Many Thanks Again Stephanie D.

 Stephanie D. from Perth, Western Australia, has again done an outstanding job of making 70 QAYG blocks from her scraps of fabric and batting. She sent 2 sets of fabric strips to join the blocks as well and it's such a wonderful gift of time, which helps me to get more quilts finished and donated.

 Today little Aidan visited a paediatrician who specializes in allergies as he is in need of special formula and his allergies may be greater than we initially thought. He's such a happy boy normally and we need to find an alternative to breast feeding soon as his mother returns to work in 6 weeks time. Hopefully the recommended formula to try is suitable, otherwise he will need an even more expensive formula and there seems to be lots of potential foods he will need to avoid, but hopefully he will grow out of them.

Aidan is 5 months old today and the boys dressed up for Halloween but the novelty wore off very quickly and the co-operation was limited. Lol.
    Many thanks Stephanie D. for your ongoing support with donating these QAYG blocks and they will soon be made up into quilts to donate. I offered to send Stephanie batting and fabric scraps if shee needed them but she assured me that she never ran out. Isn't it wonderful that leftovers can make such beautiful quiots to comfort others .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday - 29th UFO Finish.

 This hand pieced top had been finished for more than a month I think, but it just didn't get to the top of the pile for quilting. Finally it's done and it's my 29th UFO finish for the year so I'm thrilled to have another finish. This one will be donated to Peter Mac as well. I really enjoyed piecing this using a jelly roll and 1 inch hexagons, and I think I will have to start another one as hexies are great for hand stitching.

The first photo of my La Passion quilt shows my progress up to a week ago and the second photo shows my progress this week. This is the last round segment which needs to be made and then joined to the main part of the top. Then I just need to piece another large diamond shape and that is the last part of this part of the quilt.  So, although it seems to have been slow, I can see a lot of progress on this long term UFO as well. I'll keep stitching on this one at night and try to finish some other UFOs during the day, as time allows.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 

  The first 5 quilts are tops made by members of AQA,  my quilting group, and they are all ready to be donated by AQA's Gift Quilt Program . I love seeing the many different ways to use up scraps and they always give me ideas for my own scrappy quilts.

 The quilt below is one I made from one of my many boxes of 6 inch squares. I pieced it to be the backing of the panel below and then I pin basted the squares on top so I could quilt through the squares instead of marking quilting lines on the panel.

This quilt will be for Anglicare and I need to get busy so I have some to donate to them in time for Christmas. I have almost 30 on hand for Peter Mac but haven't had time to drop them off yet so I might keep going until I have 30 before I deliver them.

I've had a couple of child free days so I've had quite a productive week of quilting.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 There's been slow but steady progress on my La Passion quilt and I have finished adding the second last circle and diamond pieces. Now I am piecing the last circle so I can see that this section is almost finished. I'm really enjoying it as I love the colours I chose for this quilt.

While I was cleaning up my sewing room I found lots of 2.5 inch squares which I had started to join together so I found a bright aqua fabric for the alternate strips and took a break from folding fabric by sewing some more squares together. This UFO will become my leader/ender stitching so I should be able to get the top finished soon and make a dent on my boxes of 2.5 inch squares.
   Today was our sewing day for AQA's Gift Quilt Program and we had lots of members come along to pin quilts ready for quilting, match backing and binding to tops as well as quilting tops and sewing quilt kits. It was a very productive day as well as a happy social get-to-gether . Not much might be done tonight but I will keep working on quilting and sorting out my sewing room tomorrow .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 This first QAYG quilt was made from the blocks that the lovely Delys R., from Western Australia, made. I added another 5 blocks so that it would be a larger quilt for a male. I love using dark joining pieces as it gives it a stained glass effect.

 This QAYG quilt also went together quickly thanks to my lovely supporters who make the QAYG blocks for me.

 This top was made by members of my quilting group, AQA, and I quilted it for our Gift Quilt Program.  Noticing that many members didn't bring hand sewing to meetings, I suggested that we provide packs of 1 inch hexagons so those who wish to can stitch during the meetings. They have been very popular and many are taken home to be stitched as well, giving some variety to the quilts we're producing.

