A Quilt Begins With A Few Stitches!

That sounds rather profound, doesn't it! :0) But nevertheless ... it's true. Most 'big' projects begin with baby-steps. I know most of you have by now heard about the widespread and devastating flooding here in my home state of Queensland. With over 75% of our rather large state under water or affected in some way by flooding, it seems very overwhelming ... nothing we can do, right???

THINK AGAIN!!

One of my favourite Graeme Connors' songs is called "Births, Deaths And Marriages". It tells the story of someone with an elderly female neighbour, who he chats to each day when they both collect their newspapers from the front yard. Some days, when the paper boy makes it too challenging and they only find one paper between them, they've worked out a system to share ... the elderly lady takes one page and the man takes the rest. Can you guess which page she takes? Yep ... "Births, Deaths & Marriages". The man thinks this is a little funny - why take that when all of the IMPORTANT news is in the rest of the paper? One day she explains to him by saying:

"I know this world has it's problems,

Problems that need to be solved,

But from what I see in the headlines each day

It's all out of my control,

But a gift for a baby, a sympathy card,

A prayer for a couple in love.

Is something I can do that might make a difference ...

No matter how small."

So even if we can't do something to fix the BIG problems facing QLD and the families affected ... there are some things we CAN do that  ' ... might make a differenc ... no matter how small.' :0)

Firstly, the gals from Among The Gum Trees are co-ordinating the collection of  some basic sewing supplies to put together some stitchers' kits to be distributed to stitchers in flood-affected areas. They're calling their little campaign  ...

Click on the above button and it will take you directly to the post on the Gum Tree gals' blog where everything is outlined and explained. I'll be raiding my stash and hope to make a few little bits to send off to the gals.

There are also a number of silent auctions happening in blogland at the moment with all proceeds going towards the flood relief fund raising appeal ...

This series of auctions are being co-ordinated by Toni at Make It Perfect. Click on the above button and that will take you to her original post ... there are a couple of other posts after that that will probably add more info for you.

So there you are ... a couple of small ways you CAN help make a difference and lend a hand ... no matter where you are in the world ... to help out families whose lives have had a literal 'dampener' put on them.

Once again, THANK YOU to all of you lovely blogging buddies who have been checking up on me and GB after seeing news footage of our flash flood here in Toowoomba - I have felt very loved and blessed!! There are some truly alarming photos and video clips out there, that show the rushing water, cars being swept away etc., but I think for me, it really started to hit home today when I drove through several of the intersections, that had been flooded, as I followed my usual route to work. I also drove over part of the range where a huge landslip and a number of smaller ones had dumped mud and rocks onto the road, causing one lane to be closed still this morning. Then, when I got to work, my boss explained that he was supposed to be in one of the cafes that were flooded for a business meeting and would have been in the middle of the chaos ... but due to minor flooding problems in our village caused by the torrential rain, he was too busy to head into town. Val from Apple Cottage had passed through that street just minutes before the wall of water hit. One of GB's workmates lost his work van and helped rescue a child from a car being swept away, but had to watch as the child's mother and sibling were washed out of his reach. He then had to hold onto a power pole in the midst of the rushing water until rescuers could help him. It makes it more personal now.

And that's why I'm off to dig through my patterns and my stash to start working on some little items to send to Jenny ... to do MY ' ... something to make a difference ... no matter how small!" Stay safe, hug your loved ones, squeeze the most out of every day, because we just never know what's going to happen five minutes from now!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS