Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Today's Deliveries.

Today I  visited Backpacks 4 Vic Kids to deliver a car load of items. We donated 100 teddies in custom made jumpers,  10 quilts, 25 hand knits,  25 beanies, 4 baby's blankets,  54 drawstring bags,  237 soap pouches, 20 pair of booties, 1 large backpack, toiletries,  stationery, a large bag of soft toys, and baby wraps.
We also delivered 48 items from Uniforms 4 Kids Victoria,  consisting of 4 baby's bibs,18 pencil cases, 8 pair of shorts, 3 skirts,  1 dress, 1 baby care bag, 12 bucket hats and 1 shirt.
The organisation was very surprised to see the  lovely creations made from obsolete uniforms from Ambulance Victoria and lots of children in need will soon have some basic necessities to  brighten their lives.
Many thanks for your generous support. 
Hugs, Jan Mac xx 

 

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Lots To Tell.

Lots of donations have arrived again this week, starting with an incredible 43 pair of socks for newborns beautifully knitted by Marg Coulthard. 
I've been busy sorting,  counting and packing donations for delivery as well as finishing the next 5 donated quilt tops  and making Santa Sacks,  drawstring bags and soap pouches. 




Vicki Anceschi has very generously donated 80 soap pouches,  27 Santa Sacks,  3 quilt tops with backing , 15 drawstring bags and 2 lovely quilts. 

Jill Khong has been very busy knitting custom made jumpers for 45 teddies donations by members as well as some she's purchased. 
Cheryl Lowe from NSW has donated the fabulous quilt for our flood quilt drive for Rochester and it will be very much appreciated. 
Cathy Bruton and the Inverloch Chatty Crafters have been busy sewing and have donated the beautiful hexagon quilt,  11 quilt tops and backing, 2 crocheted blankets,  5 tote bags, 27 soap pouches, 14 drawstring bags,  2 cute skirts, 4 pair of pyjamas,  6 pair of pyjama pants, 11 pair of track pants and 6 lovely windcheaters.




 Many thanks everyone for your generous donations and ongoing support. 

Hugs, Jan Mac xx 

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Overwhelming and Heartfelt Messages of Thanks.

We've received some lovely thank you emails and it's lovely to see how much your quilt donations mean to people in need of a warm hug. Some of these details from Eastern Palliative Care can be quite confronting so tissues might be needed after reading their heartfelt messages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Quilter
Thank you so much for the beautiful quilts sent to Rochester after the October 22 floods.
Our family is the lucky (and very thankful) recipient of a double-bed and a single bed quilt made by Dawn Hird.
I would very much appreciate if you could extend our thanks to Dawn. It is a most generous gesture and we will treasure our Comfort Quilts.
Kind regards
Janet W. & family
Rochester
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lovely email which was sent to Waverley Patchworkers and forwarded to us as we are collaborating to deliver the quilts to Rochester.
Good afternoon quilters and especially Val Dale.
My grandson Locky received a most amazing quilt for a teenage boy. He has had a pretty rough time with their rental house unrepairable, losing most of his things in the flood (who would have thought it would go so high) and having to leave our community to live 45 minutes away. He has started at a new school but is now coping well. They have decided not to return to Rochester to live.
When I gave him his new quilt last night and the story behind it by special people he was absolutely thrilled. We spent over half an hour looking at the different fabrics, their textures and the optical illusions, what a work of art. He loves fishing and the fish were a real hit. Val you must have known. ❤️
We talked about heirlooms and he said this will be his.
Many thanks for being so thoughtful and making Locky’s day. He just loves it.
Heather D. (Nan)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Jan
Yesterday I received a beautiful quilt made by you. It was given to me by one of the Family Support Workers from Eastern Palliative Care. Such a lovely surprise and I love it and want to say a big thank you. It’s bound in yellow, such a happy colour and one I love.
Thanks for your generosity. I have it over a chair in my lounge so I can see it all the time.
Thank you again
Kate E.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A big thank you letter from Eastern Palliative Care which explains how much your gift of a quilt means to their clients and families.
Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you
I just wanted to share this with you. I did bring in a quilt for Margaret, actually for her loving grandson (19 mths old) who she has been grieving as she won’t be able to see him growing. As soon as she saw the quilt, it beamed her up, then she became very teary with gratitude. Her husband, Lee, was there. He kept silent, but I saw tears coming thru his cheek. It WAS such a beautiful moment.
I witnessed the power of love and care from our silent hug makers, truly amazing,
So…. Please send us more!!!
I met with outer client gentleman in Boronia today
we gifted him with a quilt.
He was so grateful and overwhelmed and became quite emotional at our kind gesture.
He sends a very big thankyou to EPC.
Female client in , BOX HILL NORTH, not in good state. However, as soon as I presented her the quilt,
I have noticed light on her face and put a smile. She was very pleased for the quilt).
Female client in MONT ALBERT NORTH
(She commented our volunteers are extremely generous and talented.)
A big thank you also for the crocheted rug that he was given,
he used it extensively in the last 3 months.
77 yr old gentleman who has had MND since 2009 loved his quilt.
I gave a quilt to a new client a lady in Blackburn.
She was very chuffed and grateful
📷
Card received from a 78 yr old lady in Templestowe.
Thank you for the lovely crocheted blanket you
have made and was given to me by one of the nurses.
It certainly radiates colour fun and love.
Card received from 83 yr old lady in Mooroolbark
I would like to give a big thank you to all the palliative care vols
who produce their lovely products.
Especially for the gift of the rug which matches the furniture so well.
One of nurses came by to say that the quilts taken out for client ( for her 3 month old and 2 year old and toys) a quilt for outer client lady, were both met with tears.
They were both so grateful.
I gave a lovely patchwork quilt to the above clients wife/dau today.
His grand daughter grabbed it in delight and took it straight in to show
Her Grandfather and put it on his bed. He has Alzheimer’s was very pleased with it
Quilt taken out for a young man who is on the program
and gave it to his mum who was delighted and loved the cars on the quilt.She will treasure this after he dies.
I went out to see the client and his family today –
they have been on the program for awhile and have 2 young children. I ended up taking a small quilt for each of them (4 family members) as they have had a rough trot.
They were so appreciate of it. The client chose a bright red number that he instantly put across his knees –he was about to have a nap on the couch.
The two kids were absolutely thrilled and got to pick the ones
they wanted, they were running around the house wrapped up in their quilts like little quilt burritos and excited for the school holidays.
His wife was hesitant at first as she felt it was too much to take another, but then agreed to take the last one and was very thankful.
Everyone really loved the colours of the quilts and had difficulty
choosing because they were so lovely. I think it made their day!
Hi there,
Lovely story to share with your team.
Gentleman was our client and died in 2021. His wife is now in our book.
We brought two rugs for them during his admission. Here is a comment by their son.
“As for the Rugs, they have been well used every day, mum insists on having one on and complains if her feet aren’t covered.
Let the volunteers know that their work has made a great impact on our family and is very much appreciated.”
Hug Makers – our amazing silent troops!!
📷
I provided a nice brown coloured quilt today to a new client, in Bullen. He and his wife loved it.






