Share a Square

This is a copy of my post at This Eclectic Life. I don’t think y’all read both!

I was hoping for a knight in shining armor this morning, as I sat with my coffee in the darkness on the porch. My dream was fading. I needed help, but couldn’t find what I sought: something BIG to get
you to donate. So, I was trying to decide how to gracefully back out of raising money for Camp Sanguinity cancer camp.

I was discouraged!

All of this week, I approached local merchants asking for donations so I could have a raffle, but was met by a polite wall of “no.” The economy is just too scary right now, and (though they liked the cause) the merchants couldn’t contribute. I didn’t see how in the world I could keep trying, while I struggle to get my life in balance.

[You are supposed to be helping me by participating in a group writing project, and none of you have said a word.]

On the brink of giving up, I opened my e-mail.

Who needs a stinkin’ “knight in shining armor,” when you have Jessica The Rock Chick on your side?

She stepped out of her glimmering white limousine in her black stiletto cat boots with Jon Bon Jovi at her side…

Wait.

That’s a dream Jessica had.

Actually, she was probably barefoot in her pajamas. She drives a stinky mommy van (hey, she admits that it literally stinks), and she only stalks Bon Jovi. Still, she has saved my day.

That generous gal decided to have a raffle to help Camp Sanguinity (and to celebrate her 2nd Bloggiversary).

You can win a 1GB Apple iPod Shuffle!

She will even let YOU pick the color!

ALL you have to do is:

1. donate by paypal or check (Tucker’s Camp Sanguinity Fund 2008, P.O. Box 2241, Denton, TX 762020,
   or click that banner at the bottom of this post to donate through PayPal. Jessica has a button on her blog post, too.
2. write a post linking to her post (you could link to my first post about it, too, so people know why they are donating!),
3. and make a commenton Jessica’s post, so she knows you are there

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

AND Jessica sweetens the pot! Well, her fabulous daughter, the one and only supertalented Samantha Hollywood (whose heart is as big as her mother’s), owner of Fashionably Late Layouts, does. She will make you a custom MySpace layout for a $10 donation to the fund. How cool is that? If you donate $10.00 or more and would like a custom MySpace layout for you or anyone, please email Jessica at jessicatherockchick[AT]yahoo[dot]com and she will hook you up.

There you have it. A chance to win big for yourself AND help send a child to cancer camp.

Thank you, Sweet Jessica and Samantha. You have made my day. Y’all are better than a knight in shining armor any day of the week.

And, Happy Bloggiversary, Rock Chick. Rock on!!

We have almost met our goal. Several folks are stitching madly to get the last of the afghans put together, and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work. It isn’t an easy task!

We’ve also raised enough money so far to send two kids to camp. If you feel like giving up a latte, click the button on the sidebar to donate $5, $10, $15 to the fund. I’m hoping that we will be able to pay for all the children, but I don’t know if that will happen.

Bags are still needed, if you are inclined to make one. Contact Barbara or Sherry to let them know.

Here are some more squares that have been received (actually last month, but I’ve been at sixes and sevens…I apologize). Many thanks to the fine ladies who crocheted these:

Reiko in Japan

Pat W. in Wisconsin

Kanako in Japan

J. Brock in Georgia

I posted today at This Eclectic Life about raising money to sponsor the children at Camp Sanguinity. I’ve started a charitable fund, and would love any help you can give!

We have a friend battling leukemia. He was the young man who received our first afghan. He’s in the hospital now preparing for a bone marrow transplant. You might want to visit and send him good wishes.
Taten, buddy, I sure do!
Here is his blog: Young Warrior

We are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of this banquet…

Rebecca Harding Davis

Y’all I’ve been antsy to get to this stage. We have 100 afghans showing on the afghan gallery! Whoot! Thanks to everyone for the help you have given. We are in the home stretch.

Camille S and Donna N in Illinois have been working hard. Not just on piecing afghans for Camp Sanguinity, but for some of the “extra afghans” we will give.

Take a look.

I’ll be traveling the next two weeks, but I’ll be working on Share A Square in hotel rooms at night.

When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.Harold Kushner

Though I have been quiet lately, that doesn’t mean I’m not working on the project! We ALL have been. More than 30 afghans are being stitched right now. I put together two last week (one was rimmed for me by Sheila B., and one by Donna N.). I have three afghans that Mo rimmed for me, and one that Tracey J. rimmed. I am in the process of arranging a day at my local coffee house to get local volunteers to help stitch them together.

