The Winning Purse Luncheon was sooo much fun!

The luncheon was lovely.  Just like a quilt show, the colors were bountiful in the room.  There were more hats here than anywhere I've seen.  The horses were well seen at both the paddock and the finish line of the track from our fifth floor Trophy Room veranda.  Yes, it's Kentucky and the south so it is a veranda.  

The "veranda" made it much more enjoyable to bet the ponies.  I did pretty well and won 3 out of 7 exactas-which basically means I broke a little better than even money for the day.  FUN!  

The Mom's Closet had so many donations that there were some pretty good bargains to be had.  Someone told me that one of my horse quilts last bid was 280.00 at the silent auction, but the auction was still going.  I had 3 people want me to take orders for the quilt, but, I am not in the business of quilt making, so I'm telling people the only chance you will get to buy one of these quilts will be at the Winning Purse Luncheon, next year.  The Dakota quilt was in a 20.00 a ticket raffle, along with 5 other items.  I was across the room, so I didn't get to see in what order is was chosen.  I understand from the girls collecting the money at the check out desk that both quilts went to people that were very excited to get them. 

I got a Coach bag, regularly 450 bucks for 220!  I'm not really a Coach bag kind of person, but, you get caught up in the bidding atmosphere.  In my quilting club, Northeast Quilting Friends, I'm kind of known for a certain green color that I like and use a lot in my quilts.  Don't you know, there was a purse made of that color that went for a lot less than my Coach bag, but, silent auctions are what they are and they end at a certain time and unless your name is the last one on the line, you don't get it.  

There were all kinds of silent auction items you could win, jewelry, purses, and gift baskets.  The big money went in the live auction.  Pat Day gave 2 guided tours of the back side of the track to people that went back and forth with the bidding and it settled well over one thousand dollars.  Pat said he would do two tours for that money if they agreed and they did.  

The food was excellent this year, a luncheon and hotdogs and sausages toward the end of the day.  YUM!!

Mark your calendars now for the Wednesday before the Derby and buy a ticket to the Winning Purse Luncheon.  They've already sold 8 tables for next year, and the Trophy Room isn't that big, so don't dilly dally about this event.  Call the Mom's Closet for more information. 

I got a hat and I'm ready to attend the Winning Purse Luncheon

Yes, I got a hat.  I think I was inspired by the Royal Wedding.  America has it's own big hat day, that's the Derby at Churchill Downs.  The first Saturday in May is our version of the Royal Wedding, I suppose.  Women don their best dresses and hats for the day.  

I'm going on the Wednesday before the Derby.  The Derby is just too much chaos.  You can't even see the horses, there are so many people there.  I will be in the Trophy Room on the Wednesday before.  We will be helping to raise money for the Mom's Closet.  It's a charity that gives women a hand up, not a hand out.  In other words, you must be making movement forward in your life, attending school and working.  So these women need help with their children and finances.  Each woman that in the program needs about 2,000.00 a year to help them through the year.  This includes financial aid for school.  This sometimes excludes them from the Food Stamp Program from the government so there is a pantry of donated items on hand for weekly help with groceries.  

Quilters through Quilters' Day Out, this year, gave about a ton of groceries to them.  My part in that was to bring them into our program and give them some publicity for the good work they do.


Now I'm donating, at least 2 quilts to the silent auction and raffle ticket sales.  I'm hoping to finish a third quilt, but, things keep coming up and I can't seem to get motivated to complete the third.


When your daughter has had cancer, things just change.  And I know it's up to her to make the moves, and I can't do it for her.  All I can do is pray and wish she was the Queen of Spain and every move she makes is done for her.  Nope, that is not her life, she chooses to live it in her room and not come out and not eat and life is not good right now.  Yes, she was dealt a crappy hand, but, life does go on and she's got to live it.  We are not her handmaidens.  She needs to reinvent herself and become the Queen of Spain.  Or just suck it up and get on with it.