Gifts sent and received

Hi everyone! It has been such a tough week. I'm at my parents' in Lille now. I left after this morning's seminar (the one that prevented me from going to San's and to Ally Pally...).

Violette wanted to go with me:

She really wasn't happy when I filled the suitcase and she couldn't get inside anymore. But Seb is staying in Paris, he holds a workshop all weekend in the "Fête de la Science", at the Cité des Sciences.

A few gifts I made 2-3 weeks ago reached their recipients this week - Zalita in Malaysia, and Raymonde in Normandy. But... Raymonde's parcel took almost a week longer to reach Normandy than Zalita's to reach Malaysia (Raymonde's town is 250 kms from Paris)!

Zalita was interested in the Rooster & chick quilting pattern I offered a few weeks ago, and she told me she wanted to send me a few goodies too... Well I was spoilt indeed! Look at what she sent me!

There's the Sloe Fairy kit which was in a magazine (oh I so love fairies!), a purse that is a local handicraft in Malaysia. How cute! There are also a few blank cards where I can insert embroideries! And cute, cute buttons - Zalita uses them on some of her stitching and she remembered I loved them but couldn't find such pretty buttons in France... How thoughtful! Zalita, I really love what you sent me! Thank you!

Along with the quilting pattern, I sent her what I like to call "sweet nothings".

I have to thank dear Harsha for the first one!

I first saw one of those purses on Harsha's blog, and Harsha's friend, who had explained her the how-to, directed me to a French website where it was explained.

I also made her a drawstring bag in organza and a tiny lace bookmark:

And here are Raymonde's gifts. Raymonde is a very, very dear friend, I think of her as my third grandma. You may remember she sent me a lovely gift in August? A purse that opened into a grocery bag. I started making her gifts months ago, and I finally finished them 2 weeks ago.

And I here have to thank Jo about the flanged pillow... The Sunbonnet was already stitched, and I was still unsure as to how to finish it. Then I saw Jo's lovely Halloween pillow, I had to finish this Sunbonnet like that! Thank you Jo, for the inspiration! (you always inpire me a lot!)

I also loved looking at Jenna's flanged pillow last week (check it out, it's a darling!). Jenna, I so love yours, and I had to smile as I had just finished one!

The little heart is a sachet filled with lavender from my Grandma's garden.

I was very nervous about those gifts, as Raymonde is a professional seamstress and does such exquisite work. Raymone received them yesterday night and told they had made her very happy!

One thing I love is that she told me blue was her favourite colour (like me!) - so the pillow was in just the right hues!

The little bunnies are for Raymonde's grand-daughters, and Raymonde told me I chose each one's favourite colour to stitch their name! Claire loves pink, and Lise loves purple! How lovely is that!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!