Swapping Pincushions and Mug Rugs, too!!

If you are a quilter/crafter/stitcher, you know that swaps are great fun! The first swap that I ever participated in was in the Crazy About Pincushions Yahoo group. I think that was sometime in 2008. It was like being "Secret Pals", something my mother and her friends used to do. I've been in quite a few swaps since then and I keep telling myself.....one more swap, then that's it. LOL!! Right........you may see a lot of "one more swaps" before I finally stop swapping. :-) And here's one right now.......another pincushion swap in the CAPC Yahoo group.  My partner was Patti from New Mexico and here are the goodies she sent me. The theme was strawberries. She made me that plump little strawberry pincushion and a needlebook to match (from PatSloan's recent pattern) and she tucked in other goodies, too!! I loved it all!!!

Above you can see a close-up of the pincushion and the needlebook (pattern is here).

And here is what I sent to Patti. I made a gingham strawberry and a matching needlecase and tucked in needles and some extra strawberry buttons that she might want to use with the strawberry fabric that I used to wrap up all the goodies. That little polka dot strawberry is a lucky find at the Dollar Tree store. Open it up and pull out the bag inside and you can fill it with fabric when you are out shopping!

Here's a close-up of my strawberry. It's plump and firm and is stuffed with crushed walnut shells (otherwise known as lizard bedding at local pet stores). I'm going to share a tutorial on this little project when I celebrate my blog anniversary at the end of May. It will be just the perfect way to kick off summer!!!

My strawberry pincushion swap wasn't the only good thing that came in the mail this past week. I was also "gifted" with an unexpected mug rug and goodies. It came from Renita in Florida. She's in my Seasons BOM Yahoo group.  Members of the group have recently been chatting about those mug rugs that are popping up on blogs everywhere and sharing links to various tutorials. The more we chatted, the more the conversation turned to swapping mug rugs. And so I set up a swap and away we went!  A few of us in the group had also swapped mug rugs in Michele's Quilting Gallery Swap and knew how much fun it was so I'm sure that had something to do with the excitement for these cute little projects!  Renita sent me this cute cat mug rug with his green button eyes and a mug to match them and hot cocoa, too. Those socks are so cute. So, what do you think ...... should I wear them with my black patent leather heels for Easter Sunday?  Hmmm, maybe not. :-) 

Thanks, Renita for sending me a mug rug "just because". You see Renita isn't even my partner. She just sent me these goodies "just because" she has fun sharing and enjoys our group. I still have a mug rug coming from a member of the group!!! I love looking forward to the arrival of the mail.
And that reminds me.......I got an e-mail today that my dies have shipped for my GO! Baby and I expect them sometime early next week. I am ready to GO! and get a project made with that little Baby. :-)
Well, that's enough for this post. I finished up a wooly project yesterday that I'll share with you next week. Have a good weekend everyone and I'll see you on Monday with "What's on the line?"
Sandi