Thursday, June 30, 2011

Quilts from Victoria



These two fabulous quilts were made and donated by Lynne Baker from Victoria. The colours are so vibrant in the QAYG quilt blocks and it is a lovely quilt for a male or female. The soft colours of the other quilt will be lovely for a lady and I'm sure they will be treasured.
I also received a donation of $20 from Helen of NSW and this has helped pay for postage of sending quilts to Christchurch yesterday.
Thank you all for your support with these quilt appeals as it does mean that we are able to help more people.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Quilts From Kyabram

These beautiful quilts were all made and donated by Kyabram quilters and delivered by Lesley Lowe. They have been very busy and generously donated 9 finished quilts as well as some more quilt tops and many lovely knitted items shown on my other blog.
Yesterday I also posted off another 6 large quilts to Cat to distribute to the families of Christchurch who are still facing many challenges due to the recent earthquakes.
These beautiful quilts will also bring comfort and warmth to their new owners and I really appreciate so much generous help and donations.
Thanks you all for your continued support.
Hugs, Jan Mac







Monday, June 27, 2011

A Special QAYG


This was donated as a set of blocks and using the same strips in the middle of each block gives them a different look to the QAYG blocks I usually work with. It is a really pretty quilt and the dark navy strips between the blocks makes the colours stand out.
This week will be busy with family as my father is having surgery and staying with us for a few days afterwards so it may be a case of taking hand work to fill in the time.
I also have a box of quilts to post off to Christchurch and the flights have resumed now that the volcanic ash has cleared so
it will be good to have them on their way to Cat for distribution to families in need of comfort.
I'd better get back to the sewing machine while I can tonight.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The End of the Week.

The first three quilts shown were made from donated tops and will be going to either Qld or Christchurch. I have a pile of quilts to pits off to Cat for Christchurch but the continued volcanic ash cloud has meant that flights to NZ have been cancelled so I'll post them off as soon as they resume flying again.
The last two beautiful QAYG quilts were made and donated by quilting groups. The first one was made by quilters from Bathurst (NSW) and Kaite very kindly post it down to me for distribution to Qld.
The last quilt was made and donated by Maureen Hume and the Camberley U3A Patchwork Quilters from Surrey in the UK. Maureen wrote : We have had great fun in working these quilts; some have already started to make these for their own homes. We are indeed grateful that you have shared your skills with us...
Whereas I am grateful for all the willing help from quilters around the world Maureen, so if I've been able to pay you back by making it possible to learn new skills then it's a win-win situation.
I hope you are all having fun making these QAYG blocks and using up scraps of batting and fabric which can then be used to make quilts to help others.
Hugs, Jan Mac




Wednesday, June 22, 2011

More Quilts for Christchurch

The earth tremors are continuing in Christchurch and the residents report their anxiety in trying to rebuild their homes as well as keeping their children safe during these ongoing tremors. A news report on my other blog gives more details.
In the meantime all I can do is quilt and send them over to Cat for distribution to families in Christchurch who are living in appalling conditions with no heating and disruptions to power.
The first quilt here was made from a donated top and backing. I also found some binding in the box of donations which worked well with the colours in the top.
The second quilt was made from blocks donated by Cat and both of these quilts are lovely and large and the bright colours will be loved by teens.
The last quilt was also made from a donated top and will bring comfort and warmth to its new owner. I quilted one more top but still have the binding to finish. So far I've finished 6 quilts for Christchurch in the past 2 days and will be sending a box off to Cat for distribution this week.
Many, many thanks for all your help with these quilt projects.
Hugs Jan Mac

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Quilts For Christchurch


The first quilt is the remaining quilt I was working on for abused children. An organization holds a camp for abused and neglected children aged 6 to 12 and I've been asked to provide quilts for all 35. I have started working on them now although they won't be needed until Oct as I have a few other commitments coming up and I want to make sure they are done in time. This was a donated top of a jungle print and will be loved by a child.
The next quilt was made from QAYG blocks donated for Christchurch. The blocks were made as a set and sent by Sharon of Lismore (NSW) and will go into the pile of quilts ready to post to Christchurch. Thank you very much to the lovely readers who have donated some money via the Donate button as it means that I will be able to post more quilts off very soon. I'm also putting some money aside to pay for more batting as I am working my way through my supplies very quickly when quilting donated tops.
The last lovely quilt was sent by Patricia Thornhill from the UK. It is a lovely feminine quilt in pastel pinks and will be going to Qld with the next delivery where it will brighten the room of a young girl.
Thank you all for your help with getting the quilts delivered to where they are needed. Kaite tells me that they had snow in Bathurst (NSW) today and winter has certainly arrived here too.
Stay warm everyone and keep quilting.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Friday, June 17, 2011

Quilts For Kids and Thanks

These are yesterday's finishes and I have one more just waiting for binding. The first two quilts were made from donated tops and the first one was also donated with backing and binding so it was very easy to finish off. It's so colourful that it is sure to brighten the life and comfort and abused child.
The second quilt is a fun quilt with quirky robot and space ship fabric and will be loved by a young boy.
The last quilt is the ever-fun QAYG and this one will be going to a child in Christchurch as they try to recover from more earthquakes.
Many, many thanks for the donations for postage. I have enough to start sending more quilts to Christchurch and I'll be posting more off next week.
Now we're off to a wedding in Melbourne so I'm taking my knitting with me for any free moments I may have.
I'll be back tomorrow.
Have a fun day. Hugs Jan Mac


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Can You Help Please?

