Swapping Santas Part II... or It is Better to Give Than to Receive

They say it is better to give than to receive, and I had tons of fun making little goodies to put in the Santa bag I sent to Pauline in the UK, who was my Santa Sack partner in Cheryl's Santa Sack Swap.  I wasn't nearly as creative as Pauline was, though (see yesterday's post here) since all of the items I sent were Christmas themed.  After I opened Pauline's packages, I wondered what I was thinking, but I guess I really didn't think about it, and just went with Christmas-y items.

So, here are some of the things that were in Pauline's packages:

This was the first installment of packages for June, July and August.  I knew with the wedding coming that there was no way I would manage to send anything in August or September.

A smocked Christmas Tree ornament

Some note cards and some ink and stamps - I really liked the polka dots - reminded me of fabric!

And a 12 Days of Christmas pinny and some fancy pins

A decorated dish towel - useful, at least, I hope...

And a pot holder - the quilting was a bit of an experiment, as I remember, but fun!

And a 12 Days of Christmas "scrap vomit" pillow.  It actually has another name, but that one seems to stick with me - wonder why?

Oooh, here's one that isn't Christmas themed.  This is one of my 1-hour totes.  You can find the tutorial on the sidebar if you want to make one.  And - I have a little secret about this tote...  I'll be able to tell you more soon.

I think there were a few of these crocheted snowflake ornaments in there...

And a Flurry Christmas Tree Skirt

And a pair of Flurry Christmas stockings

And a Flurry Apron

And honestly, I don't remember what else.  I certainly wasn't as creative as Pauline.  She has a photo or two on her blog. 

Pauline, thanks for being a great partner.  I absolutely loved what you sent to me.  I hope you weren't disappointed that your sack was so Christmas oriented.  I guess I just wasn't thinking anything but Christmas.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best in the New Year!

Swapping Santas

LOVE the redwork on this great Christmas sack.  Santa himself doesn't have a nicer sack, I'm sure!

Way back in May or June, I signed up for Cheryl's Santa Sack Swap.  Each participant was to send 2 gifts per month and 1 special gift.  Well, the monthly thing didn't work for me, but my partner, Pauline in the UK, was very understanding and let me send just two or three mailings, although I did manage a total of 13 or so gifts.  I'll post my gifts to Pauline later.

Opening day was December 15, and I was so busy, I forgot until I got Pauline's thank you note.  About midnight, I opened my treasures and promised that I would take pictures on the weekend.  Well...  two weekends have passed in a fury, and now I am embarrassed, but feeling a real need to show off Pauline's lovely gifts.  There is nothing better than for a quilter/crafter to get gifts from a kindred spirit.  All I can say is "WOW!"  I had so much fun opening these wonderful gifts, I took the whole sack to work and opened them all again with my co-worker, who is (by her own definition) a "stitcher".

I have no idea of the order in which the items were sent, so we'll just start with the order I took them out of the bag to take pictures...

Oven mitts are something I can really use, and this one is just adorable!  The pink cupcake is so durn cute!

Such a cute needlebook with thread and needles.  Isn't the embroidery gorgeous?

Check out this fun knitting book for mug huggers!  I haven't knitted in aeons, but these might be small enough for me to try them.

Gorgeous ornament for my tree.  So pretty!

A cute little pouch and a fun fabric flower brooch.  Check out the fabric flower on the pouch, too!

Some really yummy pink fabric here!  I don't have a ton of pink in my stash, so this is welcome.  Do I see some Amy Butler in this lot?

Here's a fun little notebook to record quilt ideas and such!

Another fun notebook, this one with a quilted and stitched cover, and some fat quarters - this time in purple.  I don't have a lot of purple, either, so I'm sure these will come in handy.  The Christmas fabric underneath was the gift wrap for this package.

This is so interesting...  I have never seen this before, but it looks way fun.  I'm thinking you use it like we used to do potato stamping for gift wrap when I was in Camp Fire Girls?  If I'm on the wrong track, someone tell me now!

This is a fun little pouch with a cute felt flower with a button center.  Too cute!

I love the recipes, but this is awesome it just because of the wonderful drawings inside!

Another little blank book with a lovely crazy quilted cover, and a little plastic pouch.

This gorgeous little package of fabric reminded me of charm squares, but they're rectangular instead of square.  Such gorgeous prints.  I'll have to use these very carefully, but they are calling me...

And chocolate...   It always calls me!

  I really am going to like this little tissue holder, because I never have tissues when I need them, or the ones I do have are all nasty from being in the bottom of my purse. 

I really am not sure how Pauline did this, but isn't this the most gorgeous fabric pansy you ever saw?  It's a little brooch, and will look lovely on my red suit I think.

I had a really hard time getting a photo of this little gem.  It's a china thimble in the cutest 3-sided container you ever saw.  So fun!

And Pauline even did hand-made cards.  The one on the left is embroidered...  The one on the right is paper, but can you see the beads?

Such a cute little pieced purse with little buttons and bows inside (kinda reminds me of a song, now that I think about it!

And here's all the loot spread out all over.  Am I not the luckiest girl ever?

Thank you, Pauline, for a wonderful swap!  And thanks, Cheryl, for being our swap mama!  This was way fun.  If you do it again next year, I'm in!

Santa Sack TeAseR... Finally! It's in the Mail!

I finally (only 2 weeks late) got my Santa Sack Swap in the mail.  It is winging its way to jolly olde England even as we speak ~ uh ~ blog.

Once I got started, I really had a blast with this swap.  It was fun to raid my scrap bag and Christmas stash and create.  I had some really cool stuff in there, including pieces already cut.

And here is a picture of what is inside.  The idea with the Santa Sack Swap is to send 2 small gifts a month for  6 months, and then one larger item.  Well, since I'm already 2 weeks behind, and since I know August and September are going to be c-r-a-z-y, I decided to just do 3 months all at once.   I thought it might save on postage, but the postage was actually ridiculous.  Oh well.  It could have had something to do with the fact that the box weighed 3 lbs. 

And, in case you're wondering, here's a sneak peek at what's inside what's inside.

Can't wait for Christmas!

So Far Behind... Big Sewing Weekend Planned

This is the PTS4 pillow I received from Lexiloo in January

Don't forget about my Little Apples giveaway  which ends Saturday at midnight Central time. 

Since BD#1 introduced me to Flickr and swapping last fall, I've been having a great time.  I have had fun making projects for others, and received some awesome things in return.  I have tried things I might never have tried if it hadn't been for the creative challenge of the swap.  My own creativity has been stimulated as I observed what others have done.  It has been a blast.

But, as with so many things in my life, if a little is good, a lot is better.  When I was a kid, my mom would say that my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  I think maybe it's the same principle.

And I didn't expect the distraction of a wedding...  or a second trip to Salt Lake City in less than a month...

And so now I am way behind, and deadlines are looming.

The good news is that I have this weekend to sew, and I am determined to get these projects done on time (the placemat swap is due June 23, but everything else is due July 1). 

Here is my list for the weekend:

1.  Placemat Quilt Swap 6.  This one is new to me and it sounded like so much fun!  My partner keeps sending me teasing emails and even posted a black and white picture of her project, complete with polka dots and stripes, and it has points, similar to a Dresden.  Such a tease!  And I know what I'm going to do - finally - so it's just a matter of sitting down to do it.  Let's just say that I'm thinking "summer"...

2.  Pillow Talk Swap 5.  I loved PTS4, although that was my first "real" swap.  I really struggled with it, and I don't think I would do that project again if I had it to do over, but it was a real learning experience.  I received not one but TWO great pillows from my partner.  Here's the second one...

This is the other pillow I received in PTS4 from my partner, Lexiloo.

3.  Mug Rug Swap Adventure 2.  This is another swap that is new to me, but it sounded like so much fun.  One of my partners from a prior swap is the swap mama.  Mug rugs are amazingly hard for me.  They are so small and look so easy, but their size is deceptive.  But I have an idea for this one too, and just have to execute it in fabric.  For this one, I'm thinking "beach"....

4.  Spicing Up the Kitchen.  I did the first round of this swap and it was a blast. My partner gave some pretty good hints, so I know exactly what I want to do for this one, but my idea seems a little bit challenging, and will require WH's help.  I've been admiring the embroidery hoop clocks - in fact, BD#1 actually received one in a swap and I wanted to swipe it, but restrained myself.  Anyway, I found an awesome tutorial online, and can't wait to try it.  I really struggled with this one last time too, but I'm hoping this time it will go smoothly.

5.  Santa Sack Swap.  This one is not a Flickr swap, but it sounded like so much fun.  You make a large Santa Sack, and two items and send to your partner on July 1st.  Then, 2 items a month until December.  On Christmas Day, your partner gets to open her sack with all her gifts in it.  This one isn't a secret swap, so I'll have to be discrete with the photos and hints.  My partner is Pauline from the UK.  She has already sent me her 1st package, so I really feel like a slacker.

6.  Christmas Fabric Bee.  June was my month for the CF Bee, and I mailed my fabric {almost} on time (it went out June 1st), so that's one I can wait a little bit on.  {The blocks the ladies are making and posting on Flickr are AWESOME!!!  I'm so excited about this quilt.  It is going to be way fun!}  The other QB for June is Julie, and she chose a "village" of trees and houses.  My assignment is a tree block, so that shouldn't be too hard, although she wanted pieced blocks, not appliqued, so that takes a little more thinking maybe.

7.  First Time Bee.  Carol has asked  us to do a black and white block with a pop of color.  I have ideas of what I will do for my two blocks, so it's just a matter of actually doing it.

So, I think that's it.  Over committed?  Undoubtedly.  Insurmountable?  No, I don't think so.

I will say that I have scaled way back for the rest of the summer.  I have a wedding to help organize and a wedding dress to alter, after all.  The good news is that it's too hot to be distracted by ANYTHING that has to do with outside. { It IS Father's Day weekend, and WH probably deserves a bit of attention.  I told him I'd take him to a movie.  And we'll probably do dinner or something easy.}

And I just couldn't resist another round of the Make Mine Modern swap - it was SO much fun last time, but I don't even have my partner for that one yet, so I've got awhile. 

Anyway wish me luck - and a productive weekend.

Happy sewing!