The Princess' Guide: I've Got a Little Story for Ya....

Like my Ol' Buddy, Paul Harvey, would have said, you're about to know "The Rest of the Story..."

When I got this idea to do a calendar of pink quilts as one of Team Tiara's major fundraisers, I knew we needed every quilter I know to help. And I knew we were going to need a few quilters I'd never met, or it would never work.

I'd been lurking around on Dana's blog over at The Old Red Barn for quite a while. Last year she did this phenomenal quilt-along that solved all sorts of problems for me -- not the least of which was stitching binding on a quilt. Something I had NEVER been able to do properly.

Not having the first clue how to reach her, I left Dana a comment on her blog. And when she got back to me, with this heart bigger than Dallas, she had a plan that went way beyond my wildest expectations. She would ask her quilt-along friends to help.

And she did.

And they did.

And the result? They made enough blocks for SIX quilts. One of those quilts has made its way to a Survivor in their quilt-along. The other five made their way to me.

I'm worse than Jake -- I know the sound of the mail lady's truck -- and I'm at the door as soon as I hear it. And those quilts? They just kept coming. With stories of survival and loss. Stories of mothers and daughters and friends. Stories that make you jump for joy. And stories that break your heart.

I know we quilters are kind of a rare find. It's not a task or a talent that just everyone chooses. It's a hobby that takes skill and patience and TIME. And that is part of what blows me away. It's the TIME that these people gave to this cause. Time when they could have been doing anything else. Like sitting on the couch eating bon-bons. But this is what they chose to do. Wow.

As the quilts arrived, so did another idea. How cool would it be to continue this story of strangers reaching across the miles? How cool would it be to keep this ball rolling in that giant blogosphere that even Al Gore couldn't have imagined when he invented the Internet?

So I sent the quilts on a little adventure. They went to visit The Cotton Wife -- another blogger whose work I've drooled over these past months. Jennifer lives in Virginia on a cotton /peanut farm, raising four kids and doing some of the most beautiful photography I've seen in a long time. This girl has a gift. I knew she could work magic with "The Girls." So they made a little side trip to Virginia, and this is the result:

Have you EVER seen anything so beautiful?

Can't you just see one of these beautiful quilts in your home? You know, they'll all be up for auction in October -- and all of the proceeds will go to Komen's Breast Cancer 3-Day.

If you're itching to help find a cure in the meantime, please head over to my Bucket Blog and leave a comment. BlogHer will donate $1 for each comment (up to $1000 for the campaign) to Komen. But KFC is the one that's really raising Bucketfuls for Boobies. You can find all the details over there!!!