Surprises in the mail

Look what came in yesterday's mail!! I found two mug rugs from Pat.. we swapped mug rug sets on our Yahoo group and these were two that I was just WISHING we going to be mine. It's a secret swap so we don't know who our partners are until the mug rugs arrive. Pat had posted a picture a while ago and said she had mailed them out... well.. I kept waiting and watching for something to arrive and it didn't.. I figured someone else had been the recipient of these beauties. Then she posted yesterday that her mug rugs were taking quite a long time to arrive at ____'s house but she had confirmation that yesterday they had been delivered. I thought, MAYBE, they would be at my house. I worked till 4:30 then went to a friend's house right from work. When I arrived home around 7 I checked the mailbox... nothing... then the kitchen counter..nothing. Al was at work and when he got home at 10 he had the mail with him. WELL, there was the package for me, FROM PAT! I was so excited!

If you look closely, the roses in the mugs are Charlevoix fabric and I'm nuts about that stuff. Right now I'm working on two coordinating twin quilts using some of the fabrics. One of the quilts is peach/coral with blue. The other will be blues and yellows. Here's a picture of the blocks for the first quilt. Now don't those mug rugs look perfect with it? I think these mug rugs will have to go on the night stands in the guest room where the quilts will be (this will be in the new house). Sure hope no coffee or tea mugs sit on these.. water should be ok. Thank you, Pat! :)Yesterday after work I stopped at a friends house. We trade fabrics every so often. She knows I'm collecting 30's reproductions for my seven sisters quilt so she had me come by to pick some out. She has quite a large collection of them... lots of different ones. We had a great time chatting about quilts and fabrics and quilt shows. She told me how she once got 3rd place (or so) in an ugly quilt contest (her first quilt, before she took any classes). It's hard to believe she could make one that bad because her quilts are perfection! She has loads of beautiful quilts on beds and walls in her house. It was like going to a quilt show.. inspired me to get some more UFOs finished up. Maybe I can get one of these Charlevoix quilts finished by the time we have our quilt show this summer. This is just SOME of the pieces she gave me... aren't they nice?

NOW, since I won the happy block swap on Scrappy and Happy, I get to choose the theme of the next happy blocks. I was thinking about it all day yesterday and decided on doing "Summer Fruits and Veggies". Digging through my stash, I found a pile of fabrics that I think will suit the theme. This should make a nice summer picnic quilt... fruit and veggie centers with dots or checks (think summer tablecloth prints) surrounding them.

Time to get some sewing done... Al is working again today. Chicken soup is simmering on the stove so time for me to get something accomplished.