Santa Sack Swap 2016 – My Gifts from Pauline

I’ve been meaning to post this since the end of December but life has a way of interfering with one’s best laid plans.

In this post, I showed you the gifts I made for my Santa Sack Swap 2016 partner, Pauline who blogs at Phoenix Heirlooms.

Wait until you see all the lovely gifts she made for me. I felt so touched by the thought she put into each handmade gift.

She used some really beautiful paper to wrap them all in!

That package sat under the tree for days, tempting me to give it a squeeze and a shake! But I was very good and didn’t peek at all.

The paper was just too gorgeous to throw away, so I very carefully opened the package so I could save it.

The first thing I saw when I opened it was this equally gorgeous quilted Christmas tote:

I love the fabric that Pauline used! She couldn’t have known this but that blue is a pretty close match to the blue I’m using to decorate my sewing room/office.

At 13″ tall x 16″ wide X 8″deep, it’s a nice roomy tote. Currently I have a knitting project in it but I think it will be great for overnight trips.

I’m also hoping to go on a quilt or sewing retreat sometime this year and it would be perfect to take along any projects I want to work on.

Inside the tote, I found these shiny silver packages!

I want to be able to say that I very carefully opened these and saved the paper too. But I didn’t.

After seeing the tote, I couldn’t wait to see what was inside those packages!

To say that I was overwhelmed by Pauline’s generosity would be a major understatement!

Now for some close-ups!

This beautiful Christmas table topper took pride of place on our dining room table for the rest of the holiday season.

If you check out her blog, you’ll see that Pauline does amazing machine embroider.

She must have read back through my blog and found out that Poinsettias are my favorite Christmas plant and that I love birds because she made me this beautiful set of tea towels.

She also made this lovely candle mat with matching coasters. Dave was so touched that Pauline included one with his initial on it.

She made not one, but two zippered pouches.

First there was this larger blue one, that I’ve added extra pens and pencils to before putting it in the writing tote I take to writers’ meetings. Someone has always forgotten to bring a pen with them. Now I’ll have extras on hand to share.

The second, smaller one, is the perfect size for me to use as a take-along project pouch. I’ve added some hexie papers, 2.5″ fabric squares, as well as the needlebook and tiny pincushion she made.

Now they’re ready to pop in my bag when we go on road trips across the border.

These cozy, fingerless gloves will be great for days when the temperatures have warmed up a bit but are still cool enough that you need something on your hands.

Look at all the different machine stitches Pauline used to create the cover for this small journal.

It is currently in use as my gratitude journal. How could I not think of things to be grateful for when I’m writing in something so beautifully made!

And on top of all those lovely handmade gifts, Pauline added these extras!

Hmmm… there doesn’t seem to be a close-up photo of the chocolate. Well… you probably don’t need to be told what became of the chocolate. 🙂

Here’s one more photo of all the gifts she sent me:

As you can see, Pauline really did spoil me!

Thank you so much Pauline!

And thank you Cheryl for all the time that you put into organizing this swap every year!

If you’d like to save some of these ideas to make for swaps you might be taking part in, please click on the Pinterest button under this post.

I would be so pleased if you chose to share by clicking on one of the buttons below!