 Another AQA top that I quilted this week for our Gift Quilt Program.

I would have liked to finish more quilts but I also wanted to organise my fabric so I spent 3 days sorting fabric into tubs according to colour. I have separate tubs for repro fabric, orphan blocks and panels and now I will find it much quicker to access the fabric I need when looking for fabric suitable for borders, binding and to make blocks.
    Baby Aidan had a night in hospital with uncontrollable vomiting which the paediatrician thought was due to a cow's milk protein allergy. We will be baby sitting both boys overnight next weekend when their parents have a wedding to attend and they tried him with a formula feed.  He was very unwell and it was such a relief when he recovered and there will be lots of pumping happening in the coming week so we can give him breast milk.  Thankfully we're almost over the lack of sleep too as he went to the hospital very late at night, while I went over to look after Jake.       
   The last photo shows the beginning of a new quilt (yes I know I'm supposed to be working on UFOs) which I started when I found that I have so many thin string pieces of fabric. Yes I could throw them out but they all cost money and they are still useful for a scrappy quilt. I'm throwing out anything narrower than 1 inch and these blocks are 4.5 x 8.5 inches with 1.5 inch black strips along the edges. By alternating the blocks it's  a great way to use up lots of smaller scraps. I have a large tub of scraps to work through and will try to work on the blocks regularly to empty the tub.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Many Thanks Again Delys.

 Yesterday a large parcel arrived again from Delys R. in Western Australia and it was stacked full of goodies to donate. Delys has been very busy making QAYG blocks again and sent 30 for males and 35 for females.

 Last night I put together the QAYG male blocks by adding 5 more that I had on hand as I wanted to make a larger quilt for a male patient at Peter Mac . Having these blocks donated gifts me hours of time to get more quilts finished for donation, so a very big thank you Delys.

 Delys also sent these lovely pieces of fabric and 4 knitted beanies .

There were also fabric strips included which can be used for bags or quilts.
Thank you so much for your continued support of my quilt projects,  Delys. You really have made a difference to the needy.
Hugs , Jan Mac 

UFO Monday - 28th UFO Finish.

 I'm loving getting some more UFOs finished and this is the 28th for the year. I actually had to deconstruct it first and then remake it. This quilt started as 2 very small coverlets which were donated to AQA Gift Quilt Program . They were too small to be useful so I took the blocks apart and then re-stitched them, using alternate plain cream blocks.

I then had to make another 4 nine patch blocks to make it large enough and I found enough 2 inch squares in my stash. Now it's large enough for a donation quilt and will be donated to Peter Mac.
     The temptation to start something new is growing so I put together a couple of QAYG quilts last week and another today, but I will keep working on more UFOs for the rest of the year too. They are all being donated so Peter Mac will benefit too.
Wow- 28 for the year!! Very happy with that.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 A couple of child free days meant more finishes this week. My love affair with QAYG blocks continues with 2 finished quilts from these donated QAYG blocks.

 I love how the use of different colored fabric to join the blocks helps to make each one unique.

 This was another donated top which I finally quilted this week.

 This cot quilt was another one I quilted for AQA.

 The iSpy quilt top was another made by AQA members and will go to a child in foster care.

I must have been rushing to take the last photo, hence the thumb. Lol. This was another top I quilted for AQA. I quilt 100 a year for the Gift Quilt Program for AQA and it's a pleasure to see so many different fabrics while I'm quilting.
  That makes 6 quilts finished this week so it's been a very productive week. I need a couple more finishes and then I will drop the quilts off to Peter Mac.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Vic Quilter's Spring Gathering - Alexandra.

 Now that I have rejoined Vic Quilters and I don't have the social interaction of going to work, I'm making a conscious effort to got to more quilter's gatherings. I was so pleased that I made the drive of an hour and a half to Alexandra which is a lovely little town set amongst rolling green hills. It was a beautiful spring day and Alexandra Quilters had gone to so much trouble to make our visit special.

