Very exciting news

Have any of you seen the Mutual of Omaha's "Aha moment" commercials?
In order to make those commercials, they seek out individuals to tell about their "Aha Moments". They travel to about 25 towns a year with a mobile studio, interview folks and then put their stories on the website above. Then people vote on the story they like the best and 10 of them are selected to be national commercials.
I had the surprise of my life when the marketing director contacted me and said the mobile studio was coming to my town in April and they wanted to interview ME! about my stitching for a cure project.
Of course I said yes and on May 10 at 12:10 I will be telling my story! It will then go onto their website (I will get a link for you all to see and if you like, vote on).
I have no idea where they got my name or my blog from, but it is all very exciting!
So stay tuned! I will be posting more as soon as I know.

So here we go...

I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself. Vee, of VeeandCo Cross Stitch Designs has done it again!
We have a new design for our new project.
Oh, I didn't tell you about the new project? Well, as usual I am ahead of myself.
We are going to be making ornaments or floss tag rings (your choice) and will sell them to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes Awareness.
I do not have a venue yet to sell these at, but I am sure I will find one. I know my daughter's family will participate in a run at some point, so that might be a good place. We also have a healthcare alliance group here and they may be doing something also.
We are not on a huge deadline at this time, probably no earlier than October or November.
Here is a picture of the design:

The design, stitched as a 14 count will be about 2.8 inches square (design size). The total ornament will be around 3.5 inches square complete. It will be stitched on the stitcher's choice of color fabric, either 14 count or 28 count over 2.
Last time we did ornaments, some of you were concerned because you were finishing "challenged" (your words, not mine). So I will be happy to finish any ornaments that are stitched. I do ask that you cut your fabric at least 5 inches square so I will have enough fabric to wrap and finish.
I am also ordering some lip fabric to do the backs with. So if you would like some of that fabric to complete your ornament, shoot me an email. I found some on J&O Fabrics that I think is cute.
I will attach the pattern to the right top of the blog as I have done in the past.
THANKS VEE!
And Susan Ebright of Trail Creek Farm Designs has given us rights to use her Lip Love pattern, which is now out of print. It will be similar to the design by Vee. I want to keep everything with the same "look".
I am going to need a charter to help convert the Lip Love pattern to the new design. If you think you are up to the challenge, please email me at my email address, stitchingforacure@yahoo.com
So folks, here we go again. We are stitching for a cure for a new project. But always, always making a difference, one stitch at a time.

I think it is time for a change

When I started Stitching for a Cure over 2 years ago, it was in an effort to raise money and awareness for American Cancer Society Relay For Life.
It was extremely successful, but very time consuming. We accomplished more than I ever dreamed of.
But for some time I have felt the need to step back and perhaps focus on some other cause. It has been a struggle. I have felt torn.
Things became very clear this past week. Many of you have seen my posts on both my blog, this one and Princess Pattern Collector about my grandchildren.
Both the boys visited me last weekend and I knew something was wrong with my youngest, Craig. He was drinking a lot and having to go to the bathroom a lot. He turned 7 while he was visiting and had long grown out of wetting the bed. But while here, he did.
My daughter told me these symptoms had just started a few days before she visited and that she thought he possibly had a bladder infection. But the discussion soon turned to diabetes.
As soon as they returned home, she called the pediatric clinic. We are glad she did. Craig was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. He was hospitalized until yesterday. He is still having difficulty with spiking blood sugars but is doing well.
Craig is handling everything wonderfully. But as a grandmother, I worry about his long term health.
So now my focus, at least for now, has turned to helping raise awareness and funds for Juvenile Diabetes. I am not sure how my stitching and how this blog are going to play into everything, but I am convinced God will show me a plan.
Please follow me as I start on this path. Stitching for a cure. Hmm... Seems like there is more than one meaning for that phrase.
I love all of you. Thank you for your support!

