Gladness – and sadness

In an exciting little postscript to Stitchin’ Mission yesterday Di, Linda and I spent a delightful morning with Pam Holland. I can’t reveal too many details of our time together just yet, except to say it involved a good deal of “show and tell” and some camera work (by all parties!) . Then came the very sad part – saying goodbye to our dear friend Linda after 5 weeks of fun together. Linda’s plane took off for the US at 3.30 this afternoon. The temperature here in Sydney was a toasty 29 degrees Celsius but my computer told me it was minus 2 degrees Celsius in Des Moines! Brrrr…

Applause, please!

…for these wonderful women who’ve finished their quilts for the tots at the KU Marcia Burgess Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre.

Until 5 weeks ago most had never wielded a rotary cutter or made a quilt and several had no machine sewing experience at all. 

Were they daunted? Well, maybe just a little.  But they jumped in, pushed their boundaries wider, and survived the experience, in the process discovering God-given talents some never knew they had, and gaining confidence to attempt another quilt down the track. 

Several even made more than one quilt - Wow!

With Linda’s patient and easy to follow instructions they’ve progressed from cutting to piecing, to quilt-sandwiching, to quilting and tying, to binding.  It’s been a bumpy ride for several, but they’ve hung on and ended up with beautiful quilts, stitched with so much love.

I just want to give every one of them a huge hug!

It’s been a joy to work with these inspirational women. 

Thank you, ladies, you can take a well-deserved bow!

The last Stitchin’ Mission class – feeling the heat!

With the temperature hitting 39 degrees Celsius (about 102 degrees Fahrenheidt) last Sunday as I set out for our final Stitchin’ Mission class, I wondered how many of our newbies would venture out in these heatwave conditions. We had positioned pedestal fans all around the room to provide a cooling cross-draft, bottles of cold mineral water and a platter of chilled fruit on the table, and a special surprise – Jess arrived with these cute Stitchin’ Mission cupcakes! Of course they came – flaunting their fabulous quilts and skylarking as Linda positioned them for the group photo shoot.

What a cool bunch!

This week’s lesson – applying the quilt binding

I can’t wait to see all our finished quilts next Sunday!

More cleverness

Corinne’s wonderful creation has gone from pieces to  quilted in just a week!  Wow!

Don’t you just love Moo’s fabrics?  I knew she’d choose something bright and fun, and these blocks and will co-ordinate perfectly with her chosen backing of scarlet with scattered Sesame Street Elmo faces.  I hope some mischievous little boy chooses this one!

I wondered who would choose this great train fabric from our Stitchin’ Mission stash, and when Coral picked it up I just knew she would do it justice.  She’s teamed it with some crisp co-ordinates – royal blue with cobwebs, and white with tiny yellow spots – which really make the yellow pop.

Averil momentarily lost her nerve when it came to attaching her borders, but in the end she came through with flying colours by just taking it slowly - and praying.  Such a pretty quilt with lots of pastel butterflies.

Almost there!

The excitement is growing - along with our Stitchin’ Mission quilts. Take a look at these beauties.

Debbie decided to jump right into free motion machine quilting and has mastered a great meander across her Stairs to Heaven quilt.

Eleanor shopped for her own feature fabric, a fanciful jungle party scene of toucans, pandas, lions and rhinos – all wearing party hats.!

Julia and Louise are working together on this dinosaur quilt - it’s almost tied. Such fun!

And look at Geraldine's colourful quilt where lime green adds lots of zing.

Reality check

Birthday parties, making quilts, getting together with good friends, cooking and eating.  If you’re a regular reader of my blog you could be forgiven for thinking this is the kind of charmed life I lead.

I wish!

The reality is it’s Monday morning, and I’m wearing another of my many ‘hats’ as I busy myself earning a living.  There’s not a quilt or a needle and thread in sight.

Nevertheless I do love my job!