Weekly Catch Up.

 A busy week again but I did get 4 quilts finished for donation. The first 3 are donated tops that I have quilted and these will go to Anglicare for kids at Christmas .

 The last quilt was made by a member of my quilting group , AQA, and I only had to add borders and quilt it. It's quite dark coloured fabric but the lighter border fabric did give it a lift and it will be going to Odyssey House .
   
We had a couple of days away babysitting the boys while their parents went to a wedding.  It was a busy time with not much sleep so it's good to be home again and back to normal, much as we love spending time with the boys.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

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