My First Christmas Present of the Year

Remember this little fabric-related post about my Wish List at Above All Fabric?  I didn't win the contest, but I did win in the end!

My husband's cousin, Stephanie, also a quilter and fabric-lover drew my name for the third time in our little annual Christmas gift exchange across America.  I promise, it is not rigged in anyway.  Seriously, I don't even understand the craziness behind the method my sister-in-law, Monika, uses to blindly assign our super secret partners.  But I'm not going to deny that I've been very lucky!  After year 1, Stephanie discovered my love of fabric and for year 2, she gifted me with a lovely assortment of Amy Butler fat quarters that I'm using in my Joseph's Coat quilt that is still in its infancy.  This year, she saw my post a while back and even commented on how convenient it would be to have my Wish List if she drew my name yet again.

And she did!  My Nicey Jane collection is quite lovely now and I can't wait to make something beautiful with it!  Thanks, Steph, for a seriously big pick-me-up on the eve of boards and in the midst of a terrible cold.  It TOTALLY made my day!  You're such a sweetheart!

I will add the disclaimer that although the traditional practice in the family is to place the unwrapped gift under the tree until Christmas day, the fabric arrived in a good-ole, run-of-the-mill flat-rate shipping envelope and I had no way of knowing it was, in fact, my present.  Even after pulling the fabric out, I thought to myself, "I know I've ordered some fabric lately, but I thought it all arrived?!?!"  It's pretty sad when you order so frequently that you can't even remember what you purchased.  I thought, "Maybe I accidentally added it to my cart instead of my Wish List and even managed to pay for it?"  I call it "fabric purchase amnesia".  Ever experienced that?  Thankfully, there was a sweet note from both Stephanie and Melanie inside to bring me back to reality.

And let's just say that I have great influence over the person who drew her name, and I know I would be pretty excited to get the gift she should be receiving very shortly ; )

Merry Early Christmas to me!

P.S. T-2 days until the quilt-o-rama of 2010 begins!  Thoughts and prayers are coveted for the next 2 days of boards!