Tag: Gifts for Me

Julie made a cool cover for the bracelet from the Retreat last year. She used the slap bracelet as a base to slide inside the cover.

Mine has been sitting on my desk for a year not doing anything. I thought hers was so cool that I asked her to make me one. This is the package I got at Sew Day the other day. The thing with buttons is the cover for my slap bracelet.

 

I had to do some jamming in to get the bracelet into the cover. Then I sewed the piece shut and can wear it.

OMG! More birthday gifts arrived. It is almost a month after my birthday and the party keeps going on.

This wonderfully decorated box filled with delightful gifts arrived last week.

First, everything was wrapped really nicely in fabric (of course!). Look at how everything goes together in a light green and turquoise kind of color scheme. Great, right?

The card is a piece watercolored by AO. I don’t want her to spend time watercoloring. I want her to sew, but she does a really good job on the cards, so it is hard to get upset. 😉

The little parcels were so hard to unwrap because I just loved the way they looked together.

The bowl cozy will definitely be useful. I already wore the socks and they are nice and thick. I am already using the little triangle pouch for lipsticks and small cosmetics in my handbag. It is super useful.

My dad got me a gift card and the small scissors I bought to replace the Tula snips** (they didn’t stay sharp and I need to get them sharpened). I had a hard time deciding what to buy. Amazon has everything except Sew Sweetness patterns, which is what I really wanted. These scissors are awesome! The tips are super sharp, so they are great for clipping curves and trimming just a thread or two. They are also lightweight and open and close easily, which means they don’t hurt my hands.

This is the first pair of Kai scissors I have gotten. While I haven’t used them a lot, I already really like them.

On Saturday, I went out to lunch with Sue and Carrie. It was my birthday lunch and came with gifts. They are really super generous and I don’t know what I did to deserve their kindness.

Carrie has recently started bag making and has, even more recently, taken my gift bag making to heart. She used an Asian fabric to make me a gift bag that has a coordinated channel in it.

This is a similar design to Jeni Baker’s Lined Drawstring Bags. Carrie is the YouTube Queen, so I think she found this pattern in a video. It is great. I really like the coordinating channel.

 

In the gift bag were a couple of lovely gifts. One is a Creative Grids Fussy Cut ruler**. This is one ruler I don’t have and it will be useful. The good thing about it is that it has the squares of different sizes radiating out from the middle. This means I can put the very middle on a motif and know exactly how it will be placed.

Along with the ruler was a ruler stand. I have looked at these for years and never taken the plunge. I need to do some tidying before I can set it up.

The “Best Day Ever” ribbon and the beautiful glass hearts are Valentine’s Day gifts. Yes, I received a Valentine’s Day gift as well! So sweet.

Sue gave me some books. Yes there is a bit of quiltmaking in there, but mostly it is a relaxing gifts. I can sit and read the book or look through the Quilt Art calendar while eating the candy. Wonderful!

I was glad I made the Hemingway pouches, because those ended up being the party favors I gave to Sue and Carrie.

After lunch, we wandered around Los Altos. Needles Studio was having a sale. I bought some bag hardware on sale for $2 or less each. I couldn’t resist that red-violet fabric. I bought the double fold elastic at The Granary before I went to lunch. I need it to work on the Bluestem pouches.

I also received a gift from Gerre at Sew Day. She added to my set of dish towels with a few more with different embroidered motifs. I am such a lucky person to have such great friends.

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I am so appreciative of how generous people were to me for the Christmas holidays. You saw the gifts I made. I was equally bestowed with beautiful items.

I received these lovely things when we went out to our, now annual, I think, Holiday Lunch.

Carrie made the scissor cozy and I have been using it a lot. It is perfect for my To Go bag. I can always find a sharp pair of fabric scissor a convenient pair of paper (and other non-fabric) scissors. Additionally, the non-fabric scissors are turquoise! That is a totally added bonus.

I have several pair of my own scissors, but the new Ginghers fit nicely into the cozy. I might need to make some of those cozies. I also have to get Carrie to show me her KamSnap technique. That KamSnap is securely attached to the fabric in a way I have never been able to achieve with my KamSnap device**. I prefer the SnapSetter. However, since I have the thing, I want to be able to use it. Carrie doesn’t know it yet, but she and I are going to have session at some point.

