Ya Gotta Believe We Can Strike'em Out for a Cure

Hi Everyone, Wow, what can I possibly say !!! The first annual Strike'em Out for a Cure held on Saturday, September 27, 2008, was a tremendous success !!


Missy (Craig's sister) did a fantastic job in addition to her husband, Bob, who kept everything on track for the silent auction. We had donations from all over. Three golfing events, one valued at over $700, which everyone was vying for, at my last look was bid at $185 dollars. We had a two-night stay at the Anaheim Sheraton Hotel, Anaheim Sparks tickets to a game, Clipper tickets, Universal Studio tickets, Silpada bracelet and necklace set, three oil paintings by Craig's mom, hand painted ceramic angel baby and bears made by my mom and her friend Sharon, hand painted Christmas ornaments, gift baskets of every kind, candles, a CD player with CDs, portrait gift certificates valued a $3000.00, etc, and of course the quilt raffle.
(Look at the slideshow at the bottom of this post for a peak at all the donation items)

















It was just amazing!!! About 50 people showed up with open hearts and opened their wallets to support the Tug McGraw Foundation for brain cancer research in honor of Craig.



There was a magician there, the same one from Bob's 50th birthday party, who entertained us all with his mystifying tricks....the best one being the disappearing ring trick.

















Missy made an announcement during the silent auction stating the purpose of the event and the Tug McGraw Foundation's motto..."Ya Gotta Believe", which Missy turned into our motto..."Ya Gotta Believe We Can Strike'em Out for a Cure." It was so poignant when Craig got up to speak to the crowd to thank his sister and Bob for all their hard work organizing this event as well as all the people who attended and gave so much for him. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

















There are just way too many people to possibly thank all of them, but I personally cannot thank my quilt instructor, Janet Salcido, enough for all her love and encouragement as well as everyone at Leah's Quilt Shop in Orange, all of the wonderful terrific friends in my quilt class (Ellen, Jenny, Ann, Nancy, Judy) and my bestest buddies, Joy & Yvette. You are my strength and hold me together every day ! I love you one and all, and of course my sister-in-law, Missy who is one terrific, generous lady.



and now for what you all have been waiting for....due to the generosity of everyone we raised over $4,232.00, yes, that is FOUR THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED, THIRTY-TWO dollars!! In addition, Sharon Lamp won the quilt raffle. She had not seen the quilt until last night and purchased her tickets the day of the event. It was so amazing and everyone got goose bumps when Craig pulled her name. Sharon had already left the event and was not there when her name was read. Sharon's mother and grandmother both passed away due to cancer and even though all of these generous donations are going to the Tug McGraw Foundation, they are for everyone who has been touched by cancer. Here is Sharon (in glasses) with daughter Janette, and her granddaughter. Congrats!!!

















Thanks again one and all for making this first event so successful !!!

Hugs,

Karene and Craig

First Annual Strike Em Out for a Cure

Bits & Pieces of Everything !

Hi Everyone....well I've been getting a lot of flak from my good friends because I have not updated my blog is quite some time. As you know, I took a huge loss to my income when we had to fire an account for nonpayment, but Joy has been wonderful to try to make up some of what I lost. The only problem is it's all straight typing and takes me much longer to get my work done. But enough of that, this is my happy place like my Sunday quilt class with Teacher Extraordinnaire, Ms. Janet. I love her and the wonderful friends I have made in that class (namely: Ellen, Jenny, Ann, Nancy, & Judy). They keep me laughing and allow me to keep my sanity. (LOVE YOU GUYS !)

Here are a few things I have been working on lately and one secret one to be revealed at a later date. The first one is a quilt I'm making for Craig. I got a charm piece of the jazz material when Joy, Yvette, and I went on our first Quilter's Run last year and Joy was able to fine the exact material on E-bay for me so I bought several yards of it. Then I found this great pattern that really shows off focus fabrics called BQ2, and I new that it was the right pattern for that particular fabric. This is such an easy pattern, a snap to cut out and piece with hardly any seams to match...no borders either, although I think a border would have looked nice on it. Anyway, I'm making this for Christmas for Craig as it's going to be a bit tight for us this year.



Speaking of Christmas, can you believe it's only a couple of months away...YIKES !!! I made the next two quilts for my niece Tricia's boys, Andrew and Benjamin. They are four years old now and Tricia is redoing their bedroom in a sports theme so I picked up several different sports fabrics and made two "identical" quilts, the only difference is Andrew's is the blue one and Benjamin's is red. They turned out really, really cute and I quilted them entirely by myself. Since I made the Bambi quilt for their baby sister, Kate, for her baby shower, which also matched her room, I just had to make quilts for the boys too. I wanted these to be a surprise for Tricia to see, but grandma kept begging me to post pictures so others could see them.

















Speaking of Grandma.....here is my mom. She took a jacket class at Ginger's Quilt Shop in Claremont last Saturday and made this jacket. We went to M&L's in Anaheim and found the material for only $12.00. This jacket has all the seams on the outside and then you cut them into fringe. Apparently it was so easy that my mom made another jacket in blue material last Friday...ALL BY HERSELF !! It was great, but not quite finished yet. She's thinking of making these for Christmas gifts for people....Although I would love a jacket....I don't even wear the one I made because I'm so HOT ALL THE TIME from hot flashes.....LOL !!!















Finally, Craig's charity event, Strike'Em Out for a Cure is rapidly approaching.....this Saturday, Sept 27th. We are all so excited and thankful for the love and support we have received from all our family, friends, coworkers, Leah's Quilt Shop in Orange who let me hang the quilt there for three weeks, all of Leah's employees and manager Charlene, Ginger's Quilt Shop who also allowed the quilt to be hung, Ms. Janet Salcido for all her wonderful efforts in promoting this charity event, all the people who provided silent auction donations, food donations, and bought quilt raffle tickets. But most of all Erin, my sister-in-law, who managed to put all this together and is really the reason this event is even happening....love you "Sis". So, next week, we will announce the winner of the quilt and I'll post pictures of the night of the event on my blog after that.

So, take care for now to all my family and friends ....We love you so much !
Karene