News from our Activity Day

 ✨ Sunshine Linus Activity Day – Monday 16 March ✨

Throughout the morning, everyone was engaged in a range of different projects including preparation of materials for distribution at our next meeting. Read on to find out more. 🧵✂️

👁️ Eye Patch Project

A dedicated group of women spent time cutting out fabric and assembling packs of materials for eye patches. These packs will be available for members to collect at our next meeting, so they can sew the patches at home.

Eye patches are used in hospitals to support some patients who have had a stroke. They can play an important role in supporting recovery by helping patients regain sight and movement as part of their rehabilitation.

A big thank you to everyone who helped prepare these packs.

Your work will make a real difference
 to someone’s recovery. 💛

Each pack contains 10 eye patches, and we currently have 18 packs ready for members to collect and sew. 

Thank you to everyone who will put up
their hand up to help with this project 💛.

If you’d like to help by sewing some of the eye patches, please see Jenny at our meeting on March 30 to collect your pack. 🧵✂️

Exploring Marti Mitchell Quilting Patterns 🧵✨

Activity Day also gave everyone a great chance to explore quilting with Marti Mitchell patterns. 

Patterns come with acrylic templates, which make a big difference when cutting fabric. They help improve accuracy with shapes and corners, making the quilting process more precise. 📐✂️

The full range of quilting sets was on display, giving members the opportunity to explore the various designs and options available.

😊 Borrow a Set to Try at Home!

The good news is that these quilting sets are available for members to borrow. 🧵📐

Simply sign a set out, take it home and enjoy working with the templates.

When you’re finished, sign it back in so other members can have a turn as well.

It’s a great way to try something new in your quilting without needing to buy the templates yourself. Happy quilting! ✂️🪡

 

Looking good, watch this space..

Quilting in action.

A top is ready to go.

 😊 A Little Decluttering Too!

Our president Sharon, pointed out that Activity Day is a great opportunity for a bit of decluttering as well! 🧺✨

The Freebie Table has received some fantastic donations recently, including hundreds of dollars' worth of magazines! 🧵🪡

During Activity Day, time was set aside to sort through all the magazines so they could be organised and ready for members to browse at next month’s meeting.

There’s a wonderful range of topics available, including:
🧶 Quilting
🧸 Toy and Doll Making
🧵 Knitting
🎨 General Craft

There are also lots of patterns included, which is especially exciting as hardcopy patterns are becoming harder and harder to find these days.

Make sure you stop by the Freebie Table at the next meeting and treat yourself to a magazine or two. You might just find your next project or inspiration! 😊📖

 

Magazines include patterns.

📦✨ A Trip Through the Archives

Glorianne and Carole spent some time during Activity Day sorting through our archive boxes, taking a look back through Sunshine Linus history and getting everything organised. 🧵📚

And of course, there was time for morning tea.

The archive box is sorted.

 With everything now tidied up and in order, it looks like Sunshine Linus is ready to officially begin our 2026 year at our Annual General Meeting on March 30.

We look forward to seeing everyone there! 😊 

Check the Blog for further details! 😊🧶

Activity Day Reminder

 Join us on Monday, March 16 for our next Activity Day! 🌸🧵

We’ll be getting together to make eye patches for stroke patients, a small project that can make a big difference.

If you enjoy quilting, we’ll also have Marti Mitchell templates available for anyone who would like to use them while they’re there.

Check your emails to see what to bring along.

Come along and spend a friendly morning with us at the Uniting Church Hall in Nambour, starting at 9:00am. Whether you stay for a little while or the whole morning, it will be lovely to see you there!

February 2026

🌞🧵 Sunshine Linus Meeting Wrap-Up 🧵🌞

Well… what a fabulous February catch-up we had! It was great to see so many people at the meeting. We were reminded of important safety and administration requirements and procedures. 

The creativity levels were high and ideas flowed. Everyone was gathering resources and ideas ready to create and  share a little Sunshine Linus magic around the Coast ✨

Morning Tea

We’re still on the lookout for someone to help coordinate our morning teas, so if you’re keen to lend a hand, please let us know. We’d really appreciate it!

🛍️ Sales Table

Our Sales Table was a hive of activity this month! From beautiful handmade goodies to crafty treasures, there was something for everyone.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated items and to those who made a purchase.

The table is always a winner.

🎟️ Raffle Fun!

Our February raffle was another highlight! There’s nothing like that little moment of suspense while tickets are being called 😄

Our lucky winners were: -

Bonnie - the vase.

Wendy Mc - the crocheted rug.

Marion - the placemats.

🧶 The Freebie Table – Treasure Galore!

Resources on the Freebie Table were building back up this month!

We had all sorts of bric-a-brac, fabrics, materials, wool, bits and pieces. The great part is it was all FREE! 🆓✨

Please remember:
👉 Take what inspires you
👉 You can use it to create a very useful item for our Distribution List 

Every ball of wool, every scrap of fabric and every “odds and ends” treasure can become:

• A quilt

• A knitted beanie

• A heat pack

• A cushion

• A comfort item

Let’s turn those freebies into finished pieces ready to bring warmth and comfort to our hospitals, palliative care units and community partners.

"Chicken and Mother Hen" modelled by Dawn.

Wool is available on the Freebie Table.

Create some comfort toys.

Mark your calendars now: 

🗓 Sunshine Linus Open Day – 1st August 2026

We will be holding a quilt sale on the day, and we need plenty of beautiful quilts ready to go!

