Those Quilts Have Been Hung

This message comes from Di Jobbins, one of the two Di-s who were Stitchin' Mission coordinators at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Sydney, Australia. Please visit Di's link, below, and scroll, scroll, scroll through her blog to see all the beautiful quilts hanging in their beautiful church.

As I think you might remember, QDU'er Linda Hungerford, from Lutheran Church of Hope in Des Moines Iowa taught a faith-based 5 week beginner quiltmaking class at our church here in Sydney in October/November this year, the plan being to make children's quilts for an autism specific kindy opening in Liverpool next year. Yesterday we hung 51 quilts in our church and they look magnificent! I've blogged about them, with lots of photos, over 4 separate posts, so scroll down to begin reading the first one. www.snippetsnscraps.blogspot.com

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Cheers, Di in Darling Point, making a list (and checking it twice!)

Stitchin' Mission Down Under in the News

An article about Stitchin' Mission #19 at St. Mark's in Darling Point (Sydney) appears in on on-line issue of the Wentworth Courier.

Stuff Happenin'!

Recapping several Stitchin' Mission activities.

• Stitchin' Mission #19 in Sydney (Darling Point, specifically), Australia, ended November 22 and those quilters have until Sunday, December 13 to turn in their finished quilts. At last count, 48 quilts have been made! These will be displayed at St. Mark's Anglican Church through the holidays, and given to a preschool for autistic children, due to open in June 2010.|

• The two Stringing Colors quilts made for Australian bush fire relief were mailed to Jan McFadyen on October 27. Our quilts were received and will be delivered to people in need who live in Kinglake, Victoria, an area most heavily damaged by February 2009 bush fires. On OzComfortQuilts.blogspot.com you can read a blog post about those quilts here.

• On December 1, the 11 member Mission Kinshuko team gave a presentation with wonderful photos and videos of their experiences at C-on Kinshuko and in Tokyo.

Here, Norma Hamilton (right) introduces Kumiko who is the person who saw and photographed Stitchin' Mission quilts at Lutheran Church of Hope. Kumiko returned to Japan and showed quilt pictures to her pastor, who then asked us to make quilts for C-on Kinshuko! Kumiko is our "connecting link" and who could have guessed where it would all lead. Below is a photo, taken at C-on Kinshuko, of the missionaries, and Quilt Camp and English Camp attendees. The quilt being held is one of the 101 quilts made for the camp. This one has the Lutheran Church of Hope logo in Sashiko, as the center medallion.

Click here to go to the C-on Kinshuko website and view photos of the camp and our missionaries' activities. From the home page, go to the bottom bar and click on the second button from the left.

If you participated in Beyond Stitchin' Mission to help make a quilt for C-on Kinshuko, the camp sent home a gift for you. Contact me to arrange to get yours.

Stitchin' Mission #20 Begins in January (five years after the first Stitchin' Mission!)

The 20th series of Stitchin' Mission beginner quiltmaking lessons will start Tuesday, January 12 (6:30 pm) at First Federated Church here in Des Moines.

• Donations of 100 percent cotton fabrics are gratefully being accepted.
• You're invited to register now, either as an individual who wants to learn quiltmaking, or as a Rebekah (helper) with quiltmaking experience who is willing to help others learn. Everyone is welcome! Click here to register.

Stitchin' Mission on the Radio

On Thursday, January 7, 2010, I will again talk about Stitchin' Mission on the radio. If you're in the Des Moines area you can listen to Maxine Sielman's program, "Update Today," from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. on station KPSZ, Praise 940 AM.

It's beautiful to see how Stitchin' Mission, and what you are doing, is touching the world. Blessings!