Happy New Year for 2020!

All of you probably have your New Year resolutions ready to go! For me, I have decided why make myself miserable by failing every time!  Instead I will make more UFOs as usual!

If you want some inspiration watch the following video on UTUBE.  I found it fascinating and particularly like the way Victoria Findlay Wolfe goes about creating her masterpieces.

https://youtu.be/uDfDIMUi4Fs


Learn about contemporary quilters from diverse traditions as we celebrate the important role quilts have played in our country’s story.

Featuring Susan Hudson, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Michael A. Cummings, Judith Content, the International Quilt Museum, and special guest Ken Burns. PBS premiere December 27, 2019 (check local listings)

Enjoy your New Years Eve celebrations and stay safe.  

Happiness for 2020!

November Catch-up

Can your believe that we are already making 

Christmas plans???

Hope everyone can come to our celebration -

Where:                        Black Horse Hotel – 80 Bulla Rd, Bulla

When & Time:            6.30pm  - Tuesday 3^rd December 2019

Numbers:                    Required by the Friday 29^th November, 2019

                                    Please contact Robyn

This year we doing something slightly different.  You will all be ordering your meal on the night and paying at the completion of the night. 

There is a seniors menu there, 2 courses $17.00. Or you can order from the menu. 

Thanks Robyn for organising this for us!

 _________________________________________________________________________

The following photos are from our last meeting night on November 12.

Sheila's Christmas centrepiece was the only completed project on show. It looks beautiful.







Other members were very busy however as the following snapshots show!

This looks like a long lost UFO!

Show and Tell

Sorry!  I've been slacking!  Some of these quilts are so old the maker has probably forgotten they even made them ha ha!  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Di is using up her fabric.

Sheila's creation.

Close up of Sheila's work.

Grace's Eye Spy quilt.

Judy A made this from a doona cover.

The back of the Hogwarts quilt.

I made this log cabin from Joy's fabric.

I used the scraps on the back.

Judy V started this disappearing pinwheel churn dash a while ago. 

The quilt holders were too short for this giant quilt made by Sheila!

Sheila started with a panel, added pieced work and appliqué and then free motion quilted it.

Janette embroidered this lovely lady on her machine.

Here's Janette!

Hmm...the back of a quilt.  Where's the front?

This is Julie's first long arm quilt.

Julie did a lot of ruler work.

Kay made these cute unicorns!

Quilter's Delight- A Great Bus Trip

We were very happy little quilters on Saturday as we started out on our adventure in the little white bus so capably driven by Kay.  Much laughter, games and prizes were all part of the hilarious day as we maxed out our credit cards and indulged in fabric delights!

It was all so well organised by Kay, making sure everyone eventualy got a surprise, although Andrea is yet to prove she qualified for her prize.  Modesty is not an excuse!

The Zen Cafe in Eltham was a  perfect choice for our lunch stop and a place I would like to revisit!  Of course the quilt shop was well worth our attention.

Thanks to Sheila for finding the bus for us to use on the day.

Enjoy the following photos!

At Cutting Cloth in Fairfield

Eltham

Zen Cafe in Eltham

Beautiful display of quilts at Cutting Cloth

The precious paper bag of prizes!

Game time- I spy with my little eye..........!

Time for a dance????

Kay made sure we were all accounted for, 1,2,3,.........!

Quilts to inspire us! Sometimes simple is best!

At GJ's in Fairfield Sheila needed some coaxing!  I will get there! I will get there! And she did!

  Thanks everyone who made the day a happy one, and special thanks to you Kay!

Moving Right Along

Our AGM is over with a new committee ready to take on the reins!  Congratulations to Sue for taking on the role of president and we wish her and her team well with their planning.  A big thank you to outgoing office bearers and an especially big thank you to Sheila for guiding our group through some tough times.  She certainly needs a well earned rest!

The club continues to prosper with the many willing hands taking on roles.

Have you joined the 2019 Shirt Challenge

It has been 6 years since out last shirt challenge so we thought it was about time we had another one.

