9th February turned out to be a very sad day for Maclean Patchwork and Quilters.
Our friend and valued member, Helen MacNamara passed away at Cowra where she had moved to be with her family.
Helen joined Maclean Patchwork and Quilters when she retired to Yamba with her late husband Michael. Helen was a well loved member of our group. always friendly and welcoming, she was well known for her love of chocolate and the colour mauve. She had endured poor health for several years but nevertheless was a prolific quilter and was our unoficial Tablerunner Queen. She will be sorely missed.
Rest in Peace Helen
Robyne has completed another baby quilt for another lucky family member
Allowah Children’s Hospital has yet another beautiful quilt headed their way compliments of Ursula
Ursula made this great scrap quilt for Allowah
Fay finished this lovely Christmas piece for Wilga
Dianne and Alison have teamed up to finish off this quilt from our late friend, Betty Harris’s collection.
Several of our ladies are busy making small gifts for Kairos, a group who work with women in correctional centres , Sue had these lovely tissue holders to show .
One final message about our friend Helen :
We are better for having met her, we are better for having known her, may she be as blessed in the next life as we were in this one for knowing her.
We send our sincere condolences to Helen’s family and to her special friends.
Last week we held our first general meeting for the year, discussion centred mostly around finding a new executive committee to lead us through the next 12 months, with the Annual General Meeting coming up in March, nominations were encouraged. All positions will be vacated by the current committee who have done an amazing job of keeping us going during the last two years.
The other topic of discussion was the possible return to our Home. The Uniting Church Hall Committee will meet on 10th February, to decide on whether to re-open the hall for general use. There was speculation of the measures we can and will take to ensure a covid safe return to our Home Base. The Committee are finessing our Covid Safe Plan.
As there was no meeting on the last Tuesday in January, we celebrated January birthdays last week, 5 ladies teamed up to cut the cakes.
Happy Birthday to our January Girls, Helen, Colleen, Lorraine, Bev and Claudette
There has been quite a bit of sewing for grandies, Val completed a fun quilt for a grand nephew
And Robyne completed a really pretty one for Peter’s great niece, she designed the owls to match the background fabric, well done Robyne
Penne is well on her way to owning a beautiful Table Runner with these hexagonal blocks featuring EPP.
There was lots of shuffling of blocks, trying to decide which ones go where with this appliqued and embroidered collection , at least two beautiful quilts will be on their way to Allowah Childrens Hospital when these are joined. A great collaboration by our ladies.`
I noticed that Beth had this stunning journal cover tucked among her things and I couldn’t help but photogragh it to share it with you on this blog. Beth quietly produces some beautiful and unusual pieces . I think this is called Thread Painting.
Robyne has been nurturing some little friends during covid, here is one of her latest batch
Isn’t he a cutie.
It was great to see our friend Joan at our meeting last week. It was the first time since the Covid shut down. Welcome back Joan we’ve missed you.
Our group is not the same without all our friends in attendance, Let’s hope that it’s not too long before they all feel safe enough to rejoin us.
2021 started well for Maclean Patchwork and Quilters. We met last week on 19th January with lots of show and tell from members who had obviously made good use of their Christmas holiday break.
I’ll apologise in advance, my photography has not been kind to some of the beautiful work which was shown.
The ladies in the group continue to assist Wilga in completing some of her unfinished items, and what a joy they are.
The first is a red and white/cream quilt featuring a beautiful toile fabric which was commissioned to commemorate and honour the life and work of Mother Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.
Two more of Wilga’s stunning quilts finished.
Marlene finished two fun Christmas wall hangings
Dianne was lucky enough to win a beautiful quilt which was being raffled by the Glenreagh Craft Group, who were raising funds to help the Nymboida Craft Group after the bush fires last year…..now that’s an easy way to quilt.
Ursula ‘s quilts always feature great colour combinations.
Ursula’s Scrappy Quilt is a stunner
Claudette’s grandson will be very happy with this fantastic birthday present in Red, White and Black which his grandmother has made for him.
Claudette’s quilt is a variation of Stack and Slash
Marie has also made a version of the Stack and Slash method with her quilt in reds , greens and white. This is a very handy and versatile method and always looks great.
Dianne has been busy sewing as well as buying raffle tickets, she has completed these appliques which are destined to join others to make up quilts for Allowah Children’s hospital
Dianne has also been working on these beautiful EPP blocks, they will eventually make a quilt for her niece Ruby’s 21st Birthday….. that’s 3 years away, so, No rush
Elizabeth has had a very busy year, her Bento quilt along was quite a challenge, each day of 2020 a new applique block arrived in her Inbox, that’s 366 new blocks, I’m guessing that this is not the kind of quilt along where you could afford to get lazy or left behind.
