Retreat and awards!!

Snowflake Hardanger Bellpull - my own design


I added a link on my side bar to the retreat that I'm helping out planning down in Kansas City in October. It starts on October 2nd and runs through the weekend. I'm teaching the Snowflake Hardanger Bellpull, it's a beginners hardanger class. Stephanie from Noveau Encore has designed a piece for us and are teaching a class and Mar from Midnight Stitching also has designed an exclusive piece for us that she will teach. I got a picture the other day and it's darling.

It's a really affordable retreat (can't rememer if it was $ 125 or $ 150 plus cost of hotelroom and that includes kits, classes, food etc) so check out the link in my sidebar. We still have a couple of spots open so let me know if you would be interested in coming. It would be so much fun to get together!











Kathy over at http://purplewildcat.blogspot.com was kind enough to give me 2 awards. Thank you Kathy, you are so sweet!

I have been wrecking my brain over whom to pass this on too and I just couldn't decide. So I did a real clean up of my sidebar. All the blogs that I read and love are there now and they are all worthy of these awards. Check them out, you will have a fun time reading them!

Otherwise it feels like life is going ahead 120 miles per hour here. The kids have started school so my hand is hurting from writing all the checks for food, pictures, booster clubs, book clubs etc. At least it calms down after mid September after the fundraisers are done. Our school is doing a walk a thon too and I'm helping out with getting food donated from businesses.

Then I'm trying to get items donated to the STO Retreat in October. I have sent out letters to stores that I have bought from in the past and I got my first envelope yesterday! Carolyn from Village Mountain Stitchery had donated a bunch of stitching magazines, charts and kits. She's always been a sweetheart when I have dealt with her in the past too. These things will be perfect for door prizes.

I also got a new car!! That's a big deal in my house! I drove my old one for 10 1/2 year so it was just time to get a new one before we ended up with a BIG repair bill. Neither my DH nor I are big car people and with a new house and 3 kids and me being at home we try to drive our vehicles a long time to get the most out of them financially.

The one that we ended up getting was 2008 Honda Odyssey and it's really nice. I even have heated seats in it so that will be great this winter when I drive the kids to school. Those cold winter mornings are the worst, at least my butt will be warm and cozy now!

Stitching wise I'm plugging away on Villages of Hawk run Hollow most of the time. I'm really having fun with it now and I have almost hit the halfway mark. Edgar from Blacksheeps Bit of the Web really inspired me to get it out again, his is so pretty .

Thank you for all the nice comments on my last post! Sally, I do have all the Loose Feathers actually and Rites of Spring is one of them. I'm thinking about pulling out one of the older fall designs though before I start Rites.

I finished some projects!

The Violet Sampler - The Drawn Thread

Close up!

A Loose Feather Design from Black Bird Designs

I finished a couple of things before we left on vacation. This week has been busy with 4 H things. The kids did good on the fair though, DS won the shooting contest in his class and snagged a couple of purple ribbons for his canned tomatoes, and pj pants. DD is going to state with her healty recipe book. So they were both happy! Can't say that we put a lot of time and effort in this summer since we were gone but maybe we can do more next summer.

It's super hot here, yesterday I sat inside and stitched away on CHS Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I started square five! With 100 degrees outside stitching under the fan is pretty great!