Taking time off

Some of you have contacted me about what this year's project is going to be.
I have given it great thought and have decided I need to take some time off. This project has grown so big and last year was a tough year for me, both with my personal health and with the task of maintaining a Relay For Life team (make that 3 teams last year).
While I will still raise money for the Relay and while I am still dedicated to saving lives through it, I just need some time for my family and myself.
I will continue to post on this blog stories of survival and informational stuff. And I might even do a project or two for a later Relay. So stay tuned. I am not "going away". Just going to be in the background for awhile.
You all have been such an inspiration to me and I look forward to working with all of you again soon!
Thanks.
Donna

A Christmas Miracle

Christmas Eve brought good news. REALLY GOOD NEWS!
My director and his wife were at MD Anderson for nearly two weeks. If you read the post prior to this one, you know they found a mass on her pancreas but were unable to get a biopsy for it. MD Anderson had the technology to deal with it and so they went there.
On the eve before Christmas Eve I received a message that it wasn't a mass after all but rather scar tissue from all the pancreatitis she had been dealing with. So there is no cancer.
And it looks like they will be able to control the problem with medications!
They were able to come home for Christmas and are now back at MD Anderson for more tests and possible treatments.
What a wonderful gift we were given! Prayers have been answered.
What I have learned from this is that even when you think there is no way things can get better, God is BIG enough!
Just after they went to MD Anderson, I had a donor come into my office. She had called me earlier about a special patient and we had shared a moment-a moment that God could do big things.
She had a bracelet that her church was giving out in support of this young woman she had called me about. It said simply "God is BIG enough"
I took that bracelet and have worn it since then.
No matter what your religion is or your particular thoughts on prayer, remember that God is BIG enough to handle whatever we have.

Really, that long?

Really has it been that long since I last posted? Can't be. But it has.
I haven't been stitching much at all. I haven't even thought about the next Relay For Life project.
The quilts went over really well. But the one request I get over and over is for something to sell as an individual item rather than a raffle.
So I think we will do ornaments again. I need to figure out which pattern. But generally any one of the several I have posted patterns for will work.
The past month or so has been really hard on me. My director's wife, who is an absolute angel, has a mass on her pancreas. No small mass. It is located on the valve where the blood supply goes from the pancreas to the liver. They tried to do a biopsy, but were unsuccessful.
They are now at MD Anderson in testing. The mass will have to be removed and that is no small task. And then there is the biopsy to see whether it is malignant or benign.
We have all been in prayer over this. She is such a faithful Christian and is just precious. I keep reminding myself this is why I Relay. But this is too close to home.
And it is so close to Christmas, which is her favorite holiday. Chances are she will be in the hospital for Christmas. Yuck. So Christmas will have to come to her.
Please pray for a miracle. We need one here. A big Christmas miracle.
Now, I refuse to end this post with bad news. It is Christmas. We have been blessed in so many ways. You have blessed me. You have brought joy to me. I hope I have done the same for you.
I found out recently that my youngest grandson Craig has taken it upon himself to pray for all the grandmas and great grandmas in his family. "Dear Looorrrrd, thank you for my family. And thank you for grandma, mo-mo, GG, abuella and all the grandmas. Please don't let a tornado or hurricane hit the house. And please don't let any space aliens come down from outer space. Amen."
At least we know we are up there with the big stuff, hurricanes and space aliens.
And to all a goodnight.

Stop childhood cancer

A friend who lost her son to cancer posted this. I had to share it.
"Tonight, as you tucked your healthy kids into their own beds,or snuggled with them in yours,somewhere in some hospital,46 sets of parents were looking at their babies in shock after being told cancer had just invaded their lives. Tonight, 7 sets of parents are spending their first night without their children. IT pisses me off.STOP CHILDHOOD CANCER!"
Let's keep up the fight until we don't have to fight anymore.

Survivor walk, and Relay wrap up

We had a great time at Relay last year, but I won't lie. This year's Relay For Life was tough. I don't know why. Maybe it is because I did 3 Relays. Maybe it is because of the health challenges I had. But whatever it was, I am glad we did it and glad it is over.
I finished up last night with $940 total. I came to Relay last night with $909 in the bag and got another $31 at Relay.
I was disappointed that we finished up $60 under our goal of $1000 for this Relay. Then an amazing thing happened. My friend Debra messaged me on Facebook and said, you got your $60. WOW! WE DID IT! WE MADE $1000 at the Waco Relay For Life!
That brings our total for all three Relays to $2276. OVER $2000 MADE FOR AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE!
I didn't do this alone. I did it with a lot of help from you, my friends. A LOT OF HELP. And I love each and every one of you for all your help. I talked a lot about you last night.
God bless each and every one of you. You have made a difference!

Are you ready?

New breast cancer awareness pattern

There is a new breast cancer awareness pattern at By the Bay Needleart blog
Hop over there and check it out. It is really cute!
And don't forget that October is breast cancer awareness month. When was the last time you were felt up?
The Waco Relay For Life is less than 2 weeks away. I am excited, but really ready for it to be over with. This year has been a tough one. Hopefully we will raise lots and lots of money for all the good things American Cancer Society does for local cancer patients!