How gorgeous is Elizabeth’s Bento Quilt
The Highlight of our first get- together for 2021 was the presentation of the Betty Harris Award. This award is usually presented at our Christmas Party, but as this year’s recipient was not in attendance on that day we had to postpone the presentation.
The very worthy recipient of the Betty Harris Award for 2020 is Dianne Lyons
Our friend Kay has not been very well recently, so we made her a quilt to let her know that we are thinking of her
Our first general meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday, 2nd February. I believe the issue of our meeting place options for the future will be discussed. Obviously, no decision will be made until after the Uniting Church Hall Committee meet on 10th February, however we hope that everyone has given the matter some thought and will be ready to contribute to the conversation.
Happy Stitching everyone and here’s hoping that 2021 is kinder to all of us than it’s predececessor.
The other day I was thinking back on the year that has been and it occurred to me that Charles Dickens could have been thinking about 2020 when he wrote the opening lines to his book “A Tale of Two Cities”.
In case you have forgotten it goes like this:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of dispair…..
There is no doubt, it has been a difficult year and we have all had to forfeit so many of our freedoms but in spite of that we have all gained so much. We have rediscovered the simple pleasures in life, some of us have been lucky enough to have been given more time to spend with our loved ones. Of course some of our loved ones have been locked away from us, which was not great. We quilters have mostly had the chance to get into our sewing rooms and spend more uninterupted time there without the usual distractions. In fact I think life in general is so much easier without all those distractions which have crept into our lives and which we have come to think of as necessities.
This will be our last post till we resume meeting on 19th January.
Marcia Hunter has been in touch to let us know that she is home and doing well. She asked me to pass on her thanks for the beautiful flowers and good wishes which the group sent after her recent spell in hospital.
A little while ago we saw one of Robyne’s works in progress, well, it is now finished and I think Keira-Lee will love it
Judy finished a really lovely Christmas Wall hanging, which is made using folded triangles
Marcia R was working on some little felt embroideries which are really beautiful
These are Marlene’s beautiful hand stitched Christmas Decorations
Sue made these draw string pouches for her grand daughters and daughter for Christmas
Probably the darkest day of 2020 for me personally was 27th November when we had to say goodbye to our faithful and much loved old dog Roger, who had been an important part of our family for 16 years.
Then a beautiful little female joined our family at Christmas time her name is Poppy and I’m sure you’ll all be meeting her at some time in the future. She has brought with her , untold joy and a hope that 2021 will be a whole lot happier for all of us.
Or so the song tells us. To-day we all shook off the gloom and celebrated Christmas, albeit in a rather covid restrained manner. There were some very pretty Christmas inspired head pieces, some very bright and cheerful clothing, lots of entries in the Christmas challenge and a whole heap of joy at just having survived and thrived in spite of that nasty corona virus.
And did I mention the delicious morning tea!
There was great participation in the Christmas Challenge this year and a very diverse and clever range of Christmas decorations produced by our very talented members
Sue tortured us with a very challenging Christmas trivia game. Elizabeth, Marcia, Sonia and Penne teamed up to blitz it.
By popular vote, the challenge was won by Penne and Fay.
Penne’s exquisite little elf’s shoe was an equal winner of the challenge Penne and Fay getting into the spirit of the occasion with their winning entries .
Fay’s very comical Covid 19 model was beautifully created and matched her fun loving, cheeky attitude.
Judy has made these cushions to brighten up her son’s black lounge
Elizabeth brought in Wilga’s beautiful French braid quilt which she had kindly finished for Wilga.
Wilga has had extra challenges to meet this year and she thanked everyone for their help and support.
Wilga is our foundation member and has been our driving force and mentor for 30 years. We are so happy that she is still able to join us every week .
One of our members who is not able to join us at the moment is Helen.
Elizabeth called in to visit with Helen at Canowindra Soldiers Memorial Hospital
Helen was happy to have a visit from Elizabeth and reported she is feeling a bit better.
Dianne and Beth then paid a visit last Friday to cheer Helen and to deliver the friendship quilt which we all helped to create to let Helen know that she is in our thoughts
Helen loved her quilt which was of course in her favourite colours
Our thoughts also were with Marcia H who was not able to be with us today . Marcia is in Hospital recovering from surgery , we wish her a speedy recovery.
Next week is our last meeting for 2020, how times flies when we are having fun.
Two lovely ladies celebrated birthdays this month, Janet and Fay joined forces to cut the really delicious cakes and then we all joined in to help with the consumption of them.
