Amazing pincushion package received!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! This amazing package from Spiced Coffee for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap! It has come all the way from Petaluma, California. I am so lucky!!

Not only the TWO amazing pincushions but also 3 huge pieces of fabric, home made pins and those incredible skull earrings! Thank you SO much Marilyn!

As I said in my previous post, this swap is a secret one, so everybody makes sure to list their likes and dislikes and/or makes a mosiac of favourite pincushions and inspirations. I had written that I like 'quirky' and 'slightly macabre' stuff, and my mosiac had a few skulls and also a pincushion shaped like 'Catrina' who has a big role to play in the Mexican holiday, El Dia de los Muertos (the day of the dead). So Marilyn based the whole thing around this and Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist.

When I saw her photo of the finished pincushions and fabric in the group pool I got so excited as (apart from loving the whole thing) I was reading a book called The Lacuna all about Frida Kahlo, and had heard for the first time about El Dia de los Muertos. The whole idea is really perfect for me as I have always had a big thing for slightly scary stuff and death. Growing up right next to a huge cremetorium in North London (where we used to go to play on a Sunday) probably contributed!

So Marilyn had got me spot on with these pincushions! And look at all the extras I got, these skull earrings are fantastic, and she made the fabulous pins herself. In fact maybe she made the earrings too!

And she was incredibly generous with the fabrics she sent. Look at this amazing Frida fabric! She sent me a whole half yard because she couldn't bear to cut it. I am going to have to think of something really special to use this for as I won't be able to bear cutting it either.
Marilyn has lots of great photos and information about El Dia de los Muertos on this Flickr set, if anybody is interested in learning more. Apparently the town she lives in celebrates this holiday in a big way. It sounds like great fun and a very healthy way of thinking about death.

So I would just like to say another big thank you to Marilyn for sending me such a perfect swap package . I really appreciate the effort she made to make this so personal for me!