The Winter Mini Swap...

I signed up to join in this swap a while ago. Do you know, that I actually had 2 little quilts 'on the go' but as the weeks went by, the one with the little stitched snowman or 'Winter Mates', ( from the lovely Michelle Ridgway) as a feature, became the one that I knew I would finish and send to Fiona, my swap buddy. I 'grew fond' of him :-)

Regular readers would know that I often make up my own designs as I go along so I had a few ideas 'swirling around' of how I would continue after the snowman was stitched. Instead of ordinary borders, I decided to make some hexies and I thought of the perfect fabric from which to cut them...some blue Christmas fabric from my stash! So that's how the mini quilt evolved!

When I'm involved in a swap I don't really think about the fact that someone will be making the item for me as well...so it was a lovely surprise when, a week before the due date, I received a parcel from Anthea...it was the gorgeous mini that she had made for me...plus some treats...

Some gorgeous handcream that smells of chocolate, coffees and some rich cocoa powder to sprinkle on top of the coffee...I sampled that cappuccino later in the day!!

A lovely card and the sweetest mini quilt...but notice the little snowman in the middle...yes! It's the same snowman from Michelle! As I wrote to Anthea...' great minds think alike! :-) I love the colour blue that Anthea used to stitch and the gumboot fabric is just so cute....

Now finally, I'll show a photo of the mini quilt that I made...complete with the little hexies to frame him...I used a variegated thread to stitch him, and, like Anthea, I used 'spotty' fabric to stitch on.

 Here are both quilts together before I posted Fiona's to her...

 I also sent Fiona a scarf just in case she should come across a snowman without a scarf...but I also said she could wear it herself until she finds snowman in Toowoomba without a scarf...lol

 The yarn is an interesting one that I bought on last year's trip to Bendigo Woollen Mill...I loved the colours and the texture...

So once again I've had the chance to participate in a fun swap; many thanks to Cheryll for her organising!