Brighter Outlook

That glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter each week, with restaurants now able to entertain up to 10 patrons at any time, I can see that in the not too distant future, we will be back meeting in our hall.  What a joyous time that will be. While the lockdown has been an opportunity  to get lots of sewing and tidying done, I have to admit I have missed our weekly meetings, the sharing of ideas and skills, the  camaraderie, the chance to just sit and chat with like minded friends, the reason to put on tidy clothes… with zippers.

Every Monday. though, without fail I have had some text conversations with a few of our members, which I  am always  so happy receive and to share.

This week Colleen has sent in a photo of her Daughter’s quilt. which I would like to copy, I love it

Happy 50th birthday Cheryl (only 2 years late but well worth the wait…. lol)

Deb has made more bears for her grandsons quilt, at first we thought this fellow looked a bit creepy, but he has started to grow on me and now I think he is rather cute

Deb is busy making bears

 

I am always looking for a silver lining and the great thing, I have found about a pandemic is that it seems to inspire us to finish off those UFO’s which have been lying around for so long:

Judy has finished At Grandpa’s Pond

This is a project which has been handed down to Sue from a friend and a friend of a friend, Sue finished it.  Well done Sue

It’s not finished yet, but this was a major milestone for me this week, one which was 20 years in the making.

Lorraine is getting close to finishing her beautiful Black and White quilt which she started since the lockdown began.

Well done Lorraine, Looking Great

Thankyou, so much to our faithful contibutors, without you there would be no blog.

Please send me your photos of works in progress as well as completed projects,  we’d also be happy to hear about how you have been spending your time while in lockdown.

If you are here checking out the blog, be sure to take a peak at the current newsletter which Penne and Elizabeth have been keeping up to date.

Happy Stitching, stay safe and remember, even though the rules are relaxing we still need to observe social distancing if we want to resume meeting soon.

Cheers, Linda

Light at the end of the Tunnel

Well, with the roadmap beginning to be rolled out, we can maybe start to see the end of lockdown, maybe we won’t be back to regular meetings soon, but at least now we can believe that it will happen, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be together again to celebrate Christmas.

I have some more news on the new addition to the Williams clan, his name is Duke Joshuah Williams and I have it on good authority that he is a very beautiful baby.  His very proud Mama and Pa travelled to Coffs last week to meet him and he seems to have passed inspection.  In fact I think they are (rightly) quite smitten.

Deb and Sue have been busy again,  (THANK GOODNESS) I don’t know how I could have kept this blog going without them.

Deb is working on a quilt for one of her grandsons, from an idea she saw on Pinterest

Looking great Deb.

I don’t think that Sue sleeps, she has been super busy . Like all of us, she has been digging deep into her cupboards and coming up with fabric and projects which have been waiting a while for attention

this charm pack has been in Sue’s cupboard for about 7 years, she’s still working out where to go from here

Sue’s daughter loves this pastel french braid design runner her Mum made for her

Don’t you wish you lived nextdoor to Sue, she made these peg bags for her neighbours for Mothers day , very sweet idea Sue, I’m sure they were thrilled.

Sue has also finished another charity quilt and bag,  she is hoping to start something new soon, but I think she still has quite a few projects which were started while in the caravan.  All I can say is… “watch this space”.   Sue tells me she is also doing free motion quilting workshops  (by herself)  and getting her garden up to scratch. Not sure what she does in her spare time.

Sue’s last Charity Quilt & bag

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day. At our place, and all over NSW  it was a bit like Noah’s Ark, they came in two by two, it was indeed a very special day , so lovely to see them again and spend some precious time with them all.

Keep safe everyone and remember to keep on social distancing,  sanitizing etc even though the restrictions are slowly lifting, the last thing we want is a relapse.

A reminder to checkout the May Newsletter , there is a tab above.

Happy stitching and don’t forget to send me pictures of what you are doing, finished projects or WIPs we love to see them all

Cheers Linda

Last Minute Reprieve

We all say it from time to time, ” every year seems to go by so much faster than the last”

For me, Mondays come around really quickly. I lay in bed last night and thought , “Oh no! it’s Monday tomorrow and I have just one photo for the blog, what am I going to put up there for the ladies?”

Then this morning, right on cue, Judy sent me a photo of the quilt she made for her brother, I wrote back to say thankyou and recount my plight and Judy obliged by sending me lots more photos of work she has been doing.

Happy 70th Birthday to Judy’s Brother

Judy has finished her Christine Book Row by Row quilt and also the top of another quilt which she hopes to get quilted this week

She has been super busy and productive, having also finished two bags for her grand daughters, a cushion and more bags.

