Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bushfire Quilt Project



Today some members expressed an interest in making some blocks for quilts for victims of theBushfire tragedy in Victoria, Australia. I joined a Group on Flickr (Bushfire Quilt Project) being co-ordinated by an American military wife living in the Northern Territory, who is collecting “Wonky Star” blocks and together with her quilt group and guild, making quilts for donation to Victoria. There are lots of examples of the blocks which have already been made – they look fantastic.


My online group, Southern Cross Quilters (SCQuilters) is also making quilts and have several members located all over Victoria who have contacts with emergency services so that they make sure the quilts are going to exactly where they are needed. There are also members in other States willing to be drop-off points for any donations and I can forward details.This will be an ongoing project, as the victims who have lost their homes and choose to rebuild, will not be in a new home for possibly 12 month or longer. The co-ordinators have set up a Blog Oz Comfort Quilts and hope to keep a record of the donations and recipients.


If anyone would like to contribute, I am happy to be a co-ordinator for blocks and/or quilts and perhaps if we get enough we can put some quilts together ourselves. I see it as on ongoing charity throughout the year with no rush to get anything done immediately.

Tutorials for Wonky Star or Maverick Star block are at The Silly Boo Dilly and Quiltville. I am making 12.5” (unfinished) blocks, but 6.5” (unfinished) would be suitable as well. I have added a Button to the sidebar with a link directly to the pics of the 230-odd starswhich have been contributed already.

Today we welcomed a visitor……

from Canada. We met at Maurine’s and welcomed Ada who is visiting family in SingaporeIt sounded like we had a few people interested in travelling there next year to seeCanada’s big exhibition! It was lovely to meet you Ada and thank you for your kind giftsto everyone. Thanks also to Maurine and her girls for the delicious lunch provided.We discussed a project I am involed in which is making Wonky Star blocks for victims ofthe horrific bushfires in Victoria, Australia. I personally know of a few people who havelost their lives and others who’ve lost their homes, businesses, schools & all their possessions. There are many Quilting Groups and Guilds in Australia who are now committedto providing quilts for all these people, as well as the volunteers and emergency servicestaff who do such wonderful work protecting people and property.I will add some links in another post with a tutorial, examples and what some quilters arealready achieving.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Charity Quilt and other info....

Today we saw the charity crazy quilt which Janice has kindly put together by adding sashing to the blocks. It looks really good, so we now have to tie it (once we know what we are doing!)

Everyone was busy working on lots of different projects and we enjoyed some lovely food courtesy of Dal.

A couple of quilters I know were last year saving selvedges and sending them to a lady in Victoria who has been making all sorts of amazing things with them. She began with keyrings and doll quilts and has progressed to bags and cushions and her 'piece de resistance' - a dress made of selvedges.

I know some quilters save their tiniest scraps; and others are into recycling in a big way, but this really takes it to a new level.



Here is the link to her Blog: http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/
She has some tutorials on the site for some of her pieces as well. Thanks to Jodie at Ric Rac for permission to use a pic of her cushions.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Show & Tell February ‘09

We had a good turnout today with three new ladies joining the meeting. We hope they’ll all come back again soon.

Show & Tell today was a bit lean, but we did have a lovely Dresden Plates quilt from Melinda, which she will be teaching in a class. The 1930’s colours are really pretty and the quilt was beautifully machine quilted by Desley from Addicted to Quilts in Melbourne. Even the back looks great.

melinda_platequilt

the back of the quilt

melinda_plate_back

The other photo is Kathy’s daughter Becky and the lovely quilt she has made for her music teacher’s new baby.

becky's_musicbaby_quilt