It's snowing again...

I just hope my DGS makes it back to Boston all right before they get hit with all this snow we're expecting.  He was supposed to fly out at 4:30 pm today, so he should be ok.

What a lovely Christmas we had.  For the first time since we bought this house in 1976, we didn't have Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner here.  Hubby and I had our own little turkey breast dinner with Katie and Patsy Cline and had a relaxing evening in front of the tree Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning we had our gifts after breakfast and "the girls" gave their "Daddy" a new pair of fur-lined moccasin slippers.  Now he can throw away those old stinky ones he loved so much (and they like to sniff---ewwww!)

I finally got to open my gift from Australia in the SSCS 2013 Swap held by Chookyblue every year.  When we receive our package in the mail, we can immediately open the small ornament gift that is part of the swap and enjoy that.  Here's my cute handmade ornie from Vickie in Humpty Doo. (Don't you just love the name of her town?)

But we have to put the big gift under the tree til Christmas Day!  Do you know how hard that is to leave something alone when it sits right there and dares you to pinch it or prod it or squeeze it?   And to make it even worse, my gift this year came wrapped in the most adorable Christmas fabric with little koala bears wearing Santa hats all over it.  That fabric is going right into my "special" stash of unique fabrics from all over the world.  (I've been very lucky in my international swaps to receive fabrics made in other countries.  I'd like to eventually get fabrics made in all the different countries I've visited, but that's just a "wish" now.  If I get enough, some day I may make myself an "international" lap quilt.)

My big gift from Vickie is a darling pleated bag.  I can't imagine how much time it took her to make all the pleats!  It has a pocket inside that's just right for my cell phone and the bag is just the perfect size.  Inside that bag was another smaller bag that will be perfect for carrying a couple of paperback books or for carrying my current stitchery project.  I think right now, I'm going to fill both bags up with things I need to take to the hospital for my surgery stay.

Included in the smaller bag was a really neat table topper pattern called "Something Sweet"  that will be just right for Valentine's Day.  If I can't get to it this year because of my surgery, I'll have something new to look forward to making for next year.  And also in the bag were two adorable teddy bear quilt labels all ready for me to stitch and use.  They're an Australian product made by Teddlywinks.  I can't wait to try those out.

Vickie's lovely gifts have sure made this a very special Christmas for me.  Thanks so much Vickie.  I hope you enjoy your SSCS prezzies as much as I'm enjoying mine.

I'll be back tomorrow to show you all the fun things I received in my Stocking Swap with my friends in my Scrappy and Happy Yahoo group.  Until then...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the girls, Katie and Patsy Cline