To CrazyquiltingFriends,Learn to Embroider and Stitching Post members

I was working the day Thanksgiving was celebrated in the United States, but that happens to be one holiday that i can celebrate anywhere, no matter what. It's my favorite because it really is about connection.....connection with friends, with family....and with yourself as well......understanding that we are connected by being alive....and if we allow it....we have have much to offer and much to receive....to be simply and deeply grateful is not necessarily a religious idea...all one needs is to recognize that no accomplishment is made individually alone......food is available because others grow it, yet others pick it, and someone else probably packaged it and drove the truck the brought it.....the clothes we wear, the furniture we use is the embodiment of the labor of countless others....and no matter what we subscribe to as the reason for life.....we are in fact connected;it is simply a matter of opening the heart and recognizing that no one succeeds alone..we share the planet and each moment connected to each other.
I would like to take this particular moment to thank the members of the Crazyquiltingfriends list, and the Learn to Embroider list...and the Stitching Post list for being open to the connections that we have made...for whatever reason and on whatever basis. My life is enriched and my heart is glad. So many of us are going through some pretty tough times right now....if not we ourselves, then someone we love dearly.

The CQF is different than the LTE and the Sp lists....having as it's basis the friendship that has formed between a number of people who have known each other quite a while. It is also similar to the LTE and SP in that it opens itself with arms wide to newcomers. On all three of these lists I have met people that care about me and check on me if i am not around.....they try to cheer me up when i am blue and feel bad if i feel bad.....and the same is true in reverse.....there are many many cyber hugs passing back and forth between here (????-where IS here when you are on the internet???) and Australia...and England, and California....and North Carolina....and much appreciation for the willingness to share what we know and love with each other..

To all the members of these three lists.....i wish to thank you for accepting me...for being willing to read posts, put up with my ups and downs and lack of organziation.....i want to thank you for confiding in me when you have...trusting me to care, and caring back.I thank you all for the opportunity to be connected.

Treasures

This has been the month from hell physically.....it's too long a story and very boring on top of that, but suffice it to say it will take a long time for the pain levels to go down to more or less tolerable. However.....it has eased up quite a bit and my computer is back up to speed as well....so here i am......finally!

ONe thing i have to say though, it hasn;t been the month from hell for friendship...quite the wonderful opposite. I have been on the recieving end of beautiful fiber postcards that were exchanged in a swap on the CrazyquiltingFriends list on Yahoo. Sandie does such a great job on that list....it really is like an e-home!

Take a look at the postcards below and see if you don;t agree with me that they are just incredible and wonderful.,...and every other superlative that i can find.No amount of physical pain can take away or dampen the wonderfullness that they are!

Sandie Wilmott


Sandie Wilmott


This is Sandie's card...the finest most even stitching..a single strand of thread and just perfect.....Sandie made all her cards in white with stunning accents and all of us who have been lucky enough to recieve one have had the same reaction-pure elegance!

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Catherine Scott



This is such a warm and inviting card...isn;t it lovely....take a good look at that Santa face..is that the kindest,gentlest look you have ever seen.....it's like he's saying..that's ok...I know you've REALLY been good.....i love the SRE flowers and the red bugle beads inverting the colors on the foliage. Very very cool!
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Maureen Curlewis




Maureen says she doesn't like the red lacy knit, but i think it is perfect. I hope she finds yards and yards of it in her stash somewhere and decides it needs a new home...........gggggg....well, ok, one yard ought to do me for a few years...this is such a well put together card...i love the balance of the colors and the stitching....ok...i love everything about it....

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Ulla F.



This card is such a treasure.....i adore cross stitch, especially when it is pieced into cq....and this angel is just the right amount of detail without being fussy. The card is just gorgeous. I have such a long way to go to be good enough for these cards.
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Maureen Bond



If you look closely and really take notice you will see the most delicate curl to the flower petals in the upper left hand corner....this flower was made with the finest silk gauze...it;s amazing...Maureen cut the petals out of silk teabags! That tells you the size she was working with. There is something so elegant about the simplicity of the compositiion..I can;t really put it into words why it affects me so much, but i just find myself reacting to it so positively.

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Maureen Curlewis-Winter Haiku




I saved this one for last although if I had been able to scan them as the cards came in, it would have been the first image..this is the first fiber postcard I ever recieved....I wish you all could see it in person....the sheer overlay has angelina fibers in it so that it sparkles....there are ab bugle beads stitched on to represent ice and sleet...this is truly a winter card. When i first saw this card on Maureen's blog it was love at first sight....the single tree and the sloping lines have such a sense of space...and endurance.This tree, bowed but not broken....
and maureen was kind enough to send it to me as a sort of swap in trust.