Quilt Dad in anime!

Remember this picture?:

OK, we'll come back to that in a minute.

Back in November, the theme for the 6-12" Mini Quilt Swap was "words". My fast friend Sonja and I were both so indecisive about signing up for it that we missed the boat and partners were assigned without us. Well, we decided to pair up and swap with each other. And we also decided to waive the month-end deadline, make it through the holiday season, take our time and have fun with it.

Well, I received my package from Sonja this week and, boy, was it worth the wait!

First, the goodies:

Check out that package!! Let's take a closer look at what's in there.

First, for Mrs. Quilt Dad:

Some nautical fabrics and matching ribbon. Sonja's incredibly thoughtful note said "For Mrs. Quilt Dad ... May you always be inspired to sew. From one working momma to another." Kiely was touched!

Let's see ... what else was in there?

A ridiculously cute little robot, immediately claimed by my son ...

... some more goodies quickly snatched up by the kids ...

... two fat quarters folded origami-style and a beautiful flower pin made out of fabric ...

... flower elastics for my twin girls and other assorted gifts. Were we spoiled, or what??

And, oh yeah, there was a quilt in there, too! Wanna see it?

Sonja reimagined my funny-faced photo as a Japanese-style brush painting! Isn't this amazing?? I was truly blown away.

Sonja included tigers in the quilt's border, since I was born in the year of the tiger. And, she trimmed the photo with some three-dimensional piping.

The quilt is backed in a wonderfully intricate Asian print.

And here's the quilt's label. You'll notice that Sonja translates the Kanji characters on the front of the quilt ("John", "The King of Kindness", and "Artist Sonja"). How incredible is that? It's so thoughtful and so personal, and I am truly grateful.

Here's one final shot of the front of the quilt:

Sonja, thank you so much. I am so lucky to have gotten to know you and to be exposed to all of the great work that you do. Your creativity is always inspiring ... I hope this isn't the last time we have the opportunity to swap!