 





Friday, April 21, 2023

More Quilts For Rochester.

Jo-anne Starr very generously donated 2 of her fabulous quilts for our flood quilt drive for Rochester and they will be so loved for their warmth and beauty.
Alice Belfrage and Jayne Alexander donated the last 2 lovely quilts for Rochester.

It's so lovely to see quilters supporting communtities affected by the recent floods.

Hugs, Jan MacXX
 

Many Thanks Bendigo and District Quilters

The very generous quilters of Bendigo and District have donated another 20 children's quilts for the Rochester flood quilt drive. Mary Anne Rooney very kindly delivered them for us.



















Hugs, Jan Mac xx


 

Thursday, April 20, 2023

What A Week.

I took 4 days off to attend the Australasian Quilters Connvention and enjoyed a lovely time catching up with new and old friends.  I took a modern quilt class with Jemima Flendt from WA and a micro foundation piecing quilt of 12 inch square with Kumiko Frydl from Japan/US. Both tutors were excellent and I really enjoyed their classes. I finished the modern quilt top of equilateral triangles and it will soon be quilted for donation. 
Lots of donations arrived while I was away and I am just catching up with everything now. Lyn Cox donated 19 cute soft toys and pre-washed them ready for donation. 
Maia and Maret Butler from NSW are skilled knitters and have sent 2 large boxes containing 5 baby's blankets,  2 beanies, 1 knitted baby's dress, 12 beautifully knitted children's jumpers/cardigans and a beautifully embroidered quilt which just needs completion, and some yarn.



Pam Knight is also a skilled knitters who has sent 19 beautifully knitted pair of socks, 5 beanies and 3 pair of fingerless gloves so there will soon be lots of warm children. 
Maxine Staley's lovely mother,  Audrey Stritch from Qld,  has beautifully knitted 10 baby beanies, 3 adult beanies,  6 pair of knitted sock/slippers  and 4 pair of fingerless gloves. 
Patty McNamara has donated 13 cute teddies, 1 Barbie doll, a knitted beanie and vest,  a bag of toiletries,  a Christmas stocking,  a baby wrap and some orphan blocks. 

There was an anonymous donation of a small quilt,  2 cot sizedbackings and batting,  a pair of shorts, a tote bag, 2 purses and a kitchen hand towel.

Wendy Carter has donated another 5 beautiful quilts. 




I was invited to be a guest speaker for Essendon Quilters yesterday and they donated 3 beautiful quilts. 


Dymphne Anderson donated another 5 teddies as well as 2 knitted baby jackets,  1 beanie and 5 pair of knitted booties. 
Wendy Yates from the Murray Mallee Quilters has donated another 6 beautiful quilts. 





Annette Pearce has donated a large bag of batting off cuts for QAYG blocks. 
Margaret Brown has donated 3 bags of soft toys and her group, Nicola Court Quilters,  have been busy sewing and have made 3 burp cloths,  77 soap pouches,  48 bibs, 40 drawstring bags,  36 knitted squares,  2 bags of fibre filling,  a bag of wool and some knit fabric for pyjamas. 
Julie Robinson from Tasmania has donated 2 beautifully knitted baby jackets as well as a premmie jackets and booties. 
Thank you all so much for your generous and ongoing support  everyone.
Hugs, Jan Mac xx