QAYG Finishes and Another Donation.

i'm on a roll again with finishing off more quilts from donated QAYG blocks and they never disappoint.  DH has literally seen thousands of quilts and the QAYG ones are his favourite. Michelle from Vic donated the lovely blocks for the first 2 quilts and there are some great kid's prints in them.

Marie Lee and the Vic Quilters Association donated the smaller blocks for the third quilt and the maroon strips helps to blend them together nicely.

Marie Warden from NSW has sent another large parcel containing this beautiful collection of large QAYG blocks which will make another lovely quilt to donate. 

 I have more QAYG quilts in progress now so I should have more to share soon.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

Glorious Chaos and Thanks Barbara D.

Childcare centres were allowed to open here yesterday so we were thrilled to have these 2 precious boys spend the say with us after almost 3 months apart. Chaos reigned as they rediscovered their toys and tried to play with everything here. Aidan kept saying Nan Nan and Up, wanting lots of cuddles and Jake played with all his puzzles and wanted me to read all of his favourite books.

It was a lovely sunny spring day and we spent all afternoon in the backyard with Jake playing soccer and in the sand pit. Aidan joined us after his nap and he loved the water activity table and running around on the lawn. We all had a lovely day and they went home very happy after eating mandarins off our tree, and a bit wet but nicely worn out from play. We hope to do it again at the end of the week and get back into our routine again in the next week or so.

I also received a very large parcel again from Barbara Dawson (Vic) who donated 4 lovely quilt tops with fabric for backing and lots of lovely prepared bindings which will save me lots of time.

Thankfully the Covid numbers continue to decline and hopefully we can enjoy a bit more freedom soon.

  

 Hugs, Jan Mac 

More Finishes and Arrivals.

The first beautiful QAYG quilt was made from blocks donated by Marie Lee and several quilters who are members of Vic Quilters Association.  Using the same coloured joining strips makes them all work together nicely and it will bring comfort when it's distributed.

Lesley Lowe from Victoria donated several beautiful I Spy kid's tops and I've quilted one and plan on getting more finished soon.

Helen Page from Victoria also sent a large parcel of lovely quilt tops as well as lots of orphan blocks which will make more beautiful quilts to donate when I combine them with others I have on hand. 

Many thanks for your help everyone. 

Hugs, Jan Mac 
 

13th UFO Finish For 2020.

It's good to have another UFO finished for the year, although there are plenty more left to finish.  This one was a great project when I needed some hand stitching to do and I really enjoyed stitching the stars. A friend, Faye B., made the 4 patch blocks for me and it will be a great quilt for a male patient at Peter Mac. It's also good to empty another UFO tub and I plan on finishing a few more soon.

Thankfully the transmission numbers for the Covid-19 virus are falling and hopefully we will be able to see family again soon. In the meantime we face time a couple of times each week and I read The Wonky Donky book to Jake again and it's lovely to hear his giggles. He can even recite it to me and it helps us all still feel connected.

Stay safe everyone and enjiy some time stitching.

Hugs, Jan Mac 
 

QAYG Quilts Finished.

These fabulous QAYG blocks in checks were made and donated by Jo Butterfield from Vic, and it makes a great quilt for a male.

These lovely space themed QAYG blocks were donated by Michelle of Victoria and they make a great quilt for a young boy.

This last quilt was made from blocks donated by several quilters and they make a lovely bright quilt. I've enjoyed spending some time finishing off more quilts from donated QAYG blocks and have more to finish soon.

 I also knitted some booties to match the jacket and beanie that I had knitted recently, and this set will also be donated to St Kilda Mums for young mums and their children. I've also been in touch with Peter Mac and Anglicare and they're still unable to accept donations so I will keep quilting and look forward to the day when I can start clearing the cupboards of finushed quilts again.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

Many Thanks Lesley and Anne.

Lesley Lowe from Victoria has been a long time supporter of Oz Comfort Quilts and she has sent another large parcel containing 5 beautiful I Spy tops, backing, a Block of the Month which needs to be finished, orphan blocks and 2 lots of baby yarn.

The baby yarn will be perfect to be used for more baby garments for St Kilda Mums who also help those affected by domestic violence etc.

Anne Wilson from Vic has sent a fabulous large quilt top which will be a beautiful treasured gift quilt. I've been putting QAYG quilts together today and plan to quilt some of these beautiful I Spy tops in the next few days.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

 

Puddling Along and More Donations.

I've been working on my Poppies quilt blocks and have finished another and made progress with 3 more so the appliqued blocks are nearly finished now. I'm still busily knitting layette outfits of jacket, beanie and socks/booties for newborns for St Kilda Mums and have a few more beanies and socks to knit which will match jackets.

I think that more knitting has been happening in the evenings as we've been watching television programs which require more attention but I hope to get the stitched blocks finished soon so I can get  the pieced sections done and other quilt finished.

