The One About Meeting Up With a Special Friend...

While on vacation in Wisconsin, I was able to spend time with some of my friends.  Course, there is never enough time.  And, never enough time to do everything one wants to do.  Right?  I am definitely going to plan my trip differently next time so that I am able to include those I wasn't able to see this year.  

So.  I promised a blog post about meeting up with a special friend while in Wisconsin.

Her name is Donna.

If you will recall, I met Donna back in 2013 through an online strawberry swap we were participating in.  If you don't recall this, click here and then here.  We have maintained an online friendship since then.  

This is the same Donna I commissioned to make a mug mat featuring a chocolate Labrador.  I wrote about it here.

About the time I was moving out here, Donna and her husband bought some property in Wisconsin and moved from Florida!  So, I was hoping that I would get to meet with her on this trip back home.

Thankfully, everything worked out...we met up in West Bend at the Omicron Family Restaurant, where we had a wonderful lunch.  We sat and visited for a very long while after we were finished eating.  Apparently, we both like to talk.  ~grin~  I felt very comfortable with Donna...as if we really had known each other for a very long time.  Once we left the restaurant, we decided to visit a quilt shop (always in need of quilt fabric, you know).  So, off we went up the road where we found Royce Quilting.  Gotta say...it is a lovely shop!

Over the years, most of the fabric shopping I do is done solo.  Whether buying online or at a LQS, I shop alone.  Why?  Because I've never had sewing/quilting friends who lived near me.  So, you can imagine my delight at shopping with a friend...one who knew what I was talking about and who helped me get what I needed.  We had a great time together.  I am so very glad that I made the time to spend time with Donna.  My friend.    

Looking forward to the next time I visit Wisconsin...



PS  Donna and I exchanged gifts...I gave her some acorn-headed straight pins (she is acorn crazy!) and she brought me homemade canned pears and pesto.  LOVELY!  Thank you, Donna!!

  





"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

The One With the Crossbody Purse...

ohmygoodgracious!  I received the crossbody purse that I ordered - custom-made - from my online (and soon to be in real!) - friend, Donna.  She makes absolutely stunning purses and wallets (and quilts and backpacks and pajamas and napkins and, and...).  Check out her blog here.  I met Donna when I was involved in an online swap...a strawberry pincushion swap back in 2013.  We had several things in common...listed in this blog post.  

Anyway.  She makes wonderful pieces.  I mean, really wonderful!

So.  I do not normally carry a purse.  I carry my little zipper pouch and my phone.  Thinking about going on vacation and the travel involved in driving to/from/around Wisconsin and I thought that, perhaps, having a purse would come in handy.  BUT, I didn't want any big thing...like one that could fit everything AND the kitchen sink inside!  Something that is just big enough for my cards, license, cell phone and keys.

One day, on FaceBook, Donna showed a crossbody purse she made.  Well, that is exactly what I need!  So...after much emailing back and forth, we had everything that I wanted figured out and she made me the best purse ever!  It's not too big, but large enough to easily slip my cell phone inside...it has a long strap and a wrist strap, a puppy on the zipper pull and an embroidered brown dog.  I mean, really?  Also, she made a pocket and card slots for my driver license and other important debit/credit/library cards!  It is amazing!  See for yourself...

Cork fabric exterior...measures 8.5 x 6.5 inches.

embroidered brown dog

cutest puppy!

My fave color - teal - lining with pocket and card slots.

I am soooo happy with this!  I must go somewhere tomorrow so that I can take/use it.  Don't you think?  

Vacation begins in 10.5 days!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

To Honor All the Chocolate Labs I Have Loved...

I received a gift in the mail today.

For me.  From me.

Commissioned by me.

A mug mat with a friendship star block.

And the head of a brown dog.

Made by Donna

(who was first mentioned here).

A machine embroidered headstudy 

of a Chocolate Labrador.

Not (just) Tag.

All of the brown dogs I have loved...

Dutch, Tucker, Jigs, and Tag.

The workmanship on this is excellent.

Superb, really.

Donna worked very hard to ensure

that everything was perfect.

She did an outstanding job.

I love this.

I love her.

I am blessed.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings...

