Relay for Life 2011

here was my teams site this year...

it was a great weekend and bakersfield raised $2,000,401.71

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! 

Relay For Life

so the relay for life event i've been talking about a lot lately happened this past weekend. last year $1 million dollars was raised. this year... $1.7 MILLION ($1,773,711.89 to be exact)! the one here in bakersfield california is the LARGEST in the nation!

see these 2 people... they are amazing!

the one on the right was our team captain (and my friend/nathans favorite photographer) who worked her tail off, and is 8 months pregnant with her 4th, the assistant director for an upcoming play and STILL pulled together an amazing team and sponsors this year! the one on the left is her daughter brooke, who may be be young in age, but very wise in wisdom! here's the story... she put up the challenge to the bakersfield community to raise $2000 in 30 minutes. if that could be done, she was going to shave her head. you bet bakersfield did it! she raised $3618.57 for cancer research and shaved off all her hair and donated it to locks of love. but what's even more amazing... here's her response... "The Woman who shaved my head was a breast cancer survivor of nine years, with a mother who had cancer, and a sister who is currently undergoing chemotherapy. She was the first person I asked if it was possible to make that happen, and she found Robin immediately and made it happen for us. She was incredibly insightful, holding my hand and being truly passionate about the cause for which I wanted to shave my head. It wasn't about donating to locks of love, although I'm happy I am. And it wasn't ALL about the money, either, although I knew Bakersfield could do it no problem. It was to show women that bald is beautiful. And it's hair, it grows back. Best quote I heard after shaving, "Hair is just an extra addition to what makes a person beautiful on the outside, but the lack of hair shows an even more beautiful inside""--- Brooke, i think you are an amazing person for doing this! your story has touched and inspired many lives. i hope you never forget that! you rock girl!

RAFFLE WINNERS!!!

BIG THANK YOU to everyone who bought raffle tickets! with your help, jaren and i raised our goal of $200+ dollars to help fight cancer!! YAY for more birthdays!

now onto our raffle winners... we sold 54 tickets for the midwest modern amy butler rag quilt. lucky number chosen was #48!

 

we sold 74 tickets (WOW!) for the aster manor 3 sisters moda rag quilt. lucky number chosen was #29!

winners have been notified and blankets will be on there way tomorrow :) thank you again to everyone who donated! let's see an end to cancer in our lifetime!

Relay for Life Rag Quilts

remember the fabric that was donated to me by Amy Butler Designs and Moda? here are the final products...

this rag quilt measures 45x53 and is made out of 3 sisters designs aster manor collection.

this rag quilt measures 47x53 and is made from amy butler designs midwest modern collection.

now the fun details... i'm raffling these 2 blankets off! tickets are only $1, and you can buy as many as you want. remember, the more you buy, the better your chances are :) 100% of the proceeds are being donated directly to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event that is coming up in my city. if interested in purchasing a ticket, please leave me a comment WITH YOUR email address and how many tickets you want and i'll send you a paypal money request form. even if it's just 1 ticket, it still helps fight cancer! raffle ends saturday, the 17th, at noon. winner will be selected via random.org. good luck!

scissors... there is nothing worse than a horrible pair of scissors when you're working with fabric! i've made TONS of rag quilts in my life and i have always used the fiskar soft touch micro-tip scissors to cut the rags. but the last 2 pair i purchased i've notice aren't as sharp as i remember. so i started doing some research and came across these beauties...

they're the 6 1/2 inch rag quilt snips by heritage cutlery. they are the BEST scissors i've ever used! the spring loaded handle really makes it easy to snip away without aching your hand. the blade cuts all the way to tip and will go through many many layers of fabric at once. the pricetag is kind of steap, so find a coupon before you go purchase them :) and p.s. they're super sharp, i've almost taken off a finger a few times, lol.

FABRIC DONATIONS ROCK!

wednesday when i arrived home from running errands, i saw this box waiting on the porch for me. i thought, hmm, i haven't ordered anything lately, i wonder if it's a fabric donation? SURE ENOUGH IT WAS!
notice who it's from ;) yep, AMY BUTLER DESIGNS! i about fainted! i had no clue this was coming! inside was 4 yards of fabric from her midwest modern collection and they even sent along thread!! i already have my rag quilt "designed" and hope to get working on it this weekend... maybe...hopefully?
then on thursday i got my fabric donation from MODA. now this i knew was coming and was excited to see what they'd sent. the brown stripe pattern on the left is by 3 sisters fabric and is from the aster manor collection. the one on the right i have no clue who it's by! if anyone can help me, that'd be great! i'm having a hard time finding coordinates for it. if you've never seen moda's craft blog... click here.
to end the fabulous 2 days i had, we had a fabulous dinner. a super easy and delicious chicken parmesan. recipe found here at the ducks in a row blog. sorry for the poor presentation. i didn't realize how good it was until i started eating it. and once i tasted it, i knew you just had to have a picture of it's deliciousness! LOL.


