It's now time for the It's A Sister Thing Swap Linky Party where you can see all the great goodies that were sent and received by all the secret sisters.

But 1st I get to show you what came in the overly stuffed box from my not-so-secret sister (someone had to get me, right?)  The luck person that got to stalk me was the same Katie of Karma Willow Designs that I was a secret sister to. No I really didn't plan it that way originally but as I emailed out all the matches I realized that just the two of us were left so that is how it was to be. It was really fun making things for her knowing that she had no idea we were stalking each other.

 Inside the weighty package we 1st found envelopes for both Jammer and Sunshine. It was super sweet of her to send something for each of my kidlets and they were beyond thrilled.

Next I discovered this adorable little Crayola box.  Love it! It so cute, about the size of a sandwich box.

What might you ask was in that adorable little box? Well....an overload of goodies.

Katie sent me these yummy chocolates. I had never tried them before but let me tell you....they are divine.

The pink and blue fabric pieces were actually in the kidlets' envelopes and the scissors and crayon lip balm were in my box.

Also inside was a roll of cute Washi tape, a spool of embroidery thread, a strip of Kate Spain fabric and the bird magnet which is now a great little addition to my studio.

Even more goodies were received...the whole yard of Lavender Asian fabric and the large Symphony bar, but the piece of blue floral fabric was not in the box at all. In actuality it was wrapping for....

...this draw dropping gorgeous quilt. I still cannot believe that she made me a quilt.  It isn't what I would call a small item but I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the string blocks and of course anything rainbow themed is so me plus the quilting is really awesome.

I hadn't realized until in an email Katie mentioned that I should look for some bubble words stitched into it. It didn't take long to find them.

Do you see it? Very, very cool and Yes Jammer was thrilled to see his nickname in stitches.

She included Sunshine too. Can you see it?

And the word Love was the 3rd bit of lettering incorporated into the quilting. This was a fabulous idea and one I'm definitely going to use myself in the future.  Katie backed the quilt with a Kate Spain fabric. I know how hard that must have been to use it for me and I'm extremely touched.

The kidlets have already tried to claim this quilt but this one is mine, mine, all mine. Though I might let them snuggle with me under it.

Thank you isn't enough to Katie for your generosity and I will truly treasure all of my goodies. You rock!

And now it is time to see what else the "sisters" sent to each other. 

Each It's A Sister Thing Swap participant can link up any post about what they made and sent and what they received.

BTW...I have no clue why the linky titles won't show. I've tried to fix it twice with no success. Oh well, it's the pictures that grab your attention anyway.

The person that I've been stalking all summer on her blog for the It's A Sister Thing Swap received her package of goodies yesterday so now I can show all of you what I made for her.

I signed myself up to be a "sister" to Katie of Karma Willow Designs. After literally going back to the very beginning of her blog and reading all of her posts, I had compiled a list of things she had mentioned that she liked and then decided to make her a Boho tote bag just as I did for the kids teachers at the end of the last school year.  Having already made 2 of these, this one went even faster.

Here it is. I find the hardest part of using charms for a project is just laying them out in the right order to not get the too many of the exact same print or too much of the same color grouped together.  Plus this tote is just the right size for everyday use, not too big and not too small.

As I did for the first two of these that I made, I did simple straight line quilting, this time on the diagonal. I love the effect.

The lining is from the same fabric collection.

Even though the pattern doesn't call for it, I added pockets to both sides of the interior but this time I made them doubly wide, using 2 leftover charms for each.

I even lined the pocket this time. It was so easy once I found the right tutorial online.

Here is a glamor shot of the back.

Inside I packed a few additional goodies for her: a quilt journal, a small cross stitch kit, a fun fat pen, a pair of half yard pieces of fabric, a wrist pincushion, a jar of spices and some awesome Kona coffee.

But to me the best little other thing that I sent to her was a pretty trash bag for her car.  Everyone needs a pretty trash bag, don't you think.  She loves the color Raspberry and I found a great piece of that color to plan the bag colors around.

I think the top floral fabric and pop of orange just work perfectly together. Again more straight line quilting was the order of the day.

I had just enough of this tone on tone butterfly fabric that I used for the lining and I like the way it coordinates with the green on the outside.

