Making

I'm having heaps of fun making these colourful quilt as you go blocks. 

Of course I am doing the easy part because Jan Mac from Oz Comfort Quilts is going to be putting them together into a full sized, bound quilt. I expect this one will go to Bundaberg as it only has a light wadding and would not be warm enough for the colder parts of Australia.

So far I have finished 12 blocks and will try to get another 8 done in the next few days.

If you want to join in the fun of sharing you can either send finished quilts to Chookyblue or unfinished quilts or even just a few blocks to Oz Comfort Quilts.

The instructions for making the blocks can be found here.

Happy sewing!

Calling all quilters

More than likely you have all heard or read about the terrible bushfires that have affected parts of Australia in the last few weeks. 

One of our blogging community, the lovely Chookyblue  ,from deep in NSW and very close to the Coonabarabran fires is putting out a call for completed handmade quilts. I realise that not all of my readers (if there are any left) can perform such a feat as to make a quilt from start to finish but, if you can, please consider using this talent to comfort some of the many households affected by the recent devastations.

Apparently there is also a group called Blazeaid that helps build new fences as this is one area that farmers generally cannot afford to insure because of the huge cost of insuring due to the extent of fencing in rural areas.

Last two  photos are from the Blazeaid album which speaks volumes for the work involved.
Even if you are unable to contribute could you please spread the word.
Thanks in advance

And then there were two.

Tragedy

Calvyn 59                                             Patricia 81 Donald 81

source 1, 2

source 3

I loved you all dearly.

In God's memory. 

" And a book of remembrance began to be written up before him for those in fear of Jehovah and for those thinking upon his name." Malachi 3:16

UFOs donated

I love all of these UFOs but really keeping them is just increasing the amount I need to shift if and when I move next. 

In fact, most of these have moved 4 or 5 times already.

That's just way too much waste of energy when the could be going to good homes.

Jan of Oz Comfort Quilts is willing to take our unfinished work, complete it - ie. do all the hard bits - and hand it on to people who have lost everything through flood or fire or other causes.

I wasn't going to post these on my blog but then I knew I would have no other way to remember them and they are my babies after all.

Boo hoo. 

Definitely a worthy cause though. 

Blankets of Love

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon the BLaNKEtS of Love site but I am glad I did because it allows me to do some small bits of sewing, limited only by my imagination, that will then be of benefit to others.

Blankets of love are used to wrap little ones in. Whether stillborn or having passed away from different causes, the parents wrap their baby in these blankets to say their goodbyes. Then they keep them. ....the parents can smell the baby on the blanket and it offers them some comfort.

Please check out the blog for more information

The blankets are not difficult to make and should be no more than 60cm or possible smaller for the tiniest little ones.

Cheerio!

IKEA scrap blocks finished

They call it improvisational or intuitional sewing.

I just call it fun.

Now that these are finished an photographed they will wing their way to the lovely Corrie of Retromummy who will kindly make them into a quilt and send it off to someone in need. 

I think they would look lovely with white sashing, don't you?

Corrie herself is going through a personal tragedy so if you have time to pop over and give her a verbal hug that would be nice too.

Flown the Coop

Many years ago, when I was seven and living in Bundaberg, I realised that I was a neglected child who did not own a teddy bear. 

My brother did.

One of those collectible real leather koalas that was probably given to him when we arrived in Australia. 

He would have been 21 months and worthy of a toy but the 3 month old me wouldn't have appreciated it.

Fast track to those days in Bundaberg when I realised my lack. 

I nagged my poor Mum for one. She couldn't afford it but ended up finding me a hand made penguin.

About ten inches tall, black and white with yellow felt feet and beak.

I'm not sure where Pengy is now but he gave me heaps of happiness, mostly just twirling him on his wings. 

I do know that his beak and feet were stretched to pieces but he still was strong enough to spend time with my children and give them love.

That's why I know that, despite the fact that these are not fashionable softies, they should make someone happy.

Twirling between their wings and gazing gently into their eyes.

More ideas for Queensland relief

Here are a couple more ideas of what you can do to help those touched by the terrible tragedies in Queensland. 

I love both of these ideas because they are simple, do not require a heap of work or money and will go directly to affected people.

Mon Petit Poppet says:

I would love to provide each and every child with a small handmade softie to comfort them in this dark time and give them hope that things will get better.

And Oz Comfort Quilts is calling for quilt as you go squares to make clean blankets.

You can find out more about these projects by right clicking on their buttons.

Beauty and the Beast

I was intrigued by the colours of the eerie dawn this morning coming through my bedroom window covers. Chaletgirl has more photos of the results of this dust storm and there is a flickr group here.

More choices in giveaway !

Here is the rest of the haul from next door. This lady sure had good taste and although she didn't use most of these products we can now. Please calm down Emma ! ;-))

These three lovely ladies are a set.

Are you into stockings? I'm not - it's generally too warm here. This just needs a small wooden clothes hangar to make it complete.

Don't forget all comments must be in before midnight this Saturday Melbourne/Sydney time and you are allowed to tell me which piece you would like if you should win!

Rainbow comfort packs

Just a quick post to let you know how you can give help to those hurt by the bushfires. I won't go into all the details as many have already done so but you can link to http://curlypops.blogspot.com/ or http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/ or link to the buttlon at the top of this page. Thanks.



P.S. chookasmum has ideas for a 'sanity pack' for crafters who have lost every thing.

Ikea and thrifted fabric verus floods and fires

My dear friend on the Gold Coast took me op shopping last week. I thought we were looking for clothes but it actually turned into an exercise in which clothing could be turned into bags. Sorry to all the designers whose garments I will be cutting up but then they shouldn't use such lovely fabrics should they. We also bought loads of almost new leather belts for peanuts that will be able to be used for novel shoulder straps. Here is just a small selection of what we found.

Thanks Lana!!!

Can you just see this made into a hobo style bag? I think this is one of my favourite finds. A perfectly classic weave that is just plain denim on the back so will not even need to be lined to make a lovely soft shoulder hold-all. I will probably just cut along the bottom and use the excess to make shoulder straps.

This one reminds me of my Mum.

Mix and match from various op shops. I have and idea to combine these little embroideries with this vintage fabric.

Then after dropping my daughters off at the Sydney International Airport (they are off to New Zealand for 9 days) I nipped into Ikea to see what all the fuss was about. Of course I couldn't leave without buying some gorgeous fabric - so hard to pick just a few though!

At the moment none of this seems to matter. I am just glued to the screen in shock as place after place diasappears in fire. Almost entire communities are burnt out with 65 dead and more expected in Victoria. I don't live in any of the affected areas but did live nearby as a child or had my son living there for a couple of years. It brings it home very quickly when you are near, even in memory, to devastated places. Thankfully I know from the Bible that God will not allow the wicked conditions on earth to remain indefinitely, otherwise it would be so easy to lose hope.