ANZAC Day

We WILL Remember Them...

We WILL Thank Them . . .

Lest We Forget

We do not look for reward....

An email, to let us know that the care parcels we send to our "Aussie Heroes" overseas have arrived, is basically all we ask.

... so you can imagine how absolutely thrilled (and humbled) I was, when I opened the mail yesterday to find...

A lovely handwritten postcard all the way from Afghanistan.  I just loved the 'correction' to the flags down on the bottom left hand corner.  You may not be able to notice it in the photo - the Stars & Stripes have been replaced by our own Aussie Flag!

And in the parcel were a couple of little gifts to say Thank you.  

I will treasure this.

("It's  goin' straight to the Pool Room!")  *

*Quote from the 1997 Aussie Movie - "The Castle"

I think I Busted my Budget.....

Well the shop IS called "Darn Cheap"!

I got a rather excited visit from my Mum yesterday afternoon to let me know that she had just been down to Darn Cheap in Heidelberg and discovered that they had just put out their remaining stock of "Michelle's Backyard" fabric (by Michelle Marvig for Charles Parsons) into their cheap bin.

For those of you who are local to Melbourne and know the store - that's right... it's in the $4:00 per meter bin.
Well, there's a lot less of it now... at that price I bought enough to make some very nice Aussie Hero Quilts.
But DH is going to have to shout me my next coffee!

It is finds like this that gives you the enthusiasm to make another quilt for someone you don't know, and then out of the blue you get.........

"I came into work today and was surprised when I saw a package on my desk. When I opened the package I was even more surprised when I saw that it was the Aussie Hero quilt, laundry bag, beanie and also some goodies. There was also a letter .....
I would just like to extend my greatest thanks for the package and not only the quilt, laundry bag and goodies but also the letter. I will really cherish this.
It really made my day.

Thanking you again from the bottom of my heart."


And then it is all worth while!   :-)

Being part of something special

Aussie Hero Friends
(I'm the one behind the camera!)

This week I have had the opportunity to meet and chat with Jan-Maree from Aussie Hero Quilts, over Hot Chocolate and Coffee when she was down in Melbourne for her MIL's 80th Birthday.

We stayed at the Cafe so long, enjoying several coffees and some very nice muffins, the waiter eventually asked if we wanted the lunch menu......or the bill!

It prompted my DH to quote his favourite saying - Hmmmm -
"Can I get you anything?  Tea?  Coffee?  Hats?  Coats ???"

It was a valuable time to connect with Internet friends, and catch up on some of the finer details of Aussie Hero Quilts that don't get into print.

I have been working on 2 special request quilts over the last week or so and finally have sent them off to their new homes.
One via Jan-Maree and one is in the post today.  It was a challenge to get what was a Fat Quarter Bundle into a quilt without chopping through the pattern.  My DH suggested it would look good if I could quilt it so that it had tractor tyre tracks running over it.
Hmmm - maybe I should teach HIM to quilt!

QAYG - Attempt No 1

QAYG = Quilt As You Go.  Well, it certainly has been the theme of this week!
It is that time of year when Monash University hosts their annual Computer Games Boot Camp over in their Clayton Campus, which means A LOT of going and not much quilting, as I play Chauffeur for DS#2.  (900 kms since last Thursday morning with another 4 days to go, and no souvenirs to show for it - I am mighty tired.)

 - BUT - when I was not going I was Quilting (and, OK I admit - snoozing).
I was able to turn my QAYG Challenge piece for the Janome group into a quilt for an Aussie Hero and do something worthwhile with what would just end up as another quilt for the pile.
The challenge for me was to try a method that I had never done before and QAYG this Quilt without any sashing/joining fabrics.
It worked out OK, I don't think I will bother with doing it this way again, unless I had a lot of left over batting to use up, as I think it was just as long to quilt as the conventional way.


The block, for those of you who may be interested
was a 12" block called 'Squares upon Squares' and you can find it at www.quilterscache.com/S/SquaresUponSquaresBlock

The not so Quick - Quick Quilt....

Today I learned a lot of lessons about how not to make a strip quilt.

I learned that you really need to make sure your strips are all the same length and that it is not such a simple thing to "square it up later" - especially when the whole quilt decides to slide sideways....
That was the first time I unpicked it....

Then... You really DO NOT want to see this when you throw your finished quilt on the ironing board!
Yep, not only had I sewn the strips on upside down, I had also sewn them in reverse order, so not a simple matter of unpicking ONE seam, no - they all had to be undone and replaced in the correct sequence....

I should probably mention that, adding to the frustration, while sewing one of these seams my needle fell out of the machine.........TWICE.

So eventually it was finished and now all I need to do is try and get it quilted without any more dramas!

This one will be added to the growing pile of Laundry Bags that my Non-quilter friend is making, and sent to one of our Troops overseas.  Just hope he likes tractors!

What's news.......

I have been a bit distracted lately with a whole heap of things happening on the "Home Front".
Easter has come and gone - with us attending 2 very different Church Services.  A modern Pantomime style remembrance on Good Friday in a renovated  'Warehouse Church' where DS#1 attends, and to the other extreme a very formal Celebration with my parents on Easter Sunday, at one of Melbourne's oldest Churches in the City .

At the same time I have been helping DS#1 get ready for a 3 week trip overseas with a Music performance group.
I will be glad when he is back and he only left Wednesday night!

And... also been busy making a quilt for my Challenge Group.  This month the challenge was to make a quilt with a WORD on it - and quilt labels didn't count ;-)
Having 'come on board' with the Aussie Hero Quilts program for the Guy's and Gal's overseas (see link to their Blog on my sidebar).  I decided to make my challenge piece the recommended size for a Hero Quilt.  It was almost finished when we got an email asking for any "Quilts with a VERY Aussie theme" for an extra special  recipient.  So, my quilt is one of the first 3 that are going to very special unknown members of our Armed Forces who have been injured and are in Hospital.


The design is based on an enlarged version of Helen Godden's  'Four in the Raw' tutorial featured in Australian Quilters Companion No 46 (Dec 2010)