I recently participated in a Christmas in July ornament swap that my blogger friend, Cath, organized. My swap partner was Sharon who lives in Manchester, United Kingdom. Last week I received this from Sharon.......
Wow! Let's see what's inside those wrapped packages.
Lovely green, red, and gold fabric, pearlised-head pins (they are almost too pretty to use!), a spool of Christmas ribbon, size 28 gold plated cross-stitch needles (nothing like starting a new project with a brand new needle), and a cute Christmas stocking card with a thoughtful handwritten message inside.
Also.....a very gererous sized piece (13x18) of hand-dyed 28 count Lugana fabric, a skein of GA sampler thread (the color is Christmas Tree), a 20 yard (!) skein of ThreadworX hand dyed floss (the color is Christmas Time), and a box of Lindt milk chocolate truffles! Lindt is one of my favorite brands of truffles.....they are incredibly smooth!
And look at this pattern that Sharon sent me! I *love* Plum Street Samplers patterns. If you remember (I'm sure you do), I finished a PSS pattern earlier this year. I have already decided to make this my next project and have assembled the threads that will be needed. I just need to look thru my stash to choose the perfect linen fabric for this design.
And, finally.........here are the adorable pillow ornaments that Sharon stitched for me.
Aren't these festive! Sharon did a beautiful job! She even hand dyed the fabric using coffee! These are also Plum Street Samplers designs. The pattern is titled Christmas Is Coming. Thanks Sharon!!
Sharon is also a participant in the 2014 birthday thread exchange. A few months ago I received some pretty threads from Sharon for my birthday. Well.....included with my Christmas surprises was an additional birthday surprise that she forgot to mail with my birthday threads! Take a lookie at this cute needle book that Sharon stitched for me! My cross-stitch needles now have a pretty place to reside!
Front cover
Inside
Back cover
So......what did I stitch for Sharon??? I stitched a Glory Bee Design ornament from the 2008 Just Cross-Stitch annual ornament issue. Here is a photo of the finished ornament.
Want to see the other goodies I included with Sharon's ornament? Check out her recent blog post here.
