Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Final Totals for 2011

It's hard to believe that the year is almost at an end and it's been more than usually marred by natural disasters with the floods here, and with earthquakes in New Zealand and in Japan. I'm sure that although there isn't much news from the affected areas now, that they are still working on rebuilding their communities.
The outpouring of support in the from of quilts from the international quilting community has hopefully aided in this rebuilding process as well as bringing comfort to those whose lives have been so badly affected by these disasters.
The very generous donations from people who read my blogs as well as those who are fellow-members of online quilting groups has allowed Oz Comfort Quilts to make and donate an amazing total of 543 quilts for 2011.
It was only possible due to all of your donations of time, money as well as QAYG blocks and quilt tops, fabric etc. The quilts have gone to comfort people in need due to the natural disasters as well as economic circumstances.
Thank you all so much for helping to bring comfort to so many people and I look forward to continuing to make and donate quilts to the needy in the next year. In the meantime I'll be taking a break for January and will be traveling to China with out youngest daughter. You'll be able to keep up with our travels on my other blog and I'll post more updates here when I return.
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for all your support and I hope that you are all blessed with a healthy and prosperous year for 2012.
Hugs Jan Mac

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Just in Time

I am very surprised that I am so organized for Christmas, especially as I'm going to be overseas in 10 days time and still have things to prepare for the trip. However I thought that I probably had time to just get a few more quilt tops finished so that they can be given to the needy for Christmas. I sent off another 6 quilts today and they'll be just in time for Christmas. I took a close-up of the first top to show how cleverly the quilter had used even the narrowest strings. It reminds me of the Lego quilt that is being shown on some blogs recently and Tonya from Lazy Gal Quilting has instructions for the quilt, based on an antique version. It is a great way to use up even those tiny slivers of fabric.
The other lovely quilts were all donated and the last one was I think a tablecloth originally but I took it apart and quilted it as it will get more use as a quilt.
Ulla said that she was sorry not to have done more and yet she sent some wonderful donations which were much appreciated and very unexpected as she lives on the other side of the world in Finland. I love the way that Blog Land allows us to connect and share our quilting stories.
I'm glad that I took some time off for family after the last quilt delivery as I feel renewed and ready to tackle to pile of tops and blocks again. On my other blog I'm also going to feature some of the blogs I read in case you need some inspiration over the holiday season. I'm going to Hong Kong and China with our youngest daughter and will document our travels on my other blog. I'll post more photos here when I return and get back into production again. I also need to add an update on the total number of donations for the year.
I hope you're all enjoying the holidays and taking time for family and you.
Hugs, Jan Mac