Monday, January 10, 2011

Heartbreak as Floods Spread

Anna Bligh the Premier of Queensland has said "It might be breaking our hearts at the moment, but it will not break our will."
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/floodrelief/desperate-and-grim-situation-facing-qld-premier-anna-bligh-warns/story-fn7ik2te-1225985275828#ixzz1Ai2YaNdx

I'm so sorry to be asking all of the blogging world for help again when you were all so generous with your donations for the bush fires which devastated parts of my State- Victoria, almost 2 years ago. Then I asked for donations of QAYG blocks so I could make and donate quilts to the people who lost their homes, family and friends in the fires.
Now unbelievably the devastating floods have also caused loss of life. To date 8 are confirmed dead and many others are still missing. I always thought that floods were less devastating than fire as there was less chance of losing lives but this has certainly proven me wrong. The sad part is that they are continuing to evacuate part of Qld and even New South Wales as the flood waters continue to spread and even the city of Brisbane has 6,500 homes under threat.
So dear readers I am asking again for your help to make and donate QAYG blocks so I can put more quilts together and bring comfort to those affected, to let them know we are thinking of them. This was what meant the most to the people devastated by the bush fires- that we were thinking of them and supporting them.
This will be an ongoing project as it is going to take some time before the water even recedes and the clean-up can begin. The Qld quilters were so generous with their help for our bush fire quilt appeal that I want to repay their kindness and generosity by offering our support now. Imagine having to clean metres of thick and smelly mud from your home- some of which have had water up to their ceilings, and some were even washed off their footings. Then while sorting through the debris you couldn't find any thing to salvage. Wouldn't you love to have a fresh and pretty quilt, pillowcase, toiletries and so on to give you a little hope that things will improve.
Thanks to Kaite from Bathurst whom posted a tutorial on how to make QAYG blocks on her blog http://kaitesyarngarden.blogspot.com
as well as a lovely quilter from Holland (who has a DD currently living in Qld) and who has requested quilters from Holland via her blog (http://://batiklady.web-log.nl/blog) to send either heart blocks or string pieced blocks, same as QAYG but without batting to cut down on postal costs. I have also posted a tute on my blog to show how to make the QAYG blocks. There is also a tutorial on my blog in the notes for Feb 2009 which shows how to put the blocks together. However dear readers I am not asking you to join them togther but if you have a small amount of time, as well as some fabric and batting scraps then any you are able to donate will be put together and donated on your behalf. I also use 21 strips cut across the width of fabric and measuring 2.5' wide which are used to join all the blocks.
If you are able to donate any QAYG blocks, or even any blocks, they will all be used to make quilts for the flood survivors in Qld. My address is shown on both my blogs and I would also really appreciate if you could get the info out to as many quilters as possible so we can get the quilts ready while they are doing their recovery. I will be investigating help from a transport company to deliver the quilts to some local ladies who will give them out to the people affected and I prefer this to delivering to a general donation area where they could be "lost" among other donations.
I'm sorry to ask for your help again so soon after our last quilt appeal but the situation is much more serious than first thought and many more people will be needing help now.
Thanks for reading.
Love and hugs Jan Mac

7 comments:

  1. I have 16 QAYG blocks ready to be mailed, and I also cut up a barely used curtain for binding. I'll just whip together a bag to go in the same mail. I hope you will be receiving hundreds of blocks from all over the world. - I have also made a blog post about your quilts, hoping to reach as many quilters as possible.

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  2. Hi Jan, just a small correction to my blog name, it is
    http://kaiteyarngarden.blogspot.com
    just have to remove that "s".

    Ulla is wonderful isn't she, and a friend of mine from Canada http://magpiesmumblings.blogspot.com/
    has made some also.
    cheerio, got to get back to the cutting board,
    kaite

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  3. Striking new header Jan, well done...k.

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  4. Dear Jan

    I'd like to help. I can make some of the QAYG blocks but I can also make complete quilts if you need any of those. What size are you after? Do they all have to be string quilts or will any simple block pattern do?

    Alex

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  5. Yay, i've come thru to you from the badge, go take a look. k.

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  6. Instructions for posting up the ozcomfortquilts button onto your blog
    go to your own Dashboard/Design/Add gadget/
    scroll down the Basics Gadgets to
    Add Picture, click the +,
    type in the link - ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com
    type in a caption if you want, i just put "i support",
    browse for the image either off my blog or in your pictures file having first saved it,
    click Save,
    re-arrange, drag, it up or down the gadgets column,
    click Save again,
    then go take a look and test it out. Yay, it works!! kaite

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  7. I am hoping to make some blocks for you. I have also posted a link on my UK blog

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