Finishing techniques

I have added a site to my ornament patterns listing on the right side of my blog. It is a finishing site. Once you get to the site, if you scroll down you will find several links to finish ornaments with. Hope this helps!

2 new ornaments

I have received several beautiful stitched pieces for the tree. Several have come from Janet Stanko. I will post pictures of these when I complete the ornaments. She did a couple of bookmarks also that we will sell with the tickets for the tree.
I just received these two pillows from Jeneen Frey. They are so sweet. They are little pillow ornaments that have a stitched pink ribbon on the front and the cutest pink ribbon fabric for the back.
Thank you so much you two! And to all the others I have e-mailed back and forth with. We are going to have a beautiful tree and raise lots of money!
Donna

Christmas

I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I pray that you all will have a Christmas that is filled with joy and love. This next year as we work on this project together will help keep Christmas in our hearts all year. You all have blessed me so much by following this journey with me. Thank you all for your friendship and for your caring so much for this cause. I have received some ornaments already and will be posting pictures later this week. They are quite lovely.
Donna

Today I stitch for Brenden

I just read a story about a young boy who lost his fight with leukemia. But his dying wish was to make a difference. And he did. Read about him here:
http://cbs11tv.com/health/Brenden.Foster.dying.2.867696.html
Today I stitch for Brenden and all the other Brendens. I stitch for a cure to this disease called cancer that comes in many forms. I stitch because like Brenden, I want to make a difference.
Thank you for joining me. And let's all, in our own way, say a prayer for Brenden and his family. And let's all say "Hooray, great job Brenden! YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE IN OTHER'S LIVES AND IN MINE!"

The first ornament

I just saw the beginnings of the first ornament for this project. While I am sure folks out there are stitching away, I haven't seen any yet. So I was SO EXCITED to see one being worked on by Cindy at http://lonestarstitcherandherramblings.blogspot.com
It is beautiful! Thank you all so much. You are a blessing to so many!
Donna

The biggest question

The biggest question I get from readers is "can you show me how to finish an ornament?" The answer is yes. With some help from my friends. If you know simple ways to finish ornaments, please e-mail me at stitchingforacure@yahoo.com
I will work on finding some simple ways and post them on this blog. Thanks again for all your help!
Donna

Fourth Pattern

We have added a fourth pattern to the list on the side. The newest addition is a ribbon pattern. Hope you find this one enjoyable.

-Jen

*edited - we also just added a fifth pattern choice. This will be the last one added. Thanks.

Problems Printing 2007 BCA pattern 1

Hello all! This is Jen, Donna's daughter. I am helping her set up this blog and all the computer aspects of this charity venture. I want to personally thank all who have volunteered to stitch ornaments for this cause. I know my mom has great faith that this will turn out to be a great event! It was brought to my attention that some were having problems printing the '2007 Breast Cancer Awareness Pattern 1'. I looked at it and realized it was due to the fact that the picture was far too big to print on normal printers. I have resized this down for printing so you now can click the resized link and print that! I hope this helps you.

And so it begins...

I had my final meeting with American Cancer Society and it is a go.  For those of you who have not read my entire blog, let me tell you what this site is all about.

I, as many of you, have been touched by cancer. I have friends who have had cancer, I have friends who have died from cancer and I work in a field where I deal with cancer patients and their families everyday. I don't like cancer.
Now that might seem like a funny thing to say, but I don't. And I would like to see cancer gone. That might put me out of a job because 75% of the patients that use blood are cancer patients. But I DON'T CARE!
So what can I do? What can any of us do? Well, one thing I like to do is stitch. And so I thought, how can my stitching help get rid of cancer? I stitched a piece called Peace, Love and a Cure by Lizzie Kate. Framed it and donated it to American Cancer Society. We put it up for auction at their annual Relay For Life to help raise money for cancer awareness and it raised $55.
That got me thinking. What if I stitched Christmas ornaments (one of my favorite things to do) and decorated a tree and put that up for auction next Christmas (2009)? Wow sounds great! But I don't think I can make enough ornaments myself to decorate a whole tree by then. Hmm????? What can I do?
Wait a minute! I have friends! I have friends who like to stitch! Maybe they could help!