What could be better?

What could be better than this ornament made by a friend?

Well, 5 more ornaments made by friends!

You might recognize the first ornament as the one I posted before stitched by Janice B. The others were stitched by Trudy E, Barb B., Laurie D. (breast cancer survivor also) and Shiela F.
These kind ladies heard my plea for ornaments for the breast cancer survivor volunteers and stitched these, with the request that I finish them into ornaments. I was very happy to do that.
And we had such a great turnout for the plea with more ornaments than needed for the volunteers, so I asked them if I could use these for fundraising for Relay For Life. They said yes, so this Saturday I will be selling these six ornaments for $10 a piece at our fundraising craft fair/garage sale.
I will also be selling these completed pieces, which you have seen with the stitching finished, but not completely done.

And last but by no means least, I have this beautiful ornament made by Lisa for the survivor volunteers:

Thanks so much for all of your help! We will be selling tickets for the quilt drawing this weekend at the craft fair also. I am hoping to raise the last $236 to bring the Waco Relay money raised to $1000 by itself from these projects. That will be about a total of $1700 so far for all three Relays together!
AMAZING!
So keep stitching and as we are bringing the 2010 Relay For Life to a close, think about whether we want to continue this project. I am thinking we could do individual ornaments that we sell individually rather than doing a drawing next year. You tell me what you want to do.
I will pop back in after the sale and let you know where we stand at that point!

The last

I have finished stitching my last piece for the 2010 Relay For Life. I still have several ornaments from friends I have to finish off into ornaments and I have to put the trim around this one, but I am through for now.
Here is a pic of it. It is the same "C is for Cure" freebie I did before but in different colors.


My focus now will be the Sept. 18th Craft Fair/Garage Sale that I will sell the ornaments and finished pieces at and also sell tickets for the last quilt. Then on Oct. 16th is the RELAY FOR LIFE! That will be my last opportunity to sell tickets and then we will draw the winner that night. I am $341 away from my goal of $1000 for this Relay alone. We are well over that amount for the other 2 Relays held earlier this year. I expect we come in around $2000 total this year for RFL which is absolutely amazing.
So if you have anything out there you want to donate for this year's RFL please send it my way. And get ready for 2011. We are going to blow it out of the water next year!
I will pop back in with more updates!

Childhood Cancer Month

Do you ever wonder why we are doing this project? I have to say that yes, at times, I have wondered why. Keeping up with everything, selling tickets, going to the Relays, sometimes it is overwhelming.
46 children will be diagnosed with cancer today. 9 of those children will die from it. Of the 37 who do survive, 25 of them will suffer from long-term or late onset side effects... things such as secondary cancers due to chemo treatment, fertility loss, memory loss, etc. Yes, they're sobering statistics. Yes, it's hard to read. But yes, it's reality. It's our reality. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Then I remember. DUH! We are making a difference. We are helping save lives with our talents. Relay For Life is the biggest fundraiser for American Cancer Society. So big that the theme "Relay isn't all we do, but all we do depends on Relay" has been the mantra this year.
So keep those needles flying. We are MAKING A DIFFERENCE!
And if you have a healthy child, hug them and say a prayer for those fighting the battle. Hugs to all of you!

A new ornament and a finsh

I have finished off the C is for Cure. I put a cute little yellow polka dot bow in the corner of the finished piece and on the back I have the cutest fabric that has Hope written all over it. I attached a miniature photo frame on the back so whoever purchases the piece can put a picture of a loved one in it. Hopefully it will bring in some money for ACS.
I received several of the blackwork pieces by my friends in MD. They requested I finish them into ornaments or smalls.
Here is one of them that I finished as an ornament (the hanger hasn't been put on it yet, though). It was made by Janice B. from Baltimore, MD. She is a breast cancer survivor! HOORAY FOR SURVIVORS!

Hopefully I will have more to show in a few days.

Another ornament from a friend

Karen stitched this beautiful ornament for the Reach For A Cure volunteers. I really appreciate it!
I have also received many other stitched pieces that need to be made into ornaments that we are going to sell the night of Relay For Life. I have ordered some fabric (it is that same Hope fabric that Jeanine used in my previous post) that I am going to finish them with.
I also stitched up the C is for Cure freebie by Lizzie Kate and Just Cross stitch magazine I talked about in my last post.

