Hi. My dearest friend is coming to stay with me next weekend. We only do this about once a year because of the distance between us, so that alone makes the visit special. This visit is especially exciting because I bought her a new very gently used Viking Husquvarna (sp?) Lily sewing machine and I'm going to surprise her! (She has been using a cheap problematic machine for years.) For months I've been trying to decide how to present it to her. I'm SOOOOO looking forward to seeing her face when she sees it. Any good ideas on how to give it to her? I truely agree that giving is more fun than receiving! :-D :idea: :?:

Aw, what a great friend you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would love to see her face too, she is going to be SO happy!

I would be tempted to find a small wall hanging kit and put it in the box(?) so your friend has a project she can start work on immediately. The machine itself deserves a big ribbon.

Maybe you could even give her the kit first and then surprise her with the be-ribboned machine when she says she didn't bring her old machine with her.

What a great and thoughtful friend you are :-)

If she will be staying in a spare room I would put in on the end table or even on the bed (light a piece of chocolate you find in some hotels).
Put a sign on it something to the effect of
"Sew glad you are here - Happy Quilting on your new machine!"

Add a small kit/project for her and you to work on together while she is there, or coupons for a shopping trip.

However you present it to her - enjoy your weekend!

I thought about making her a pincushion that looks something like a water lily and then giving it to her as a gift. After opening it, I could say "Oh, wait a minute. There is a second part to this lily present." Then I could bring it out.

Otherwise, I thought about setting it on my sewing table with a big wrapped box over it and then lifting off the box saying "Surprise!" I have the original packaging so I could just wrap it too.

Keep the ideas coming. I love them! You are all so creative.

What a lovely surprise for your friend. Add a small kit so she has something to work on to try out her new machine. Or you can make up some samples of pretty fabric for just testing out the stitches. Have fun.

You could wrap up a chain saw and say "wait - I think that's the wrong Husqvarna product" lol

What a giving friend you are! Keep a camera close by :)

Would love to be your friend, wow you're awesome!

You want to make sure you don't offend her (some people are sensitive to receiving large gifts). I'd let her know how much it means to YOU to have a friend like her and it would please YOU greatly if she accepted this gift as a token of that affection.

Great ideas for you, I particularly like Compulsive Quilter's suggestion. LOL

What a wonderful gift. You are a special person, it takes a big heart to care as much as you do. God bless you and your friend.

How about " I have something that you just have to read..." and then hand her an envelope with the manual in it. ;-)

Oh, yes. I like this idea a lot!

I like all of the ideas, but maybe the pincushion one the best!

What a generous friend you are. Maybe you could set it up in the room where she's staying. Include some sewing notions like pins, thimbles, snips, etc. Let us know what her reaction is. This should be so fun.

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.

What a nice idea to give someone a nice machine to work on.

I have given away my last machine and I don't think the person I gave it to even used it.

what a beautiful, lovely thing to do... put tears in my eyes...

tinks mom has a good idea, what an awesome freind you are...she is going to be so delighted...I wish I was fly on the wall when you surprise her, her face expression I am sure will be priceless...have fun...

What a wonderful gift. I love both of my Husqvarna machines. Enjoy the moment.

LOL...this is so funny!!!! I think this is what I would do.

Oh my what a nice thing to do for your friend. I so excited for you and her

How kind of you!! Please have your camera ready for the exciting moment. We would love to see her face!

You truly are a good friend and a good person. I love doing that sort of thing - helping people with things or giving them something they don't have. Wish I had lots of money and then I could do it more often!

a friend indeed!

Wow...you are definitely a good friend!

WOW - what a thoughtful gift! I'm sure no matter how you present it, she'll be thrilled!

She will be so excited. Give her a small kit to make and when she wonders how to sew it give her the big box. Please send pictures.

How wonderful of you.

What a great friend you are!

Me too!!

:thumbup:

Wrap the box with some pretty Quilting Fabric. In her card, include a gift certificate to a LWS or JoAnn.....then surprise her with the machine....What a great surprise and what fun. Have a family member take a photo of her being surprised....she will be telling everyone she knows about this wonderful gift.....that would be YOU!
D in TX

Let her sit and sew and then present it to her.

What about having a small project for each of you and let her "borrow" the lily and then when you are done tell her the machine is hers. I love doing surprises like that for people.

Marie M.

Follow up and let us know how the surprise goes.
Wish you had a camera so we could see her reaction. Ann in TN

What a lovely surprise for your friend and what a special person you are.

Photos! Photos! We want to see a photo of her with her new present!!! ;-)

How nice of you. I know she'll love it.

I like the idea of setting up a sewing space and small project for her and letting her sew with Lily unaware. Surely, if she's been dealing with a problematic machine, she will gush about how easy and fun it is to sew with this one and how she'd love to get one of her own. ;) I wouldn't wrap the manual, she might want to refer to it while working on the little project, but I WOULD wrap the empty box and give it to her after she's had some fun with HER new machine!