 

SueG also gave some lovely things. One is a fat quarter pack of Tilda fabrics. I always look at these fabrics, but never buy them. This little pack is a nice treat. I like the colors a lot. No, I don’t know yet what I will do them, but bag linings keep flashing into my mind. This is a ridiculous notion as you know I like my bag linings to be light colored. We’ll see.

I received a small package a few days before Christmas from Gerre who sent me the most adorable ornament as well as two tea towels.

The tea towels fit with the color scheme of my kitchen and I like the design. They look slightly in the Pennsylvania Dutch style. I like the simple design and by simple I mean that there is only one design on each towel.

 

 

I received a fat quarter and a ironing ruler as well. This is something that I can really use as many bag patterns say to iron a seam over by a certain measurement.

I don’t think I knew this type of tool existed, but I am certainly happy with it.

The fat quarter is a print that is one of my favorites. I love those large poppies. I might use it to make a Hackney for myself. I used it for an Andalusian pouch for Megan. I don’t need more fabric, but I can always use it. 😉

DH and I only bought a few gifts for each other, because we bought a couple of large gifts for the house recently.

I actually received two of the Scrappiness is Happiness** books. I think I will finally have enough WonderClips**! I still haven’t received my order of rotary blades from LP Sharp. There was a problem with my order, so I am glad to have received a new replacement pack of 45mm blades**.

Finally, Friend Julie and I had our annual NYE dinner where we exchanged Christmas gifts.

She was reading my mind. I really wanted the Sew Tites EPP Palette and she got me one. I can’t wait to try it out!

The foot pedal mat is already in use. For the first time in YEARS, my sewing machine foot pedal is staying put.

I also really want to read about how the New Deal affected quiltmaking, so A New Deal for Quilts** is a welcome addition to my library.

Last but not at all least is a gift from Amanda. I know the pie cookbook isn’t exactly quilt related, but quiltmaking goes so much better with pie. The fabric is wonderful and I have to think of something awesome to do with it.

I feel so fortunate to have such lovely family and friends give me such lovely gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I had to show you my Christmas gifts. We didn’t buy each other a lot of gifts this year because we are buying some things for the house. I was pleased with what I received.

Most of this is from my stocking, but I received a pair of pajamas that I love. I got a lot of candy and snacks, which is great, because I don’t have to store them. Well, I don’t have to store them for long. 😉

One of the items above is a pattern holder for knitting.I have to start that second sock, so I think it will come in handy.

I also got a couple of gift certificates, so I bought some stuff from Sew Sweetness and some zippers for the projects I organized over my break.

Julie gave me a bonanza. That ruler on the left is the HuRTy ruler from Latifah Saafir. It makes Half Rectangle triangles. Remember my guidelines?

I haven’t tried it yet, but I will so I can add the info to the tutorial.

 

Here are the last of the Advent tags.

I used one in the green Hackney I made. Friend Julie suggested that there were instructions on sewing them into projects. I’ll have to look for those. I just stuck this one in the seam allowance of the lining and sewed.

Julie got a different version and suggested some trades. I’ll have to remember to bring my selection to Sew Day.

One of my students invited me over to her house for lunch. It was a fabulous lunch! She is a great cook and I stuffed myself. Both students were there and they got together and got me a wonderful Christmas gift.

The wrapping was definitely professional, but the gifts were what I really enjoyed. First the whole thing was ‘wrapped’ in a organizer tote box.

It has four levels and they clip together so I can carry it somewhere. The levels can be completely taken apart or one can be taken off, leaving the other three clipped together.

In my lucky case, each level was filled with fun surprises. The first level held thread and some of those new(ish) zippers with the round pulls. The colors are super fun – neon green and neon orange. The other two have two colors – one color for the zipper tape and another color for the zipper. I have seen people using those zippers, but have never bought them. Now I can try them out!

The second level held items I can use for bag making plus some embroidery floss and a small bracelet made by Carrie. They also included a guide for my machine. It will be very useful when I need to sew a quarter inch seam, but also want to use a foot other than my quarter inch foot. I’ll also be able to easily measure 3/8″ when sewing bag linings. Can’t wait to try that. The two things that require no testing are the washaway tape and the machine needles. I can always use more of both of those!

