Monday 24th February

There were 81 members and 8 visitors in attendance at this month's meeting and lots of new members have been added to the membership roll! A warm welcome to our new members!

Thelma found herself back in the kitchen organising morning tea. A big thank you to Thelma for her faithful support of Sunshine Linus over the years as Kitchen Co-ordinator. Next month will be Thelma's last turn in this role so make sure you take time to go over and thank her!

Jenny, Janet and Leslie were caught having a giggle as they showed several sets of ‘boob’s’ Jenny had crocheted and knitted for the maternity section at SCUH. They will be used in antenatal classes to show first-time mums how to breastfeed.

Fran and Eileen found themselves inundated with a whole pile of lovable Kanyini bears to label.

Dawn was happy to show a collection of very quirky, ‘touchy feely’ clappers she had made using yogurt container lids!

Show and Tell began with Lorraine and Susan modelling two of the knitted shawls that are always in high demand. They are basically made from three 45” to 50” squares stitched together in an L shape with a button on the front.

The Yarners Team have been creating a range of very cute sea creatures made from small scraps of wool.

Kaye has kept herself busy making a selection of bags that can be used to store wheel chair foot rests.

Kaye also managed to make a number of quilts for renal patients at hospitals. They include a handle and an attached pocket for the patient’s feet and for the quilt to be folded into! Click here for a pattern.

Leonie showed two delightful quilts she had quilted. The first was a hexagon-themed quilt made by a lady from her church group and the second quilt was a double wedding-ring quilt that contained beautifully quilted motifs between the rings.  

Faye showed a number of sweet quilt tops she had quilted and finished. They were donated by Maleny Patchwork Magic.

Faye also showed an adorable wheel chair quilt that any dog-lover would be happy to own!

Lyn showed a quaint red and white quilt with embroidered hearts.

Lyn also showed these two botanical beauties she had made.

Glorianne showed a number of colourful and scrappy quilt tops she had quilted and completed for other members and supporters.

The first two were made by a lady from Woodford.

Glorianne also showed two quilts she had made. The first quilt was an attempt to use some of the many floral fabrics that are donated. It is called ‘Candy Crayons’. The second quilt was a freebie pattern from the internet called ‘Bloom’.

Anne had been trying out the quilt-as you go technique and attempting to use up smaller pieces of wadding with these two colourful quilts.

Show and Tell concluded with the draw of the lucky door prizes. One of our new members was first to receive a prize. Sunshine Linus president Susan had made a number of gorgeous, heart-shaped and scented pomanders for prizes.

Following Show and Tell, Kaye ran a short but very informative workshop called ‘Precise Piecing and Cutting’.

Some of her tips included:

• Always use the same ruler and mat when cutting out a quilt.
• Keep an eye on the thread count of the fabrics you use. They can differ greatly and cause difficulty when trying to align the pieces to sew.
• Use a walking foot or raise the upper feed-dogs on your sewing machine if possible. This helps both layers of fabric to feed evenly.
• When joining rows together Kaye doesn’t press her seams before she sews as it can cause ridges on the right side of the fabric. Instead she flips one seam away from her and one toward her as she sews. The seams should nestle together when you do this.
• When joining triangles take care with the bias to prevent the fabric stretching.
• When joining half square triangles just sew a few stitches in a longer stitch length from the end then remove the blocks and check that the seams align on the right side. If so, go back and sew the whole seam in a regular stitch length. If not, unpick and try again!
• When you have many seams coming together at a point iron them firmly flat on the wrong side.

Look at those points!

• There will be no activity day in March as previously scheduled.
• Susan will sending out a reminder regarding the tagging and testing of sewing machines and overlockers at next month's meeting.
• The AGM will be held during the meeting on March 30th.
• If you click here, you will find the links to the new pages on the blog that describe the Structure of Sunshine Linus Inc, the Team Leaders, Rosters and Cleaning Tasks.