some great mail

I did not get too much sewing or crafting of any kind done this week. 

I managed to make some progress on my hexie playmat. It is getting slowly bigger. I was making it using 'flowers' of hexies with a solid in the centre, but I think I have exhausted my solid collection, so now I am squaring the whole thing off.  So until I am satisfied that it is complete, I will be adding strips of hexies instead of flowers.  If anyone is interested in trading some 2.5"-3' squares for hexies, I am happy to oblige.

I did get some great sewing related mail this week.  First, I received my Modern She Made Swap package.  My partner was amazing with stalking me and finding just the things I like.  Honestly, when you open the card without looking at anything else in the box, and the card is perfect, you know the rest of the package is a winner.

My partner, Karen, made me this gorgeous cathedral windows mini quilt. What a lot of work went into this!  It really is absolutely beautiful I got completely spoiled.  She also included some lovely extras including some bike fabric from Spoonflower and a cute little sleeper for our baby who will join us in December, Lord willing.

Swaps like this really work to turn me into a swap addict.  

I had also won a Lotta Jansdotter scrap pack from Imagine Gnats for participating in the Covert Robin Swap, and that also arrived this week. 

Now I must admit, I am not as taken by Echo as others are, but when this came and I got to feel all the fabrics, I began to like the line a little more.  These fabrics are definitely quality fabrics and they feel so soft!  There is some quilting cotton, some linen-type, and a piece of corduroy fabric, and there is only one piece smaller than a charm. 

I love scraps.  And these ones are no exception.

And for one last question, how can I get rid of all these ants that have invaded my gardens?  I have a raised flower bed at the front and it is literally crawling with ants!  I have tried store bought ant bait, and homemade borax bait and they seem to survive it all.  

Any tips or advice?