I hope Katie uses these goodies in good health, always remembering me as she puts yet another used tissue into her pretty trash bag. Hehehe!

No I haven't fallen off the face off the earth as it has been rumored. Life has been extremely busy and I although I have been doing some sewing, I haven't had much to really show as of yet.

One recent trip we took was to our annual China travel group reunion. This year 9 families out of the 15 total in the group were able to attend. Seeing the girls together was wonderful, watching them maintain their connections to each others is priceless. Now each of the girls are truly starting to understand the meaning of their "China Sisters". This was just one of the group photos we captured, on Sunday morning at breakfast before everyone started their trips home. This time we lined them up by height. As you can see, Sunshine is on the far left. She is the 3rd oldest of the girls but the shortest. And the tall girl on the right? She is the 2nd youngest of them all.

School starts back up for my 2 the Wednesday after Labor Day as is tradition in these parts so I've been taking each of them out shopping for the needed new garb. Thankfully I ordered Sunshine's uniform shirts and skorts a few weeks back and the shirts are currently getting the required school name embroidery done.

Of course along with the new clothes is the need for school supplies and I'm happy to say that neither kid's list was bad this year and everything is purchased and ready to be delivered to their classrooms during the "Meet the teacher" events this coming week.

We have been working on other projects around the house. We've finally painted the new bookshelves that hubs is permanently installing today in the playroom/future library. I love the pop of blue pain on the back. We still need to paint all the shelves and the doors for the bottom part but that will be easier without these big things taking up so much space in the basement. I'm now on the hunt for the perfect blue and white curtains for this room to give it the punch of color it so desperately needs.

This morning Sunshine was all about making rubber band bracelets and this necklace.  She learned how to do it, without the loom, at summer camp yesterday and now she is planning on making a bracelet for each of her China sisters.

In the studio there has been some progress too. I've finished the projects for the It's A Sister Thing Swap and I was able to take the pictures this morning so it will get boxed up and sent on its way on Monday. I won't show you what I created until it is received but I will show you this little sneak peak.

I've also been adding to the pile of completed blocks for my leader/ender project.

Both kiddos were home sick on Monday and Tuesday so I wasn't able to work on much but eventually I was able to load Spellbound onto the frame and I got it quilted. Plus I even got the binding sewn onto the front. Now all that is left is the hand sewing onto the back and the label. Until it is 100% and I get some proper pictures, here is a little teaser.

Another recent completed top is the kids art quilt for Sunshine's school. After I finished piecing the blocks and showed it to them on the last day of school, they wanted to keep it up on the wall for a few weeks of summer camp. I picked it up after returning home from our vacation and got the final top row and the applique letters done and last night it got loaded on the frame. Once I get the tension right, this should quilt up fast. It has too.... I need it finished for the welcome back BBQ on Friday night.

And while I was away at the China group reunion, this box arrived.  Do you see where it came from?

It just might have something to do with this.

Yes it is a super secret project that I can't tell you about but trust me, it is going to be fabulous and Yes I will torment you in the coming weeks with a few sneak peaks until the big reveal in a few months. I'm just nice that way.

It seems like everyone else is regrouping after the end of their summer activities and the return to the school year schedule and I will soon too. Then the pedal will be to the metal carpet as I work toward completing many things on the list. Stay tuned.

Do you have a sister? Or two? Do you not have a sister and want one? I can help with that.

Sisters have unique relationships with each other and I'm thankfully every day for my 3 sisters who I cherish immensly. There isn't much that I don't ask their opinions about.

My sisters and I have a motto when it comes to things we do together or buy for each other.

"It's A Sister Thing"

Our mom, brother and hubbies understand that line and usually don't bother asking questions, because they'd probably never get it anyway!

To celebrate sisters, both those with whom we share blood ties and those of the heart, I'm hosting the 2014 version of last summer's It's A Sister Thing Swap.It is designed to have you become a "sister" to another quilter and hopefully along the way you'll become really great friends too.

This past week was filled with end of school year activities for the kidlets and some super fast sewing for me. I'm working on another kids art quilt but this one is for Sunshine's school by request of their art teacher just a few weeks ago. Though I still have one more row to add to the quilt top and the school's name to applique onto it, the rest of the top is done. Here is a sneak peak.