**Warning:  This post is very wordy and has a lot of photos!

When I started my blog on May 30, 2007, I did so with the idea that it would be a great way to keep my family and friends informed of what was going on in my life.  You know...they could come to my blog to read about what was going on.  I was in the process of moving from the city to the country...into a house on a huge property, so there was a lot that I wanted them to see.  Plus, I could show what I was working on (rug hooking was my passion back then).  You know.  It seemed like it would be a much better...and certainly more fun...way of keeping everyone up to date.

Little did I know where this blog would take me...the impact it would have...the doors it would open...the changes in my life that I would keep everyone up to date with...what it would lead me to...who I would meet...what I would receive in return.  

I have a much better idea of all of that, now.  This blog has become a creative outlet...to share what I have learned, to show what I have done, and to talk about subjects that mean something to me (though I have been lacking in that area of late).  I have made many blogging friends...women I will probably never meet in person, but who I care about...women who cheer me on, who get me involved in swaps and projects that I otherwise might not have done...women who have become important to me in many ways.  Women who have become my supporters, my cheerleaders...who have offered sympathy when sadness has entered my life, who offer joy when happiness reigns...who inspire and motivate me.  

One of these women...a new friend...sent me a thank you gift.  Actually, gifts.  Yes, gifts in the mail today!  You all know how much I love those, right?  I thought about inserting links to some of the posts I've written about gifts in the mail, but let's just say I did that and you get the point.  That point being that I LOVE getting gifts in the mail.  ~grin~   ANYWAY.  Remember the strawberry pincushion swap?  I wrote all about what I sent to my swap partner, Donna, here.   Well, she was absolutely thrilled (read what she wrote on her blog here). 
  
It really was fun to have Donna for 'my person to send to'...it seems that we have some things in common: 

  We both like Crabapple Hill Studio designs.  She made the

'Over The River' quilt, and I'm working on 'Snow Days'.

  She and I have both had Herding group dogs.  She with Corgis

and me with Collies.  We've both had Labrador Retrievers.

  Her dog's name is Taggart (akaTag) and my

  dog's name is Tag (aka TagEButt).

I live in Madison, Wisconsin.  She lives in Florida, but 

grew up in Wisconsin,  At one point, she commuted to work in Madison.

 

A great basis for a friendship, don't you think?  

Anyway.  It's always good to know that you hit the nail on the head when you try to get to know the person you were assigned to send to...so that what you send is appropriate, appreciated and approved of!  So.  Did you read what she wrote on her blog?  The part she wrote about how she was really overwhelmed by my generosity and how she thought I read her well...and then she went on to say how she wanted to create a few things with me in mind. 

I tried to convince her that nothing was needed...that she should not send me anything.   But, she ignored all of that.  

So.  The package arrived in today's mail.  

Here come the photos...

See the card?  That's her first Corgi, Fezzik.  She wrote a beautiful note inside.

This is so sparkly and fun...see the jewel?  So pretty!!

When you open the flap, you find a tablet.

How fun is that!

A local treat...honey from Sarasota, FL

A fat quarter of the prettiest strawberry fabric I've ever seen!

And, the pièce de résistance!  A wool applique pincushion!  It is simply wonderful!

A closeup of some of the stitching!

Everything together.

A wool pincushion.  Besides cotton, wool is my fabric of choice!  Donna tells me that the pincushion is filled with crushed  walnut shells, which are great for keeping pins and needles sharp!  

I know to truly appreciate a gift, one should use it.  I am loath to do so...just because it's so beautiful.  BUT, I will.  Because I am appreciative.  I will place it on my side table and use it for my handstitching needles and pins.  That way, I will look upon it every day and be reminded of and thankful for the blessings I have received.  (And, too, this way it won't get covered with stray threads and all that my pincushion by my sewing machine is covered with.)  

I am completely overwhelmed by Donna's 'thank-you' gift(s).  Talk about generosity!  I have no words to express what I am feeling.  I'm going to have to find some, though...to write a thank you note without words would be...well, just wrong!  ~grin~ Thank you so very much, Donna.  

This blog has brought me many blessings...thank you, Jesus! 


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11