A lot of work ahead for me!

Last year, a lady who I shall call Mrs H, contacted Bundoora Homestead after my linens show - she wanted to give me her family linens when she moved from her home to a smaller unit.  When I spoke to her she said she would offer her linens to her daughters first, and would contact me again early this year.  I have a list of contacts who spoke to me along similar lines last year, but I haven't pursued any of them for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I don't really need to add to my own collection; in fact I cull it regularly to try and keep my collection manageable.
Secondly, I have always believed that it is better for people to keep anything handmade by their ancestors in the family so future generations have an opportunity to admire their work.

Yesterday I received a call from Mrs H. She said she had got all her linen from the cupboards and was ready to part with it as she would be moving soon, and did I still want it?  I said I would love to have a look, so today I visited her and was pleased to hear that her daughters had all taken a few items to keep, even if they don't use them. However, there was still a lot left, and rather than see it all offloaded to an opshop as Mrs H was going to do if I didn't take it, I ended up bringing it all home.

Most of it is whitework - crochet and cutwork, some very beautiful, but mostly common designs that I already have samples of in my collection.  The embroidered items are nice, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as my own taste goes.  I will spend the next few days soaking them all in Napisan, and ironing them as they come off the line - believe it or not, my favourite part of the sorting process!  Then I will decide what, if anything, that I wish to keep.  The rest I will show to my colleagues at the EGV, and whatever isn't wanted at that point....well, some of it may well end up at our opshop, but I'm thinking if I post photos of individual items here, some of my readers might like to take them off my hands?


I've been doing some more work on my Peacock sampler and am quite happy so far with the colours I've chosen.  There are more motifs to be worked in the light purple, and two of those will have a gold filament thread running through them, so it will add another dimension to the overall piece.  One thing about cross stitch samplers - it is easy to pull out something if you don't like it, as they are mostly small individual items!

Have I used my new machine yet?  No....but I've cut some fabrics out for Ken's bike quilt.  At least it's a start!

Not stitching, but cute!

A few minutes ago, our cat Tiger jumped up on to the chair Ken had just vacated after closing down his laptop for the day.  Ken laughed and said "Are you going to look up Dine?"  As the cats are waiting to be fed, it seemed quite possible that Tiger was going to google Dine or Whiskas to see what was available!

In today's mail.

Jane over at Loopy's Place is multi-skilled when it comes to crafts; she embroiders, quilts, knits, and will have a go at just about anything else with textiles.  Whatever she doesn't keep for herself, she sells through her blog, and now and then I check out her 'shop' to see what goodies are there.  I couldn't resist these two cuties - I love baby elephants, and the bathroom sign is so neat!

Someone asked me today what have I made so far on my new sewing machine.  Felt like an idiot when I replied  "Nothing"  and she laughed and said "You're not afraid of it, are you?"  Well...if you really want the truth...

Peacock sampler update.

I did some work on my Peacock sampler at the Guild on Tuesday.  I had shown it to some ladies at the Guild last week, and asked their opinion of my choice of colours.  I said I'd thought about introducing a third colour by stitching some of the motifs in yellow or teal to add some colour.   K.  suggested using teal (blue/green) on just the tail of all the peacock motifs, and maybe added gold or silver filament to the purple for some of the other motifs.  I didn't get to finish the second peacock this week, but I'm happy with the way the tail looks.

I found this book in an opshop today, for $2.  I know of Margaret Rolfe, in fact I have one of her other books on patchwork designs.  This book was first published in 1987, and I've just spent most of tonight reading it...just like a good novel - I couldn't put it down!  So many fascinating stories about the quilts made here in Australia by pioneers, and later, quilts made by women during the two world wars.  A very important historical document if one is interested in the history of quilts.

I am such a dill with technology!

Last Tuesday I finally got the nerve to load the bobbin and thread the machine. Another half hour studying the instruction book, and I put a piece of scrap fabric in and pressed the pedal. WAAAA! Massive thread tangle on the back! Turned out I hadn't run the top thread through properly. Nor could I figure out how to use the needle threader, so I did that by hand and eye....Long way to go before I start making stuff! I'll be heading back to the shop for a five minute refresher course next week.
My own fault - I should have unpacked it and started playing with it the same day I picked it up while the lessons were fresh in my mind.
However, once I'd re-threaded it properly, I was able to try out a few stitches, changing the length and width of them, and trying out the various functions of the computer buttons. I did a zig zag edge around my peacock sampler, as it was starting to fray, and I had no problem with machining that.

I'll get it out again this weekend and play a bit more with the standard foot, then I might try out the other feet and see what happens. I'm dying to try the buttonhole stitch, as there are so many applique projects I've had on hold because my hands ache so much when I do a lot of button hole stitch by hand.

I don't know how others manage, but I am no good at learning something unless I'm actually shown how to do it. I'm no good at teaching myself computer stuff from books, although I can figure out embroidery stitches from a good book. Fortunately for me, there is usually someone around to show me what I need to know. For instance, I have never done a Powerpoint presentation, although I've been to many, and thought what a great way to illustrate what you are talking about. While I was drafting my speech about my peacock collection, I was wondering what would be the best way to show some of the smaller items in my collection, and I remembered the Guild ladies' Powerpoint presentation at Bundoora Homestead last month. So when I was on volunteer duty at the Guild on Thursday, I asked Jenny (the admin. lady) if she knew anything about it. Silly question! Our Jenny is very clever with all things computer-related, and she showed me on her computer how it is done. She said if I make a start on it at home and load my pictures and text on to a USB stick, she will show me how to set it up at the Guild with their computer and projector in plenty of time for my talk in June.

When I got home on Thursday, I turned my computer on, looked up the programs, and there it was - Powerpoint 2007, just like Jenny had shown me! So I had a bit of a play with stuff I had on the hard drive, and it wasn't difficult at all. I'll be busy over the next week or so taking pics of my peacocks and putting labels on them. See what happens when you put something into practice immediately?

Fifty year update!

I collected my new sewing machine on Friday from Statewide Sewing Centre in Greensborough.  I was afraid that L. (the sales lady in the shop) wouldn't have time to show me how to use it, but fortunately for me, not one other customer came into the shop for nearly an hour, so I had her all to myself.  She was an excellent tutor; she got me to sit at the demo. machine and actually do all the things that I had to learn, from threading cotton to changing the various feet, of which there are half a dozen including a walking foot.  She said to come back any time if I wasn't sure of something, and as they are only five minutes from home, it is very convenient.

So, here I am at the start of a new era in sewing for me.  My dear old Singer Hushmatic now sits on the floor, waiting to be taken back to Statewide and fixed.  L. told me that I wasn't the only one to make the mistake of pulling the machine apart to clean it and going too far.  She said they had three other similar cases this year!  I don't feel quite so stupid...

And here is the new one.  Gulp...I'm quite intimidated by modern technology, so I fear it is going to take me a while to actually get around to making something.   Thank goodness the instruction book is very comprehensive because I've already forgotten most of what L. showed me at the shop :-(

See the Pink Ribbon symbol, and the pink bits on the machine?  Apparently this is a limited edition brought out by Janome to raise funds for Breast Cancer research.  I didn't know about that when I signed up for it at the Convention, but I must say I quite like having a pink machine!

ANZAC Day. 25th April 2013.

Hungarian Peacock Sampler

Annie over at Annie Bebop's Coloring Book emailed me a few weeks ago to tell me about a Hungarian Peacock Sampler she discovered.  Knowing how much I love Peacocks, she sent me the link to Manka's website for the details.
Manka is providing the PDF file free to those who want to participate in an SAL for this sampler, so I emailed her to request it.  It arrived in my Inbox last night and I didn't waste time in printing off a hard copy, then going through my stash to find a piece of 18ct Aida and some floss.  The pattern suggests using black thread on the white Aida, but I had some beautiful purple stranded cotton which I thought would look nice instead.  Today I started on the border and stitched one Peacock.  I've never participated in an SAL before, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do a bit every week, every month, or just report on a regular basis what I've stitched.
I haven't done much cross stitch in the past year or so, having gone mad on patchwork, and I know that once I take delivery of my new sewing machine, I'll be messing around on that!  So I thought it would be fun to at least start this sampler, and if I only have to stitch one peacock a month, I'll be able to keep up with that!

AQC purchases, and photos of convention.

I have posted my photos of some of the quilts at the AQC over at my Needlecraft Shows blog here.

These are what I bought at the Quilt Convention on Saturday - mostly fabric, two kits and a HUGE cutting mat which I haven't bothered photographing, because everyone knows what they look like.  The Scissorman had them out for $34.95 or two for $60.  I asked Cheryl if she wanted one so we could get one each for $30, and she said "I'll do better than that".  She had a word in the ear of one of the sales ladies, who asked the man in charge, who looked over at us and nodded.  Cheryl came back to me grinning.  "I got two for $50 - no harm in asking!"

A metre of Laurel Burch fabric.  I LOVE her cat fabrics (thanks to my friend Sylvia) so I couldn't resist this.  Don't know what I'll do with it yet of course, but I will find a use for it!   This photo is not good at all, sorry.

I bought a fat quarter of this kitty fabric years ago, and have been making it last as long as I can, so I was pleased to see it on one of the stalls for $10 a metre.  

Ken saw a small quilt when we were up at Warburton and wanted to know if I could make him one like it.  The one he saw had tractors or something, and he asked if I could get fabric with bikes on.  "Ask and thou shalt receive!".  I asked at all the fabric stands at the show, and at the last one we went to, the guy behind the counter produced this panel, and some fat quarters with smaller patterns.  Ken was delighted when he saw this, so I think my first project on the new machine will be a mini quilt for him!

I had no intention of buying a pattern for a Christmas tree (I made a wall hanging of a tree last year - why would I want to do another one so soon?) but the stall had three different made up versions of this, and one was done in Aust. Aboriginal design fabric, and it looked fabulous.

This was silly, really - $10 for a pattern using felt, when I've got books and magazines full of them already...but it is cute.

Janome is my choice - thanks to your advice!

Today I went to the A/asian Quilt Convention with a friend, and spent a lot of time at the sewing machine companies stands where I was able to have a good look at what they all had.   I looked at Husquvarna, Pfaff, Singer and Janome, and by that time I was in information overload! so I didn't bother looking at Bernina or Brother, but by then I had pretty much decided on the Janome DC4030 model. The limited edition Singer machine was there and I was shown all the features, but it was bigger than what I wanted, and didn't have a hard case for storing and carrying. The other Singer which might have been okay wasn't bad, but it lacked some of the features of the Janome at around the same price.  The retail price of the Janome is $699, but the show special price was $569, so for a saving of $130, it was worthwhile putting down a deposit in order for them to hold the machine for me at our local sewing centre.  Here is a link to my choice of machine on the Janome website.

I had a list of questions to ask about each brand, but my friend Cheryl was way ahead of this old chook!  She asked for a brochure on each machine that I looked at, got them to write the price on it, and asked questions before I had a chance to dig out my list from my bag!  But my decision was made by actually seeing how the machines worked, and the Janome was by far the least complicated, and I intuitively felt that I would be comfortable with it.  So, thank you to all my readers here who gave me their opinions and advice, as it gave me a starting point, whereas without you, I would have been utterly and completely confused today!

I had no intention of spending money on fabrics or anything else today; just went to look at sewing machines.  Ah well, dream on.  Spent about $100, and will post photos and details tomorrow when I've transferred photos from camera to computer.  I also took photos of some of the fabulous quilts and will post them to my Needlecraft shows blog, but don't go there yet!  Hopefully will do that tomorrow too.

Speech writing in progress.

So far this year, I have been invited to present three talks on my collection.  The first one will be to the Embroiderers Guild on a Saturday, at their June monthly meeting.  I was on my way out of the Guild building on Tuesday when one of the committee ladies came running out after me.  She asked if I would do a talk at the June meeting and I agreed.  When she asked what I might talk about, I suggested my embroidered peacocks, and she was intrigued.  "It will be different!" she said.  I've been waiting for a long time to do a talk about this particular facet of my linen collection, and here is my chance!  Now I have to decide which items to take along to display, as I won't be able to fit them all in.   I'll have about 40 minutes to present my talk, and there are large display boards where the embroideries can be pinned up.

The next talk is later in June, and will be at the Mill Park Library for the City of Whittlesea Cultural Heritage Program.  They asked me to do a talk about collecting in general, focussing on my linen collection but touching on anything else I collect  (OMG I could be there all day - swap cards, books, art supplies...), so that will be a talk in a slightly different context.

The third date is in August, when I will be doing a talk for the members of NOTY, who have asked me to talk about my linens, but one aspect in particular.  At this stage I think they want me to show the aprons, but it hasn't been finalised yet.  

I've got a few ideas down on  paper for each presentation, but knowing my habit of procrastination, if I don't get myself organised soon, I'll be writing the outline of my talks on the night before!

Using buttons to embellish.

I am always finding interesting and informative books about crafts to borrow from our library.  My only problem is to make as many of the projects in each book before I have to return it!  We can renew our loans twice, giving us a total of nine weeks which you might think is more than enough time.  But if like me you have half a dozen book out at one time, there is only so much you can do!
I renewed this book online tonight, and as I now have only 3 weeks, I thought I'd better make a start on the items I wanted to play with.