Maggie Gilbert from NSW has very generously donated 2 flannel layer cakes which will make a lovely warm quilt to donate.

Lynne Kempnich from Tasmania has very generously donated 2 lovely crocheted blankets as well as 2 unfinished tops.

We're still in lockdown and it was sad to hear that Jake was inconsolable during the week as he wanted to see us and play at our home. We face timed them and took photos of his sand pit and construction toys which made him happier as he knew that they were waiting for him. We're hoping to be able to care for them again in 3 weeks time which is something to look forward to.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

More Lovely Donations and Thank You Emails Arrive.

Lesley Lowe (Vic) is a long term supporter of Oz Comfort Quilts and she has very generously sent another 6 lovely I Spy kid's quilts with backings.

As well as multiple orphan blocks and fabric.

a UFO quilt and 7 more lovely beanies which will all be every welcome.

Carleen Richardson and Lesley Rosevears from Tasmania are also long term supporters of Oz Comfort Quilts, and they have very generously sent 3 QS quilt kits.

I've also received some more lovely emails of thanks for the quilts we've delivered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Jan,
 
Please accept my thanks for the quilt your sent to the Corryong College.

I work in the Stephanie Alexander program at the school and your quilt has given me the energy to go on since the fires and now COVID.

I appreciate how many hours you have taken to sew the quilt and I will always treasure it.

Thanks Again, your sincerely Kaye L.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Hello Sue, 
My Name is Anna,  I wanted to send you an email and thank you for making the beautiful quilt I am sitting under right now. 

My family and I live in Corryong, Victoria. On the 31st of December 2019 the fires ripped through out area. 
My family have two farms one either side of the town it’s self. The fires burnt out majority of both properties. Thanks to the hard work and huge effort put in by my partner, his family and their neighbours they did not loose the house. Nor did any of our neighbours loose theirs or the dairy. However pretty much all of the grass was gone.
We lost a beautiful old heritage building on our property (it was called the old Wabba Pub) But the cattle were all saved.  We were definitely some of the lucky ones though. 

My daughter Hadley was 5weeks old at the time we had to evacuate with little to know communication with Jayden (my partner) and the fires burning back towards us again. 
Your quilt now lives on her bed (most of the time) and is a beautiful reminder that even though there was so much devastation at the time so much beauty has come from it. 

We love you quilt and thought you might like to know where it has ended up and hear our story. 

Thank you 
Kindest regards 
Anna 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A very sincere thank you to everyone who has supported our quilt drive.

Hugs, Jan Mac

12th UFO Finish and UFO Progress

I found this lovely UFO top in a bag of scraps donated from Jo B.'s estate and it was almost finished and only needed the fused hearts around the border to be machine appliqued down. That took less time than it took to find fabric and make a backing so it was time to get it finished and ready for donation to a patient at Peter Mac. Jo B. had discussed where she would like her finished quilts to be donated, and Peter Mac was one of the organizations she was happy to support.

I'm also making progress with some of her other UFOs I'm finishing and this pile of braid strips are now a top and I just need to add a border, which should be done soon.

I also found this cross stitch piece and I have now finished it. I was thinking of making a cushion cover, or maybe use it in a quilt,  for Peter Mac. 

I found this strip of blocks as well as some finished blocks,  large green triangles,  and lots of pieces to make more blocks. 

I don't have a pattern for this one so will probably use alternate plain blocks to make it large enough for an adult quilt. The blocks measure to 5 inches so many will be needed for a larger quilt. I will piece the remaining pieces and then see how many I have altogether.

Blogger has changed it's format and I am not a fan as it isn't as user friendly. Hopefully they will sort out the problems as it's taking me ages to post photos and writing and it loses them very easily.

    The sun was out today, we face timed the family and we're a day closer to being out of lockdown so I am happy with that.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

 

Many Thanks To The Coleambally Quilters.

The Coleambally Quilters (NSW) are long term supporters of Oz Comfort Quilts quilt drives and they have been very generous with their donations again. Their quilters have sent an incredible 16 quilts, most of them very large, as well as a large box of QAYG blocks, 5 tops and backing fabric as well as a lovely crocheted blanket.

Our Stage 4 lockdown for Melbourne has been extended for another 2 weeks and it seems likely that travel restrictions may not be lifted until the end of the year, so we will distribute the quilts again when it's possible.  These beautiful quilts will be very welcome when we can finally visit the communities affected by the bushfires. 

What a strange year we're experiencing. We're hoping to be able to care for our grandsons again in 5 weeks time when the schools reopen and our DD returns to work. I think we're all experiencing isolation fatigue when we have plenty of time to work on projects but motivation tends to wax and wane. I have been finishing off donated UFOs and will also get back to my own stitching,  as well as making backings for donated tops.

I'm still making up quilt kits as well so there is still plenty to keep me busy. Thankfully we're all well and that will gave to be enough for now.

Hugs, Jan Mac