What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 I've been (slowly) knitting beanies using some donated wool from a group which does knitting and sewing for those in need.  Beanies for men were needed so from the big box of wool I chose some brown and a smaller ball of cream.  This group does good work for the community but the day of the week they meet doesn't suit me so I've decided not to join them after all.  But of course I needed to pop in and return the beanies to them.  I managed to get three large and one child's beanies out ...

It was time for our monthly lunch with our Super Leisure Group (SLG) friends, and Calvin had arranged for us to meet down at Porirua.  That suited us fine, as on the way I could do a donation drop off at Paraparaumu Beach, on the way to Porirua.  So I packed up some goodies for Foster Hope, and we set off bright and early.  These had been finished some time ago, and were waiting patiently to be delivered.

Three draw string bags for toiletries or pencils

Three toddlers aprons, a woolly beanie and two pencil cases with pencils

Two quilts ...

      One of the super cool things about blogging is the people. I have met such wonderful people over the years. Sadly, some have stopped blogging and communicating. Boy, do I miss them! Because some readers know I make comfort quilts almost all the time, they have sent me fabric and quilt tops to finish. What a delight that is! I have been able to back quilts, finish quilts and quilt them with the generosity of others. Recently, I got a boxes of fabrics and I received tops from across the ocean. Can you believe it?

A big load from Gwen ...

 Over the last several months I have been stitching away, and had accumulated a bag of donations for Foster Hope charity.  The nearest drop off point was on the way to where we were heading for lunch, so that worked out well.  I collected the bag, and we were ready to go.

The Safelight Project made great headway in the past two weeks, as case sets started coming in, and checks arrived. I was stunned at the amounts on several of them, in the hundreds of dollars! So much so that I can announce that we have exceeded our financial goal!! To say thank you seems so inadequate, but to Dorothy F, Janet S, and Tina W, you are all amazing. The three of you funded over half the project! Special thanks also to Kay, Susan and Vicki, your generosity is much appreciated. Those donations along with a lot of $5-$50 ...

This past week, I got an email from the shelter director at Safelight, Morgan Abendroth. She wrote “We have used up our last spa bag and I was wondering if you are still making them. They are such a great addition to welcome clients into shelter. We would love to get more if that is possible.” I had asked them to let me know when they were down to a dozen, but with the holidays it got lost in the hustle and bustle. 

In previous years, we have come together as a community to assemble spa bags for new residents ...

I have another finish to show, and no, I haven't whipped this up after returning home last week from our Anniversary trip.  This was completed a week or so earlier.  It all started with a unicorn panel looking for a new home  from Sew Wot buddy Helen’s stash.  Gemma thought those unicorns were well worth checking out.

Unicorn panel

So I cut the panels apart, sashed them with different fabrics from my stash, assembled the blocks and added a purple border.  Then one sunny day I pinned the three layers together on the patio table outside.

Next step ...

Finally, a finish.  This strippy boy’s quilt was made from donated fabrics from my elderly neighbour’s Dorothy’s stash which I received some time ago.  Dorothy’s quilting had slowed down over the years, but she had collected a huge stash of fabrics, with many suitable for children.  For this project I selected two WOF 1/4 yard pieces in navy to start with, one with areoplanes and helicopters,  and the other featuring construction machines,  plus some red and cream solids to make a strippy quilt.  The completed quilt top was pinned up ready for machine quilting a ...

Although I always seem to be busy with my projects, I have to admit that I’ve been flitting from one thing to the other over the last week.  So consequently, nothing really gets finished.  With my knitting, I've been working on the sleeves of my navy blue cardigan, then also on the button hole bands as well.  Then I’ve two pair of socks on the go, sometimes I work on one set, later I work on the other.  I've been doing a little machining here and there, working on a couple of projects.  So nothing much ...

We have been out and about lately.  First we took a trip down to Kapiti to drop of a bag of donations for Foster Hope Charity.  Included in this donation were two draw string bags for the kids pencils or treasures, and two little girls aprons.

Bags and aprons

And quilts, winter is coming after all, and there is sure to be a need for these.  First were two toddlers quilts made from small printed panels – these were finished last year but I wasn't quite ready to part with them, just in case there was a need close to ...