If you would like to be involved you will need to collect 6 x men’s long sleeved, 100% cotton, shirts (Try the op shop). 

Please wash the shirts, but no need to iron them.

Cut the sleeves off the shirts (you keep the rest) and bring the sleeves to the group during October.

There will be a list at the group - Saturdays and Tuesdays - pop your name on the list and the sleeves in the bag.

The sleeves will be shared amongst the participants on the first Sit and Sew Saturday in November:  9/11/2019

Your name will be on the bag of sleeves to be used in your quilt.  So if you can’t be there on the 9th we will get your bag to you on the following Tuesday or when you are next at the group.  Alternatively, you could have a friend collect it for you.

RULES of the CHALLENGE:

1.  The shirt fabric you receive must be used in the quilt top, along with your retained shirt fabric.

2.  You can add one other fabric to your quilt top.

3.   Reveal date will be the first Sit and Sew Saturday in October: 10/10/2020

Please join in the fun J

Co-ordinators,

Karen & Andrea 

You can see the quilts made in our last challenge in the featured BLOG post on the side.  You might find an inspiration for your quilt.

Charity gifting

Last year the Sunbury Stitchers and Quilters donated 7 quilts to those caught up in the New Zealand Mosque tragedy, a jelly roll race quilt to a homeless lady and a quilt for a lady beginning her chemo journey.  We also made several more quilts which are looking for new homes!  If you hear of anyone in need of a quilt for comfort or for fundraising please let me or Judy A know.  Thanks for the suggestions we've had already!  We'll be documenting the quilts we already have in order to find the right homes for them soon.

Many of us donate to causes that we care about.  I have a friend who runs as many 5K runs as she can to raise money for her cause.  My niece has completed two marathons to raise money for a heart foundation after family members were diagnosed with severe heart problems.  The stories behind why we donate and who we donate to are fascinating!


We donate a number of tiny memory quilts to Sunshine Hospital every year to help grieving families after the loss of their precious babies.  As you know, I make quite a lot of these quilts because this is the cause that is closest to my heart.  23 years ago my daughter, Eirian, died when she was 8 months old and even after all those years I remember the shock and grief I experienced at that time and continue to experience now.  I hope that by making these quilts with love that I can pass on a bit of love to the families of these babies.  I want them to know that there are people out there thinking of them and I want them to know that their babies are important.

The hospital unfortunately needs about 80 quilts a year so if you have an orphan block or some scraps hanging around why not whip one up?  The size of the quilt should be around about 12 x 14 inches although the ones I make are all kinds of sizes depending on the fabric or block I have at hand.  You can use batting or back your quilt in a nice soft flannel.  They can be bound or "bagged out". It's really up to you!

Here are some that I made recently.  I challenged myself to use up some fabric scraps and I ended up with over 20 finished quilts.

Here are the 48 quilts we made this year that are on their way to Sunshine Hospital.  Along with the quilts I made there are quilts made by Heather, Annie C and Maree.

A friend of Sunbury Stitchers and Quilters knitted these hats and they're on their way to Sunshine hospital too.  My grandsons born at almost 32 weeks were kept nice and warm with a few of these recently!  The pair are now wearing hats featuring magpies which is not going down well with the tiger supporters of the family I can tell you! 

We celebrated Christmas in July!

Once again we have carried on a tradition of celebrating Christnas in July with a tradional shared roast lunch!  A big thank you to Robyn for making sure it was all organised.. We certainly did not go hungry!  We all had a few goodies to take home with us!

As you can see from the photos the mystery workshop participants enjoyed the challenge that Kay prepared for us and so capably led us through each step!  I love my scrap colection so it is going to be well used on more of these little gems.

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Hmmmm?? Who owns the project on the right???

Other members worked on various projects with some stunning results!

Evelyn's amazing work

An opinion from another member is always valuable.   I'm really looking forward to seeing Sheila's completed quilt.  No one will notice the odd triangle turned upsdie down, will they? 

Barb's work is always a treat for the eyes. She was completing the binding.

Don't forget that our AGM is on August 6th!  We need a committee to keep us going!