A Quiet Easter Week.

 Now that we are in isolation at home we have decided to take life at a slower pace. Like everyone else, we're getting our fresh air and exercise by working in the garden, chatting to family on Face time, and trying new recipes. I'm having lots of nanna naps too which is very unusual but I guess I must need them or I wouldn't be sleeping.
     Rather than spending lots of hours at the sewing machine, I am doing more hand work. These lovely applique blocks are from a BOM donated to Oz Comfort Quilts and I am enjoying some slow stitchinb by working on them.

 This is the third block finished and the first 3 blocks had been partially finished, but now the rest I neec to work on from scratch.

 We're missing the boys cuddles but Jake gives us lots of kisses over the phone. One good thing from this isolation is that both of his parents are working from home and enjoying the extra time they have together, especially without having to travel to work. The boys are loving their extra family time too and we're loving the short videos they send of Jake speaking about missing us. I'm taking the time to knit a jumper each for the boys and have almost finished Aidan's.

 Helen Stewart from Vic sent another parcel of 3 lovely tops as well as backing and binding for each one.  Thank youso much for your support.
      We've been approved to buy groceries online now which is a relief and we had a quiet Easter but spent lots of time talking to family via the phone and Face Time. I'm still quilting at least one quilt most days and will share some finishes soon.
       I hope that you're all staying safe and enjoying some quiet time to read or stitch and perhaps finishing up some UFOs.

I think I will sort through the tub or orphan blocks again and match them up to make more tops. Swapping between hand stitching, machine sewing, crochet and knitting ensures that I don't get bored and it limits over usage of the same muscle groups. I guess this is what retirement feels like!! Something I hadn't experienced until now.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Unusual Events and Donations.

 It's been an unusual week with Ray having an ambulance trip to hospital late Tuesday night with a suspected heart attack. After an anxious few hours, the initial tests were clear and further tests were ordered for the next day. He's fine now but still having investigations to determine the cause of such severe pain.
      Earlier tgat evening Wendy Snook dropped off some donations, including the lovely child's quilt shown above.

 Wendy also donated 4 tops, a backing and binding which will make more beautiful quilts to donate.

 She also donated a large pack of batting  and 5 scrub hats.

 Kate Scarletti (Vic) donated 7 Dr's gowns which was a great result.

 Lauren Sankey (Qld) donated 3 sets of blocks to make more lovely quilts.

 Sally Swan (Vic) donated another 3 gowns, 5 masks and 2 hats.

 Julie Wishart (Vic) has been very busy making masks and sent 11 in fun fabrics.

 Ann Bacon (Vic) donated a scrub hat and 4 masks.

 Wilma Checkley (Vic) donated 4 gowns, 8 nasks and 2 scrub hats.

 Kim Court from Qld donated 2 panels of kids fabric.

Lesley Lowe in Vic,  a long time supporter of Oz Comfort Quilts,  donated a very large bag of I Spy blocks as well as a large parcel of fabric for backings of gowns. Carleen Richardson from Tasmania sent a another large parcel of sheeting / backings.

Thankfully Ray is Ok at the moment and hopefully we are able to find the cause of his pain and possible management. In the meantime we are taking a slower pace at the moment and trying to get more rest.
 I hope you're all well and enjoying some stitching time.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Busy Quilting Tops.

 There's a large pile of donated tops to finish for the Oz Comfort Quilts bushfire quilt appeal and I am gradually going to work my way through them. Del Soden from NSW made the first beautiful I Spy kid's top.

 Kris Forbes from New Zealand made the second beautiful top.

 The QAYG  blocks were donated by various quilters and they always make great quilts for all different age groups.

 The last top was made by a member of my quilting group,  AQA,  and will be donated to Peter Mac or Anglicare.

I also spent today cutting batting and backings for 10 quilts as the very generous Sharon Siacci of Beyond Meander Quilting has offered to quilt more tops for Oz Comfort Quilts bushfire quilt appeal and she does a fabulous job.
    The weather is cooling down now and I have decided to knit a jumper for each of the boys as well as looking for more UFOs to finish.  Social isolation isn't a problem when I have so many projects to work on, and our only negative is not being able to cuddle our grandsons, but safety of the community is a priority so it's not hard to do. In the meantime I think I will change it up a bit so I don't get sick of working on the same thing all the time.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

More Quilt Donations.

Before we put the finished Oz Comfort Quilts into storage I received another 10 from the Bendigo and District Quilters. They donated 63 and I have been receiving them from Mary Anne Rooney and Susan Iacuone as Susan traveled to Melbourne.

These 10 beautiful quilts will be such lovely comfort gifts when we can finally start distribution again.

I also received 25 quilts from my quilting group, AQA, and there wasn't much time for photos as we were trying to beat the oncoming rain and the possibility of travel lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus. Isn't this Nemo quilt a great idea. It possibly started as a panel.

