Thankfully, it wasn't full of mysterious white powder

Last week, on a gorgeous beautiful ridiculously warm spring day, I skipped to my mailbox, because skipping is what you do on such a day, hoping to receive something fun rather than the electric bill.

Imagine my surprise when what I found was this package:

A little less wrinkled and for sure unopened, but interesting nonetheless. Plain brown paper bag wrapping reminiscent of 5th grade textbook covering night the first week of school, blockish printing, and return address the same as the recipient address. Clearly the message here was "I don't care if I put enough postage on here or not - she's getting it even if it arrives postage due."

With slight amounts of trepidation, I opened the package. I mean, when you are as famous as me, you never know who might be stalking you and sending you weird stuff in the mail.

In my dreams, anyway.

Inside, I found two items. This, which reads "This reminded me of you". Oooh. Spooky.

And this, which is an older book I am sure many of you own/have read/have at least heard of.

That's it. No note other than the ransom-note-esque veriegated thread wonderment on muslin. Repeated twice for emphasis, I might add. So either the sender believes I embrace dorky, or s/he thinks that like the author, Lisa Boyer, I am the "Erma Bombeck of quilting." Maybe a little of both.

So having determined that this was not a dangerous missive, I got out my oversized magnifying glass and cape and looked for clues as to who might have sent this. My conclusions:

1. Someone who feels they know me well enough to know that I will take dorky as a compliment any day.

2. Someone who read all 9 "Principles of Dorky Quiltmaking" on the front and back covers and saw me in each one, from "plan on cutting off about half of your star points" to "start with really bright colors" to "plan on running out of border fabric when you are 3/4 finished". I actually have a 2 minute bit about that last one in my PIO lecture. It's totally my MO every time.

3. Someone who knew I would not be insulted by any of that.

4. Someone who likes to use black marker.

5. Someone who used black marker only weeks ago when mailing me some KS blocks.

6. Someone who when using that black marker only weeks ago when mailing me some KS blocks wrote my address in exactly the same hand.

7. And for good measure, someone who snowbirds it in Bradenton FL, from where it was mailed.

Dianne VV, you can't fool me! Thank you for the lovely gift! I love being a dork with you.