So now let's begin!  If you would like to join me, please read below about the details.  Contact me at stitchingforacure@yahoo.com

and let me know you want to participate.

I have chosen 3 patterns that are listed on the sidebar of the blog we can use.I am still working on another pattern to use for this project.

Basically you can use any fabric, aida, evenweave or linen.  You can finish them however you like.

We want to stitch them in the colors of purple and pink for the tree,but if you choose to do another color let me know.  We are going to sell some of the ornaments individually.

Let's make a difference.  Right here, right now.  We can help find a cure for cancer with just our little needles and threads!

Nov. 4th

I have the final meeting with ACS on Tuesday, Nov. 4th.  I am sure it will all go fine, but I will be presenting everything to them.  I have such a good relationship with them and they are so excited about this meeting.

I will post everything on Tuesday night, so if you can tear yourself away from watching the election results, then check this blog then.

And speaking of elections, this one is going to be a doozy.  More citizens than ever are expected to vote.  And no matter what we are making history, be it a female as a VP or a black President.  Amazing.  I thought all the history making events would be over in my lifetime.  But here we are. So take time, get out and vote.  Make history for yourself!

Question about colors

I have had some inquiries about using different colors for the ornies.  While I think we should stick with purple and pink for the tree just so that it will coordinate, I also will be selling some individual ornaments at the event for the fundraiser.  So the answer would be yes, you can use a different cancer related color if you choose.  We just need the majority to be pink and purple.  

New e-mail addy just for this

I have set up an e-mail addy just for this project.  It is stitchingforacure@yahoo.com

This way I won't "lose" any e-mails that are sent with questions or suggestions.  

I have already experienced just a touch of what this journey is going to bring.  I have had e-mails from women who have friends and family members with cancer and some have lost friends and family members to cancer.  Some have cancer themselves.  The stories touch my heart.  And this is going to be AMAZING!

I have set a personal goal of raising $5000 for this.  That is 1000 $5 tickets for the tree.  Or a combination of tickets for the tree along with sales of individual ornaments.  Always think big and plan big.  I know we can do it.  

Thank you to all of you for joining me on my journey.  We will all grow together and learn from each other and have fun in knowing that we, just some little stitchers, can make a BIG DIFFERENCE!

3 ornament patterns

I have chosen three free patterns that I want to use for the ornaments.  I will be choosing one more in the coming weeks.  See the links on my side bar.

Why Stitch for a Cure?

I, as many of you, have been touched by cancer. I have friends who have had cancer, I have friends who have died from cancer and I work in a field where I deal with cancer patients and their families everyday. I don't like cancer.
Now that might seem like a funny thing to say, but I don't. And I would like to see cancer gone. That might put me out of a job because 75% of the patients that use blood are cancer patients. But I DON'T CARE!
So what can I do? What can any of us do? Well, one thing I like to do is stitch. And so I thought, how can my stitching help get rid of cancer? I stitched a piece called Peace, Love and a Cure by Lizzie Kate. Framed it and donated it to American Cancer Society. This Saturday night it is up for auction at their annual Relay For Life to help raise money for cancer awareness. I will let you know how it does.
That got me thinking. What if I stitched Christmas ornaments (one of my favorite things to do) and decorated a tree and put that up for auction next Christmas (2009)? Wow sounds great! But I don't think I can make enough ornaments myself to decorate a whole tree by then. Hmm????? What can I do?
Wait a minute! I have friends! I have friends who like to stitch! Maybe they could help!
And so I started this blog. I am meeting with the American Cancer Society on Nov. 4. I am choosing designs (probably about 3 or 4) that we will use for the tree. It will be in the colors pink for breast cancer and dark purple for general cancer. I have contacted a few designers to see if they can help.
I am now on the road do doing something. I hope you will go down this road with me. In the next few weeks I foresee things coming together. Please check back and see our progress. And don't forget, take care of yourself. Mammograms and colonoscopies aren't fun. But losing wonderful people like you isn't fun either.