I'm very grateful that a very kind friend was able to arrange storage for the quilts while we were waiting to distribute them. Little did we know that the virus impact would put a complete hold on any travel and distribution, so we are very grateful that we don;t have to live in a Quilt Factory for months.
   In the meantime, we'll now have room to store those quilts I am currently finishing off. As these restrictions are going to be ongoing for some time, I have listened to everyone's advice to slow down and take some time to work on projects other than quilting non stop. I would like to finish off more UFOs again so they might make another appearance if I can find them. I hope you're all enjoying some quiet "me" time as well so we will be energized when things return to normal.
Stay safe. Hugs, Jan Mac

Time For Slow Stitching .

 I've been very busy making gowns and masks for a major hospital to be used to help them retrain staff in time to deal with the expected increased impact on their resources by Covid-19 virus.  With help from some of  my Oz Comfort Quilts quilters, we made 15 gowns, 15 masks and 9 scrub hats in the last week. However, although we used the pattern they requested it appears that they have changed their mind about what they require. It's very disappointing when we put in so much time and fabric to make them at short notice but the stresses of working under pressure to get thjngs done quickly means that they didn'tmake a group decision about what they wanted. Initially the feedback was that they were very happy with them but the person in charge wants to try another style.
     The items we made won't be a waste as I have been asked to supply them by another group so we will pass them onto that group. I did suggest it might be a good idea to seek professionals as a factory in Sydney has been contracted to make scrubs for a hospital in Sydney. I was happy to help but would really prefer to be quilting.
     I have been feeling very tired so I have taken the last couple of days a bit more slowly and decided to spend some time slow stitching as spending so much time at the sewing machine was also causing a few aches and pains.
      A lovely lady in Qld, Linda Rother, very kindly donated 4 incomplete Blocks of the Month and 2 friends are finishing 2 of them and I have one to work on. These blocks have a mix of applique and some stitchery and I am enjoying the change of pace.  Linda had commenced 3 of the 12 blocks and I have finished up 2 of those.

The block below was finished apart from the stitchery.

The block above has been partially appliqued and I am working on that one now.

These blocks will be finished for the Oz Comfort Quilts bushfire quilt appeal and I will probably make 2 quilts for kids as the blocks are quite large.
    I hope you're all staying safe and enjoying working on finishing up some UFOs as well as getting excited by new projects.
     I'm going to try to slow down a bit, and I must need it, as I have been having nanna naps for the last couple of days.  So I will be busy quilting and also spend some quiet time stitching.
  Hugs, Jan Mac

The Quilt Factory Has Expanded.

 The escalating effects of Covid-19 virus means that we had to pause distributing the quilts for the Oz Comfort Quilts bushfire quilt appeal.  So we didn't continue living in a quilt factory,  there was a rush to box up all the quilts here and get them into storage. That happened on the weekend and we managed to move them before it rained and before the government put the State into lockdown.

 That was a lot of work but it was good to have it finished.  I have plenty of tops to quilt and will keep working on them so we will have plenty of quilts on hand when we can start distribution again.  We placed 363 quilts into storage and we have distributed 85 quilts in Corryong so far. Now that we have created space I will have room at home for those quilts I will be finishing now.

 As we were packing away the finished quilts I was contacted by a major Melbourne hospital and asked if we could provide them with 50 each of Drs gowns, masks and scrub hats,  as soon as possible,  so they could be used when training med students, anaethestists etc . They need 50 as they are starting to train and retrain medical staff to be available for a possible tsunami of Covid-19 virus patients needing intensive care and ventilation. The hospital provided a disposable gown which I used to draft a pattern.

 I also made a face mask to their directions.

So far, I have made 7 gowns and an AQA friend made 2 gowns, masks and scrub hats since Monday. The hospital has approved the gown and mask and I will keep making them and hope we can get them made quickly enough for their training program.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Donations From Australia, the US and the UK.

 Today's online quilt show has been brought to you by quilters here and also the US and UK. Robin Walker from Tasmania sent the lovely string pieced blocks which I backing with cuddly flannelette, also donated by Robin and the Fishbowler Sewists from Launceston Tasmania.

 This next beautiful top for a teenager was donated by Carol Egan, a long time supporter of Oz Comfort Quilts in the US.

 Rosemary Kreun and Tracey Leonard collaborated on the next 2 quilts, with Rosemary doing the piecing, and Tracey doing the quilting  on these lovely kid's quilts.

 Kerry Moore from WA has been a very generous supporter and she has sent this lovely boy's I Spy top which I bound with fabric donated by Petra McLennan from Moe, so it was a real collaboration of quilters.

 Linda Ashworth from the UK has also been a very generous supporter and she has sent these 2 beautiful tops as well as 15 lovely QAYG blocks.

 Kathleen Appleton from Vic has made a very generous financial donation and has also dropped off a large bag stuffed with these large amounts of fabric which will be great for backings.
    Thank you all so much for your very generous support.  I hope you are all taking care of yourselves and staying well. Things will improve and we will be able to distribute your beautiful quilts to the bushfire affected areas and after all the troubling times we're currently experiencing everywhere,  they will bring comfort to lots of people.
  Hugs, Jan Mac