The third level held journals! They are similar to my favorite Leuchtturm journals** but a little different. Also, they are blank. I haven’t used blank journals in years. I like the Leuchtturm gridded journals, because I can draw quilt blocks in them. Recently I have used a ruled Leuchtturm journal** and a Miquelrius gridded journals**, so I am flexible. I am almost out of Leuchtturm journals, so I will definitely use these.

The bottom level held a fun sewing t-shirt and a box of Wayne Thiebaud cards. OMG! The cards have some of my favorite WT images. Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of the t-shirt, but it has a rainbow colored heart monitor with a sewing machine and a pair of scissors. It is really fun.

I was so overwhelmed when I saw this gift. It is such a generous array of items. i was really grateful to them.

 

 

 

 

 

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need at quilt shops, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

I have been excited to the the labels I get in my Advent Calendar. They are super fun and I am really looking forward to using them.

I think it might be easiest to use them in bags. However, one says “I keep you warm” so that will definitely have to go on a quilt.

I might have to match bag fabric to the neon yellow label with the words “mash-up” on it!

Friend Julie’s birthday is December 1. Like mine, we bookend Christmas, though our birthdays are both far enough away to, mostly, not get combined gifts. Regardless, I try and make sure her gift arrives so she can open it on December 1 and she can enjoy it before all the other Christmas gifts arrive. I’d like it to arrive the day before, but it’s challenging, because of Thanksgiving.

This year, I was surprised to receive a gift from her that I needed to open on her birthday! It was super fun to keep it on my desk and think about what it could be while I worked. I couldn’t guess, so was surprised and pleased when I opened an Advent calendar with sewing labels inside. These are labels I can use in my bags and on my quilts.

Along with the Wunderlabels, I need to get better about remembering to add them.

Unlike the Wunderlabels, these are not personalized. The labels behind the doors I have opened so far have different sewing related sayings on them. Each door seems to have two of the same labels behind it.

It is really fun to open these every day and I am pleased about having something fun to do on the lead up to Christmas.

I received a surprise gift the other day from my friend, Amanda. She sent me this fantastic swan bag. It is kind of amazing, because not that long ago Friend Julie and I were talking about the plethora of swan fabrics that have recently appeared.

I really like this fabric. The swans are so delicate looking. DH commented that it would be cool to make a bag shaped like the motif of the swan.

The swan’s neck could be the handle and the swan body could be the body of the bag. Definitely something to think about.

I thought mentioned that I had received some tea towels for Christmas. I can’t find the post, so maybe not.

Carrie made the white tea towels and I love how good they look with my other tea towels. The color scheme in our kitchen is red, white and black. All of our small appliances are red except the toaster oven, which is stainless steel so everything goes together. It is the best decorated room in our house!!

I also like how well these tea towels work. Some tea towels are too thin or not absorbent or don’t dry quickly enough or have some other problem. These have none of those issues. I can dry my hands multiple times while cooking and they feel dry the next time I go to use them. They don’t feel thin either.

Great job, Carrie!

This is the Hold Tite Folio that Julie made for me for my birthday. I talked a little about it yesterday, but wanted to show you more of it.

Friend Julie chose a Philip Jacobs chrysanthemum print as my cover, which I like. The binding is also a favorite print. I love that dot circle fabric.

I didn’t really understand how to use the folio until I read Julie’s post. Unlike using the Sew Tites, you put the pieces together, and then stick them to the inside of the Hold Tite Folio. It doesn’t seem intuitive, but it works.

The folio has a piece of felt on the inside to keep the Sew Tites from sticking to each other. As you can see from Julie’s example, you can use the felt for pins and needles.

Julie said she used wool felt, but you can use any kind of felt.

 

Lillyella Stitchery has the tutorial for the Hold-Tite Folio . I think this is a GREAT ideabecause my Sew Tites, which I use a lot, are always clumped up into massive magnet blobs. I wrote about it before, albeit briefly. I still plan, as I mentioned, to make a couple.