Last year I took part in a fun Birthday Stitchers Swap. It basically meant on your birthday you received a surprise parcel full of handmade goodies and in return you send a parcel to someone for their birthday.

My partner’s birthday was at the end of December and so I thought I’d share what I made for her.

First of all in her mosaic of ideas she mentioned she would like a sewing caddy of some sort. So with this in mind I made a Sewing Date Traveler, you can get the pattern for free on the Robert Kauffman website here.

I couldn’t resist cutting into a Sarah Jane Unicorn panel, they were the perfect size for the pockets!

I am so pleased with the handles! The pattern was fabric ones but I just had to use this rainbow webbing that I bought from Sew Hot, it is a match made in heaven – right?

I thought some sewing themed fabric would be fun for the interior, and used Paper Dolls from Riley Blake.

For the zipper pocket I used 1 and a half inch scraps left from another project.

Even with squares so small there were still some fussy cutting!

Next up I made a medium sized Flora Supply case, and I couldn’t let the opportunity to make some clamshells pass me by!!

I chose a rainbow of pastels, mainly Japanese fabrics. I’m not going to lie, I did fall a little bit in love with these clamshells!

The case is made using foam, so for ease I hand quilted the clamshells first before adding the foam, I used a piece of linen as a stabiliser. I was debating using a pink thread for the hand quilting, but I like the pop the darker colour gives.

This is only the second case I have made and I was a little nervous, especially as it was for a gift for a very talented friend! The binding was a little fiddly this time round but I got there in the end.

I used a mix of Tilda for the zip pocket and some Atsuko Matsuyama, those strawberries have been in my stash for a while waiting for their perfect moment.

This little purse was one of the first things I made for this parcel, way back in the summer I think.

The butterfly pattern is Foundation Paper Piecing and I got the pattern from a copy of Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. Liberty seemed a lovely choice for a butterfly and what goes perfectly with Liberty? Linen of course!

I thought it be a nice little touch to make a bow for the gift wrapping, and embroidered a little bear gift tag. As soon as I saw the bear on Amy Sinibaldi’s website I knew I had to make one for my partner!

I included a little pin cushion made from more of those little scraps I had.

I made a mug rug with fabric from Christopher Thompson’s new line Winifred Rose for Riley Blake. I love the inspirational writing on it and thought my partner might like it on a desk or sewing table to keep her motivated and add a smile.

Here it is all together, including some little bought extras.

I had great fun putting this parcel together, especially as my partner is a lovely friend on Instagram. However I have made the decision this would be my last swap. As much as I love making and gifting things, I genuinely can’t cope with the stress of it. I really fret about what I have done, if it’s good enough and if are there enough extras. Even posting about this I am scrutinising it and worrying that I didn’t do enough. I won’t say never again, and maybe if the right swap came along I would join in but for now I am going to be sensible and try and reduce anxieties that I can control! They are supposed to be fun after all! Anybody else getting worried about swaps??