 The hall was decorated with hanging quilts , the tables had beautifully embroidered tablecloths and lovely flowers were in evidence everywhere. We were even spoilt with a goody bag of items made by their members.

 We were entertained by two guest speakers, Maree St Clair Quilts  and Jen Kingwell of Amitie Textiles. Maree shared some of her fabulous antique quilts from the 1930s and we were fortunate to be able to see their detail up close . Jen shared her fabulous modern quilts and they were good choices for speakers as their styles are very different.

 Beautiful hand quilting was seen on this 1930s beauty.

 Mariya Waters has designed and made this incredible quilt which will be the raffle quilt for Vic Quilters in the coming year.  Tickets will be available at AQC in April. Wouldn't you love to win this treasure.

 There was also this fabulous award winning Insanity quilt on display.

The quilting was fabulous and it was wonderful to see it up close. Asking who the quilter was, and finding that she was in attendance, I introduced myself and found that, as I  suspected , she is a member of my Facebook Insanity Quilt group. It was lovely to meet Marlene and take some photos.
   It was a lovely day catching up with old acquaintances and making new connections, while some shopping at the pop up shops also occurred .what couod be better - talking quilts with like-minded people and shopping for new patterns and templates to try.
   It's back to the swwing machine today after a rejuvenating day in the country.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Feast.

 As I tidy my sewing room I'm uncovering more and more UFOs so I can see that I will be working on UFOs for some time. Some are mine and some have been donated. Tye first one was an online hexie stitch-along and I only made 2 blocks. The first has been finished as a cot quilt and I'm adding borders to make this a lap quilt to donate. I keep getting distracted while I'm looking for border fabrics and I find others which are easier to finish.

 This set of blocks was from 2 tiny quilts that I deconstructed as they were too small for use. They had similar fabrics so I'm piecing them with alternate cream squares and it will make one larger quilt.

 I found this donated Log Cabin kit amongst the UFOs and thought it would make a great leader/ender project but when I unpacked it I found all if the light pieces for thd blocks were pre-cut but there were only 3 strips of dark fabric and no borders. The donor probably hadn't cut the dark strips and added it back to her stash. I've started piecing one block and will look for suitable dark fabric in my stash so I can finish the top. There are supposed to be 70 blocks using 1 and 1/2 inch strips and there are 8 blocks already made by the donor. It will be a lovely quilt for a male patient at Peter Mac when it's finished .

 I also found these blocks and pieces which need to be finished and I will look for mire fabric which will co-ordinate with them so I can make a larger quilt to donate.

These UFOs should keep me busy for a while, in between quilting more donated tops so I will try to make the most of my time and I have finished 6 already this week so I will have some photos to share at the weekend.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Many Thanks Marg H, Jennie J, and Lyn B.

 Marg H. from Melbourne is one of my blog readers as well as being an expert knitter. She has very generously made and donated these items and she also enlisted the help
of her friends Jenny J. and Lyn B. to make more items  to go to the Peter Mac auxiliary shop and beanies for New Guinea.
     Marg has been on a mission with her knitting needles and has made all of these baby items in the past couple of months. These will all go to Peter Mac for sale in their auxillary shop and will help to raise much needed funds.

These lovely beanies were made by Marg's friend, Jennie J. and will be going to the New Guinea highlands for the children. Access to warm garments is very limited there and the photos of the children wearing beanies from our last shipment were inspirational and I have another shipment nearly ready to go.

Another of Marg's lovely friends, Lyn B. donated the lovely hand made Christmas decorations and items for sale by Peter Mac auxiliary shop too.

 Marg also donated 8 rolls of batting which is a wonderful gift and will be used very quickly for more donation quilts.

Three large spools of thread and some decorative buttons completed the large number of donations and all are very gratefully received for my ongoing quilt and humanitarian projects.
  A simple thank you doesn't seem enough for such generous donations of your time, skills, wool and sewing supplies ladies, but they will make such a difference to so many lives. Many thanks to you all for your generosity and support.
     Yesterday was a childfree day so the sewing machine was working hard and I have more finishes to share soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac