Charms and Other Charming Things

I waited until after the mail came today to write this post, hoping against hope that my mini quilt from the Little Quilt - Sew, Vote, Swap Group would arrive. Alas, it did not. But I do have a stack of charms from the 4x5 modern Quilt Bee fabric swap to show you.

It's hard to even describe what a fun array of fabrics these are - all colors commonly used in the modern block swap. I plan on putting them to use right away in this round's bee blocks.

Anyway, on to the photos I promised you this morning . . . I'm not one to yell from the rooftops, "It's my birthday!" But that doesn't mean yesterday wasn't. And I went to sleep last night feeling very pampered. An afternoon of shopping with my mom, a homey meal with our family, and a skype exchange with my son left me feeling quite content. There were lovely gifts, too, of course, but I'm pretty sure you are most interested in those of the quilty variety, yes?

First was a jaw-dropping beautiful "Cinch It Tote Bag" made by my friend Sharon. I was so shocked when I saw it, as I had pinned this pattern to my Pinterest board just this week! And to top it off, it was made in some of my favorite fabrics! (Remember this?) Awesome.

There was also a coordinating zip pouch inside. More awesomeness.

Side note - Sharon's been accepted into the do.Good Stitches charity bee, and is waiting to be placed in a circle. I'm secretly hoping she's placed with one of you! That would be so fun to have that connection!

Needless to say, I was pleased when my daughter walked into the house last night with a fabric gift bag. It's not that I hadn't received one before - she's been making them for a while now (see here, here, and here). But this one was different. Adapted from Pink Penguin's Reversible Patchwork Bag tutorial, it had a fun green chevron star on the side from thought & found. Darling.

And of course, there was something very cool inside - a St. Patrick's Day mini quilt!

I love that it has some blue in it, as dictated by the darling focus fabric.

Oh, and did I mention it was hand-quilted? Yup, that's my girl!

All in all a fine day indeed.