Well done Judy, and thanks for sharing the photos of all your beautiful work.

Deb has been busy again ,she had a special request for a quilt for Glen “Just squares and none of that fancy stuff”

I think she filled that brief beautifully , its a stunner

We would love to see how you have been filling your time while we have been riding out this time of isolation, please send in your photos.

There has been some very special happy news this week, Mary’s son Joshua and his wife Lisa  welcomed a beautiful baby boy on Tuesday, he weighed 4.12kilos , last I heard he and his mum were doing well. Grandparents over the moon.

Happy Stitching ladies , stay safe and well

Cheers Linda

Desperate Times

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Covid19 has changed our lives in unimaginable ways. Peoples lives have been turned upside-down and there is no doubt that  the changes which have occurred will have serious consequences for many businesses.   Many people though, will have taken this time at home to learn to live a simpler life, to enjoy spending time with their families, to dig deep and be a bit more creative in their approach to life and will come out of it as tighter stronger family units, with lots of great memories.

One example of this is the amazing response to  the call to honour our Servicemen and women in  Driveway Anzac Day Services. It was a very moving sight to see .

As quilters we are obviously being moved to look deep not just within ourselves but deep in our cupboards as well. For my part I have dug way back into the archives and come up with my Farmhouse  Sampler Quilts, I am in the middle of turning two identical single bed quilts (what was I thinking?) into one queen size quilt. I started this project last century and aside from the facts that,  I no longer own even one single bed and country colours are no longer fashionable, that’s what I will be doing until it is finished or the lockdown is eased. (whichever happens first)

Others have also been moved by the Virus, Colleen has sent me a photo of one of her UFOs, it is an experiment from a book by Ricky Timms using fabric from her stash, she would like to make another one using a different colourway, but will have to delve deeper into her library to find the book again….

A very tricky Technique, Good Luck finding that book Colleen

Isolation sickness also struck Marie who found and embroidery, which she had started 47 years ago , just needed a bit of crochet to finish it off

I think you’ll agree, it was worth the wait, well done Marie!

Sue hasn’t let us down this week , she has completed a runner for the chest of drawers in her bedroom, also mats and a cushion cover to match the quilt she made last year.

Sue’s French Braid Runner for her bedroom

Sue also took time to make some little bags for her neighbours, which she filled with Anzac biscuits.

 

 

 

Lorraine tried out my Anzac Biscuits recipe from last week and treated her family to morning tea

As I write this to-night, I can hear lovely steady rain on the roof , lets hope it stays around for a couple of days, what could be more perfect, covid lockdown,  nice cool rainy weather and absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t spend all day sewing to our heart’s content. at the risk of sounding a bit self indulgent,  Life is good for us quilters.

Cheers Ladies

Linda

I-sew-lation

I hope everyone is coping well with the lockdown and that you are all keeping healthy. I keep thinking how lucky we are that we have so much to keep us occupied during this time. I was a little worried late last week, that I might not have any photos for the blog this week but you came through again, well done, Gail, Fay and Sue.

Sue has clearly been very busy she has sent me photos every week,

 

Sue sent these photos of Beth’s Quilt which she has kindly finished for her and also some bags which go with the quilts Sue has been making for the bush fire appeal. Well done Sue.

Sue’s twin brother is a lucky man, not only does he have a wonderful twin sister, but she made him this beautiful quilt for his 70th birthday

Gail Scobie, had some fun putting her own spin on her Wendy Williams Quilt

I had some help in the sewing room this week

Roger helped me finish this Bushfire relief quilt.

These are the first 6 rows of the Mystery QAL in which I am participating . They are rows, 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12,  half way there, every month a new challenge. Great fun

This is Fay’s fun quilt. She didn’t tell me who the lucky recipient will be, but I think anyone would love it.

Narelle, Diane and Mary all celebrated birthdays this month, I hope you all had great days

Anzac Day on Saturday, our neighbourhood is having an End of Driveway Service , let me know how you are planning to mark this important day. Perhaps you’d like to make some Anzac Biscuits

Anzac biscuits !!!!!

1 cup rolled oats

¾ cup coconut

1 cup plain flour

1 cup of sugar

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 Tbsp boiling water

1 Tbsp Golden syrup

125 g melted butter or Marg

Method

Combine rolled oats, flour, coconut & sugar.

Combine butter & golden syrup, stir over gentle heated until melted.

