gift from abroad

When we walked in the door early yesterday afternoon,

Lily showed me a package.

Seeing it was from Allison,

my heart leaped a little,

and I told her to put it on my bed.

the texture! ahhh

When my fridges were stuffed full of milk and cheese and cream,

(we'd made a dairy run)

I hustled to my room.

I ripped open the package,

eager to see what Allison had made for me.

Then I ran and grabbed my phone

and snapped a quick picture

before opening the package inside the package.

Then
I read the sweet note she included,

before I carefully unfolded the paper

to reveal

one of the loveliest gifts anyone has ever made for me.

Y'all.

I cried.

There are, of course, exceptions,

but most of my in-real-life friends don't really 'get me'.

Or read this here blog.

And they are shocked

that perfect strangers would read it!

And yet, 

one of those 'perfect strangers' 

made me the most perfect gift.

It made me feel so valuable.

(Which is exactly what I attempt to do

whenever I make (or do) something for someone....)

Tyler reads all of my comments,

and he repeatedly tells me,

"Your quilting ladies get it."

Yes. Yes they do. :-)

Allison.

You nailed it!! ;-)

You so totally nailed it.

I love it!!!

Thank-you!

Even though this isn't my finish,

I'm linking up with Amanda Jean,

so everyone can see just how awesome my friend is :-)

(Just in case you've forgotten,
or never knew,

a few months ago, 

Allison and I decided to swap mini-minis.

Here is what I made for her,

and since I wasn't swapping mini minis with anyone else,

she wanted to take my mini mini to the next level, and make it practical)

mini mini quilt, turned into a needle notebook