Goodies Galore!

Kendra sent me these lovely squares she stitched for me in the Fair & Square Summer Round. She used a compilation of designs from a Donna Kooler book. What a cool idea! Thank you for the wonderful squares!
Friday was my birthday and two of my dearest stitching buddies took me out to lunch at a fancy shmancy restaurant and then to a quilt shop for some shopping. We had lots of fun! On the right are the gifts I received from Kim and Bonnie. I could not believe my eyes when I opened it. Only last week I saw those awesome scissors on Milly's blog and went looking for them on ebay. They were way out of my range so I gave up the idea of having them. My friends didn't even know about this which is why it is so neat!
On the left is a wonderful gift of a sewing set from my friends at the shop! I love wool felt and embroidery and am so happy to add this set to my collection!
Not shown are the two gift certificates I also received. One from my dear mother-in-law and the other from another dear stitching buddy. Of course, what does a girl buy for her 41st birthday? A magnifier, of course. I still have some spending power left but am waiting for the fabric floss and a couple of charts I have on order.
Next we headed out to the LNS for the monthly stitch-in. It also happened to be the shops birthday so it was extra special! The photo above shows some of the goodies we received. I ate all the candy when I got home. Hey, it was my birthday ;-) The bundle with the ribbon is one of those really cool sewing rolls that you can keep stitched pieces in for show & tell, or to take to you framer. The little kits are for making a pincushion, and a pattern and fabric for stitching a special birthday cake pattern. We can make it into a fob, needle book, or pin keep, our choice! As you can see, there is also a matching birthday beeswax. The little blue bag contained the candy, a pen and a notepad, too! Brenda, the shop owner is also an amazing cook. She made a wonderful ham dinner and the neatest cookie and cupcake dessert for us. Dinner is always included in the monthly "firefly" stitch-in, but this meal was extra special.

I have photos of a few swaps that I will post as soon as they are received. It has been stinkin' hot here the past few days (too many for me with no A/C) and I haven't accomplished much in the way of stitching. I really need to get busy on my Ultimate Needlebook so it will be ready for the class on the 20th. Maybe later I will have my first floss tag ready to show. I just need to put it together. I am so NOT disciplined!
Have a great day!