15th March. Otterbourne Village Hall, a Big Coffee Morning helping Jemima on her journey to the States for an op to help with her Cerebral Palsy. Jemima will be flying off on the 15th, but will have so many more expenses!

21st March. A Murder Mystery Evening (and raffle!) at Twyford Village Hall should bring in some funds for the 1st Winchester Scouts who desperately need a new hut. Tickets £10 a head from Fiona.harwood@talktalk.net. This event had to be postponed from earlier because of flooding!

29th March. The Southern Shires Bloodhounds Gala Ball takes place in Thatcham. It’s a very glamorous event and there will be a cushion in the silent auction. Full details at http://www.southernshiresbloodhounds.co.uk/Whats_Going_On.htm

At last I’ve learnt to start a dense pattern on fabric and then appliqué it ( without having to do it in panic!). Daughter Sam’s old velvet curtain makes a great background!

It’s an Embroidery Library pattern again (I know, but they had a special offer on!).

Slightly astonished to find folk wanted more than the first few cushions! This one is to help the 1st Winchester Scouts raise money for a new Scout Hut. It will be raffled at their Murder Mystery Evening at Twyford Village Hall on the 15th February, Tickets £10 a head from Fiona.harwood@talktalk.net

Yes, it’s the satin wedding dress again, although I should have learnt by now that a dense pattern like this will make the fabric pucker badly, so I needed to cut out the Fleur de Lis from my first attempt and appliqué it for it to work!

Please don’t let it be pouring with rain when I trundle up Winchester High Street to work Before I deliver it to tomorrow! Might get a bit soggy!

After a very lazy month and a few false starts, I popped a cushion down to the wonderful Sheila Clayton in Southampton yesterday. Sheila spends her days doing all she can for animal welfare throughout the world. The cushion is to be raffled over the coming months for the Japan Animal Welfare Society. http://www.jawsuk.org.uk

After making festive cushions for Christmas it took a while to work out what to make for Sheila. One of the wedding dresses that had come from my mum and dads wedding dress shop, Barclays of Havant, many years ago was a wonderful heavy cream satin. Taking care to line it and stabilise it, I think it’s pretty cool! Hopefully there’s enough fabric for a couple more!

The latest total is 52 cushions gone and approx £5,911.50 made!

It’s approximate because so many cushions have been in raffles with other items. It’s tempting to tweak those figures to take the total over £6,000 but I’ll be good (for now!).

I’m so grateful to all those who have asked for a cushion and have worked SO hard to make money for their chosen charity. It’s humbling to see all the extraordinary projects that people throw themselves into, and all the support they receive.

A special mention has to go to Pat in Highcliffe, Dorset, who has been dragging her cushion around with her for weeks and has made £404 by selling tickets for it!

I will keep going til April. 2014, so if you know a charity that could put a cushion to good use in Hampshire, Dorset or the Isle of Wight, point them in the direction of the website, http://www.judygoodlet.com.

I think there might be a few more results to come in before Christmas and I’ll keep you updated, but for now may I wish everyone involved in the 60 cushion challenge the very best for a glorious Christmas and New Year.

With love,

Judy

12th December, I’ll be hosting the very special, annual Christmas Carol Concert in aid of Southampton Seafarers Mission. It’s held in the Ocean Terminal (Dock Gate 4) and was just wonderful last year. The Southampton Youth Brass Band will be playing, the Voxpop Choir singing. There will be some lovely readings. I couldn’t go without a cushion! I’ll be there before the start at 7.00pm to sell as many as possible! http://www.centresforseafarers.org/

From now until 19th December, the Solent MS Therapy Group in Portsmouth have a raffle with a cushion lurking. You’re welcome to pop in for a chat and buy a raffle ticket. They’re at Bradbury House, 56 Hewett Road, North End, PO2 0QP – they’re a great team who would love to see you. http://smstherapycentre.org.uk/

It’s a busy weekend for festive cushions!

30th November, the Old Parsonage in Otterbourne have their Christmas Fair between 2.00 and 4.00 pm. Lots of great gift ideas, and a festive cushion! They have a special place in my heart for the wonderful end of life care they gave my Dad in September. http://www.brendoncare.org.uk/pages/old-parsonage.aspx

30th November, at the Autumn Frost Fair at St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth, opening at 10.00 – I’ll be there at the opening, bringing the cushion – and hopefully there when it’s auctioned! http://btcp.org.uk/who-we-are/st-peters/

1st December, the Isle of Wight Asthma Swim Group have their Christmas Lunch at Lugley’s Restaurant, Newport. It’s a members only event but if you’re going, you will find a cushion (its not a festive one, they’ve had it a while, but I promise it’s pretty!), lurking in the raffle.

1st December, the Elizabeth Foundation who do extraordinary work with profoundly deaf babies and toddlers in Portsmouth have their Christmas Fair from 1.00pm and of course there’s a festive cushion there, too! They’re on the QA campus – if you go in from Southwick Hill Road and turn left, go straight down the road, left at the end and their warm and friendly facility is on the right. http://www.elizabeth-foundation.org/

3rd December, Tools for Self Reliance have a Christmas Afternoon Tea at their base on Ringwood Road, Netley Marsh (just off the A326, Totton Western By Pass). I didn’t know they’d use it a Christmas event so again, it’s not a festive one, but I hope you’ll like it! Find out more at http://www.tfsr.org/2012/05/14/forthcoming_events/

I’ve gone a bit overboard with this design, I think it’s so beautiful. I bought it from the Secrets of Embroidery website some time ago. It’s one of the “Kreations by Kara”. It struck me today she probably has her own website, and she does. It’s worth a peek, she has some wonderful designs, and not just for Christmas!

The velvet is from a skirt that must be 36 years old! Hoarder? Me?! I managed to cut eight cushions out. One went wonky because I didn’t stabilise it enough, one I had tried a different design on. Reindeers. It’s lovely, but a smaller design so I put a stylised dove in two corners. One is, um, the wrong way round! If you see reindeers and crazy patchwork soon, you’ll know why!

I’ve made a few this weekend, so one is off to the Solent MS Therapy Centre in Portsmouth. They’ve been selling tickets for a while and have their grand draw on 19th December.

The Old Parsonage in Otterbourne have their Christmas Fair on Saturday. They’re not expecting it, but I shall pop one in tomorrow. They were so wonderful to my Dad. He spent the last two weeks of his life there in September and I shall always be grateful to them.

St Peters Church in Bournemouth also have their Frost Fair next weekend.

Elizabeth House in Portsmouth who do the most extraordinary work with little ones with severe hearing problems are due a cushion, if they would like a bauble, one is on it’s way!

Oh, and the Scouts should be having an event at the weekend, too. Wonder if they’d like a bauble! Off to check!

One hot summers day, I dropped a cushion off in Highcliffe, Dorset, to Pat for the local Dementia Support Group. She sent a comment to the website today. She’s been taking it and raffle tickets to various events since October, and has so far raised £302! One more group to go, so I can’t add it to the total yet, but it does mean it’s now over £5,000!

To everyone who has asked for a cushion and worked so hard to raise money for their charities, a huge thank you!

Judy
Xx

23rd November, Patricia Walker in Gosport will have a stall for CF (Cystic Fibrosis) at the Rowner Parish Church Christmas bazaar, which opens at 11.00am. Please pop along to her stall and support her.