Generosity of Quilters

I received more donations of knitted garments and 8 QAYG blocks from Bev Dean (WA) as well as more finished quilts (shown on my other blog) from the Kyvalley and Girgarre Pathworkers (Vic) as well as a lovely scarf and knitted beanie and more beautiful knitting yarn. I knitted 2 scarves over the last two days and the new yarn is knitting up beautifully. I'll show more photos soon and I also have enough squares for a crocheted blanket ready to piece them together. I also received another parcel from Helen Evans (Vic) with a quilt top, some orphan blocks as well as 12 QAYG blocks.
All of these donations will be on their way to warm people who have lost their homes to floods. My thoughts and prayers are also with the people who lost their lives in the tornadoes in the US. It seems like this year has taken a heavy toll with all the natural disasters and I pray that no more will follow.
It was lovely to watch the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and it was so nice to have some positive news to watch while I worked on my knitting.
Tonight I decided to take a break from my donation works and I've been doing some hand-piecing for a quilt I'd like to finish for me. I would love to have it finished in time to enter it in my state exhibition in July this year. I've never entered a quilt and the donation quilts always take the majority of my time but I decided that entering one of my quilts was on my "bucket list" so maybe this year should be the year that I actually do it. I know that every year I will always be busy making quilts to donate so I decided that I need to make time to finish one of my UFOs. It involves lots of hand work but if it's not done in time for this year there's always next year.
I'm going to set myself a half day a week to work on it and see how much I can achieve, while still finishing off a lot of comfort quilts.
Hugs Jan Mac

Comings and Goings

Today was another busy day with 35 quilts going to the flooded area of Rochester in Victoria. I've been very lucky to have the help of Lesley Lowe from Kyabram and she has been bringing over donated quilts and tops from the Kyvalley and Girgarre Patchworkers and then taking finished quilts back to Rochester for distribution. Thanks to all the wonderful work and support from you all we have managed to donate 241 quilts so far this year and many more will be ready to send off very soon.
Today I received 3 quilts from two different groups in Tasmania and the quilts are shown on my other blog.
I also received a parcel from Helen Evans (Vic) with more QAYG blocks and fabric, as well as a parcel from Bev Dean (WA) who also sent 14 QAYG blocks and a baby sweater.
Jo-Anne Dick (Tas) also sent a lovely quilt as well as 2 knitted hats and 4 fabulous scarves which will all be so appreciated as the cold weather is certainly here at night time. I am enjoying our sunny days but when the cold night air comes I start coughing again so I'm spending the days sewing and not talking!
Hopefully I'll shake this cough off soon!
In the meantime there's more quilts to finish.
Stay well and thanks for all your help.
Hugs, Jan Mac

We Took a Break

More wonderful donations have arrived from around the world and they are so welcome as it makes it much easier to donate so many quilts where needed. Fran Williams (Tas) sent 3 sets of binding which will be a big help for getting more QAYG quilts finished.
Di Jobbins and the St Marks Darling Point Quilters (NSW) sent another 2 parcels with 36 beautiful QAYG blocks and they have been very busy with supporting this quilt appeal.
Delys Rogers (WA) sent another 2 large parcels with a baby quilt UFO, 3 scarves, a blanket, orphan blocks, fabric, knitting wool and 9 QAYG blocks which will all help warm a lot of people in need.
Irene Baldock and the Friendship Quilters of Kent (UK) also sent a large parcel containing 43 fabulous QAYG blocks as well as fabric strips.
Elizabeth Powell (ACT) sent 11 beautiful QAYG blocks as well as binding strips and Cat Brown (NZ) sent a large parcel of a set of blocks, orphan blocks and a wall hanging which I will re-fashion into a quilt top.
Kaite Matilda (NSW) sent a lovely bag filled with knitting yarn suitable for crocheted blankets for the homeless, and for beanies and the bag will be a wonderful gift for them to use to store their blanket.
Helen Evans (Vic) sent 3 large parcels of fabric and blocks which will help to make more quilts to donate.











We went camping in the Victorian high country over Easter, as it's our favourite place and although the days were lovely and sunny the nights were very, very cold. Consequently I still have the head cold and plan to take it easy this week until I get over it. I do however plan to finish off some more quilts as well as knitting the scarves and crocheting blankets that I've been working on. I'm looking forward to being able to sleep through the night again without waking with coughing fits. At least we're home again where we are warm and dry and it does remind us that others are not so lucky thanks to recent earthquakes and the floods.
Hugs, Jan Mac

What Was I Thinking?

