An upcoming event

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the comments and compliments on the Autumn Jewels quilt from the Autumn Abundance blog hop!  The hop was fun and I still love how the quilt turned out.  Congratulations to Lori and Mary, who won the giveaways. 

I am sniffling on the couch with a cold today, so no sewing (cold medicine and sharp objects do not mix), so I wanted to spend a little time letting you know about something that I have coming up later this month, the week of Thanksgiving.  Here it is:

Yes, it's a sale!  But not like any other sale.  Let me explain:

As most of you know, we moved a long distance last year and then had most of our belongings in storage for a year while we lived in a tiny condo and got used to our new life.  During this year I had a very tiny stash and had to sew in the dining area (which wasn't even a room), which meant a lot of restriction on my projects.  When we finally bought a house and were able to get our things out of storage it was like Christmas.  I cried when I opened some of those boxes, especially the ones with fabric in them.  Really.

Yardage! Wrinkled but still great!

Very quickly, though, I started to be overwhelmed.  I have too much!  Plus I am acutely aware that some people have far too little of the real necessities, and I am really, really grateful for everything that we've been blessed with. So I started putting aside many things --books, notions, and fabric--that I know I won't use. (It's amazing how much more objective you can be when you haven't seen any of it in a year!)  I came up with an idea that will get these things out of my sewing room and will do some good for others who are in desperate need of things other than fabric. I am going to sell these things, but the money does not go to me.  Instead, I want to "sell" these things in exchange for a donation to one of three charities.  That is, you won't pay me, but instead you'll make an equivalent donation to one of the designated charities, then send me proof (like the receipt) that you did so.  That way you get to choose where your money goes and are sure that it went to the charity of your choice.  I'll tote up the postage, you'll pay that through Paypal, then I'll send your items.  You get some nice things (that you choose) plus a tax deduction, I get a cleaner sewing room, and some very deserving charities get some donations.  Wins all around!

Books and notions!

I've picked three charities for this sale, all of which are highly rated and use their donations very wisely.  We have donated to them many times and are confident in their integrity, but you can check any of these out for yourself on Charity Navigator or other evaluation sites:

Partners in Health, a global health organization. Right now they are dealing especially with the after effects of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. If you want to know more about their work, click HERE.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the primary research center for childhood cancer.  No child is turned away because of inability to pay.  To find out more about their work, click HERE.

Fisher House Foundation, a "home away from home" for families of military personnel or veterans receiving treatment.  There are 71 Fisher Houses in the US. To find out more about Fisher House, click HERE.

This sale will run the week of Thanksgiving here in the US, from Sunday through Black Friday, November 20-26. (You'll have your things before Christmas!  It's like a gift for yourself!) Anything left after that will be donated to various charities.  I'm willing to ship anywhere, but keep in mind that you will be paying the postage.  I'll have complete details when we start on November 20. I'm stocking up on flat-rate boxes and envelopes, along with some padded envelopes and tape.  Plus I'm photographing all of these fabric bundles, books, and other things!  Did I mention that there are some freebies also? 

Unopened fabric bundles!

I know this is a little weird, but let me know what you think!  If you think this is a good idea and would like to do something similar, I'm willing to consider a link-up, or at least adding a link to your blog to the sale page. My head's a little fuzzy (maybe a lot fuzzy), so I hope I explained it all okay.  And I hope you'll come back on Sunday, November 20, and get yourself some treasures! 

Sharing at Linky Tuesday and Let's Bee Social.