The first project I wanted to try (and managed to finish in one day) was this. (The flash made the colours a bit washed out).

 An artist canvas board, painted a pale lavender with acrylic paint and left to dry for an hour or so. (Acrylic paint is great for projects like this as it dries very quickly).  Next I took a pile of 2" fabric squares from my stash and laid them out across the canvas and when I was satisfied with the layout, they were glued to the board.  Finally I went through my button stash and found a button to sew on each piece of fabric.  It was fun to do, although the MOTH will look at it and ask "what are you going to do with it now?"  Of course there will be no reply, as I  will just add it to my pile of finished projects and look at them from time to time, remembering the fun I had creating them!

These are pictures from the book of the other things I plan to do during the next three weeks. ( I'm not missing my sewing machine at all lately, despite my recent post about wanting to do more patchwork after seeing everybody's work on other blogs!  My time will come.)
Little stuffed owl toy with button eyes and feet.

 Hand made cards using fabric and buttons on card.

 My plans for this bag are slightly different. I've sewn some fabric on a supermarket 'green bag' and will add buttons to embelllish it in a similar way to this.

I LOVE this map done in buttons!  My map will be Australia of course, which will be much easier than this seeing we only have seven states (not including ACT) and not fifty like the USA!  This isn't an actual project in the book, by the way - it is a photo of someone's work in a museum over there.  So there are no directions to follow but it shouldn't be hard to do.

The best laid plans of mice, etc.

Today (Easter Sunday) did not turn out as planned.  You can read about it here.  So, still no sewing done.  But I've been updating some of my other blogs in the meantime - art and crafts blog here, swap cards blog here, and photos of our latest baby chicken on the Birds blog here.   As if people don't have more important stuff to do, like STITCHING.

Nothing done yet.

I've just spent half an hour surfing my favourite blogs, and after seeing all the stitching and patchwork you've all been doing, I feel (a) utterly ashamed of myself and (b) all fired up to get going again!  It's funny (not) how something like a dead sewing machine can completely flatten your motivation to sew.  I have plenty of hand stitching I could have been doing, even cutting out fabrics ready to put together, but my mojo just vanished.  
Instead I've been concentrating on my art classes and messing around with paper craft. 

But today was the last of my art classes for the course I was in, and although I have a dozen library books on my table with lots of paper projects I still want to do, I think I am just about ready to start sewing again... in one form or another.  Helen hasn't asked for her sewing machine to be returned - just as well, because it is still on the floor where I left it last week, not even opened up to play with!  But I hope to do that over Easter.  The weather forecast is for some rain and cool days, and we haven't made any plans to go anywhere, although Ken will be out with his mates on a motorcycle ride on Easter Sunday, so I'll have the day to myself to mess around without interruptions.

Now I just have to decide what to start on.  In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy and safe Easter.

Sewing machine saga continues.

Well, I collected my machine and the box of bits from the shop at Greensborough yesterday.  I thought they might have been a bit hostile to me about taking it away instead of leaving it to be fixed, but the lady was quite friendly.  I think she is confident that I'll go back there to buy a new machine, but I doubt that I will.
There is another sewing machine shop in Bundoora, so I'll be visiting them shortly.

In the meantime I was telling my friend Helen about all my woes and she said "You can borrow my machine if you want.  I haven't used it for ten years, and I'm not likely to now" (she had a stroke a few years ago).  So her hubby lugged it from their house to my car and I brought it home, but haven't opened it up to use yet.  It is a very similar model to mine from the outside case, so I don't think I should have too many problems using it for the kind of straight sewing that I have been doing.

Apart from proper quilting accessories, the other aspect that I am looking forward to of a new Janome (or whatever I get) is the facility to do blanket stitch on the machine - no more hand stitching around all my applique!

To repair or not to repair?

Ken and I had almost dismantled the Singer on Sunday, as when I consulted the little book that came with it all those years ago, there were quite clear instructions about getting fluff and dust out of the bobbin area, as well as where it needed to be oiled.   We removed all the fluff and a couple of broken needles, but when we tried to put it together, we couldn't figure out where some of the bits went.  So I put them into a box, while Ken managed to screw the base back on the machine and we took everything over to Statewide Sewing centre in Greensborough on Tuesday.   I showed them their invoice for $185 and said I wasn't happy about getting just 18 months use from the machine for that amount of money.  The lady at the counter said the bloke who specialises in old machines would be in on Wednesday.

