Bushfire Blocks

I saw the call from Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild - asking for tree blocks - to make into quilts for victims of the recent bush fires.
Although Queensland where I live had some fires - quite a while back, and there was a lot of damage, the fires here didn't reach the epic proportions of those further south.  IN Brisbane we had a few smoky days.
It was such a sad story hearing about it all.   

So when WMQG said they needed blocks, I thought that was something I could do to help.
The response has been overwhelming - and a recent post says they have now received over 4000 blocks.   That is 200 quilts.  And the final posting date is 1st March.
The blocks have come from all over the world.
Very humbling.....

Anyway - back to the tale . . .
I grabbed one of the patterns from WMQG and make these a little while back.  

A few weeks ago, I received an email at work - suggesting that we could use our Volunteer Leave days to help organisations that were still working in relation to the bush fires.  We get two days a years and mostly, I have not used both days...for a number of reasons.

But I thought I would give this a try - so asked if making quilt blocks for quilts for fire victims etc . . .was allowable - "Yes, go for it, a great way to use your Volunteer day/s" 
So, today I sewed these blocks:

The foundation pieced trees created a bit of wastage, so I grabbed some of the leftovers and make a crazy patch piece of fabric and then hand drew a tree!!! 
(Well I know its simple...but I do not draw well)
It's a bit wonkier than planned...I had a mishap with the trunk - but it is going to a Modern Quilt Guild and I think I recovered it well enough.  Maybe if you zoom in  you will see some decorative stitches on the trunk!!!

All the blocks are over sized as requested by the Guild.

So, that was my Volunteer Leave day.... Maybe I can use the second one the same way....

I'm also working on some QAYG blocks to send away. 19 1/2 done - aiming for 35 - enough for one quilt.

The Australasian Embroidery Convention 2020

Well, it was certainly smallish - most stalls were quite small - there was quite a crowd at most of them until about lunchtime when it started to dwindle.

I thought there was a good array of retailers -  although it could have been an opportunity for other options - maybe more hand embroidery, cross stitch???  

I did mange to find a few things to buy - here is some of it . .

The back piece is a gorgeous piece of hand dyed needle prefelted Australian merino - I could blame this purchase on two "helpers"....But I have a plan for it - so not just an idle purchase.  This retailer is from Perth and not interested in any of the other shows here...sad....she had a gorgeous array of products.

Then there is Anni Down's new book...and Natalie Bird's new book and a pattern for a doovalackie - with houses...couldn't resist.
And a piece of sashiko dot grid and a sheet with some proposed patterns ...I haven't decided on colours yet . . .

I also bought 2 small pieces of pre-printed sashiko and 4 coasters....I expect you will see that soon enough here on the blog.

The show is definitely on again next year - in March.  I heard Fifi (Fifi's Fabricology) explaining that the area will be bigger . . . but it's still not a great location...a long hike form the car park compared to the other shows...still I guess it has to start somewhere and grow!

.

FNSI - February

Hi Fellow FNSI-ers

Thanks to Wendy we can all gather for a happy night of sewing - or thinking about sewing . . .
What did I work on???

I had hoped to finish one of the parts for My Small World....I made some progress....not as much as I would have liked though.

I find the pattern quite confusing....the cutting measurements are laid out continuously, rather than a line for each, there are metric equivalents and the drawings are finished sizes....so when you work on it in dribs and drabs, it’s like re training your brain all over each time....but I really live the project and will persevere....and recut some of the bits.

My motto:
You can learn something from every quilt you make.  This time I’m learning not to push on when you are too tired to think.
On top of a long busy week, we had an evacuation because the fire alarm went off....11 flights of stairs is hard work!  It was the tradies working up stairs.....grrrr

Tomorrow I’m off to the inaugural Embroiders Convention, so it will be a bit of walking....might be a bit slow.

Hope you all got stuff done...and had a fun night!!!

February Happenings

I have not been able to make a lot of crochet blocks lately...
but I had a small pile to hand over this month:

I have also finished a playmat for Mr Adorable Grandson.  
We are off to Townsville at the end of the month for his first birthday.  I have a few cars to add to this too.

That is all for now - I have also been making small house blocks, tree blocks and QAYG blocks.  I'll post more on these later - hopefully soon for the tree blocks - since they need to be sent by the end of the month.