#heartswap and valentine's treats...

Tis the day of a'mour, or so the card companies would have us believe. This year, since Valentine's day isn't a very big deal in our house (actually, this is the first one husband I have managed to be in the same country/not working nights for EVER) I took part in #heartswap, a gift exchange with the twitter ladies. 

Anna set it up, we answered a few questions to give a rough idea of what our swappee would like, set a rough £20 (ish) spending limit and off we went. I'm so glad the postal service came through for us. I was expecting it to be a nightmare, but it really wasn't.

I swapped gifts with the lovely Katie. I already follow her on twitter and read her blog, so I had a rough idea of what to get her, but ended up with this:

The wrapped gifts are candy. yum yum yum.

The cushion was one of my biggest sewing challenges to date. I'd never done any applique before, and I'm still not 100% sure how well it will look once I've done it a few more times, but overall I'm pretty pleased! It took about 12 hours of solid sewing to complete, from making the cushion cover (with a flap/open back so you can wash it..) designing it then cutting, sticking using heat'n'bond then the hardest bit by miles- the stitching. I love that I have made something for someone that they can use and keep in their house and generally squish and balance a laptop on and USE. 

In return, I received this amazing pile of gifts:

presents!

I confess I have finished the Agatha Christie (one I hadn't read, it's being ticked off the list now...) I am currently drinking from the mug and the tin is storing teabags, and my plan for this afternoon is to make the cinnamon and raisin cookies in love heart shapes for husband tonight. The chocolates are also all gone. Such amazing gifts, so thoughtful and sweet and it is the nicest thing in the world to open a parcel full of lovely gifts someone has picked out just for you. 

I also made some Valentine's decorations too. We rearranged the furniture in our living room at the weekend, and it looked a bit naked, so I whipped this up with some spare fabric I had from a charm pack (that's lots of pre-cut squares of fabric). I'm pretty chuffed with the result, even though Joan tried to 'help' and it took me 8 times longer than it should have. She also knocks the whole thing down on a daily basis but never mind! 

yeah, those are left over christmas candles. what of it?

All in, some rather successful sewing projects! They are definitely getting harder as Joan discovers what I am doing. She's taken to trying to eat the thread off the machine. Hand-sewing is definitely out unless she is asleep- I have too many scratch marks!

I'll leave you with these symbols of our undying love. Taking things very seriously as always...

guess who gave which to whom...