Tag: Gifts for Me

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.

My birthday was last week. Since I am a grownup now, I usually organize something fun to do. DH isn’t good at that, though he made a stellar effort this year.

First Friend Julie and I went to Modern Handmade. It is a shop in Scott’s Valley and they have a small, but nice selection of fabric. We went there because the taco place nearby is really good, I had some gift certificates for Christmas and Julie always drives down the hill to meet me. I got a nice selection of fabric. I wanted to get more bag hardware and notions, but they didn’t have much of those. Julie bought a nice selection as well. She has more ideas about how to use her fabrics than I do at the moment.

One thing I am kind of excited about is the Quilter’s Select Ruler. I have been wanting to try one and having a large gift certificate was a great opportunity. My old 12.5 x 12/5 ruler annoyed me the last time I used it. That size was one of the few that Modern Handmade had, so I chose one. The price is pretty high as I mentioned last time I saw the Quilter’s Select products. Of course, I am excited about the fabric.

I am planning to make some pouches with the ruler fabric, probably for the door prize bags.

After we ate tacos, Julie gave me the gifts she assembled for me. One was a Hold-Tite Folio (bottom right in photo), tutorial (and GREAT idea) from Lillyella Stitchery. I talked about it before, albeit briefly, and even bought the pieces of steel LillyElla sells to make a couple. I haven’t made them yet, but Friend Julie did and she made one for me! Hers is great, but mine is better! I love the cover, which I will post about soon. I think I can use more than one, so I’ll probably make at least one for myself.

Also, we are going to do a special project with those Pantone postcards. I can’t wait to start, but we need to work out the details.

She also got me some cool metallic zippers from Sew Hungry Hippie. I want to make something with them right away. I have the color scheme I used for the inside of Gerre’s Retreat Bag on my mind for at least one of them. Not sure what kind of pouch, however.

I wanted to get home before rush hour started (it isn’t quite as horrible as before the pandemic, but people aren’t really taking public transport, so I try to be mindful), so I left Scott’s Valley at about 3. I decided to stop at Golden State Quilting on my way home. They have recently moved to a new, larger location.

I really like that blue dot and want to make some thing with it soon. I am not sure what. Another bag?

One of the reasons I stopped was to get some Shark’s Teeth fabric (bottom left, above photo). I received a copy of Patchwork Quilted Bags** by Reiko Washizawa. I want to make that bag on the front with Shark’s Teeth on the sides and the Brocade Peony fabric in the middle. I wont’ be appliqueing anything to the bag. I just like the shape of it. I need to finish the A Place for Everything v.2 bag first.

DH offered to take me out to dinner at a local restaurant. One whole side overlooks the ocean so we were able to watch the waves we ate. This was our second time at that restaurant and I enjoyed it.

I received calls and texts from various friends. I talked to my Dad for awhile, but mostly about his health. I had a really nice couple of days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item 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 should have known before I posted that I would get more quilty gifts than I showed on Tuesday. I went out to lunch with Julie and she brought me a giant amount of presents. That 20.5 x 20.5 ruler has been on my list for a long time. She found it on sale and bought herself one , too. She also added to my collection of color books. I am really excited about everything – about reading or trying out everything.

Surprisingly, DH got me two quilt books. I had heard about Circular Abstractions a few months ago and just put it on my list on a whim. There are no patterns, so it is all eye candy. Lone Stars 3 has been on my list for a long time. It is also a no-pattern eye candy book and it is thick. There must be a few hundred quilts in that book. I took a look at both the other night, but not enough to review. Look for those soon.

I got a lot of nice quilting gifts for Christmas. I know that seems like a long time ago, but I have been posting like crazy on other topics. I never know what is of the most interest to you. Gifts to me seem trivial compared to what I am making and other quiltmaking thoughts I have. Thus, this is the first chance I have gotten to sit down and show you what great family and friends I have.

Mostly the family gave me books. I have some good ideas for using the Quick Curve Ruler from the two books I received.

I really need more bookshelves. I am working on updating my database so it includes all of my books, but things take time.

The book on the upper right hand corner is a book called Ode to Color and I am hoping to use that for creativity posts on Fridays. I haven’t done anything about it yet.

Due to my crazy travel schedule, Friend Julie and I didn’t get together until almost the New Year to exchange gifts. She bought some of these gifts right under my nose!

I am really appreciative that my friends and family respect and support this crazy passion of mine.

The BAMQG Winter Extravaganza-palooza was the weekend of the 9th. I had a great time.

I also got the most amazing gift. Sue S made me a casserole carrier. In the carrier was a casserole dish with a wine cake in it! This is the most amazingly generous gift I could ever imagine. I was shocked (in a good way) and thrilled. It was just what I wanted.

The spoons act as handles and servers. My DH thought this was hilarious, but I am determined to use it sometime soon and show him how fabulous it is.

The carrier opens up and becomes a hotpad. It is perfect.

I also love the red casserole dish. The colors of the carrier and the dish go well in my kitchen.

The best part of the gift was the card that Sue wrote. She said that I was the first person she met in the guild and that I took her around the first time she came to the meeting. I showed her where everything was: the food, the charity project, the free table and introduced her around. I am ashamed to say that I don’t even remember. I do that so often so automatically. I am thrilled that she remembered that kindness. She is a good member of the guild and I am glad I started her off on the right foot.

As a bonus fire victims in the Wine Country also win, because we wrapped all the gifts in pillowcases, which will be donated to an organization that will distribute them to Wine Country fire victims.