the goose loves fundraising success!

Last Friday, I posted about The Great Fundraising Act, a blogger auction for Susan, who was just diagnosed with lymphoma. The fundraiser is now officially over, and a total of $26,432 was raised! You can read more about the results on Susan's Blog or on Janetha's blog (which hosted the auction).

And my little entry didn't do too bad, either! My custom made apron listing came in at $125! I wish I could normally sell them at that rate! :) That also means that I'll be making a lovely apron/mitt set for Susan as well (actually - I was going to make a set for Susan no matter what, but I wanted to up the ante and get as much money generated for her as possible!). So Susan, I'll be in touch!

And for the winner, Deborah Spear, we'll be in contact too! I'll put together some ideas/samples, but start thinking about your favorite styles and colors. I don't think the apron will be ready to go in a week, which is the normal shipping time for the auction items, but I promise we'll get going right away so that you can have a beautiful apron set ASAP! :)

A huge thanks to all the bidders and blogger donators, etc, for pitching in for a fabulous fundraiser. I'm so happy to be a (little) part of the cause.

the goose loves fundraisers

So today's post is very much not about me, but rather about a special lady facing a difficult time. Through the blogger world (it's as addicting as facebook! you read one blog, which leads you to another, and another...), I came upon Susan's story. She's a lot like me - young, good history of health, loves her family, food, and life. But she's a little not like me - she was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. But she's taking it like a champ and will keep blogging her way through it. You can read a little more about Susan here.

Although new to her blog, after reading through many of her entries, I was inspired by her strength and I really felt for her struggle. I can't imagine my life being turned upside down like that, and if it were, I definitely couldn't handle it with as much grace and optimism as she has.

Like many people suddenly diagnosed with a serious disease requiring lots of hospital time, medical treatments, and prescription drugs, Susan is faced with quickly-mounting bills - money that most of us wouldn't just have. So to keep her focused on recovery and healing rather than paperwork and finances, her blogger world is coming together to host an online auction/bakesale. All the proceeds go directly to Susan, and all the bloggers/bidders can enjoy some seriously awesome goods.

I wanted to contribute or help out in some way to the auction, besides just bidding, so I sent in an auction listing. I'll put my plug in here, but you can also visit the official site to check out all the other auction items and formally bid on any of them.

My auction entry is one handmade, custom-designed apron and matching oven mitt. I've made a few so far, and have lots more styles I'd like to try, so I thought it might be a good fit. There aren't any other aprons listed in the auction (that I know of) but there are lots of foodies/bakers/cooks browsing the auction and listing goods, so I figured an apron set would be at home here.

The one winner will work with me to choose a design and fabrics for a custom-made apron - I'll be sure to get the right sizing and styles and embellishments! I'll also make a coordinating oven mitt so they look super darling in the kitchen. Or when hosting. Or just when they wear it for fun! I can make an apron for an adult or child, and I'll ship to the US and Canada (Susan is from Canada, so they expect some decent Canadian support!).

Since there will be communication and custom work involved, the apron might not go out exactly within the 1-week timeline for shipping products, but a two-week turnaround is very doable. So if you're not busy on Monday, or if you are but you still want to support this fundraiser, go check out The Official Fundraiser Page and throw some bids down! Susan, we're all rooting for you!

the goose loves blue & yellow

So at this very moment, my cousin's fiance Elizabeth is having her bridal shower in southern California! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to travel down for it. But I decided to keep practicing my sewing skills, specifically my apron-sewing skills, and make her an apron and oven mitt! I don't know Elizabeth very well, so I wanted to go with basic and fun colors that might appeal to any taste. I probably could have been more adventurous, but I like how the combo came together. I used a pattern out of my new apron book.

Here's the pocket piece, lined with bias tape across the top, laying on the main apron piece.

And a wider view of the whole apron, with pocket piece on top. I sewed bias tape around the outer edge of the whole apron, connecting the pocket piece with the apron back. I also sewed two lines through the pocket and apron pieces to make three relatively-equal pockets!

Here's a close up of the bias tape sewing. I used yellow thread throughout, and sewed the bias tape on with a zig-zag stitch to make it more interesting.

Here you can see the zig zag stitch on the outer bias tape and pocket-top bias tape.

Forgive my poor photography skills... I should switch hobbies for awhile, maybe...

And then I sewed the waistband on. I'm always so focused (or frustrated?) when sewing on waistbands that I never seem to take photos of it... so POOF! Magic apron all finished!

My dining room chair is the trusty model for this one, but the skinny rectangle shape of the chair back doesn't quite do justice to an apron made for a live human, with rounder sides and a wider width. I'm not saying Elizabeth is large - she's FAR from it! But you know what I mean...

And then the oven mitt. Here's Side 1:

And then Side 2:

And a close up of my decorative stitch on bottom:

I was being pretty clever, so for Side 1, I quilted the apron with straight lines, but a zig zag stitch.

For Side 2, I quilted with zig zag lines, but a straight stich. What built-in fun!

And the set together:

And the set together, folded up, ready for shipping!

And wrapped with my home-decorated tissue paper (we are seriously lacking in the wrapping paper department, unless you want a couple hundred yards of xmas paper. yay for sales!)

I dug out my wedding stamps from my formerly wedding creative days...

Including the one from the invitations!

And to go with the aprons but to keep things easy to travel (Elizabeth is flying back to PA where she lives, so she didn't want anything big and bulky), I typed up 10 of our favorite recipes to share with her.

I got a binder of recipes from my CA bridal shower, and Billy and I are still enjoying trying the recipes from different family members, so I thought Elizabeth and Peter might enjoy the same.

We sent them recipes for Broccoli Cheese Soup, Crepes, Pizza Crust, Quiche, Ricotta Gnocci, Tomato Cream Sauce, Cheesy Polenta, Mini Cheesecakes, Scones, & Apple Turnovers. Yum.

So Happy Shower, Elizabeth! I hope you have a wonderful time!