What's this, you say? Christmas is over! Well, one of my quilt bees, the Dartmouth Do Bees, celebrates the season in January. It takes the pressure off over the holidays and gives us something to look forward to in the dark, cold days of January. Our bee has undergone some changes this year. Not always easy, but in the end, it's lovely. I always look forward to getting together with these ladies - to talk, to quilt, to talk about quilting!
Our tradition is to exchange gifts, typically the same one to each member. This year, I was struggling to come up with an idea. When in need of inspiration, I go to the stash - at least that's what I said in my
Manifesto for The Year of The Stash. And the presents for my bee mates were sitting right there! Custom charm packs!
I went on our FaceBook group and asked about fav colours. Miss K said blue. I started with my scrap bins and went on to my colour stacks. It gave me a great opportunity to go through and examine all the lovelies in there.
And
Anja @ Anja Quilts? Well, I didn't really have to ask her! I made myself cut into absolutely every print that was appropriate. No fabrics were "too special to use" (as per my
Year of the Stash Manifesto!)
Fancy Nancy (for whom I made the
pink elephant 1 Hour Basket in our swap) went for green, as did Miss A. I made true charm packs with 40 squares, rounding out the prints with Konas from my
hoard stash.
I included a fancy, shmancy Christmas ornament from one of my favourite shops to match each charm pack. I really should have taken a pic of those too! But for Anja, I opted to give her a rotary cutter case stuffed with some of my favourite orange selvages.
And what treasures did I receive? Well, Anja made us all a lovely bee pillow (with a little help from Q-D).
Miss K beefed up our stashes with these fun food prints, thread, and needles. Not to mention a jar of her homemade marmalade. Oh... and chocolate!
Miss A gave us lovely pewter hooks... wrapped in tissue and selvage. I'm planning to use mine in the studio. And the selvage? Well, we all know where that's going!
And Fancy Nancy gave us each a kit to make a pin cushion and some fresh pins. Better yet, it's a pattern designed by
Karen @ Sugar Free Quilts, another member of
Maritime Modern Quilt Guild.
I am very blessed to have such kind, generous, talented ladies in my life. Thank you, Do Bees!
J
P.S. If you're interested, you can see my gifty posts from
2014 and
2015.
Dinner was fun!! And thanks for all the orange goodies. I even broke into the pins we got and replaced my bent ones. LOL
ReplyDeleteLove the bee pillow. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tradition and lovely gifts.
ReplyDeleteGreat bunch of goodies.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for your gift to your bee-mates and I am in love with that bee pillow! Fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great gift you made for your friends, and lovely items to receive in return. It sounds like a great circle of friendship.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea to give charm packs in the person's favorite color. The gifts were fantastic.
ReplyDeleteA great pile-o-loot! Good idea, those custom charm packs.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful time, and such thoughtful gifts!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a wonderful group.
ReplyDeleteChristmas in January? I'm all for that! The custom charm packs are so pretty! Could not have found a better way to cut into some of those saved pieces. Giving away some of your favourite pieces must have felt so good! And your gifts received are also lovely..... And tasty too!
ReplyDeleteCustom charm packs are a brilliant gift idea. Of course, Anja needed orange.
ReplyDeleteAll the work Anja must have put into making four cushions!