This is a wonderful opportunity to:

• Showcase our group’s incredible talent

• Raise funds for materials and supplies

• Share the Sunshine Linus story with the wider community

So if you’re starting a new quilt, maybe make one for Open Day!
If you’ve got one nearly finished, come along to our next meeting to find a friend to help you complete it! 😉

Kaye is always available to help with wadding.

💛 Show and Tell

Bribie Island Quilters.
Faye and Charmaine.

Bribie Island Quilters.

Bribie Island Quilters.

Quilt As You Go also known as QAYG.
Sharon.

Scrap quilt put together by Sharon.

Another Scrap Quilt looking great.

Judie B. quilted and the centre piece is a panel.

Judie B.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

Palmview Special School students and teachers are in for a big treat this year. Claire continues to create exciting resources to make learning fun.

"Humpty Dumpty" is ready to play.

Children learn more when they can interact with letters.
Letter mats continue to be a very valued resource.

The wheels on this bus not only go round but up and down and on and off.
A fun way to encourage language skills.

To everyone who took photos, wrote notes, stitched, donated, organised tables, sold raffle tickets, sorted freebies, and simply showed up with a smile — thank you. 💛

Sunshine Linus isn’t just about quilts.
It’s about friendship, generosity and making a difference — one stitch at a time.

See you all next month! 🧵✨

IMPORTANT DATES

16 MARCH:                    Activity Day- Please join us. 

This month we will make eye patches for stroke patients and use Marti Mitchell Templates for quilts. 

30 MARCH:                    March Meeting   

1 AUGUST:                     Open Day 2026

It's that time again!

 Our next Sunshine Linus meeting will be held on Monday, 23rd February, 2026.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

January 2026

Welcome to our first meeting of the year! It was wonderful to be back together after the break. There were lots of familiar faces, and everyone eased into another busy and creative year.

Planning underway for 2026.

A note from the distribution team:

Hospital staff are just returning from holidays and haven’t yet sent through requests. 

 The Sleep Bus has requested fitted bottom sheets made to specific measurements 🛏️. 

Please contact Ann C for patterns and further details.

Dorothy and the SLS Bears

Surf Life Saving Bears are given to lifesavers to help comfort children who have had a scare in the water. 😊🧸🌊 Thank you, Dorothy for dropping off a couple of bears.

 THE SALES TABLE 🛍️

The sales table had a lovely holiday vibe this month, featuring coffee mugs ☕, handy bags 👜, and adorable covers for icy treats ❄️🍦. Thank you so much to everyone who continually bring items along, it’s always appreciated 💛. Fresh produce 🥕🌿 and plants are especially popular, along with the occasional (and very welcome!) baked good 🍰.

Beautiful bags and zooper dooper holders. 😃

SUNSHINE LINUS RAFFLE

Tickets in the raffle will still be available at next months' meeting.

Raffle will be drawn next month. 

MORNING TEA in the 🍪 Kitchen
Bonnie was her wonderful, busy self in the kitchen and kept everyone well fed with morning tea 🍵.

Thank you Bonnie.

Bonnie has been looking after morning tea at Sunshine Linus for a very long time and has decided she’d love to take a well-earned break 🌼. If you, or perhaps a small group of friends 👯‍♀️ would be interested in stepping in, please let her know.

THE FREEBIE TABLE

🎁 Freebie Table

The freebie table was brimming with goodies this month! Wadding, fabric 🧵, ribbon 🎀, and all sorts of treats were available for anyone who signed in at our monthly meeting ✍️.

Lots of material.

                    

Bits and Bots.

      

Squares for quilts

And of course wadding for quilts!
Please check with Kaye N.

SHOW AND TELL 

🧶 Show and Tell
It’s very clear that everyone was incredibly productive over the break! This month, an amazing 32 quilts were on display. A big thank you to all our wonderful contributors, including Judy B, Christine F, and Betty D.

A special thanks to Wendy Umstad from Stoney Point for gifting us around 15 quilts.

Look and be inspired!

A striking star quilt.

'Planes' made with scraps.

A magical butterfly.

Finished quilts were donated to Sunshine Linus.

Purples and Blues always look striking.

Disappearing 9 patch.

Jelly Roll Joy!

Borders standout.

Herringbone quilt.

Flowers and Triangles

Scraps with Crumb quilt.

Which way would you hang this quilt?

Simple and striking by Chris.

Blue, red and white - always effective.

Stripe quilt.

Made by Chris and Leonie,
with embroided machinery panels

Gayles' Checked 3 yard House Print.

A particularly striking quilt.

Sharon made this quilt with an embroidered centre.

What's in the bag?

A beautiful quilt made by Denise.
Disappearing 4 patch with extras!

The back is stunning too!

Licorice All Sorts Quilted by  Judy

Quilt using thin fabric in a geometric design.

Crumb scrap quilt 

A very pretty daisy quilt.

Yellow and Black squares.

Stars

Great quilt made with scraps.

Scrap quilt.

Ducks in a Row.

Stars are cleverly offset.

Stars are shining.

Soft green border highlights the panels.

CLAIRE AND JENNY

Claire used the same pattern to make these gorgeous creatures.
The fabric gave them individual style.

Jenny showed pencil cases made with bright and happy fabric.

Pencil cases and bags ready
to go to 'Hope in a Suitcase'.

See you next meeting!

IMPORTANT DATES

23 FEBRUARY 2026:     February Meeting

16 MARCH:                    Activity Day -  Quilting with Marti Mitchell Templates

30 MARCH:                    March Meeting   

1 AUGUST:                     Open Day 2026