Welcome to our first Margie’s Quilts of Hope Newsletter. No doubt you are saying, “this is a long time coming” and yes we couldn’t agree with you more. From the very beginning we should have used this valuable tool to keep you, our talented participants, informed on a range of important things. Where is my block? How much money have we raised? Can I help piecing a quilt together? We are confident that regular newsletters will be a great way to keep everyone up to date on the progress of the 2009 Challenge as well as what has been happening with your blocks and quilts from previous years.
What has happened to my entry?
Two of our very generous and tireless volunteers Fay and Buddy have done and will continue to do a remarkable job of collating entries for judging and then organising them into quilts, selecting fabric for sashing and borders and then finding groups that are willing to make the quilt tops.
Once these are returned they are put together with backing, wadding and binding and then the race is on to find willing quilters. These quilts are then sent on touring exhibitions, offered for sale and auction.
In 2008 sixty of the completed small quilts were given to Queensland Cancer Council Nurse of the Year entrants to raffle as part of their fund raising efforts.
To assist these two wonderful ladies we have now found them an admin person to help them with the mountain of paper work generated and to establish a data base for ease of tracking. Hopefully this will improve communication in the future. We will endeavour to back track, but this seems to be a very daunting prospect… can only promise that we will give it our best shot but the success rate comes with no guarantee.
How much money have we raised?
All funds raised by groups, on MQH’s behalf, were deposited directly into the bank account of the National Breast Cancer Fund. Unfortunately all donations are treated equally and not accredited to a particular organisation. We cannot say with any certainty the total amount of funds banked to date but we are lead to believe it is quite a considerable amount.
We now have as part of the team a CPA and an assistant with yet another mountain of paper work to sort. We are holding quite a number of copies of deposit forms so will work hard to try and collate these and come up with a figure that could give an indication as to the funds raised. This won’t be a true figure, as all groups may not have forwarded copies.
To better monitor funds in the future, we have set up an account with the National Australia Bank into which all money will be deposited. Donations to the National Breast Cancer Fund will be made from this account on a regular basis. A quarterly update will be posted plus an audited annual report.
Can I help to finish a quilt?
Because of the current economic climate sales and auctions are not seen as a viable option. The cost of shipping exhibitions is also getting to be too great of an expense, so we have decided to try a different approach in finding the completed quilts new homes while raising much needed funds.
We currently have quilt tops looking for groups or individuals who would like to give some of their valuable time to quilt them. We supply the top, batting, backing and binding, you supply the willing nimble fingers. We will supply official National Breast Cancer Fund tickets so you can raffle your completed quilt in your own community and deposit the funds raised into the NAB account.
If you are able to help us by quilting a top or doing both the top piecing & quilting please let us know. We will be forever grateful for this and it will certainly help the fund raising efforts.
2009 Challenge
Theme Hope has Wings
Starting date 23rd March, 2009
Closing Date 10 August 2009
To receive your entry form and starter kit please send self-stamped addressed envelope to
Margie’s Quilts of Hope
P.O. Box 1720,
Toowoomba. Qld. 4350
Hats off to Lloyd Curzon Textiles
Once again Lloyd Curzon Textiles, along with Northcott fabrics is the major sponsor of Margie’s Quilts of Hope. Tim & Jim have been with us from the very beginning. As well as providing free of charge all the fabrics for the starter kits Lloyd Curzon also donates all the fabrics used for sashing, borders, bindings & backing. For their total dedication & support of this project we propose a huge vote of thanks. You all know they have the best fabrics and we are here to tell you they have the best people.
The way forward
We feel that with our expanded volunteer committee, a great enthusiasm to continue with Margie’s Quilts of Hope and with your support, much needed funds will be raised to fight the good fight against breast cancer.
We would like to thank you all for your support given in the past challenges. Your work has been greatly admired by many and appreciated by the whole of Australia. We know that we can count on your support for the 2009 .
Please contact us if you need any further information.
May your bobbin always be full
Pauline & your Margie’s Quilts of Hope team.
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