and now onto friday, MORE UNEXPECTED FABRIC :) i got another box from MODA. inside was a cute little drawstring bag with a nail file, push pins, 2 patterns, 4 embroidery flosses and a honeybun roll of soiree by lila tueller, which is SO CUTE!
the other surprise box was from MICHAEL MILLER FABRICS! AHHH!! inside was a gift box of fabric/ribbon/patterns and book from their first sight collection, which i love and have used before. and also 20 fat quarters of browns, blues and greys. these are going to be great to donate to the silent auction! by the way, have you ever checked out their blog? it's fabulous with many great tutorials!

if you're wondering why i'm getting fabric donations... my husband (jaren) and i are part of a relay for life team this year. our team consist mainly of highschool students, but my friend is the team leader, so that's why we joined her team. well part of being on a team is committing to fundraise $100+/each member that gets donated to the american cancer society. for teenage students, this is a little hard. so they came up with the idea to have a spaghetti dinner/talent show/silent auction to raise money. i wanted to do my part and thought i could donate a few rag quilts to the silent auction. so i sent a letter to many of my favorite fabric designers/distributors asking for 3 yards of any fabric they could donate and voila! and as you see, they've donated more than just 3 yards :)
and remember this post 8 MONTHS AGO about fabric i won through strawberry patches? my main goal for the fabric was to make something to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in my area. unfortuantly i started babysitting for a friend, had a dreadful move, then holidays, and havn't had the time (i know, lame excuse) to volunteer at the house. so i wasn't quit sure what i could make that would be of use to them. so i've been hanging onto the fabric waiting for my chance to use it. well, that's all about to change and i think i came up with a great project. hope to share it with you all very shortly!

serving trays, cooking party, donated fabric!

when i saw the tutorial over at the tatertos and jello blog, i just HAD to try it out! So THANK YOU JEN for being so creative and sharing this idea!

here are the supplies i used for mine...
i didn't have any leftover drawer knobs or handles like she used on hers. but i did find my handles on clearance, 50% off, at target. and for the knobs on the bottom, i bought unifinished wooden doll heads at michaels.
to make the 2 tier, i bought the smaller platter also at dollar tree.

then i bought a candlestick for the middle.

the one thing i do recommend if you make this, is finding a coupon before buying the polyurethane spray. i sucked it up and paid $12 for it because one, i forgot my coupon, and two, i needed it THAT NIGHT.

a sister from church hosts a cooking night at her house every month. last night's theme was CHOCOLATE! i made oreo truffles from bakerella and my mom's peanut butter ball recipe. i had a tummy ache when i got home from all the sweets. lol. looking forward to the next time though! the theme is breakfast. any ideas...?

in other news... as many of you know, jaren and i are on a Relay for Life team this year. we are having a fundraising night in april with a spaghetti dinner/talent show/silent auction. i wanted to submit some handmade items for the auction. i thought i would make my all-time favorite, rag quilts. last weekend i drafted a letter and sent it to about a dozen fabric designers/distributors looking for fabric donations. i was asking for 3 yards of any of their coordinating pieces. and that's just for the top. i would provide the backing and the batting. i've gotten 2 no's because i'm not actually "affiliated" with an organization. but yesterday I GOT MY FIRST YES!!! and get this... it was from MODA FABRICS!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! i was OVERWHELMED WITH JOY! they're a HUGE fabric distributor with BEAUTIFUL stuff! not sure what print i'm getting, but i'm looking forward to it!!

weekend events

i attended a babyshower. here's ms. preggo with my sister :)
the 2010 kickoff for relay for life was on saturday. the energy there was amazing!

there were inspirational speakers. music and dancing. and good food :)

i've kept my resolution of donating at least 1 blanket/month to the project linus organization. this month i was able to donate 5. next month i'm shooting for at least 4.

i made a girlie version of a car seat tent. i added fabric flowers on the handles. i love this fabric! if you're peaking lisa, this ones already on it's way to you. and i may have thrown in a minkee/flannel blanket because i'm a sucker for cute babies :) hope she likes them!

i know 2 women who just had their first baby boys and were talking about peepee teepees and how they can't find them in a store and don't want to order them. so i whipped some up for them. so if they're peaking at this, these are on there way to you too :)