Thank you!

Brrrrrr!! Big Ted and I nearly froze our little socks off as we set out very early on Monday morning for the Card Day organised by the Rose Bay Committee for St Luke’s Care.

After sewing, knitting, and stuffing* toys for weeks (and weeks!) Di B and I had stuffed* her car to the limit with our treasures, tables, hangers and all the paraphernalia  for our stall, and we were just a little excited once we had it all laid out. So excited, in fact, that we completely forgot to ask someone to take a photo of the two of us on the day!

We had lots of help…

Others on the Committee had made those cute little monster softies, and cooked delicious meringues, cheese biscuits, marmalades and chutneys, and Di B’s mum, Margaret, had made jars and jars of her lemon butter and green tomato pickles (and she grew the lemons and tomatoes herself!).

Two of our St Mark’s Quilters (also Committee members) helped too - Di C donated four beautifully made baby quilts, and Moo made four of her baby playmats in bright fun fabrics, as she does every year.

Thank you everyone!

Even the job of keeping our money safe through the day was made easier with the multi-pocketed sewing aprons Linda gave us a couple of years ago.

Finally, you – yes YOU, my wonderful bloggy friends – are to be thanked for all your encouraging comments, support, prayers and general warm fuzzies. Mwah!!! XXXX

The craft stall was a HUGE success this year, and raised MUCH more for St Luke’s than it ever has before. Indeed, the entire fundraising event yielded a great result and will enable the hospital to buy more hand-held scanners to use with their state-of-the-art computerised sterilising system.

* * * * *

And another Thank You, this time to all of you who were kind enough to vote for my quilt “Alhambra Romance” in the “Favourite Applique Quilt” section of the latest Bloggers’ Quilt Festival run by Amy of Amy’s Creative Side. My quilt didn’t win, but it was a thrill just to have made it into the finalists.

Amy will be featuring interviews on her blog with some of the entrants, and if you keep watching one day you might see a mention of someone you know

Di

* Just quietly, we were rather stuffed by the end of the day too!

For “techie babes” - and tiny babes

Covers for Kindles and Ipads

 

Applique baby singlets

 

Beanies

Patchwork balls for little hands

Owl Backpack Buddies

Sock Monkeys

 

And bears (do we have bears!)

… and anything else we can finish before tomorrow’s big day

Di

These should brighten up a few kitchens

Appliqued Tea Towels

Insulated Heat-resistant Trivets

‘Cupcake’ Potholders

…and Owls

Oven Gloves (yes, that is potato-print fabric)

And Oven Mitts

And what self-respecting market stall would be without a pretty covered coathanger (or 30!)

Di

Only 4 more sleeps (3 if I don’t get to bed soon!)

With Monday’s fundraiser fast approaching we’re putting those final touches to our stall goodies, tying bows, and wrapping what we can in cellophane and colourful curling ribbons.

In addition to yesterday’s items we have gifts for golfers -

Golfers’ Hand Towels

Clip-on Water Bottle Holders

For bridge players -

Cards Compendium

For the dining table -

Christmas Table Runners

Placemats

Drink Coasters

 

Even a couple of really useful over the shoulder tote bags -

But wait, there’s even more

Di

A peek at more St Luke’s craft stall goodies made by “Team Di”

Some of our items are soft and pastel, like this sweet little baby beanie that Di B’s mum, Margaret, knitted.

Di B’s elegant covered coathanger hides a secret…

See, there’s a hidden compartment for precious items – jewelry, money, …love letters perhaps?

Our customers won’t make spectacles of themselves with one of these quietly classy glasses cases. 

I’ve made some little gift sets for travellers, combining two pretty luggage tags with a tray for keeping together all your coins, jewelry, keys, spectacles etc  on your hotel bedside table at the end of the day.

The travel tray stores flat when not in use, and of course weighs almost nothing. I found the pattern for the tray here, at Angie’s Bits ‘n Pieces, and Angie has kindly allowed me to make them for our fundraiser for St Luke’s Care.

And just look at the braid on this bath towel and face washer set. That Di B – she’s such a quack-up! 

 

Di J

(ducking for cover)

More Quilts from last week’s Sydney Quilt Show 2012

In her Margaret Cormack-designed quilt “Blossom Time” Sue Murtagh, a fellow Paddington Patchworker, made clever use of a single feature fabric cut in a different kaleidoscope style for each block.

Don’t you love Sue’s sashiko embroidery!

Another Paddington Patchworker, Sue Rowles, is a big fan of Bonnie K Hunter’s stashbuster quilts. I love them too but I’m ashamed to admit my “Double Delight” is still in several hundred pieces in a box in the corner!
Sue entered her eye-catching finished version of Bonnie’s “Orca Bay” Mystery Quilt.

My friend, Linda Billett of Artisan Quilting took a few weeks off quilting other people’s quilts over the Christmas holidays to have a little quilting fun of her own, and  “Randomly Ruffling Your Feathers!” was the result.
At first glance it seems a perfectly demure, exquisitely quilted braid quilt.

But look a little closer! Can you see the butterfly?

And the rabbit, the bird and the dragonfly?



I enjoyed spotting these whimsies among the feathers, but my favourite was Linda’s own dog, Cleo, looking like a hunting dog from a mediaeval tapestry.

At St Mark’s Quilters we’ve made quite a few quilt-as-you-go string quilts, so Di B, Sue and I were immediately attracted to Meg Orr’s “Just a Touch of Autumn”, and we were delighted when Meg herself, white-gloving nearby, explained her creative process. Look at the half-square triangles in each block – a very effective way to use a large-scale print you can’t bring yourself to cut up.

Finally let me show you Lisa Walton’s “Blue Corridor”, a majestic and ethereal quilt inspired by the parabolic arches of the corridor in Gaudi’s Casa Batllo in Barcelona.

Lisa has now written a very comprehensive blog post showing just how she achieved this masterpiece. Be amazed!

Di