It has been a slow start to this year’s Safelight Project, but we have begun to see some progress this week. I am delighted to report that we have exceeded our revised financial goal in order to deliver 50 spa bags and we will be able to do 60. Any additional funds received over the next couple of weeks will go to adding more bags to the total. It would be great to deliver 75 bags, but we’ll see what the mail brings over the next week.

Several boxes and letters arrived at once, containing checks, case sets ...

I spent a lovely hour or so outside today under our Archgola finishing the hand stitching on  the binding on a baby quilt.  It was nice and warm, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping.  Gemma was outside with me, watching those birds intently who were perched up on the neighbour's  roof, no doubt wishing she could get closer to them and show them who was the boss!  It certainly was a delightful slow stitching Sunday.

The quilt started like this, using up some leftover flannel to make some easy Cobblestone blocks.  Gemma found them nice and ...

This is a cute little boys quilt made from pictures cut from a small panel and framed.  The top was constructed “leader and ender” style, and it was layered and pinned, ready for machine quilting.  The binding was made, and I was set to go onto the next step.

Ready to start quilting

I stitched in the ditch around the plain sashing and used simple Serpentine stitch in the diagonal quilting lines, extending them right through to the borders.

Easy machine quilting

Then quiet time doing slow stitching, I enjoy sitting down hand stitching the binding down, especially when the ...

We've enjoyed a few little outings lately, meeting up with friends for lunch.  In fact, last week was very social indeed, with two lunches in a row.  The first was down at Paraparaumu Beach – where I did a drop-off with a bag of donations for Foster Hope, a charity which helps children in foster care.  The children often arrive at their foster homes with very little indeed,  so Foster Hope gives each child a back pack with toiletries, pajamas, underwear, and whatever else they made need.  My donation last week was a selection of 18 draw string bags for ...

I’m a little late sharing my 2021 quilting progress with you, but then, I’ve only just returned home from holiday.  It doesn’t seem that I’ve achieved a great deal in the quilting stakes this last year, and a look back through the blog confirms this.  Guess my back problem, subsequent diagnosis, surgery and recovery had a lot to do with this.  But I did finish a few, and here they are.  First up were two donation quilts,one for a boy and one for a girl, and some draw string bags for donation as well.

Donation ...

Wednesday was Lunch Date.  Some friends had given me a pretty card with some cash as a Get Well gift after my spinal surgery.  To do what I wanted with it, perhaps buy a little something to cheer myself up.  I had decided I would use it to buy lunch for Robin and myself as a treat.

Gift card

So we went out to the local Cossie Club.  The chef was offering a “Covid Lunch Special”  three courses for $16.00 a head.  Excellent value, and I knew it was good as I had dined there the previous week with ...

We had a busy old day last week, heading off to Palmerston North, clutching a “To Do” list in my hand.  First on the list was was to drop off my current donations for the Foster Hope Charity, which looks after children in foster care.  The drop off point is in a lawyers office in Palmy where one of staff is the local co-ordinator.  The office is situated on the 1st floor, with no lift available, so I had to struggle up the stairs with my walking stick, goodness knows how really old and infirm people get on when they ...

Where did this happen, you are probably wondering?  My neurosurgeon had requested an MRI of my spine to check on his handywork.  So I presented myself bright and early for my appointment to Pacific Radiology in Palmerston North.  What music would you like, I was asked?  After thinking about it I decided on Elvis, after all, I fell in love with his wonderful voice when my girlfriend’s brothers used to buy his records way back then in  years gone by.

So there I was, laying on my back, headphones on, cocooned inside the MRI machine for an hour, listening ...

It’s been a while, but on Monday I decided it was time to roll the dice again.  Which number would get to the top of the list, I wondered?  It was number 1, my strings blocks, nice to work on this one again.  Last time it looked like this, with the blocks all stitched together.

This little cot quilt needed a border, so that was the first step this week.  I added a cream border, and took it outside to the patio table one warm sunny afternoon to pin it all together.

All pinned, ready for quilting

Several days ...