The Swap that almost wasn't!

Some of you may remember that back in August I posted about the Posey Pincushion swap that I joined over at QuiltingGallery. I sent my little swap package off on August 18th. I posted about it here. I was so excited for my partner Caroline to receive the package as I chose autumn colors which she said were her favorite. I only had to make the needlecase for the swap but it looked lonely so I made a pincushion to go with it and tucked in fat quarters of the fabrics that you see in the photo. Time passed, a month, and no little package arrived at Caroline's door. I knew because I was checking her blog. She was to be a secret partner but when I saw she posted about another swap and no mention of the posey swap, I suspected it was lost. I e-mailed her that I was her partner and when I had sent my package. She said perhaps the post was just slow and surely it would come. More time passed, another month and still no little package. Now even Caroline thought it must be lost. I imagined my little goodies had arrived at someone else's door, someone who was not a quilter and would wonder why there was such a small pillow and what is this fabric book for? :-) Luckily, I liked these fabrics so much that I had started a set for me and so I e-mailed Caroline and said I would finish that set for her and send it along in the mail soon. I was quite busy that last week in October when I sent that e-mail so I didn't get to it right away. Then when I had time to finish it, I couldn't find the little box with the half finished project in it!! Oh, boy! Finally, just before going to bed on the night of November the 1st, I found the little box. When I got up the next morning, I checked my e-mail. I had a message from Connie, the postmaster, and she wrote.........

"A package was returned today to you. You sent it August 18 to the Netherlands. I cannot determine the reason for return. I'll send it up with the mail today. Have a great day!"

I couldn't believe it! The little package with the posey pincushion and needlecase had come home! I had to go to the post office and see for myself! Here is Connie holding the returned package. The label was in Dutch so we could't read why it was returned. I opened it up to make sure everything was okay and, so that I could show it to Connie because she's a quilter, too. :-) When I got home and checked the address I had written on the envelope, I found the reason why it was never delivered. It was all my fault!!! I left off one important line in Caroline's address and so in a large city it could not be delivered!! I was so amazed that it had been returned to me and so thankful! I put the items in a bigger box and tucked in a little something extra "just because" and then mailed the box that next day, November 3rd. It arrived very quickly at Caroline's door and she was very pleased with the contents. She posted about it this past week and you can check it out here. I am so happy it finally arrived and am still impressed that the postal system returned the package to me instead of tossing it in the "dead letter" bin. And in thanks and support of the postal system ......... I will continue to host giveaways and send off goodie packages and notecards to as many friends and quilters as I can afford postage costs for mailing. :-) I guess I will have to come up with a new giveaway so I can continue to provide support. An idea will come soon, so stay tuned. :-)
Have a great weekend! Could be snowy here in Minnesota. We shall see if the weather folk are just excited at the possibility of our "first of the season snowstorm" or if Mother Nature is actually planning to "kick off" winter with a heavy blanket of snow!
Sandi