It’s been a long week, but I am thankful three fantastic things happened in the last few days:

1. Bruce Springsteen released his latest album, “High Hopes!”

2. Virginia Spiegel demonstrated her fundraising prowess yet again, and with the help of fiber artists, exceeded her goal for Fiberart for a Cause and raised more than $5500!

3. And the best news all week? LIBBY LEHMAN GOT TO GO HOME! Read all about it here!

In celebration of the above events, I thought to do a little Friday giveaway, this time a sampling of Painter’s Palette yarn from Koigu that they generously gave me at TNNA this past weekend. Yarn lovers know these skeins offered in sumptuous colors are fantastic for garments, but they work well for hand stitching, too.

Answer the following in the comments area, and I’ll choose a winner on Tuesday. My question is one you’d expect on a Friday afternoon:  What kind of stitching or surface design trouble do you plan to engage in over the weekend?

Me? I’m leaving on a jet plane in the morning so I am packing a small plastic bag with my English paper-piecing project.

TGIF!

I was watching The Today Show yesterday morning where they were launching their “Shine a Light” program, a year-long initiative focused on service and giving back to communities in need. Each co-anchor is choosing a worthy cause to support throughout the year, and this week they’ve been unveiling those causes. Al Roker is joining a U.S.O. tour to entertain our troops overseas, Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie are building playgrounds, and Natalie Morales is running the Boston Marathon to raise money for last year’s bombing victims.

Well! Fiber artists and quilters are not to be left out of the running, so to speak. Virginia Spiegel, fundraiser extraordinaire, is yet again launching a campaign, this time a virtual race to to the finish line, a 5K-race to raise $5000 January 15th for Fiber Art For a Cause to benefit the American Cancer Society.

As this is a virtual race, you can give your knees and achy joints a break! All you need to do is mark your calendars for the 15th to be in the running for some pretty fabulous fiber and quilting prizes and donate money to the American Cancer Society.

And if you leave a comment below (by this Sunday, January 12th at midnight EST)  letting me know what other good deed(s) you are doing this year to help someone, volunteer, raise money, etc., I’ll match each comment (one per person) with a $1 donation for the American Cancer Society. So mark your calendars for January 15th, and let the comments and good deeds commence!

Some people have New Year’s Resolutions, some have anti-resolutions (i.e. “I refuse to diet this year!”)…and some simply find one word they hope will guide them through the next 365 days.

While on my last 2013 run yesterday morning–and realizing as I get older I’m not as spritely a runner as I used to be–my word came to me.  I thought about how I could best illustrate this word in a blog entry, and one of my very favorite children’s book came to mind. Remember Charlotte, the little arachnid, who, through her love of linguistics and weaving webs, saved a pig’s life?

Channeling my inner Charlotte, here’s my word:

Acceptance is understanding where you are in your life…and you Accept. To me, Acceptance is celebrating your achievements, taking stock of your life, and accepting your disappointments and mistakes along the way. With Acceptance, you don’t capitulate, you Accept, and if necessary, you recalibrate. And you learn to take one step in front of the other with grace and humor.

My New Year’s wish to all is to Accept where you are in your life, to recalibrate if needed, do what you love–and to make sure above all else–to surround yourselves with the people you love. Accept nothing less!

Wishing all a fulfilling, accepting, (and of course a stitch-filled) 2014!

Pokey