This is just a short note to ask advice about how to raise money for costs of sending quilts for Oz Comfort Quilts as well as a way to raise money for costs of toiletries etc. for the homeless.
I am hoping someone can help me to know how I can raise money via the blog.
I was going to add a Donate button which will direct any donations via Paypal but I didn't proceed as I heard that Paypal can freeze the money if you aren't a registered non-profit organization and you need to raise $250 before you can access any funds.
I only want to set up a donate button so that people can just donate their change or small amounts as this would be a huge help and these small amounts would add up to enough to cover postage costs of quilts to places such as Christchurch. It costs about $14 per quilt and this doesn't sound like much but when I send so many quilts it certainly adds up.
I don't like to ask for money normally as people have already spent money in sending the QAYG blocks etc but as I fund all the other costs, apart from donations, it can become an expensive process.
Any advice re Paypal or whether or not I should just provide my bank details via email for direct payment into a special account, would be very helpful.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Thankyous and Kids' Quilts

This week will be all about the Kids as I have been asked for 35 quilts for kids aged 6 to 12 and I also want to send more kid's quilts to Christchurch as they are having a very challenging and frightening time at the moment. You can check out the NZ news on my other blog.
The 35 quilts will be given to kids when they attend a camp for neglected/abused kids to be held at the end of the year. I want to get them done early to make sure I have enough for them, especially as I will be away for 4 weeks from mid August.
The two quilts in kid's prints were made from donated tops and the QAYG quilts were made from donated blocks. One of the blue sashed quilts will be going to Christchurch and I have some more part-finished too. With the earthquakes of the past few days there are thousands of households without heating again and I know that the quilts will be needed more than ever now they are in winter.

I also received some lovely letters of thanks from some of the people who received our quilts in Rochester.
Kaye wrote: Rochester Community House has received many thank yous for the quilts in person and by phone. They are certainly being appreciated by the recipients- even more so now that it has turned cold. We still have many people not back in their homes yet or without floor coverings, so the gift of a quilt brings some comfort and warmth.

Kaye also enclosed 5 letters of thanks from other residents of Rochester:
"Thank you for the beautiful quilts for my children. They will be used and treasured"- from Ian.

"Thank you so much for suggesting my name to receive a comfort quilt. I love it so much and use it while I knit in the evenings- after a difficult 18 months the flood was the last straw- so the quilt truly is a "comfort" quilt. It was so kind of you and very much appreciated"- Denise.

"Dear Jan, I received one of your beautiful quilts and I love it. You must have spent hours making them. We are still not back in our house and never want to go through another flood. People from all over the place have been wonderful. All except the insurance companies. Well once again thank you very much and I will treasure my quilt"- Maureen.

"Thank you very much for the beautiful quilt Pam received. As you are aware Pam is now a resident of the Rochester Hostel. The quilt is permanently on her bed and looks lovely. Pam's unit was inundated with water, fortunately she was able to gain a place in care"- Wyn.

"Dear Jan, Just a note to thank you for the beautiful patchwork quilt, that you had made, that I received from Rochester Community House. It is so kind of you to make quilts for people and I appreciated your quilt. It is lovely. Thank you once again"- Mary.

I wanted to share these letters with you because you are all part of the Oz Comfort Quilts team and we couldn't possible reach and comfort as many people with the quilts without all of your very generous donations and help.
Now Christchurch is in need of more help so please consider making a quilt and posting it off to Cat at :
For Christchurch
PO Box 13529
Onehunga
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND
If everyone made and sent just one quilt imagine how many children and adults would be feeling a little warmer and happier in Christchurch. I have amended my blog details again and as I have used almost 300 QAYG blocks in the past 10 days I am happy to accept more donated blocks, tops etc as the need is great and I am working on getting more quilts finished and donated quickly.
God bless, Jan Mac




Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Quilts to Queensland

After our lovely break of a few days camping it was time to get back to work yesterday. I had already been packing quilts for distribution and thank to some serious sewing I'd managed to finish off more to add to them. The truck is on its way to Qld again and I spoke with one of the lovely people who does so much good work in distributing the items for me as well as for many others.
I sent up 43 quilts- mostly at least single bed size, 20 scarves, 101 knitted hats in various sizes, 6 SB crocheted blankets, 3 knitted sweaters for children, as well as many tote bags which will be used to give out the items to people who have nowhere to store them.
I'm also including a report form the lovely people who have been helping to distribute the quilts and warm items in Qld.

Just a quick message to let you know that Ipswich Streetlinks day went well and the homeless were dumbstruck by everything that we had for them to choose from, especially your quilts!

