Night Duty, Quilts and a Wedding

Yes life rolls on faster than I can blog at the moment. We had a lovely family wedding to attend two weeks ago and it was a wonderful time for our family to get together and celebrate. I've also been on night duty which means sleeping is a priority but I've still managed to get more quilts finished.
I did manage to get 12 larges boxes sent off for a shipment to the people affected by the tsunami in Samoa which has cleared my stack of quilts somewhat. They have asked me for as many quilts and blankets as I can send for the areas devastated by earthquakes as well as the tsunami so I've been busy putting together the blankets from the knitted strips shown in my previous blog. I sent off 21 blankets to Samoa and 132 quilts. Luckily I had a lot of quilt tops made from simple squares, which a workmate had sewn together for me so I'm finishing off these to be shipped off for the tsunami and earthquake areas.

I also managed to make another trip down to Kinglake last week and delivered a carload and trailer load of 96 quilts, two sewing machines as well as the remaining sewing supplies and magazines that have been donated. A Kinglake church group is also collecting books for their community to borrow so I cleared out quite a few paperback novels which has helped with my downsizing efforts at home. I also delivered the last of the donated hexagon kits from Hexagons of Hope and the ladies are very happy to have some handwork to do.
I've sent off 305 quilts over the last month and I'm still getting more ready to ship off so I hope to be able to see the floor of our family room soon.
I'll try to get back into my blogging more often now so that you can see that all your generous donations are getting distributed.
Hugs Janmac

Quilts Donated

Another busy week of getting quilts and knitted blankets finished. I donated 4 large quilts to the local women's refuge and the manager said that they are the envy of the other refuges in the state. The quilts are given to the ladies as they leave their care as a type of graduation gift and they are treasured because it is the first new item they own.
I also packed 132 quilts and sent them to be shipped off to Samoa for the tsunami relief appeal. I also sent off 21 knitted blankets that I've finished from the donated strips of scarves, I've put another 7 together this week and plan to get them sent off ASAP as another shipment will be going overseas to areas badly affected by earthquakes.
I'm uploading more photos on the other blog at Oz Comfort Quilts to show the beautiful quilts that have been donated to the bush fire appeal.
Hugs Jan Mac

Natural Disaster Areas

I delivered 73 quilts, crocheted blankets, cloth shopping bags and rice bags last week to be shipped off to East Timor. I also picked up large boxes of donated knitted scarves from the entry in the World's Longest Scarf competition. The lady said that there is about 240 yds of scarves. I've started joining them together in strips of 5 to make blankets which are about 42' x 70". They vary in width and length but I've managed to sort them into lengths and colours. So far I've finished 12 and I think I have enough pieces to make 50 blankets.
I've also been asked to send as many quilts and blankets as I can to be shipped off to Samoa following their tusnami and to the earthquake affected areas in Indonesia. I'm getting at least 2 done a day so I'm hoping to get them finished quickly and given out to where they are needed. I feel blessed to have such a lovely donation of knitted scavres which I can turn into something so useful. They vary but are mostly at least 12" wide so too wide to be used as just scarves.
The disaster areas have affected so many people that it's good to be able to help in some small way. I'm still workign with quilts for the bush fire areas so life is busy.
Hugs Jan Mac

Back From a Break

We had a lovely time with friends on our recent trip to Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland. The first photo shows the highway which is the beach and we camped just behind the sand dunes so we could hear the waves at night.
We also saw many whales frolicking and splashing off the coast and bascially just relaxed.
It was good for my DH to take a break and feel like he's recovering too.
Since we've been home for a week I've been busy getting another shipment of good ready to go in a shipping container to Timor. We took 15 boxes down on Thursday with crochted blankets, warm clothes school supplies, rice bags, cloth shopping bags and quilts. Many of the items have been donated and the Timorese people really appreciate all the support.
I've also been busy getting more quilts finished and will post more photos ASAP.
Hugs Jan Mac

Busy Times and More Donations

So much for my blogging updates! As well as working night duty I've been busy with family illnesses. My Dad has lost half his vision in one eye so that involved a rush trip to Melbourne to The Eye and Ear Hospital. We were hoping it would be correctable with surgery but unfortunately there is nothing to be done so we came home again at 3am. Then I was up at 10am to drive back to Melbourne to look after my DD who had the flu. I've managed to finish off some quilts but no photos yet so I'll show you the beautiful queen sized quilt that a group from Henty (NSW) made for the bush fire survivors.

