Originally Posted by dsb38327
Suspecting she is a friend that enjoys the same passion you do; one of the things she will be excited about is sewing with you. I might set up my work space, put a work in progress out on my machine and set up her work space (her new machine and a small project.) Have her work on the small project for awhile on the gift machine but don't tell her yet. After she has used the machine and is telling you how easy it is to use, she loves it, is looking forward to upgrading hers, etc. then gift her the users manual wrapped maybe in fat quarters or something with a pretty bow and card. She will be thrilled.
This is my favorite idea. I think she might be overwhelmed with the gift at first and feel the need to reciprocate such a generous gift, but she probably won't be bringing anything like that for you and she might feel uncomfortable about it if you give it to her at first.
I really like this idea. For sure she's going to like sewing on a nice new machine and if you give a her a project to sew on it first (maybe have the same project for you to do in a different color), this wonderful gift will be better received.