Squares for Martha

These squares were for Martha - the summer celebration round of Fair and Square. The one on the left is "Birdhouses and Sunflowers," which is in the Shepherd's Bush All Through the Year booklet. On the right is my signature square, and I chose to use a pine tree and mountains, since I live in the mountains.

Gartenganz (Garden Goose) by Ursula Schertz

This was a simple freebie from a new-to-me designer named Ursula Schertz. She has a website with tons of cute freebies. Some are too cutesy for me, but others are nice like this one. The frame was part of a set of rustic spring decorations - and were on sale at JoAnn, two sets of three for $3.74. That means this little frame cost 62 cents.

"Winter Playtime" by Meredith Mark

I stitched this piece 20 years ago! It was in Cross Stitch and Country Crafts, and I was delighted by the vibrant colors. It's been sitting in my UFO bag for all these years, and I just decided yesterday to turn it into a sort of cube. I used a rectangular piece of styrofoam from the flower department at JoAnn's, some blue sparkly fabric, a snowflake embellishment, and 4 large beads. The beads were on a strand of about 18, which were in the markdown section at JoAnn's for 50 cents. I used long hat pins to hold the beads in place.

A SoCal Stitchers Get-Together

Another Yahoo group I belong to is SoCal Cross Stitchers, and there are 52 of us who are members. Christin, the owner, organized a small get-together yesterday - 6 of us were able to make it. We met for brunch and some stitching and an exchange at The Corner Bakery in Anaheim Hills, and then went over to Velona. Velona is a yarn and needlework shop in Anaheim Hills - and we all posed here for a group photo. Left to right: Gail, Cathy, Peggy, Mayté, Christin, and me.

"Santa's On His Way" by Rosie and Co.

This was stitched for an exchange on CSRR. Doreen, my partner on a few other exchanges, sent me some hemming tape - the kind that adheres when you iron it. Since I don't sew, that stuff is gold! I used it for this little ornament, as well as several others. This ornament is from the 2003 Just Cross Stitch Ornaments issue.

Happy Birthday, Kenny!

My son turned 25 Tuesday. He's home on leave from Okinawa, Japan (he's in the Air Force), and we took him out to dinner to celebrate (the leave and the birthday). That's my daughter, Theresa, with him.