The halls have been decked, taken down and put away for another year! It was a pretty simple Christmas this year...my extended family was dealing with flu and stomach virus! Yikes! So I stayed far away....
we had bigger fish to fry anyway....a dead car meant finding a replacement. It's always a fun to find out a couple of days after Christmas that you will need to make a car purchase :(
Oh, well, it had to be done.
I hope you have been able to avoid illness this Christmas and big unexpected purchases!
But Holiday Cheer did fall on my doorstep! I had a couple of wonderful packages from far away friends! Yay! I love packages!
Sweet Clare surprised me with this fabulous stocking full of goodies and a lovely pair of socks (I love fun socks). The stocking is fashioned from a vintage quilt top! Clare stitched it so perfectly and filled it to the rim with goodies (most of which were eaten by the time I got a photo)!
And then, my dear friend, Susan, spoiled me with a super cute zippered pouch, a Liberty appliqued feather tea towel and sweet piece of gingham (which I already put to good use). My daughter, Molly, and I could not get over the precision in this hand stitched applique! The most delicate blanket stitch I have ever seen!
I cherish these two friends....I am so lucky they spoil me so :)
I have been on a bit of a zippy pouch run lately. I made several for friends and family for Christmas...and why stop now?
If you recall I was stitching some clamshells out of wool felt...
I used Valdani perle cotton to outline each curve...bold and bright!
Then I used this piece to make a little zippy pouch!
A rainbow, clamshell, wool zippy pouch!
Add a pom-pom for a zipper pull...and a few gold chocolate coins....well, those might be a few of the goodies from Clare...
Hope you enjoyed your holidays! Hope you stayed healthy (and didn't have to buy a new car)....
Here's to a quilty good 2015!
Cheers
mary
I'm chuckling over the title of your post- "The Big Cleanup"! You sure cleaned up big in the gift department! ;-)) Or was there a lot of cleaning up after the sickies? ;-)) Or did you get 'cleaned in' in the old car? (I bet you don't know that one!)
ReplyDeleteLovely gifts Mary, as you know I too was a recipient of such kindness too! All germ, and there was many, over and done with before the day......I'm sorry Christmas didn't turn out quite the way you planned but glad you made the most of it :) xxx
ReplyDeleteLove your clam shell pouch, very creative.
ReplyDeleteOh you lucky duck with that fun parcel. Love the wool zipper pouch, the Pom Pom is the perfect finish for it.
ReplyDeleteThere's always gorgeous treats to see here on your blog Mary.
ReplyDeletebeautiful handmade goodness, Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like my offering, because I love mine! I've been trying to clean up today, and have successfully moved stuff around xxx
ReplyDeleteYou're ahead of me in the clean-up department - my tree is still standing but will come down on the weekend in time to be recycled. That's okay - I love sitting by the tree and don't get lots of time to do that before the big day so I totally enjoy it afterwards. Hopefully you were able to snag a good end-of-year deal on a car and something that you love.
ReplyDeleteHm I am in the car buying mode did you buy one?
ReplyDeleteThe Honda CRV has caught my eye ...... But the Hybrids such as Toyota has too. Will you tell what you have chosen and why?
I might help me and others
Colleen
How fun! Happy New Year, Mary!!!
ReplyDeleteFun and fancies to offset the morbid task of buying a car (actually that might fun if it weren't for facing the salesmen). Love the clamshell pouch with the pom pom!
ReplyDeletePretty Pretty Pretty!! Your felt clamshells are so neat! I need to swing by and spend some of my Christmas money at Sunny Day Supply! I'd still like to get some of that wool felt from you! That stuff is a dream!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had to buy a car. Especially that you had to spend time car shopping when you could have been sewing, hehe. At least you didn't get a whole house! UGH! I'm super excited, but that's all I've been focusing on for the last week. Way too many to-do list items! I'm dreaming of spending some quiet afternoons at my sewing machine... til then I'll just be enjoying what you've been making! xo
Yes, no illness or large purchases.
ReplyDeleteI love the happy mail parcels you received!