Some of your quilts we had kept back and on Friday we went to a place called HOPE Care. The lady who runs it (voluntarily) rang Friday morning absolutely desperate for blankets, quilts etc for their residents. It is a caravan park style with little units, the majority of the residents are either domestic violence victims, formerly homeless, very needy families and some recently released prisoners. The police/parole officers place them there, as they know they will be well looked after. Anyway we were chatting with her and a few of the residents were around. There was one lady, newly arrived from interstate , the police/welfare put her and her child on a bus to Brisbane, to get away from very bad domestic violence. She had left her partner a fair while ago, but didn't matter where they moved to, he found them and she got the same treatment, including holding her hands over open fires, stab wounds everywhere, plus the normal bashings etc etc. Her child has a serious illness and she was unable to stay at domestic violence shelters because there was no room for both of them. So for a few nights they slept in a park, until they were both assaulted. They spent a few days in hospital, then the police moved her to this caravan park under an assumed name. All they have is the clothes they have been wearing!! We knew there was a nice quilt or two of yours in the boxes, so my DH and I without any words spoken, just looked at each other and went through the boxes till we found two of your lovely quilts. When we handed them to the mum, she was speechless, started crying and so did the child. She couldn't believe that they were being GIVEN FREE OF CHARGE something so nice and what she knew would be warm!!! She asked us to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE thank the person who had made the beautiful quilts, so this is your thank you from both of them!! I don't even know her name, but after speaking with the manager for at least 2 hours, we will be back there very soon, when we have some more things to take for them. At present there are about 600 residents, not all of them are needy, but about 3/4 are, and about 1/4 0f them flood affected families.
Lorraine does so much for them, with very limited funds. We both came away from there just knowing we want to do more for Hope Centre!!

Just wish you could have seen the lady and her child's faces!!

They also got a beanie and scarf each and some other bits and pieces but they were just so appreciative of the quilts! Had to share this with you!

Hope you are keeping well, and keeping warm. Its COLD up here, can imagine what it is like down there!!

I wanted to share this lovely story with all of you who have been so supportive of these quilt appeals. Please know that we can make a difference to the lives of people who face many challenges every day because they don't have the normal thing we take for granted like a warm bed and a safe place to stay. I know that you will want to continue to help when you hear about these people so I will accept all items again and just have to sew a bit faster to get the quilts finished and out to where they are desperately needed.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help.
Love and hugs, Jan Mac

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Quilts For Japan

Two more QAYG quilts finished off today before we take a few days break on a camping trip. I also posted off 2 quilts to Japan, 1 was a kid's quilt and the other was a QAYG quilt in more subdued colours. These two quilts will most likely be going to Qld to people affected by the floods. I found some blocks which were predominantly purple and used a paler sashing and on the other quilt I used a red, green and black print for the sashing. I'd bought a bolt of this Christmas fabric very cheaply some years ago and when it's cut up into sashing strips the print provides a nice contrast with the lighter coloured blocks.
Combining blocks from many different donors has meant that they are colourful and will brighten someone's life.
Many thanks for your help and donations.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

There's More

I managed to finish off another 3 QAYG quilts today so I'm on roll and the pile of blocks is going down very nicely. I see no point in stockpiling the quilts when there is such a demand for them so I've been packing boxes and getting them ready to send off.
I had a huge box packed with quilts and ready to post to a group which helps many disadvantaged groups but it weighed too much to send via the post. I'll have to send it in two boxes instead which is fine but I decided to stay home and finish off more quilts rather than venture out into the cold today so a trip to the post office is on the list of jobs for tomorrow.
In the meantime I have another QAYG quilt almost finished and as I'm going camping for a few days, it's good to get more blocks finished into quilts, before I take a break.
Thanks for stopping by, Jan Mac

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

I Love QAYG Quilts

The photos aren't that great but a cloudy day meant not enough natural light to show the quilts. I made these yesterday and today and have another almost finished and ready to post off. I was given a roll of fabric which I think had problems with the fabric dying as it's a shaded fabric but the pattern doesn't seem to be consistent so it's not that attractive. However it does very well as the sashing strips and binding for these quilts and it's very easy using the same fabric as I don't have to change the thread colours either.
I really love working with all the donated QAYG blocks as it's a very quick way for me to make quilts and allows all the donors to use up some surplus scraps. As soon as I get a few more made I'll be ready to accept more blocks again. If you don't want to hold onto them you can send them now as the numbers are moving down in the box of squares.
I'll be sending off more boxes of quilts very soon which will make room for more finishes.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Quilts Donated


These beautiful quilts were made and donated by Kyvalley Quilters (Vic) and delivered by Lesley Lowe this week. They are lovely kid's quilts and will soon be on their way to Qld for kids who have been displaced by the floods. Lesley very kindly delivered the quilts to Rochester for me this week and I had a lovely letter of thanks from the community house as well as an email from Kaye who is helping to distribute them. The people who receive them are very grateful for their warmth and will treasure them.
I also received a lovely letter from a lady in Theodore (Qld) who received one of the quilts some weeks ago, after the flooding of their town.
I now have plenty of QAYG squares and tops to work with as well as knitting yarn for beanies and scarves so I'm requesting no more donations other than finished items please, until I have time to catch up with some of the works in progress. Many thanks for all your help.
Hugs, Jan Mac