This was the strangest evening…and very sad too. I had been at a cross stitch group’s website to see if they had any new kids to stitch charity squares for. I haven’t been visiting there too often as the summer is so busy for me. I left a ‘hello’ note and then got an email that a member had tried to phone me and didn’t get through and wanted to talk as it was urgent. I didn’t like hearing urgent, and I thought of one friend there who has been suffering with her back for a few years. I decided to call Vicki and indeed, my dear friend Charlotte from Ireland (but a native Austrian) had passed away. She was only 40, not quite 41. Vicki didn’t know what happened, but it happened about the 26th of June. Charlotte’s last message on the group was the 22nd. Charlotte absolutely loved stitching quilt squares. When she was flat on her back, she still stitched. The last few things I saw that she did were quite detailed with lots of color changes. I have a few things she made for me and a gorgeous hardback book she sent ‘In Praise of the Needlewoman’. If there was ever a needlewoman worthy of stitching in heaven, it would be Charlotte. I bet she stitched at least 200 charity squares if not more. She’ll be so missed.