By 4.30 on Wednesday afternoon, we hadn't heard anything, so I phoned them.  The same lady said the bloke is just looking at my machine now, and I heard him in the background "Who the hell pulled this machine apart, and why?"   I explained to the lady that we followed the instructions in the book about cleaning it, and after speaking to the man, she said "Well you've gone too far with it and he will have to try and figure out how to put it together again, and reset the timing"..  I asked how much that would cost and again after asking the man, she said $99.  I told her to just leave it there with the box of bits and I would collect it tomorrow.  I said will there be anything to pay for his time in looking at it? and she said no.

I'll take it elsewhere and get quotes.  Even if it does amount to $100 to get it going again, I don't want the same bloke 'fixing' it.  Do you ever stop to think that these people might deliberately not fix a machine properly,  to force you to buy a new one?  That's probably not really fair, but I'm not going back there anyway.  The lady showed me some machines, and heavily promoted the Janome, the cheapest 'decent' model being $500.  Oh, you had to pay another $100 for a walking foot.  I said "Don't all machines have them included?" and she said no, only the better ones, and they start at over $600."
Hmmm....I think I'm going to spend a month or two looking around at a few shops.  Most of my readers have said Janome is the way to go, so I'll certainly keep it in mind.

Thank goodness!

Thank you dear bloggy friends for all the advice, which I greatly appreciate, as I've never had to go and buy sewing machine before  (my father bought the Singer for me when I started to learn dressmaking at school at the age of 14).
I'm hearing more and more about Janome being reliable, but I still have a fondness for the Singer brand as I feel I know them so well, whereas when I look at Janome and similar brands, they look tricky to use.  There is a sewing machine shop in Bundoora, not too far from us, and I vaguely know the owner through her stalls at various quilt shows.  She does workshops and classes all the time, and I'm sure if I bought a machine from her, she would have no hesitation in teaching me how to use it properly. 

As a follow up, Ken's sister did buy the $99 Singer at Aldi's.  We dropped in to her place tonight for Ken to sign papers relating to their Mum's estate, and she showed me the machine.  She has had a little play with it, and said it stitches okay, but there is no adjustment device for the width when you sew zig zag.  Not only that, when she took it out of the box to show me, it had a plastic fabric cover, not a rigid plastic, so if you had to carry it around to classes outside of  your home, it could easily get damaged.  It looked more like a toy than a proper sewing machine!  SIL said she is going to take it down to their holiday house so if she needs to do some repairs, or wants to make something, it will be there instead of having to wait until she gets home.

Phew!  Glad I got that infection, and glad I didn't get that machine - Lucky escape! There is no way you would get even a light weight quilt through it, that I could see. (By the way, the antibiotics have already taken effect and I felt so much better today!  Thanks for the sympathetic comments)

Everything happens for a reason.

A funny thing happened just after I received advice from Sylvia and Doreen about buying sewing machines.  Sylvia suggested buying a second hand one, eg. a Singer, but Doreen advised not to buy a second hand machine, as you are only buying someone else's problems.  She went on to say 'don't buy a Singer, they aren't as good as they used to be'.

A day later, I received an email from another friend (Connie) who alerted me to the specials on at Aldi Stores this weekend, including a Singer machine for $99.  I had a look at the advert in our local Aldi's store, and decided I would take a chance and get one.  It was a basic model (which is all I want) and had a three year warranty.  I thought what the heck, if I get three years sewing out of it for a hundred bucks, I'll be happy!

This morning (Saturday) I woke up around 8 am, and felt so unwell, I just could not be bothered going out of the house.  I had a  U.T. infection, and I was back and forth to the loo every few minutes, and in a lot of pain.  No way would I have been able to stand in the queue at Aldis and not wet myself!   Luckily I was able to get into our surgery and see one of the doctors.   By the time I got out of there, got the script for antibiotics, it was about 2 pm.  I went to Aldi's and was told both the sewing machines and overlockers (which was another special for $199) had been sold within an hour of  them opening at 8.30 am.

So!  As the title of this post says, everything happens for a reason, and maybe my UTI was meant to happen, to prevent me spending money on an inferior machine!  My SIL told me she got years of use out of her Janome, and when it wore out, she bought a second hand Husqvarna (Sp?), and she has never been able to 'make friends with it', as she put it.  She said "I hate that machine!  I might also go to Aldi's and buy one of those Singers".  I haven't spoken to her today, so I don't know if she did or not.  But I've decided now that I won't rush into buying something cheap.  I've got a cupboard full of fabric to sew up into things, and it's going to take me a lot longer than three years, so I'm going to have a good look around, and ask for demonstrations before I open my wallet. 

