revealing an exchange . . .

Last fall I participated, for the first time, in a Tea Cup Exchange, hosted by Stephanie, of The Enchanting Rose blog.  It was such a lot of fun and I shared about my experience (and revealed my pretty little gifts) here.  I also asked to be reminded when another such swap began, which it did in March, and I signed up for that one, too!!  Today is the big "tea party" reveal!

My gifter was darling Shellie who blogs at Footsteps of Grace. Her package arrived *early* and really caught me by surprise! 

Oooooh!  I love brown paper packages addressed to me!

It was almost like Christmas in March! LOL! Or an early birthday present . . . or something . . . 

It was exciting, I know that!

What a spread! Shellie was so very generous in her package, with teas, a journal, a terrific devotional (Angela Thomas's A Beautiful Offering), a fun pen, a darling tea bag rest . . . 

And do you see that fun tea cup?

What great, bold, cheery colors . . . perfect for a sip of tea!

And then, of course, as I so frequently do - I forgot to take pics of the goodies I tucked away for my giftee, which was Dee of Traditional Simplicity.  I don't think she's posting to her blog, but she sent a photo of her goodies to Stephanie, so I took the liberty of sharing it here, too.

I had such a fun time putting together a box of tea happiness for Dee!  :)

And yes ... I'll probably definitely sign up for the next one!!

Linking up to the 10th Tea Cup and Mug Exchange Reveal linkie party at The Enchanting Rose!

:)

stitch in . . . stash out . . . stash in . . .

I love Saturday stitch-ins with my Stitchers, Etc. group! I hauled my yardage for our block swap over there today, ready to iron and cut. And so I did!

I got all ninety-six 4-1/2" squares cut for those pretty little 9-patch blocks. I have twenty-two weeks before we swap . . . if I do a modest four/five blocks per week, every week, I'll have 'em done with no problem!

Of course, the problem with a stitch-in is that there is apt to be someone who's brought fabric they no longer want/love. And if it's Christmas fabric, my knees go weak (not to mention my resolve).

So while I used 1.25 yards for the swap blocks, I gained 2.5 yards in Christmas prints. Aye yi yi!! There are some specific projects I have in mind for it though, so hopefully it won't hang around for too long! To that end, here's the Week #03 stash report:

Unfortunately I realized today that I bought way too much yardage for the swap blocks in the first place. I purchased 6.5 yards and I really could have managed with half that. *sigh* I won't complain, since I really love the prints (and I may still use it up for the quilt this swap is working toward), but I wish I'd done the math before hitting the shop. That'll learn me!

One of the gals in our group had an EZ3 hand quilting frame that she'd purchased, never used, and didn't want anymore.  She *gifted* it to me!  I was beyond thrilled . . . actually, I was stunned. It's a really beautiful and versatile frame.

I'll have no trouble using it either in the RV (especially since we now have that sweet living room space) or in the Nook . . . but I was a little concerned about storing it. I think I figured out the answer this afternoon:

Right?  What's the point of having pegboard walls if you can't make them do what you need them to do?! It may end up going a little higher up the wall (or on the back wall) . . . I needed to make sure it could do what I thought it could do, first. I have two quilt tops that need finishing . . . not sure which will end up being the first quilt I load into it!

I finished quilting my Twisted Christmas Hexie topper. I *love* it! After I finished all the stitching-in-the-ditches, I decided it needed a little pop.

So I grabbed some of my holographic Sulky thread and outline-stitched around the center poinsettia (in the focal hexie). But how could I do one and not do them all?? Haha! It was well worth it. It sparkles now!

And now that I've figured out how to finish it in a manner that's pleasing to me and doesn't degrade my hexie shapes, I'll do more of these. I love the look, shape and size of this piece, especially with the full hexie in the center of the half pieces.

I can NOT let this month pass by without getting my two ornaments completed. (It would be really pathetic to forgo my challenge/goal/whatever, within the first month).

So today I cut out my little snow fellow. He'll be my slow stitching for tomorrow afternoon! My sister shot me the idea of doing little gingerbread man ornies in wool . . . they were darling and I plan to give them a go next month!

Linking up on Sunday to Patchwork Times, Kathy's Quilts, and as a special bonus, sarah did it!  For sure check out Sarah's blog -- tomorrow is her monthly HeLP for Hexie-aholics linky party *and* it's her BIRTHDAY!  Party over there, for sure (which means, *giveaway*)! Make sure you stop by and sing Happy Birthday!!

:)

stuff and junk and things . . .

The weather this week has been absolutely gorgeous, so far.  I captured this beautiful sunrise on Monday . . . 

I already shared it on facebook, but I like to cover all my bases.  LOL!  Today's forecast is pretty lovely, too:

Hard to believe we had snow flurries and ice, this time last week!

I did get to spend a tidy amount of time in the Nook yesterday . . . aaaaaaaah! I finished up the last few stitches on the POTC block I was working on. And then promptly forgot to take a picture of it. So I guess you really didn't need to see a picture of it!

I then pulled out the pineapple quilt and got busy on it. There were aspects of it strewn all over the room . . .

But the most important thing was getting it here:

So now the entire center is stitched together and what I have to work on now is stitching down the covering sashes. While I was at it yesterday, I did go ahead and cut, stitch and press all of those, so they'll be ready to go when it's time to attach the borders.  It's already a pretty substantial quilt and the borders will add 10" to all four sides!

It was a quiet day, spent in the company of me, myself and I.  Oh, and this darling little gal . . .

Isn't she sweet??!  She's my Nook "companion".  She never argues or disagrees with me and is a terrific listener! She quiet listens and smiles at everything I say. Very affirming. My Stitcher's Etc. pal, Sarah, made her for me, so I wouldn't be without companionship whilst stitching the day away! She needs a name. Any thoughts??

Did you know that today is Squirrel Appreciation Day?! It is! And to celebrate I found a darling royalty-free drawing that would make a very cute stitchery . . .

credit

Perfect for my neck of the woods (quite literally)! Just right click and save. It beats trying to 'hug a squirrel'!

Linking up today to Esther Aliu's WOW (Wips On Wednesdays) post!

:)