For the past 3 or 4 years I have attended a local quilting group in my little country town. You can read about my group, Club Quilt, here. They are the most lovely, generous, warm-hearted group of women. Each year at Christmas time, we have dinner out & a Christmas swap of handmade gifts. It is time for me to start thinking about this year's gift. I always get a bit anxious about what to make, whether the receiver will like what I make, whether it will 'be good enough', etc etc, the usual paranoia. But of course, it is the spirit of the giving which is important, and we are all just so excited & thankful for the time that is lovingly spent by each member to bring pleasure to friends. I thought I would spend the next few posts showing you some of the outrageously generous & beautiful gifts I have received from my Club Quilt friends in recent years.

This is one of the first gifts I received and was made by Dale. I was understandably overwhelmed when I opened this! It is a stunning sewing basket, a design by one of our Australian stitchery heroes, Leanne Beasley.

It has internal pockets for all those stitching essentials ...

Did I say beautiful, stitched internal pockets?

This basket is never far from my side in the evenings, & is in constant use. The initial pleasure of opening this gift has not waned - I still love to just stop & look at it. Thank you Dale.