In the meantime, I've been amusing myself with more paper creations.  You can see them here if you want to.

Grinding to a halt again.

Just as my neck and shoulder problems are starting to resolve themselves and I had the machine flat out making cot quilts, it DIED on me yesterday.  I could scream; it cost me $185 to fix last year, and now it looks like the same problem.  In desperation I looked in the Yellow Pages phone directory to see if there was anyone who did home visits to fix sewing machines.  I found one bloke, but he told me he has since sold his business and is now doing something else.  But he wanted to know what my problem was and he was horrified to hear how much Statewide Sewing Centre had charged to fix the gears.  He told me I should take it back there and have a go at them.  I said the reason I was hoping someone could come to my home and fix it is because the machine is too heavy for me to lift and carry anywhere, so he took pity on me and said as he wasn't far from us, he would come over and have a look at it today.

That was yesterday (Sunday) and he said he could only do it on a weekend or public holiday because of his other job.  This morning he called to say he wouldn't be able to come today because his family had turned up for a visit, but he would ring  me next week.  I thanked him and said not to worry about it, I'd see what else I could do.  Ken looked at my long face and said he will take me and the machine over to  Statewide on his day off on Wednesday.   I can almost read your minds - "why the heck doesn't she just buy a new machine?"  I suppose if Ken can find $20,000 for a new motorcycle, I can put my hand up for a few hundred dollars for a new machine.  Goodness knows how often he has told me to go and buy one!  So I just might.  But being blonde and senior,  I just HATE learning how to work something new... So it is going to have to be something very basic, even if it is new.

In the meantime, this is the last thing I was doing when the Singer carked it.  I had a few of those supermarket bags lying around to decorate, and instead of sewing yo-yos on them as I had done previously, I decided to make ap a little patchwork square with some left overs and sew them on to the bag.  I only needed to finish one more side.  I guess I could hand sew it if I was in a hurry, but I'm not.
Now the damn camera battery has gone flat.   S---T.  What next.  I'll post a pic shortly.  In the meantime I've gone back to paper craft and spent last night making some stuff using paper napkins.  I'll be post them to my Art and craft blog when the camera is charged up again.
Later that night...
Here is the tote bag I was working on, and the other photo is of the sunset applique that I have now framed myself.  It wasn't easy to get that mat border right, and it sure ain't perfect, but I hope nobody will look that closely!

Two quilts on their way to PNG

Ken's cousin David and his wife Yaso came to visit us today before Yaso flys out to PNG tomorrow to meet the tribal leaders of the community she is providing assistance to.  She said the elders are already walking to the village where she will be driven to from the airport.  It takes them four days to walk through the forest to reach this village, so she always makes sure she never misses the flight that takes her to Port Moresby for the truck that meets her to transport her to the village.

 I took the opportunity to photograph her with the two quilts I gave her to take with her.  One is the cot quilt I posted a photo of here yesterday and the other is a slightly larger quilt that has been on the back of our couch for a couple of years.  It was given to me by one of my home care clients who won it in a raffle but didn't like it.  So there is no emotional attachment to it for me, and I decided it would be of much better use in a community of people who are living in the forests of PNG on whatever plants they can find.

Yaso is in the process of teaching them to keep chickens, harvest water properly to grow small crops, and other basic survival techniques that the rest of the world take for granted.  I have asked her to do a brief write up for me to post on a blog along with photos of the conditions under which the natives live and where she works with them.  In the meantime, I will continue making small quilts out of my stashs, and will gladly accept any that anyone reading this would care to make.  Yaso says to make sure that the quilts have names of the makers on them so the native elders can explain to the women where the quilts come from and who made them.  She said it is part of their nature not to just accept any 'charity' without proper ceremony thanking the donors, even if they are not there, and she will photograph each quilt with it's new owner as they are distributed. 

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone reading this would post a link to it on their blog so word can get around. I know there are other bloggers making full size quilts for our Aussie servicemen, and of course Jan Mac of Oz Comfort Quilts has been distributing quilts to disaster victims for years now.  But my request might be easier to work with for those people like me who don't feel able to make a full size quilt for any number of reasons, but a little cot quilt is just a fun thing taking a couple of hours, and using up some of those scraps that all fabric collectors have!