Juanita Eime organized the group and sent the photos which show how much fun they had while making this lovely quilt. They used Bonnie Hunter's (Quiltville) pattern.

Juanita wrote:"The quilt was displayed at the local school for a couple of days (they gave us free access to the school to use for our craft group to create the quilt) and then it will go on Sunday to our local church so that the members who contributed fabric and their time in the early stages can see the finished product, then will spend some time at our local craft shop that gave us the queen sized batting to put into the quilt, and then it will go on display at the local casserole luncheon. There are so many people who have been involved with this quilt and we thought that this would be the best way for most of them to get to see it before it goes off to it’s new family.

I’m excited. The quilt is scrappy, but is very lovingly made and has been an amazing community effort including contributions of sewing by a 9yr old girl (my daughter), artistic input to arrange the blocks from a 12yr old boy (who also had lots of fun with the sample sandwiches for the machine quilting workshop that I ran one night to teach the ladies how to use their ordinary sewing machine to quilt a block. He actually can machine quilt now!), and we have had contributions of fabric from a wide range of people and sewing from others. It has really brought people together, and has helped to take the focus of our small community away from the drought and focus on helping others in need. We’ve been surprised by how this design came together and actually all love the quilt ~ so it will be given with much love. There was one lady involved who has sewn most of her life, but this is her first quilt and she has been involved in the process from beginning to end. I am so pleased for her. It has taken our group 5 get togethers at various times. I’ve been coordinating the quilt, and studying full time externally this year and have 4 children (9,7,5,2) to chase after! Completing the quilt has been a wonderful way to unwind after my exams this past semester.

Anyway, I hope that you are excited as I am that you have another quilt coming your way."
As you can see, making quilts has brought many communities together to help the bush fire survivors and they love to read the stories about their quilts' history.
Thank you for all your many donations.
Hugs Jan mac

Over a Week

I can't believe that it's been over a week since I last posted here. The time is going quickly with work and family commitments as well as putting more quilts together.
I'm mainly working with the donated QAYG blocks and have been very surprised that so many of you have been able to find their blocks in the quilts that are finished. I've made so many that I often can't remember which ones I've done.
I received a lovely phone call yesterday from a lady at Kinglake who had received one of the quilts. She wanted you all to know that your generous donations have helped with their recovery.
I think I have almost reached all the people who are still living in the area when I deliver the last lot of quilts to one of the schools for the parents who lost their homes. Then it will be harder to reach those who have moved and won't be returning to the area. I'm relying on hearing about them from other community members so we can get the quilts out to those who still need them.
On a family note, I did have a chuckle last night as our DS was talking about starting a vegetable garden and growing the vegetables that he and his housemates enjoy eating. He also loves using lemons in a lot of his cooking and suggested that he grow a lemon tree in a pot so he could take it with him if he moves. He didn't want to commit to waiting a few years until it bears fruit, so I suggested that he not get a pet if he thinks a lemon tree is too big a commitment.
I think it's a generational thing and I'm sure that many of you can relate.
Hugs until next time. Jan Mac

Another 14 Quilts

I posted off another 14 quilts last week as well as more knitted beanies that had just arrived. I know the people will really appreciate them as they are still in a state of shock in some ways and are not always able to make decisions about what they need. You can still see the effects of post- traumatic stress and some are becoming worried about facing another summer of bush fires and they can even tell you how long before summer is here again.
I've been busy with extra shifts at work again thanks to the flu season and have been putting quilts together in any spare moments.
Just after our last trip to deliver quilts we heard about many more families who haven't received quilts yet so I am getting more ready for another delivery ASAP.
Many thanks for all your help and donations.
Hugs Jan Mac