Crocheted Cancer Awareness Ribbons

I started participating in Relay For Life in 2007-2008 as a freshmen at Virginia Tech and even though I always personally raise funds online and by mailing letters, I never really got into the whole on-site fundraiser portion of the event. As a staff partner with the American Cancer Society I tell teams all the time about how important on-site fundraisers are, but I hadn't really planned one for this year because I'd been busy.

Look at all the colors!

That was, until my Mom found a pattern for crocheted awareness ribbons, and we decided to put together a really neat on-site fundaiser.  We had (and still have!) lots of yarn left over from other projects, and we knew that they would be something quick and fun to make.  I set to work making lots of purple (the official color of Relay For Life and all cancers) and anything else I could find.  We made sure ot cover as many of the cancers as we could -- colon, lung, lymphoma, childhood, breast, cervical, uterine, brain, pancreatic, leukemia, kidney, prostate, liver, sarcoma, and bone.  Each ribbon also has a safety pin with it so it can be worn in support of the fight against cancer.


As I worked on them each ribbon not only represented the fight against the cancer it represents but also everyone I know who has fought cancer -- especially the colors white, pink, peach, and yellow. 

My Grandpa Rex (left and bottom) passed away in January 2001 from lung cancer, and my Grandma Mary (right and top) passed away in November 2009 from a multi-year battle with breast and uterine cancers.

Our dog Gracie passed away earlier this year after a long battle with several medical issues including a tumor.

We still have lots of these crocheted cancer awareness ribbons left and they are now for sale in our SatterThings shop on Etsy.  Proceeds of the sales will be donated to the American Cancer Society to help fun research and patient programs that fight cancer every day.  One day I'll only have to make these to honor survivors, and one day I won't have to make them at all anymore.

If you want more information about the American Cancer Society or how you can help finish the fight please feel free to visit cancer.org, call 1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345) or email me at SatterThings@gmail.com and I can help you out.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Julie

New House!

Just a quick post but its full of exciting news - We officially bought our first house last week! Yup that's right we are homeowners!

So that means that this week is full of packing, moving, cleaning, painting, organizing, and who knows what else. It also unfortunately means not a whole lot of time to craft :( BUT that's okay because the new house has so much MORE space, we have a room just for crafting!! As we get settled in and start to get that room & the house set up we will share progress here so you can be apart of the experience as well.

We have lots of craft and decorating projects in mind for the new place, they'll just take some time. :)

Oh and intermixed with buying the house and moving, we celebrated our First Wedding Anniversary! Our friend Denise was kind enough to take some pictures for us to help document the new house (like the one above) and our anniversary: 

Thanks for stopping by and be on the look out for new posts coming soon! 

-Julie

Blankets: Star

I first learned how to crochet in 6th grade and it was a horrible failure. The students at my middle school were required to take a life skills class and one of our projects was Project Linus where you make handmade blankets for kids in the hospital. As a class we made a couple of quilts (with help from moms of course) and a few of us made our own blankets. My Mom tried to teach me to crochet but when I was done with my "blanket" it needed some major adjusting on her part. So after that attempt I didn't try anymore for many, many, many years.

Right before college I taught myself to knit and it went a lot better! I made mostly scarves for about 2 years before trying my first blanket. After dropped stitches and learning to use circular needles I finally made a presentable blanket! I worked just with knitting needles for another year or two and then decided it was time to try crocheting again. In teaching myself, I learned how to not lose or gain stitches on the ends (my problem when I was 12) and the difference between single, double, and triple crochet. As soon as I finished my first blanket I had to make more and I wanted to try new designs, I even spent one night learning from YouTube how to make a basic granny square (which I quickly adapted into baby blankets - 5 in total).

A friend of mine found out I was making these giant granny square baby blankets, and sent me a pattern for a star blanket. It wasn't easy at first - lots of new terms - but once I got the first 5 or so rows done I couldn't stop. I have now made 3 (2 pictured below)! The pattern is super easy and makes the CUTEST baby blanket. Check 'em out:

Solid Yellow

Grey & Green/Yellow 

Wouldn't this look cute in a baby's room?

These two will be eventually posted to our Etsy store, there are currently 4 other blankets posted that are just as cute. Now that I have finished my third one (sorry no pictures yet) I need to figure out what my next crocheting project is going to be, in the mean time I'm working on some new wreaths - more info to come soon!

Thanks for stopping by - Julie

String Art: Crates and Nails

Sometimes, when people find out that Julie and I have started crafting, they assume that Julie does most of the projects that find their way to Facebook and Etsy. Not so! We each have our own projects — she likes to work with ribbon, wreath forms, yarn, and crochet needles, and I work with the more manly things, you know, nails, twine, wood, wine and beer bottles, and things that generally require sanding and/or hammers.

If you've had the chance to take a look at our Etsy store, you'll see some of the string art projects I've made so far. The one I want to share with you here today is my absolute favorite one to date.

My friend Zac has found the name "Satterwhite" amusing since we met in the summer of 2009. In fact, it was his fascination with putting "Satter-" in front of everything (Julie is my Satterwife, Maddy is our Satterpup, and so on) that gave rise to "SatterThings." So, when Zac and his wife Kaley got married back in May, I thought it would be perfect for us to share a SatterThing with them for their big day!

This project started with an old orchard crate from Black Dog Salvage that was quickly disassembled in the middle of our living room floor. After some sanding, a dark stain, and some dark tacks, I had something I could work on. About 350 nails later, I started stringing! I just happened to have a variegated yarn that matched the pastels that Zac and Kaley used at their wedding. Hopefully, this piece will be a nice addition to their new Sweeney household!

 

I'm planning on making one similar to this one with either "Satterwhite" or "J&W" for our house next! If you'd like something similar, just send us an email at SatterThings@gmail.com and we'll talk!

Welcome to our blog!

We'd like to welcome you to our brand new blog!

We decided to start this blog as a way to share photos and more information about products, as well the behind the scenes of the projects. And who knows what else!

We hope you follow are blog and share it with friends/family to help us grow. And if you like what you see make sure to visit our Etsy store: etsy.com/shop/SatterThings

While you wait for more posts here's a picture of our cute pup - Maddy!

Stop back soon for pictures and posts about all the great products we're working on!

-Julie & Will