Today was meeting day, nominations were called for to determine the “Betty Harris Award ” recipient for this year, the announcement will be made at our Christmas morning tea on 8th December. Betty Harris was a much loved member of our group , who sadly, passed away a few years ago. Each year we remember her by honouring a group member, who we feel embodies the fine qualities of caring and thoughtfulness which were so much a part of Betty’s personality.
With Christmas just around the corner, Fay has been busy, completing this very festive wall hanging just in time.
And just look at these exquisite little pin cushions! Marcia R made them using the old fashioned Sylko and Coats cotton reels. Who wouldn’t love to receive one of them as a gift?
A very lucky lady in Victoria will be receiving this beautiful Table runner which Judy has made especially for her.
Alison quilted this really pretty piece of flannelette fabric to make a very snuggly quilt to be donated to Allowah Children’s hospital.Some more stitcheries …… these are by Gail and are also destined for Allowah. Check out the little boy bunny’s slippers
2020 has been a challenging year, but we have still managed to have some fun with it. I do hope we find as much to laugh about in 2021.
Can you believe that we only have 3 more meetings before we break for Christmas. Covid really did steal a whole year from us.
However, so many people have been so busy creating, its fun to see what they’ve all been doing.
Dianne has finished her beautiful Lollipops quilt and will deliver it to a very lucky little girl this next week.
Marie had some fun making bees wax wraps, if you haven’t tried this yet , you should give it a go, it’s very satisfying to know that you are making something which will make a difference to our environmental footprint.
Sue is busy making Santa Sacks for her son’s family, I’m sure Santa will be so impressed that he will fill these giant sacks to the brim.
There are lots of little stitcheries happening at group meetings
These little Christmas stitcheries belong to MarleneAlison has been commissioned to make this beautiful Pink and Red quilt. T
Here are a couple of memes to finish off this week . Not only are they cute but, I think they are super appropriate to this time.
This is Penne’s beautiful artwork, unfortunately my photography does not do it justice, but it is a truly stunning piece. Congratulations Penne!
Penne has also finished her block of the month, doesn’t it look great! You can check out the other BOMs which have been completed and brought in for show and tell, by clicking on the Block of the Month Tab above.
Penne has added interest by setting her blocks in a slightly off centre square, looks great!
Lorraine’s grand daughter is going to be a happy girl when she gets this really gorgeous quilt her granny has made for her.
Bev has a long way to go with this quilt, but it is looking great
Don’t forget our Christmas morning tea on 8th December. There will be no meeting on 1st December as Pacific Valley Christian School have asked if they can use the hall for their presentation day.
Our thoughts are with our friend Helen who has been ill and has gone to stay with her family. We hope she is enjoying lots of comfort and nurturing .
Here’s a little surprise for you all. I’m posting two days in a row.
Now that I am back attending regular meetings my plan is to try to do the blog on Tuesday nights (or as soon thereafter as I can).
To-day was a lovely relaxed day, almost felt like a pre-covid meeting.
Colleen brought in her friendship quilt today. Colleen’s friends at Maclean Patchwork and Quilting made the blocks for this fun quilt back in 2009 and there was great excitement and lots of memories and laughter generated as we all admired the bathing beauties in their varied costumes. A snippet of this quilt is used as the very colourful banner at the top of our blog.
This beautiful quilt is off to the USA to give some comfort and cheer to Elizabeth’s niece who moved over there to work, just before Covid hit.
Elizabeth fussy cut the centre hexagons from a very cute fashion fabric.
How cute is that!
It was nice to see Marcia H back at the group for the first time in many months, she has been keeping busy with lots of small projects, these pot holders are just one of them.
Sue finished her block of the month quilt. It looks great.
This is Judy’s cute Christmas table runner
Lots more stitcheries happening today, Marlene was working on this cute Sun Bonnet Sue
There has been quite a bit of movement on the UFO front: Fay has been true to her word and has finished those Hexagons.
Well done Fay! 35 years later, it’s still beautiful.
Wilga’s UFO is finished, a big thankyou to Elizabeth and Marlene who helped her finish this stunner.
Last week was birthday cake day , Beth , Val, Linda and Janet H all celebrated birthdays in October,
Unfortunately, Janet was not there to enjoy the cake.Beth did a fine job of cutting the cakeNarelle has almost finished this beautiful crocheted rug
Maybe it’s because it’s jacaranda season , Ursula had a beautiful bag to show, also in those fabulous shades of purple.
Ursula’s beautiful Clam shell bag
One very lucky little baby who hasn’t even been born yet, will have a very snuggly winter next year in this gorgeous suit which Alison has knitted for him or her.
Most of our members are working on little stitcheries at the moment, here are a couple I’ve noticed over the last couple of weeks:
This is Janet P’s little Christmas stitcheryAnd these are Bev’s , I believe they are Bronwyn Hayes designs, from her Lavender Hill range
