ToteTuesday raised a whopping $$15,649 and Karey B’s Monet’s Flowers CD has raised $410 so far.  So we are definitely over $205,000 total raised by Fiberart For A Cause since 2005.  It’s great to retire Fiberart For A Cause on such a high note.  Sincere thanks to everyone who made this success possible.

We had several bonus challenges for the Tote Tuesday finale and bidders were up to the challenge:

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.
Nine generous patrons will receive this bonus: Karey will contact you directly.

2. Every patron who wins a tote/artwork 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.
Lynne Allen did and I am happy to send her Create Spaces from the Third Thoughts series.

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.
It did ($1000) and they, very generously, will.

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.
The Think Pink tote raised $350 and Peggy contribued another $35 to the ACS. (Peggy is busy shipping out the many totes she sponsored.  Thank you, Peggy, for your huge contribution to ToteTuesday,)

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).
We did it! The winner is Ann Thompson.

What a great fundraising day. Thank you!  The finale of ToteTuesday raised more than $6000 for a grand total of more than $15,000 donated to the American Cancer Society by ToteTuesday patrons.

Here are all the final bids with the Art Cloth Studio tote raising $1000 and the To the Studio tote raising $800.

Thanks go to the generous ToteTuesday sponsors/donors as well as the equally generous bidders.

I am happily retiring all of Fiberart For A Cause on February 28 knowing we have raised more than $205,000 for the American Cancer Society since 2005.

Why February 28?  Because Karey Bresenhan will honor any donations for her Monet’s flower CD through February 28.  Ditto 25% of the profits from my book.

Thanks to Karey, FFAC’s Honorary Chair, for her ongoing and personal interest in the success of FFAC. We couldn’t have done it without her.

It’s been been a great five years of fundraising and I appreciate everything all of YOU  have done to make such a huge success possible.

What’s next?  To my studio, of course!

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).

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.

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