Back from Retreat

I had a wonderful time at the Southern Cross Quilters Retreat in South Australia. We stayed in Glenelg and it was great fun to catch up old friends and make new ones.
We talked and laughed a lot and also worked hard on some quilts for the bushfire appeal. I've loaded lots of photos on the other blog to show the quilts I've received over the past few weeks. I still have about 100 to photograph and will add them soon. Yesterday I also made a QS quilt from QAYG blocks and have finished off 4 others as well. Time to get back to the sewing machine as there have been many requests for quilts. Thanks to all for your help and donations.

Quilt Delivery

Rhonda and I posed for a photo outside one of the schools we visited when we delivered quilts on Fri 3rd of April. Since then it's been a busy time with paid work and the quilting.
I also have received more wonderful donations and they will be acknowledged on my other blog at oz comfort quilts.
Tomorrow I'm off to a SCQ Retreat in Adelaide and won't be back until Tuesday evening. Then the next day we're off to Melbourne to see DH's specialist to discuss treatment options.
We went camping with a group of friends over Easter and it was great to relax and have fun before I came back to night shift again.
I'll post more when I return from my retreat where I plan to chat and laugh with as many people as I can, as well as making more quilts for the bush fire appeal. Take care all.
Hugs Jan Mac

180 Quilts

Here's the car packed full with quilts before we set off for Kinglake. I managed to get 180 quilts in and they have all gone to good homes so now we're back to sewing and quilting madly to get the next lot done so we can spread some more cheer to the bush fire affected areas. You could see the strain the people are under as they try to rebuild their communities and hopefully the quilts have brought some comfort. The kids were very happy to hug a quilt and there were smiles on all their faces as they made their way home. The mums who came to pick them up from school were also happy to see the kids' smiles and they thanked us too. Now we want to get more quilts out to the older kids and parents and older members of those communities.
On a different note, DH's biopsy result wasn't what we'd hoped for and we are now waiting for more results so we can discuss treatment options. Seeing the kids at Kinglake was a life-affirming day for us as we focused on others.
Please keep us in your prayers as we face the challenges ahead. I have a quilter's convention to attend after Easter and I did plan to cancel going but he wants me to go off and catch up with my quilting friends. I've put everything into place with the Dr's appointments etc so we'll can't do any more until we hear from them.

The Wonderful World of Blog

I've just loaded photos of the donated quilts and finished tops and QAYG blocks which I've already assembled into quilts to donate. They are shown on my other blog at http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com
I can't believe how many very generous quilters from around the world have sent QAYG blocks to donate to the bush fire survivors.
So far I've received blocks from Iceland, Finland, Singapore, USA, UK, New Zealand and from all around Australia. Some of them have been made and donated by people who have never quilted before and the response has been amazing thanks to all of you lovely people passing on the word and directions to my blogs. The QAYG tutorial is in the Feb. part of this blog.
I think I may have started a new passion for a lot of people if what they tell me is true. So many have said that they never realized how easy it is to make a few blocks using the QAYG method and even if everyone only made 2 or 3 blocks, the number of quilts we can donate will be huge.
So a very big thank you to all who have "got the word out" and please keep the message going as we will need many more blocks to have enough quilts to donate to all those affected by the fires.
The photos shows some of the blocks waiting for assembling so I'd better get back to it.
Hugs and grateful thanks to all of you generous quilters.
Jan Mac

A Treasure Chest of Blocks

This huge box contains 385 QAYG blocks all made by Coral T. and her two craft groups at the Gold Coast. They have worked so hard and have made enough for 11 quilts. The other quilt shown is one I finished today and I also managed to finish one more and half another quilt.
Then I'm going to dive into this treasure trove and get busy finishing off more quilts for Kinglake people.
I have a busy week with night shift this week as well as DH having surgery for a biopsy tomorrow.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that it will be negative.
A very big thank you to Coral and all the other fabulous quilters who have made so many QAYG blocks for the bush fire quilt appeal at oz comfort quilts. We can all make a difference with a joint effort like this.
Hugs Jan Mac

Away Too Long

My computer's video card crashed so I was offline for most of the week. It was a nuisance but at least it gave me more time at the sewing machine. I've received some fabulous quilts, tops and blocks to be donated to the bush fire survivors and they will all be appreciated.
Thanks to my angel quilters who have donated binding and the QAYG blocks, I've been busy getting more quilts finished and still have a pile of blocks to use up.
Many thanks to all of you for all your beautiful fabric as well and for trusting me to finish off the tops and blocks and donate them on your behalf.
My post office staff can't believe how many parcels I've been getting and the maximum number has been 12 so far. I've posted the details on my other blog at http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com
Thank you for all your support and please spread my blogs details so that more can be reached as we still need more help.

QAYG quilts made so far

Thanks to all the donated QAYG blocks I've made 2 QS quilts and 9 single bed quilts as well as quilting a donated QS top which is not bad for a weeks work. I had used up nearly all the donated QAYG blocks and have just received more from Sunna Reyr in Iceland, Judith Hadley (USA) and Bev Dean (WA). I've only been able to make so many quilts so quickly because I had so many donated blocks as well as prepared binding strips made and donated. I've now got some more blocks to put together so I plan to get some more quilts made from them. I also spoke at a communtiy group last night and showed them hiw to make the blocks and hope they get enthused. I spoke at a craft group in Numurkah 2 weeks ago and the ladies have since made enough blocks for 2 quilts and are keen to make more. The beauty of the QAYG block is that non-quilters can make them with confidence and even if they only make a couple of blocks, I've been able to make a lot of quilts by combining all the donated blocks. It's been a fun project to get other people interested in ways to help both East timor and the bush fire survivors. These quilts will all go to Kinglake and I'll get more made for Timor when we get more given out for the bushfire areas. It's also been great to have a variety of blocks made specifically for boys, without pinks or florals, as I now have lots of quilts suitable for teen age boys and they can be hard to find for suitable quilts.
Many thanks to all of you for your help and sadly we still need a lot more quilts and QAYG blocks to have enough quilts for the people affected by the tragedy of the Victorian bushfires.