Mix soda with boiling water (dissolve) add to melt butter mixture ( it will fizz )

Stir into dry ingredients.

Place spoon fulls of mixture onto greased oven trays, allowing room for spreading.

Back in a slow oven 20 mins. Loosen on trays while warm then cool on trays.

Makes approxs 3 dozen

Thankyou to all those members who are sending in their photos.  Without your help, there is no blog.

Have a great week and stay safe

Cheers , Linda

 

Easter Monday

Mystery solved! I feel like a bit of a goose,  the mystery quilter was no other than our own Ursula, all be it about 5 years younger….I’m blaming the light shining on my computer screen.  If you check the Art Quilts section of the blog you will find that  Ursula is reproducing the quilts she has made in the past, this time as miniatures for her art quilt offerings. Well done Ursula

I hope the Easter Bunny found you all.

Sue has sent some lovely photos of her sewing space, it looks like a busy place.

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This is Penne’s beautiful quilt with matching bag

 

Week number 3 and Robyne has her top together, Doesn’t it look great!

Gail Hancox has put together her very first quilt top, well done Gail.

As we enter another week of isolation and social distancing, don’t forget that we are all in this together as “they” keep telling us . We all have a members contact list , so please reach out to each other and touch base, you never know who might really need to hear a friendly voice on the phone.

and that’s my little funny for this week

Keep those photos coming in  and don’t forget to click on Comment below to let us know that you’ve been here.

Happy stitching,  Stay home and Stay safe

Cheers  Linda

 

April, 6th 2020

A Message from our President

Hello to you all:

These are trying times and our lives have never been quite like this. Not much choice really, but to slow down and take a step back and pull out any U.F.O’S we might have to get them finished. When we all get together again we should have a lot of quilts for show and tell. As always I was blown away by your great effort in finishing the quilts for our bush fire victims as well as all the pillow cases, cushions, and other house hold items you completed. We hope it will lift their spirits, during these trying times.

I was watching the news a week or two ago, when Boris Johnson was in isolation due to the covid 19 virus and the camera showed a statue of Winston Churchill, and I thought I might change the words of Churchill’s famous wartime speech, however when I asked Bill to pull it off the net I was told my nephew had already beaten me to it so here is David’s take on it.

To paraphrase Winston:

I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home.

To ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of Covid, if necessary for years, if necessary alone:

We shall wash our hands and cover our mouths when we cough,

We shall work from home

We shall go on to the end,

We shall fight at work, as we wash in the bathrooms,

We shall isolate on the buses and trains,

We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the hospitals,

We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,

We shall fight on the beaches,

We shall social distance on the landing grounds,

We shall distance in the fields and in the streets,

We shall distance in the hills;

We shall never surrender, and I believe, in the end, we shall deploy the vaccine and have our victory!

Hoping this situation does not go on for too long,

Have a happy and peaceful Easter.

Val

This is Val’s lovely quilt

Lorraine sends her thanks to all her friends at patchwork for the beautiful flowers we sent following her recent surgery, The good news is that she has had word from her specialist today that all is well, a huge relief and she is looking forward to being able to eat normally again, she hasn’t let any of this impede her , she finished this beautiful quilt and has started a black and white one like the one Betty made a while back.

Lorraine’s quilt

Marie finished this lovely quilt for her sister-in-law, the 11 hearts represent the 11 siblings in Gary’s family

This is Narelle’s cute Chook quilt

Deb’s grandson is going to love this psychedelic, United Nations of penguins

 

My sewing room is done, I’ve found all the work surfaces and even Roger’s bed.  Can’t wait to get out  there .

 

Even the cupboard is tidy……I wonder how long that will last?

Here is a little mystery, these photos appeared on my MPQ photo file on 2nd April, I don’t know where they came from. Does anyone else know? It’s a really lovely quilt, I’d love to know who made it.

Can I remind you that it is much easier if you send photos as a message to my phone. Don’t forget to check out the newsletter , Penne and I would both appreciate any contributions you might like to make to either the newsletter or the blog.

Marie reminded me today that Steven at Grafton Textiles is opening his shop each morning ……. quilt shops are essential services ( I think it comes under the umbrella of mental health) Ha Ha. Steven does online sales , apparently is even open to video calls and I believe that delivery to Yamba via Australia Post can be as quick as overnight…. amazing.

Have a happy Easter Ladies, it will certainly be a different one this year.

Stay safe and I’ll  leave you with another little meme

Don’t forget to click on the “Coment” below to let me know you’ve been here

Cheers, Linda