Sorry that I've been missing for the past few days. I had a wonderful time at the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) in Melbourne and took 2 day classes with Gloria Loughman and Margaret McDonald. When I got home Monday night I spent the next two days in bed with a case of the flu.
I'm taking it easy and as I couldn't even sew or quilt my DH knew that I was feeling very unwell. LOL. We were supposed to be going camping with friends today and staying away for Easter but are hoping I'll feel well enough to go tomorrow.
As for the AQC it was lovely attending classes, shopping as well as viewing all the quilts on display.
My classes with Margaret McDonald were on a Feathered Star quilt and one she calls "Whirling Twirling". They are both her designs and her instructions and notes are excellent. My blog title says it all- What was I thinking!! as I have decided to piece these blocks by hand. The diamonds are 3/4" in size and I found it quite quick to hand piece them. I thought it would be a good project to work on while traveling. I'll show my progress as it occurs and I have enjoyed the quiet time of hand sewing. I feel my body relax and just enjoy the moment. I can recommend it after spending a lot of time on the sewing machine and I plan to prepare the pieces for blocks so I'll have some ready to take with me.
I also used my time in Melbourne to deliver quilts with 30 going to a person who is taking them to Charlton in Victoria for flood victims; and 9 going to a lady who is taking them to Cat in New Zealand for distribution in Christchurch.
I may be quiet for a few days while we are away but will be working on my knitting for the homeless as the need seems to be increasing this year with so many affected by the floods.
Take care and thanks for stopping by.
Love , Jan Mac

Luminous Landscapes with Gloria Loughman

For the last two days I've been taking one of Gloria Loughman's classes and had a wonderful time. Her forte is more for innovative quilts depicting natural landscapes and she has developed techniques which make me appear much clever than I am when it comes to artistic quilts. I completed the background on the first day and then finished the wall hanging today. I decided not to make my project too large as I knew that when I return home I'd be very busy with the comfort quilts and I didn't want another UFO.
I'm pleased with the result and only have to square it up and apply the binding. It looks like I'll have a quilt to keep this time. I based it on a photo of the sunset in the Australian desert and It's one of my favourite scenes that I've photographed and I plan on having the photo enlarged as well as it's one of DH's favourites too.
Gloria was a lovely teacher and very helpful with techniques etc so I learned a lot and had a fun time doing something different to my usual quilting style.
I will sleep well tonight and I have 2 more days of classes so more fun to come.
More later, Hugs Jan Mac

Donations for Christchurch and Australia

I received more wonderful donations from around the world. The first donations were 3 large packages of QAYG blocks made by Merilyn Francis (NSW) and she also sent a quilt shown on my other blog, Oz Comfort quilts. Patricia Thornhill from the UK sent a lovely parcel with 4 scarves, and 16 QAYG blocks. Pat Chubb from the USA sent 16 beautiful knitted beanies for the homeless and they will be so welcome with our weather turning colder already.
I also finished off some knitted beanies and matching scarves as well as a knitted soft toy- a rabbit.

Today I attended the first day of classes with Gloria Loughman at the Australasian Quilt Convention. It's a great class and I have another day tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to.
I'm taking a couple of days break but will soon be back and finishing more quilts. I'm taking the time to deliver more quilts while I'm in Melbourne and will soon be home to take photos of more donations.
Thank you all so much for your help with these quilt projects.
Hugs Jan Mac

You Guessed It- QAYG Again!

I have received more donations of QAYG blocks and they are making it possible to make some lovely quilts to donate on your behalf.
The first photo shows 10 QAYG blocks donated by Jo Congerton (Vic) and the lovely bright pink and purple colours will make a lovely quilt. The next blocks were donated by Terry Patterson (NSW) and they will join some other blocks of differing sizes to make a lovely quilt to comfort someone. I can use any size blocks so please don't worry if they measure differently to 10.5 ". If I don't have enough to make a quilt in a particular size then I just make more to join them so it's not a problem. Terry said that she found these blocks when she was cleaning out a cupboard and they will be a good start for a quilt with larger blocks.
I also received a lovely QAYG quilt made by Di Jobbins and St Mark's Quilters from Sydney (NSW) and it's shown on my other blog.
I also received a lovely email (quoted on my other blog) of thanks from one of the quilters who helped to distribute quilts to Rochester (Vic) and it's always lovely to hear how much the quilts mean to the people who receive them.
Paid work has kept me busy for the past few days and I have a few more donations to acknowledge tomorrow, but for now it's time for bed as tomorrow will be a big day too.
Many, many thanks for trusting me to finish and donate the quilts on your behalf. We are able to make a difference and imagine if every quilter made enough blocks for one quilt, how many people we could help.
Hugs, Jan Mac