I wanted to have this part completed before the last day of school so that all of the kids could see it and find their own blocks in it. As I expected they were super excited when I unfolded it. The teachers hung it on the wall and they located the blocks made by each and every child. 

The school wanted to leave it up hanging on the wall for a couple of weeks, through the start of summer camp, so after that I will pick up back up and get it finished. When it is completed, it will hang permanently in the school's lobby for all to see when they enter. 

I also wanted to remind you that the deadline to join in on this year's It's A Sister Thing Swap is coming soon (Monday, June 30th) and you don't want to miss out on this fun Secret Santa type event. All of the info about the swap can be found here. You will have all summer to stalk your "sister" and to make 1 item for her. Last year I know of one "sister" that sent frequent small teasers to her "sister" before she sent the final package at the end of August. Of course I knew who the teasers were coming from but I didn't tell and the receiver was so tickled that her "sister" would make the swap so much fun.

So if you want to play along, make sure you read through the instructions carefully and then email memak8818@nycap.rr.com all your pertinent information. Then add the button to your blog and spread the word. The more the merrier! Like last year, this is going to be a blast.

We're you here last summer? If so you might remember the It's A Sister Thing Swap. Well so many of those that participated last time wanted to do it again so now is the time to open the sign ups for the

It's A Sister Thing Swap 2014!

This swap will run exactly the same as it did the 1st time. For all of my new readers, here is all the info:

Sisters have unique relationships that others can't understand. Sisters aren't just those who have the same parents, they are also those with whom we have the very closest connections of the heart. My daughter is lucky enough to have 14 sisters who are all the little girls who were in our China Travel group. Together they  share their unique stories of their journeys to their forever families.

I have 3 biological sisters myself and we are extremely close. I'm also very lucky to have my very bestest BFF who is as much a sister to me as the ones I grew up in the same house with. We share things with each other, the good and the bad, we borrow clothes from each other (if we can) and we never have a hard time telling each other if an outfit looks horrible on one of us. We shop together, we know each others' tastes and we laugh at each other A LOT.
You are never alone in this world as long as you have a Sister!

My sisters and I have a motto when it comes to things we do together or buy for each other.

"It's A Sister Thing"

To join in, email me:

*Your full name

*Your complete address

*Your phone number (just in case)

*Your blog address

*If you are willing to ship internationally Yes or No

I was lucky to be a Secret Pal to someone who is now a good friend and to receive packages from my Secret Pal while we waited the long years to bring our daughter home from China. I cherish the memories of the days the boxes to me arrived and think of her each time I see something she sent. I also remember all the fun I had shopping for just the perfect little goodies to send to the person that I was a Secret Pal too. To this day we still laugh about the crazy things I sent to her (like the multitudes of Mr. Potato Head theme accessory sets).

Those same feelings and memories are what I want to create here for you, both for the person that you will be a Secret Pal to and the person that will be your Secret Pal. I hope that your new motto will become

  

When I thought back, I didn't think that I accomplished as much as I did but when I hunted down the photos, I was pleasantly surprised.

1. Friends Together Forever, 2. Inspiring Grand Ideas-2013 teacher quilt, 3. Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin 2013, 4. It's a Sister Thing Swap-Weighted Pincushion Organizers, 5. Be My Valentine-Quilt U Be Mine Mini Mystery Round Robin, 6. Crimson Diamonds, 7. Guiding Creative Thinkers-2013 teacher quilt, 8. Hugs From Team Joey-A 100 Good Wishes quilt, 9. Ghastlie sewing machine cover 10. Tending Young Gardens-2013 teacher quilt, 11. Paisley's Wishes-A 100 Good Wishes quilt, 12. Nurturing Young Explorers-2013 teacher quilt, 13. Dots in the Wind 14. Kids Art/Chef Apron, 15. Where's the Lorax?

Not too bad overall for the year considering all the other things that I had going on. 2014 is going to be an even better year and I'm looking forward to lots more creative time to come.

I had planned on getting this post live before 2013 was over but I literally crashed last night really early. Oh well.

I want to share what I sent to my Secret Pal Judy who blogs over at Knotty Needle. Now that I know she received the box, I can reveal what I made for her.

She recently moved from North Carolina to Montana and it has been fun stalking her blog and learning about her adventures.

These are the goodies that I packed in her box.