The Irish like their raffles. Especially around Christmas. This is one of the things I noticed when I first came to Ireland. You would be in a pub and at the end of a session they had a raffle to raise funds for either a local club, a charity organisation or some other entity. From chocolate boxes to vouchers for pampering yourself with health treatments or a night in a B&B in Ballysomewhere. People are very generous here, always have been and there’s always good craic in raffles!
This Sunday coming, the community play school where my daughter attends is holding a Christmas party (like every year) with a raffle to raise funds to buy new material for the classrooms. I remember selling tickets for my school in Barcelona, you were given a pad of tickets and off you went to your relatives and people you knew begging them to buy a ticket for a hundred pesetas…
Well, here you are given a sheet with numbered lines, you knock on your neighbors’ doors and you say something like: “will you buy a line for my school/club?”, then you buy “the line” by handing in whatever the amount and write your name and phone number on “your line”. Many children came to my door selling lines when we used to live in the city. At first I didn’t know what they were talking about, then I learnt…
So now I found myself walking around our area with Hana, knocking on our neighnours’ doors and greeting them with these famous lines, the one you say and the ones you sell. I had to explain to Hana how it worked and what she had to say (she was really excited to do this even though she didn’t quite get what she was doing). We knocked on our first door and she goes: “Will you buy my school?”. Oh dear. That’s ok, she just left the “a line for” out… I bet she was wondering what this line thing was and sure her school was more important. Fortunately, our neighbours are well used to the line factor and know exactly what to do, and good old M. wrote down his name with a big smile.
At €3 a line and €5 for 2, we’ve collected €72 so far… not bad! And the thing is, that after all this babble (thanks for reading) one of the prizes is this baby quilt I managed to put together in quite a short time. I chose colours that would suit either a boy or a girl with Meadow Friends by Deb Strain for Moda and some Kona solids. It measures 37″ x 44″. I didn’t have much time to think for the best quilting design (well, as if I was a master quilter now…) and I thought straight lines would make it nice and siple (after stippling most of my quilts lately I was longing for something straighter). So I hope that whoever wins this quilt will enjoy it, and that it isn’t me, of course….
I’m using Conor’s room and cot for the photo shoot. and the poor lad hasn’t got a quilt of his own yet… I’m thinking something rainbowy for him, the paper chains are very inspiring… we’ll see.
Have you ever won anything on a raffle? (I bet you have if you’re Irish!)
linking up with December Finishes A Stitch in Time
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Als irlandesos els agraden molt les rifes. Sobretot ara per Nadal. Es una de les primeres coses que vaig notar quan vaig venir a Irlanda. Estaves en un pub i al final de la sessio de musica rifaven varies coses. Des de capses de bombons i ampolles de vi fins a vals per a tractaments facials o alguna nit en un B&B a Ballyelquesigui. La gent aqui es molt generosa, sempre ho ha sigut i sempre hi ha molt bon ambient amb les rifes.
El cas es que aquest diumenge vinent l’escola on va la meva filla organitza la festa de Nadal i fan una rifa per recaudar diners per comprar material nou a les aules. Recordeu, les catalanes, quan veniem numeros per al viatge de fi de curs? ens donaven un talonari i apa, a vendre numeros a cent pessetes…
Doncs aqui et donen un full amb linies enumerades. Vas de porta en porta pel teu veinat i dius alguna cosa aixi com “em compres una linia per a la meva escola?” i aleshores et paguen el que val la linia i escriuen el seu nom i telefon a la “seva linia”. Quan viviem a Galway, de tant en tant aterraven nens a la nostra porta amb el full a la ma i una frase per l’estil. Al principi no sabia de que anava, pero ja vaig començar a entendre-ho.
Ara soc jo la que ha hagut d’anar de porta a porta amb la Hana i dir la famosa frase. Li vaig haver d’explicar a la Hana com anava i que havia de dir. Estava tota emocionada amb el full verd de linies que ens van donar, pero jo ja veia que encara no ho pillava be del tot. Aixi que arribem a la primera porta, toc toc, i diu: “em compres la meva escola?”. Ups. No passa res, nomes t’has oblidat allo de ‘una linia per…” que va alla per entremig. Sortosament, els nostres veins ja estan ben entrenats amb aixo de les linies i el bon M. va escriure les seves dades mentres reia.
A €3 la linia i a €5 si en vols dues ja hem recaudat €72 euros! No esta gens malament! I tot aquest rotllo ve (i gracies per legir fins aqui) perque un dels premis d’aquesta rifa es un quilt que he donat. En questio de tres dies vaig haver de pensar “que, com, quina” i a final crec que ha quedat bastant decent. Els colors van be tant a nens com a nenes, les teles son de la col.leccio Meadow Friends de la Deb Strain per Moda i uns quants solids de Kona. Medeix 44 p0lzades per 37 i espero que a qui li toqui, (i que no sigui a mi), li agradi molt i el gaudeixi,.
L’habitacio i el bressol del Conor fan d’atrezzo per a les fotos i aixo em recorda que el pobre encara no te el seu quilt. Les cadenes de papers de colorins m’inspiren bastant per fer alguna cosa en plan Arc de Sant Marti. Ja veurem…
Heu guanyat mai alguna rifa? que vau guanyar?
El Petit Taller 
