Monday 26th November

At our November meeting we were greeted at the door by three smiling faces full of Christmas cheer. This was our final meeting for 2018, combined with the end of the year Christmas break-up party.

Susan, Jan and Marion 

First of all, a big thank you to Lyn P for gifting a step-ladder to Sunshine Linus for Christmas. It is much needed and will be well used!

We were sorry to say good-bye to Dee during the meeting. Every month she has quilted dozens and dozens of quilt tops that are donated to Sunshine Linus. Dee is heading over to New Zealand. We wish her all the best and hope she might stop by if she is ever back on this side of the Tasman Sea.

Dee at her Blockopedia booth

Lots of activity happens behind the scenes at Sunshine Linus and often we do not get to see or hear about the work and generosity of people during the ‘Show and Tell’ session. Below is a photo of Sue modelling one of the many bags she has been making from the kimguard fabric that is donated to Sunshine Linus. The bags are to be sent to Tanzania for new mums when they leave the hospital.

A big thank you to Michaela and David from Coolum Beach who gifted Sunshine Linus with several boxes of toys and toiletries that can be used to fill the Christmas bags and toiletry bags.

'Show and Tell' began with Susan showing a bag she had made from a beautiful needle-turned applique block she had found on the 'freebie table'.

Susan discovered this gorgeous piece of smocking and sewed it into a delightful little girl’s dress.

Susan also found these embroidered blocks on the ‘freebie table’ and turned them into place mats!

Other items donated this month included a range of ‘touchy feely’ swatches.

Jan from Landsborough came up with this creative idea….she has embellished brief case style bags which would be suitable for men. They even contain an interesting assortment of items on the inside!

Kaye has managed the odd moment away from making and quilting quilts to get creative making this strip-pieced bag.

Kaye found a set of hand embroidered blocks and assembled them into this stunning quilt top.

Kaye has also found time to assemble and quilt this very cute sewing-themed quilt complete with embroidered motifs.

Earlier this year Kaye received a donation of a box containing thousands of hexagons. Wendy from Redland Bay has pieced some of them into a geometrically themed quilt top. Well done Wendy!

Dorothy thought of the clever idea of adding press-studs to these square quilts so they could be easily adapted to become wheel-chair quilts for Nambour Hospital.

Dorothy has incorporated a bandanna for the corner stones in this brightly coloured ‘cat quilt’.

Another of Dorothy’s quilts had a distinct crocodile theme. A little boy would love this playful quilt.

Beautiful autumn tones complement one another in this gold, brown and green strip-quilt also made by Dorothy.

Rosemary showed three quirky ‘touchy feely’ lap quilts made for Nambour Hospital each designed around hobbies including carpentry, camping and sewing and knitting.

Of course there was another pile of lovely quilts quilted by Dee.

Anne showed a brightly coloured funky ‘Nine Owls’ quilt she originally made for her grandson, but by the time she completed it he had moved on to trucks!

Glorianne has been a bit stuck on making Elizabeth Hartmann quilts of late. This one is called ‘Giddy Up’ and appeared on the front cover of the April edition of Homespun.

Claire showed another adorable cat and dog she has made for the Acute Restorative Care unit at Nambour Hospital.

‘Show and Tell’ finished with Susan thanking everyone for all their work and generosity this year. Of course it is only through the efforts of members and friends that Sunshine Linus can provide quilts and other comforts to those in need on the Sunshine Coast and further afield.

We had to put our ‘thinking caps’ on during the Christmas lunch. Susan had prepared a quiz containing questions related to sewing and needle crafts.

Did you know that the inventor of the first modern sewing machine was John Fisher in 1844!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Christmas lunch, it was a smorgasbord of culinary delights.

After lots of good conversation and scrumptious food it was time for the lucky door prize draw. Thank you to Kaye and a few other people for providing the prizes.

 Most people were a little reluctant to have their number called this year as a requirement for selecting your prize was to share a piece of trivia or some other interesting piece of information!

Did you know that if you place a bit of your saliva on a cotton thread, roll it into a ball and rub gently, it will remove blood from a quilt! Thank you Claire for that useful tip!

We have had an offer of a sewing machine cabinet. If anyone is interested they need to contact Marion. The item is free of charge (so a very generous donation).  

Don’t forget that due to the Australia Day holiday, the next meeting of Sunshine Linus will be a week earlier next year on Monday 21^st January!

Wishing you all a happy and safe Christmas! We look forward to meeting up with you again in 2019!