At this point, I have 95 afghans here at the house. They are finished and packaged. I don’t have all the pictures on the afghan gallery.

I took the advice of Deborah Starobin-Armstrong, who coordinates The Handmade Afghan Project, and put the afghans in clear plastic bags tied with lots of ribbons.

Over the next couple of weeks, I hope to tell you about some “spin-off” programs that have begun AND tell you more about the bag project. At This Eclectic Life, I showed a medicine bag that I intended to put together. It’s finished and I’m teaching my husband how to sew so we can make more. I’ll post about it soon.

Squares are still coming in (and I promise not to waste them), but we don’t need any more for the current project. I still have a few more pictures to take. thanks to the following folks:

Betty in New York:

Jan H. in Aurora, Illinois

Shirley in Kansas City, MO

Toyoma in Japan

Nobue in Japan

First, let me apologize! I did not know that comments were being made on this site. Somehow, I have not got it arranged properly so that Wordpress notifies me via e-mail. I’ve just been going on my merry way working on Share A Square and Real Life. I’ve gone in and answered those comments.

Second, I need NO MORE SQUARES. I have enough packaged to make almost 180 afghans, and we only need 140. Please don’t send me any more. I have nowhere to put them!

View the afghan gallery on the sidebar. We have at my house almost 90 afghans! Thank you for all your hard work.

Sadly, I lost some pictures that were in my camera, and the squares have been put into afghan kits. One of those pictures was of a huge box of squares sent by Union First Presbyterian of Cowansville, PA. Thank you folks for your kind generosity.

And thanks to the following:

Yashiko in Japan

Valerie P. in Florida

Shirley in Kansas City Mo (my thank you note to you came back)

Mayumi in Japan

Kazumi in Japan

Rick C. in Pennsylvania

I still have about 10 pictures to snap, but I’m hoping after that to be able to just settle back and start stitching these together. I’ll show you how they are packaged in a few days.

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.
Barbara Bush

You might be wondering why I am putting effort into extra afghans. You haven’t seen the piles of squares at my house! The generosity has been absolutely overwhelming. But, we aren’t through yet, so be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post!

Just an update on the status of Share A Square:

Right now, there are

• 82 finished afghans for the Share A Square project.
• 56 afghans being pieced together (which makes 138!!!)
• Enough kits with 48 different names to make 15 more afghans…and I’m not finished sorting!
• Enough squares with no tags to make at least 20 more afghans
• I still have people wanting to help
• And, out of all the “strangers” to whom I have sent afghan squares, only one person was unscrupulous enough to “steal” an afghan

I’d say that’s pretty marvelous, since we have only been working on this since last June. My heartfelt thanks to every one of you!

Didn’t I tell you we aren’t through? We need some major help. We are wanting to give cloth gift bags to the children to hold their tags from their afghans. Sherry and Barbara are working on this, but they need some help promoting AND getting those bags made! If you have a blog, would you please link to them? And, if you feel handy at all, could you make one of the bags?

My friend, Alice (in Dallas) donated some bags that I have sent along to Barbara and Sherry to be decorated. If you think you could bead, embroider, or applique, write them and ask them to send you a bag or two.

Sorry, I’m just trying to claim a blog at my
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Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Y’all, I apologize for not updating lately. I had gotten a new Mac computer (after my pc computers were dying) back in December. It has taken me this long to figure out how to resize pictures for the web! I’ve been skipping back and forth between my pc and my Mac trying to post. It just sorta bowled me over.

But, I am working on Share A Square, and YOU have been, too. Thank you all for your hard work.

Here are some squares that came in several weeks ago. They have gotten shuffled around, and I have no idea if thank you notes have been sent ( I’m pond scum). But, here they are.

These are from Jennifer W. (in Georgia, I think)

These are from Grace, Jan, and Ariel in California

Kazue in Japan sent these.

Jamie B., in North Richland Hills, TX sent these.

These are from The Family Rosenfeld in Cape Town, South Africa

And, these came from my friend Linda S., in Euless, TX. They are from her friends Pat S, Amy R, Shari P,Joan S, Muriel S., and Donna B.

There are more in my car, and I’ve been afraid to unload them until I got these posted. Whew! Now if I can remember how to re-size and upload maybe I can catch up with all of y’all.