Birthday gifts

Tomorrow is our daughter-in-law's birthday. We love her very much and my son tells me often that she loves the "cute things" I make for her. I heard through the grapevine that a tote I had made for her a couple years ago was starting to show signs of wear. She didn't want to tell me because she did not want me to feel bad but I was thrilled! I explained this meant it was a loved and well-used gift and I'm so happy it didn't just sit in a closet somewhere. It also gave me an idea for a birthday gift for her. I made her a tote from this free tutorial at Sew4Home. It was very quick and easy to make and I was able to pull everything from my stash. I did not embellish it the way the tutorial shows, but I am happy with how it turned out.

I thought she might need something to go inside, so I made a coordinating zipper pouch using some scraps and this tutorial. BOth projects ere simple and fun. The solid fabric in both is a piece of Essex linen I had had around for a couple of years. I have never sewn with linen before, but I really like it. I love how it presses up and I really like the texture it brings to these projects. I finished up her gift by adding a bag of Lindor chocolates - mmm!

Our son and his wife live up in the big city, so we drove up there last night, spent the night, went for breakfast, then came home today. It was a really nice outing. We told her to go ahead and open her gift while we were there and she is really pleased with them.

No long weekend this week - darn! Sure do enjoy those three-day weekends when we get them. Looking forward to another productive week at work and hopefully some happy time spent in the sewing room.

e.