I used Strawberry Milkshake lugana by Silkweavers and changed the color of the threads. I think it is really cute!
Our last Relay in 2010 is on Oct. 16th. We will draw for the winner of the quilt at that time. Then take a deep breath and get ready for 2011!
Thanks again for everything. We really are in this together!

New pattern

Just Cross Stitch Magazine, Sept./Oct. issue has a new pattern from Lizzie Kate, C is for Cure. AND they have posted the freebie on their website: Just Cross Stitch
While I very much encourage you to purchase the whole issue because it has some really cute stuff in it, you can jump over in the meanwhile and print off this freebie!
I am off to stitch!
P.S. I have been asked if we will be doing another round of ornaments. The answer is YES! They won't be due until at least March for the next year's Relays (I think I am doing 2). The request from Relayers is that they want to be able to purchase individual ornaments rather than do a drawing for a group of them. So I am responding to their request for next year.
We are still selling tickets for the drawing for the last quilt for the Waco Relay For Life. That happens Oct. 16.
We will catch our breath, enjoy the holidays and start another year!

Ornaments for breast cancer survivors

I reached out to you asking for help making some ornaments for our volunteers who are breast cancer survivors and work on our Reach For Recovery fund raising luncheon.
And you responded! Last week and this week I have really enjoyed checking my mailbox.
I received this beautiful ornament from Meari


The back is so pretty and has a little charm that says "I made this for you".
And then yesterday I received this trio of ornaments from my friend Jeanine. They are so pretty, front and back.


The back of one of them has some really cute fabric that says "hope". I don't know where she got this fabric from, but it is just so cha-cha!

She also included 2 handmade bags. These bags are about 8x8 and have a nice little pocket inside. VERY, VERY NICE! I am going to sell these and raise even more money for Relay For Life!

I have had e-mails from a couple of others that they will be sending ornaments soon. The luncheon is in September so we are good on time.
Thank you is not enough for what all of you have done for this cause. We do make a difference with each stitch we take.

As always

As always, you stitchers have come through for me. I have secured enough stitchers to make ornaments for the Reach for Recovery Luncheon volunteers. I may even have 1 or 2 more than I needed, but you never know when an ornament will come in handy!
It amazes me what kind of response I get when I put out a need plea. But it shouldn't surprise me.
Because throughout these projects I have found there are really good folks out there that want to use their talents to help others. Esp. in these economic times, I think we have all had to look at ourselves and at others in a different prospective. Many have been profoundly affected by loss of jobs, lower income and illnesses.
But yet we reach beyond our need to the needs of others. And many times that fills our heart with gladness, a gladness that we wouldn't have merely helping ourselves.
We have been blessed by using our talents to make a difference in our community. Thank you for being such a blessing to me.
And I have another request (if I may humbly submit another request). Many local blood banks are having a tough time this summer. A great deal of the blood supply is given by high school and college students. When they are out of school for the summer, the blood supply typically drops. This summer has been more dramatic nationwide.
So if you can give, please do so. If you can't but know someone who can, please encourage them to give. Remind them (and yourselves) to drink plenty of fluids, esp. water before giving and to eat a good meal high in iron at least 4 hours before they donate. Giving the gift of life is something so very important.
Thank you for allowing me to request this of you!

Some pics of the Gatesville Relay For Life

I may not have been able to attend the Gatesville Relay For Life, but that doesn't mean my camera couldn't be there. Here are some photos of the Relay. Check out the pics of our Carter BloodCare Stitching For A Cure table. You can see one of the quilts and the pillows that people purchased chance tickets for!


And here is a picture of all the survivors that were out that night. And a picture of JoLeen and a committee member (Jo's in the purple shirt). JoLeen is a Hero of Hope and a breast cancer survivor. One of the pink squares on the quilt was stitched for her!


Also, don't forget to check my previous post for a new way to help! Now onto the Waco Relay For Life!

New opportunity to help

I have been requested by the survivors chairperson for the Waco Relay For Life to stitch 6 ornaments to be given to breast cancer survivors who are volunteering for our Reach to Recovery Fundraising Luncheon in October.
I need the ornaments in my hand by September 1 if possible. We have selected the blackwork pattern on the right side of my blog.
The thread will be pink DMC and can be stitched on either 28 count lugana or 14 count aida in a white or off white color. I would be happy to provide you with the fabric if you decide to do it. There are a few beads on the design.
PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE FINISHING IT INTO AN ORNAMENT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I can do the finishing for you but I have specific margin requests around the stitching.
Please email me at stitchingforacure@yahoo.com if you have questions or would like to stitch an ornament.