Super-Generous Swap

Cathi from Crazed Quilter (now Celtic Knots) in Ireland and I had a swap recently, which resulted from a discussion about Civil War fabrics. Cathi has made a Dear Jane Quilt, and I am making the Civil War Diary Quilt, and we both love reproduction fabrics. Cathi offered to send me some of her scraps from her Dear Jane and said she would love an Australian quilt magazine in return. I said I'd send some fabric as well, and an idea was born.

By the way Cathi has renamed and moved her blog so if she has dropped off your bloglines, that's why. But I see that she already has 35 subscribers to her new blog, so lots of people already know.

My parcel arrived today, and Cathi has been so generous. Not only did she send heaps of squares and strips of fabric, but there were also some fat quarters in there too. I mentioned to Cathi that I needed pinks reds and blacks, and look at what I got! Not to mention the Italian sock yarn and the Guinness magnet and chocolate. I went to Ireland when I was in my early 20s, and hardly ate for 2 weeks as I'm convinced that all the 5 food groups are covered in that glass of black magic.

The parcel was a bit squashed when it arrived - someone ought to tell the Postal Services of the World that they need to take more care when there is valuable fabric in the parcel - so I lovingly ironed and sorted all the scraps for the photo. My mind immediately went to the books I recently acquired on doll and little quilts, and I might just have to put some of this fabric to immediate use. It was interesting to see a few fabrics I already have but in different colourways; it makes me realise that I must stop buying green, brown and blue. I have far too much of it. I recently bought some mustard yellows which have nicely filled a gap in the stash.

So as you can tell I'm pretty excited and feel incredibly spoilt. Thanks Cathi. As I buy most of my fabric from the US I have to buy a half yard of each, so you end up with fewer fabrics as a result. This is like Christmas.

Mum liked her scarf, and as it is lightweight I hope she will get some wear out of it in this climate, which is getting hotter by the year. I'm pretty sure Daniel liked his quilt, but it isn't always easy to tell with 8 year old boys. He did agree to have his photo standing in front of it, so that is a good indication. He is getting his first camera for his birthday from his parents, so I have asked for a photo of the quilt on the bed via email. I know he will use it though, as he still uses the quilt I made him when I first started quilting, which isn't very big. This one will cover his bed, so it will look better I hope.

I've had the day off from sewing and knitting today, I've been gardening instead. The weather is beautiful at the moment, if a bit on the warm side for winter.