Friend of the Day Karen B

Today's Friend of the Day is Karen B - enjoy!

Who are you and where do you live – if not in a house in suburbia please share some more info – farm etc.  

My name is Karen and I live about 20 mins from a small country town in the central west of NSW about an hour from the larger centre of Dubbo

How far to the nearest quilt shop 

A group of us used to drive to a quilt shop at Toongi (called Toongis Little Quilt Shop) it is run by a lovely lady called Leslie and we try to make a day once a month.  It’s  about 1 ½  hours from home and ½ hour from Dubbo.   But because of a new mine which they are going ahead with at Toongi Lesley has  decided to move her shop into Dubbo.

How long have you been sewing for AHQ 

Sent off my first quilt and Laundry bag at the end of June?  (Around 5 months)

How did you find out about us? 

A friend in Queensland also sews for AHQ

Do you have any connection to the services 

My father served in WWII

What are some of the things you have sewn for AHQ 

Just finished making my 50^th Laundry Bag and my 4^th quilt

Why do you sew for AHQ 

I started because of some fabric my mother had and I kept It, packed in a suitcase under the spare bed, she would have liked how it is being used.

 My favourite quilt shop is   Toongi Little Quilt Shop at Toongi (soon to be Dubbo)

Favourite sites 

www.daystyledesigns.com  free motion quilting and www.ozquilts.com.au for my cottons and other bits and pieces

There is a Spotlight store in Dubbo where I can get some good bargains was not happy when they stopped using the discount card when you had your own bag. That 20% off was a big saving

I make mainly laundry bags because I’m not a very good quilter. But the quilts I have made the 3^rd one the binding I put on by machine (semi happy with the result) the fourth one I did with a 3 inch strip and sewed it on by machine and had the fabric contrasting to the border (only because of my eyes as I had trouble seeing the edge of the binding) and I’ll continue to do the binding like this in future.  

I thought at the beginning I would contribute a quilt and make up the bags using Mum’s fabrics and then when it was gone, bought a few metres at Spotlight on a sales table (I spotted the same fabrics in a few other bags pictured on the blog).  Then sent off a pre paid satchel to Jan-Maree and brought my first roll of calico - 25 metres to use as the backing for the fabrics Jan-Maree sent.  To make it go further and found some doona covers at the local Vinnie’s for the linings.  So  the other day I sorted out all those 4 inch strips I cut out from the left over   fabrics  and cut and sewed bag tops and ended up with 21 fully lined  tops ready to go.  So I guess I have committed myself to another 21 bags at least.   

·        Thought I’d include this picture of my sewing area  as I made the  sewing  table using 2 bedside tables I purchased at  Fantastic Furniture,  added some rollers to both tables and bought the top at Bunning’s   and   screwed it all together.  

• View from the back door.  Just a bit of green coming through after the last bit of rain - could do with some more

• It is not as bare as it looks as the minerals blocks are near the house so the stock come to the   blocks and the grass is kept down around the house. Helps if we have a fire. 

• This is Kal a new arrival – she had a bit of a weight problem - so far she has lost  18 kgs.  (loves chasing  kangaroos on our morning walks, she is  highly optimistic,   but not much chance of catching one) 

This is Joe – I raised him from 4 days old when we lost his mother.

That was 26 years ago

Also have my best two tips that I always use

1.  Throw out the gloves when quilting and use the non slip matting in small 4 inch squares have seen them being used with the non slip wrapped around  a washing up sponge gives a bit of cushioning but I just use the small squares. 

2. Dental floss to pull your threads through to the back (faster than using easy thread needles)

Thanks for sharing Karen.  Looks to me that you live in a lovely place.  Lucky you with a dog and a horse!

Deborah C also received some thanks

Hey,

Thanks for the package. The snow creeps closer ever day, and we'll need the quilts when it drops below zero in the next month or so. The word must be spreading because I'm seeing a lot of the signature patterns appear over here. Have a good Christmas.

Oh for a week without  travel, new computer swap over complete with new programs, and internet problems.  I think the problems have been resolved - thanks Bigond! - but I am still finding out about emails that I never received!  Hopefully next week.

 I hope I have got everyone included this week.  If not, please let me know. Now I am typing this at 9am in my motel room, before I go and collect my son and begin the drive home.  Any emails sent to me from 9am today on may not be included in this list, unless we get to our hotel in time for me to update it tonight.

Carolynne

Fran T

Jill (awaiting photos)

Kaye

Kaylene

Keryn

Kiwi Karen

Kylie

Liz 

Liz H

Margaret H

Margaret M

Mary (awaiting photo)

Nancy 

Pat

Rita M

Rita C

Sue N

Wendy

If you are not on the list and think you should be  please let me know.

Till next time................keep spreading the word and happy stitching!