Lovely mail and other fun I've been having lately

Fabric pretties from a lovely friend

 It has been a long hard winter. I am about done with it. Winter, is of course, not done with us -- yet.
Weather aside, it has been a challenge to fight the urge to hibernate and keep creating. We creative types just solider on -- with a lot of help from our friends.
Yesterday, after a day of frustrating things, the kinds of things that happen to each of us, I hiked to the mailbox, over the foot high snow drifts. There, I found the key to the package compartment. And in the package compartment, I found a cheerful package from Wendy, a crafty pal and fellow fabric fancier from across the pond. She sent me a generous gift of some Tilda fabrics and some of the Gutterman range called Summer Loft. Neither of them are to be found easily in Canada. I love them, so I will take forever to cut into them. Crazy, I know, but that is the way it is.

Wendy's Tilda card

Wendy also sent me some adorable Tilda paper craft sheets, along with a pretty card she made.
I am blessed to have such nice people in my life. The package lifted my winter spirits. Thank you so much, Wendy!
Another thank you to my wonderful partner in all fabric crimes, Sandra. She shared some fabric I greatly admired from her stash to create a present for my sister, whose birthday is later this month. I found a tutorial for a mug rug on Wild Olive. This involves a lot of handwork, which I love, and English paper piecing, something I find very relaxing to do in the evenings while watching TV.
When you have a moment, check out the Wild Olive blog. It has a lot of cute projects and very easy to understand tutorials.
As we prepare for thunderstorms, and possible flooding tomorrow (!) I am preparing to start a new project.
Stay tuned.
I will find a way to get through the rest of this winter. I will!

The Owl and the Pussycat, a mini quilt by me. Currently on the cover of A Needle Pulling Thread's Baby Gifts Issue.

A mug rug, a trial run for a birthday gift I am making for a special sister.