Virginia A. Spiegel

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

Perhaps I have been watching way too much of the Olympics, but the spirit of competition (for a good cause, of course) is upon me.  Let’s spice up the ToteTuesday with a bidding twist and some bonuses:

GOLD MEDAL ROUND TOTES: There will be four totes with no Go For The Gold bids. They will be in head-to-head competition to raise the most money for the ACS during the ToteTuesday finale. Check back here tomorrow for the link to the auction page with all the details.

BONUS REWARDS:

1. Any patron with a winning bid of $350 or higher on one tote/artwork will receive four wonderful quilting books from FFAC’s Honorary Chair, Karey Bresenhan: Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project; I Remember Mama: A Book of Love About Mothers, Daughters and Quilts; Celebrate Great Quilts!; and America From the Heart.

2. Every patron who wins a tote with a bid of $1000 or more may choose either one of my famous “never sold, only gifted” fabric bundles (The fabric bundles are hard to explain, but think of origami <kind of> with my own fabrics and specialty fibers wrapped and packaged in a way that makes some recipients say they don’t want to start unwrapping it at all) in the winner’s choice of colorway OR one of these artworks OR one collage ($75 or less) from Karen Stiehl Osborn’s Mixed Media Gallery.

3. If Art Cloth Extravaganza: A Dream Tote raises the most money during ToteTuesday 4, the generous artists of Art Cloth Studios will send the winner an additional $500 or more of art cloth.

4. Peggy Schroder will donate 10% of the winning bid (up to $1000) for the Think Pink tote to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For a Cause.

5. If we raise a total of $15,000 from ToteTuesday, I will hold a drawing among all winning bidders from all the ToteTuesdays. The winner may choose one of these artworks OR one of my never sold, only gifted fabric bundles (description above).

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

The big ToteTuesday finale will be this coming Tuesday, February 23.  Mini-previews of all the totes/artwork are here. A link to the ToteTuesday full auction preview will be posted here on my blog on Monday, February 22.

Below are a few of the snazzier totes for ToteTuesday.  Of course all these totes have themed contents as well :

Altered Cloth –  Discharged Tote sponsored by Sue Kelly. Tote created by Sue Kelly from her black and white discharged fabric and stitched with metallic thread.

Judy Murrah, International Quilt Festival’s Vice-President of Education and author of many books on special garments, like Jacket Jazz, donated the tote (shown in the center of the photo) for  the Fancy Ladies tote.  From Karey Bresenhan, tote sponsor, “The tote is as lush on the back as it is on the front – an embellisher’s dream tote.”

Laura Osbun’s gorgeous tote was custom-made for the theme of Journey By Water.  Forty-fifty batiks were collaged, sewn, and embellished in a wave pattern. Note the coordinating accessories, also by Laura.

Kathleen Murphy’s fancy paisley tote sparkles with Swarovski Crystals. Appropriately enough Kathleen donated this tote for the Glitterati tote sponsored by Peggy Schroder.

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

ToteTuesday 4 on February 23 is our big finale and, appropriately enough, we have MORE of everything you loved about ToteTuesday 1-3.

Themed totes:  Check.  There will be SIXTEEN up for bid.  Preview them all here with links on how to bid, etc.

Individual artwork:  Check.  There will be FIVE with two small artworks in one Celebrate Life! tote.

Need some examples of how BIG ToteTuesday 4 will be?

Art Cloth Extravaganza: A Dream Tote sponsored by Art Cloth Studios
Retail Value:  Over $450

To The Studio sponsored by Peggy Schroder
Retail value over $450 with Peggy still thinking about sneaking a few MORE things in.

The Wide World of Quilts 2 sponsored by Karey Bresenhan and the International Quilt Festival Team
Value:  Impossible to calculate as this tote is stuffed with art and fabric donated by artists from around the world PLUS Karey’s hand-selected items.

I Felt It! sponsored by Carol Myers who is “offering this tote in support of Teri Springer, my dear friend, who is on a healing path with breast cancer.”
Value of supporting Teri Springer and the American Cancer Society: Priceless

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

Thank you for a wonderful day yesterday.  ToteTuesday 3 raised $3329 for a total raised to date of $9004 for the American Cancer Society.

We are not done fundraising yet!  Don’t forget we have the finale ToteTuesday on Tuesday, February 23.  There are mini-previews up now and news of a special challenge from Art Cloth Studios coming soon.

We had many inquiries about Karey Bresenhan’s one-of-a-kind CD with 100 close-up flower images, almost all taken by Karey at Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France.

The CD was part of a Karey B. tote purchased for a $300 donation by an anonymous donor for her sister who is battling cancer for the third time. She kindly gave her permission share the CD with others as a way to raise even more money for the ACS.

Karey, as Honorary Chairperson of Fiberart For A Cause, is making the CD available for a $50 donation to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.
If you would like a copy of the CD,
1.  Make a $50 donation through Fiberart For A Cause here.
2.  Send an e-mail (Subject line:  KAREY B. CD) with your snail mail to me at Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com
3. I will forward your name/address on to Karey who will zip a CD out to you.

Deadline to donate and order is Sunday, February 28.

PLEASE NOTE:  Your $50 donation to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause includes the right to use any or all of the images, copyright free, for personal, non-commercial, non-exclusive use.  You DO have the right to use the images in quilts but not to produce multiple quilts of the same image for sale. You do not have the right to pattern the images or publish them in hard copy or online.

Thistle by Nancy Dobson
In celebration of my Mom, Mary Blick, a cancer survivor

Thanks to 161 generous artists from around the world, you can choose from among 383 fiberart collages during Collage Mania, May 5 -7.

See all the collages here.

This is the final big Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society as I will be returning to my studio fulltime after a very good run of almost five years in which we have already donated over $170,000 to the ACS.   Fiberart For A Cause will still raise funds in a much more low-key manner through the FFAC Store, my eBook Art, Nature, Creativity, Life, and fundraisers by Friends of FFAC.

I would like to thank all the artists and patrons who have donated their time, money and care to make FFAC such a success. 

FFAC would not exist without the personal involvement and effort of our Honorary Chairperson, Karey Bresenhan, Director of International Quilt Festival – Houston, Chicago, and Long Beach.  Thank you, dear Karey!

Rising Spring by Ann S. Miller
In honor of Judy, friend and survivor

Our goal for Collage Mania is at least $20,000 in three days. I am very optimistic we can do it!