Happy Dance

I finished off my latest Prairie Schooler Alphabet block. This one I don't even remember when I started, definitely in the winter but it became my guild project, stitching get-together project and something that I could easily work on whenever I needed a break from one of the bigger projects. This is block #18, only 8 left to go to finish off the alphabet.

Tomorrow is my Saturday morning Sampler Club in Uxbridge, then out to the International Centre near the airport for the Canadian Sewing & Needlework Festival. I'm not officially 'off' the wagon yet, still 2 days left to go, but it has been 4 weeks, so .... look out! I hope to have a nice little stash haul to show off after the weekend.

Have a great weekend!

What Kind of Soul are You?

You Are a Visionary Soul

You are a curious person, always in a state of awareness. Connected to all things spiritual, you are very connected to your soul. You are wise and bright: able to reason and be reasonable. Occasionally, you get quite depressed and have dark feelings. You have great vision and can be very insightful. In fact, you are often profound in a way that surprises yourself. Visionary souls like you can be the best type of friend. You are intuitive, understanding, sympathetic, and a good healer. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Be sure to click on the above link to try this for yourself!

So scary.....

My 13 year old, 6'1" son was robbed Friday evening!

My husband had just dropped him off in the next town to visit with his best buddy who had moved there. The boys were on their way to the local McDonald's, and happened to be separated by traffic. The McDonald's is in a large shopping centre, with a Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and numerous box stores. Nick got ahead of his pal, and waited in a lane way beside a store for him to catch up. An SUV stopped and two men robbed him, one stayed in the car with a supposed gun, and the other demanded his money. Nick immediately handed over his cash, an entire $10, and his cell phone. Well that wasn't good enough, and this disgusting piece of filth then proceeded to put his own hands in all of Nick's pockets to check for more money, and then laughed in his face when he saw how scared this poor kid was! Just incredible!! Of course everything happened very fast so by the time his friend caught up, the SUV was speeding away. Luckily Nick was unharmed. Its just so infuriating to me but scary also, and I can't even think about how worse things might have been.

I can only hope that may be this will raise Nick's awareness about being in more open areas, not being alone, and that he's not invincible, bad things can and will happen to anybody anywhere.

Luckily being only 13, he is very resilient and seems to have gotten over it far better than my husband and me. But it can be a big scary world out there.

Scrapbooking

I love scrapbooking. Considering the number of hours I put into my stitching, and quilting, and how long it takes to see any results, I finally found a hobby where I can actually start and finish a project in 2-3 hours! Its so much fun. I really enjoy also the fact that there really are no rules to scrapbooking ~ no counting fabric threads, no worry that the top stitch of the X is facing the wrong way, or sewing an exact 1/4" seam. With scrapbooking I just choose a few pictures, find some paper which helps to accentuate the pictures, and dig in. Course it helps to have my very creative and inspiring daughter working across the table from me.

And did I mention the shopping aspect? Now that I have thoroughly gone through the entire cross stitch department (and not a large one) at my local Michael's store and bought anything cross-stitch related that I could ever possibly want, a whole new avenue has opened up for those 40% off coupons!

So after a couple of months of scrapbooking withdrawal, our Easter Sunday afternoon was spent scrapbooking. Here are the latest additions to my albums:

Stitching Get-together

Thank you so much for the kind comments about my BIL's passing. They were very much appreciated to read after a very difficult day.

Its time for a more cheerful post~ I have some pics from my stitching get-together from Saturday. What a great time we always have ~ wonderful company, delicious food, and lots of time to oooh and aaah over everyone's stitching, and even a little time for stitching!


Here is Marg, Nancy and Ann, looking very full after lunch.















Ann, Anita, Marg, Marsha and Marj looking at Marsha's birth sampler.


And the newest member of our stitching group, Baby Elijah!

If only I had thought to take more pics of everyone's stitching!! Next time.....

Sad news....

I hate to write about these things, but... my sister's husband passed away after a long hard battle with cancer. The funeral is tomorrow. Add to that an ever-increasing mountain of work, even with a holiday weekend coming up, and I haven't had much time for stitching.

I will certainly be glad when tomorrow's funeral is over with, these things are certainly necessary but I really hate them.

Tri-star table runner

Another Monday morning and way too much work on my desk waiting for me. But I had a nice relaxing weekend and really enjoyed the sunshine! After a small shopping trip on Saturday and dropping off Nick to spend the afternoon at a friends, I got busy with a little quilting project. I had picked up this kit at my last Quilter's Sampler meeting. That shows me never to get to a meeting 1/2 hour early again, I spent way too much time browsing around the shop and this is what ended up in my bag. It turned out very nice however, and its nice to get a quick finish to a project, instead of the usual months and months-long things that I tackle.

Its so nice to have some feedback on my blog. Thanks to Sylvie, Karen and Lynn, who posted a comment!! And thanks for the heads-up on the Stitching Bits & Bobs sale! Even if the Gloriana's are not on sale, they still seem to have the best prices around.

I have to 'fess up though ~ I put myself on the Wagon for the month of April ~ no new charts, no fabric, no floss, no nothing of any kind! Its been tough, especially with hearing about the recent sale and its only April 10th...20 more days to go! But on the other hand, may be I should make these confessions a little more often. I told hubby about it and a few minutes later he presented me with a cheque for $60...dated May 1st, to be spent on stash once I get through this month. What a sweetie!!! Now for some on-line browsing, to start making that list....

Sampler 4 Saisons

Another Thursday night and another night with 4 Saisons. I'm still working in 'Spring' but not for too much longer, I'm almost finished, plus I'm almost out of floss! I think I'll have to order another set of Gloriana silks as it doesn't look like one skein will get us through each season. Luckily Marg and I are using the same colours, so I can order one set and we can split the skeins. Now if only Stitching Bits & Bobs would have another sale....


Next week I hope to get into winter or summer!

Anita's TW Round Robin

Here is Anita's TW round robin ~ I just finished my own little motif last night. Mine is in the lower left hand corner. For a TW, this sure didn't take long to do at all. And that finishes all the RR's in my group now. I really should dig my own out - which I think I got back last fall - and get back to work finishing up the borders. Mine is a band sampler and came back to me absolutely gorgeous!!!

Prairie Schooler Alphabet Blocks

Not too much stitching done over this past weekend. But since I got my WIP progress bars added, I thought it was time to dig out my PS alphabet blocks and get some pics of some of these.

I started stitching these in June 2004 and as of now I'm currently working on my 18th! The inspiration for doing these came from my stitching friend Ann (who luckily for me has her own LNS ~ Knowledge and Needles). Ann has finished all her blocks and has made them into an absoltely gorgeous quilt and that's what I'm planning to do once I finally get all 26 blocks finished.

I picked up the last few charts in the series first, so I ended up started backwards, with 'X is for Cross Stitch' ( the Y and Z chart wasn't released yet) and I've been working backwards ever since. I'm sure that say something wacky about my personality but I guess I'll leave it at that.

Updating my Blogger!

Thanks Carrie! Having a wonderful, brilliant, computer-smart daughter is so much help when it comes to making my Blog look a little more interesting. She is the one on the left in the picture. And the one to thank for finding and helping to create my progress bars and showing me how to upload pictures.

We had a great day at the One-of-A-Kind Craft Show in Toronto. Not a lot of buying, but lots of browsing and food sampling. Then a little shopping trip to Michael's, off to pick up dinner (Souvlaki ~ hmmm) and a bottle of wine and back home. Luckily the guys are all off to the cottage for the weekend.

And I love the way my Blog looks!!! Now if only I could get a little stitching done.....