking about them as blankets and didn't seem to understand that they are a gift of comfort and not just for warmth. In the meantime I get so many groups in need of quilts and willing to distribute them correctly for me that I'll keep working with them at this stage.
Today has been a lovely sunny day and I was very keen to finish off a QAYG quilt I'm putting together but we had to cut fire wood so I took some photos so you can see where we live. We cut up any trees which fall down in storms and try to get them cut up before the ants move in a eat them away. We love the peace and quiet of living in the country with farming land on three sides of our farm and natural bush and river frontage on the other side. We've had koalas and kangaroos in the bush land near our home and we have plenty of noisy bird life around us as well as a group of magpies which have made their home here. They never swoop us and they sometimes come and tap their beaks on our glass door if they want some bread to eat.
My Dad has recovered from his surgery and now our youngest DD is coming home for some holidays and to have more lessons in dressmaking with me. She has many ideas for skirts and dresses that she plans to make this coming week so I anticipate another busy week, but I'll be trying to fit in some quilting time as well.
If I get off the computer I should be able to finish another quilt now.
Hugs, Jan Mac
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