last but not least !

Today, though it wasn't really day eight,

the last presents were unpacked.

The first was a painted cardboard basket

(of which I showed a sneak peek ages ago)

that contained all the presents

but which was wrapped from the start !

The design and the beginning with a Neocolor crayon

Then I painted with white acrylic paint

one, two, three (and sometimes four) layers

to get a good white image.

Four sides ....... all year round

The last present took most of the time making ...

this little Birth Quilt

(48 cm   x  38 cm)

belongs to a series or three,

one for each of daughter's children

and for every one of them I chose a bird for the center section

The grebe is a wonderful bird that we often see in the water

next to our garden.

It is so cute to see the tiny ones get on to the back of the parent

so they can ride along safely when they're tired.

(the youngsters swimming around are of course the older sister and brother) 

Mom : isn't she a beauty ?!?

(YES, we think she is !)

I made this one because it is the Year of the Dragon

Above the dragon is written "roots  and  wings"

(which is written on every one of the three Birth quilts)

meaning :

give your children roots

so they know where they come from

ánd where they can always return to,

give your children wings

so they can fly out into the world and live their life.

There are some extra wings on the top

(and when you look closely you can even see a little bit of magic thread !)

The first Birth quilt ever,

for the oldest daughter

and the second one,

for the (now) middle one, the older son

Making these little quilts for the children was a lot of work

but worth every moment of it

a book ..... and the garden

In the present-shower there were four presents for every day.

One for each of the older children,

one for the mom and one for the baby.

Along with the soft dragon toy

went another homemade present :

a photo book

(yes , a bought one)

with a mandala for the new baby inside

I surrounded the baby with flowers of May that I choose from the garden.

For the hearts on the book cover I used "wonder under" (vliesofix)

and then machine stitched them on the background

here the finished book

*

Although I went into the garden to pick some flowers for the drawing

I didn't go there very often because of the cold spring weather.

But since little Jaïr is born

the sun has come out

and we are enjoying a very warm spring at last.

.....

And the garden ...

kind of exploded with flowers !

Today, though it was in fact too hot to work outside in the sun,

I removed all of the forget-me-nots

so the smal pinkish white alliums can take over

a beautiful card

Daughter, just like me, loves to draw.

This beautiful little card was made by her

for the newborn baby boy

(we are very proud of her !)

After some troubles with the printer company

it was finally ready to send

to family and friends

(and to you all)

*

This week, with a lot of baby and very little sleep at night,
there were a lot more little presents

for daughter's little family.

Some were homemade,
some "collected" during the time of the pregnancy.

For me it was fun gathering these presents 

and anticipating what they all would think of them.

This year being the "Year of the Dragon"

was inspiration for this :

a soft dragon toy

lots of tiny pieces for the head ...

... then the body ... and turning it inside out

(I hope Jaïr likes it too in some months time)

a stitched present

On that wonderful day of birth, last Friday,

we originally should have attended

my nephew's wedding ...

I started (rather late)

on a little stitched present for them

I chose  some colours  .....  and started weaving

For time's sake I did some machine stitching

(and wasn't very happy with the feel of it afterwards)

but I could start the stitching : hearts !

*

Of course we're still in adoration of the new little "wonder"

.....

Though breast feeding isn't an easy task

(even when it's the third time)

especially the nights are taking a lot of energy

but slowly things go better and better

A little bundle of joy !

May 18 2012 !!!

Yeaaaaah !

At last the long wait is over and I will be able

to slowly reveal all my secret projects :

since yesterday evening  19.20

we can proudly present our third grandchild

 the new born baby boy

JAÏR

I was there when he was born

and it was one of the most

wonderfull

amazing

unbelievable

 precious

moments of my life

Life is beautiful

*

During the maternity period, about eight days after childbirth,

there are little presents for the all the members

of daughter's little family 

some of them my secret projects !

I'll reveal them

day by day.

For the other two children I had found little heart shaped books

in which every visiter during this maternity period

could write some kind words.

This time I didn't find such a little book

not even after looking very hard for one

.....

The solution was :

making one myself

(ooooh : You Tube is a very good invention, you'll find anything you want !)

making the "inside"

and the "outside"

Ready for all the loving words and good wishes

for a  long, healthy and happy life !

paper, scissors, stone ... ?

Still waiting

but the last of my secret projects

is finally finished

(only a few stitches, but that can only be done later)

(these are only tiny sneak peeks)

Having done these, it's no wonder I could

continue on the next task,

a task Jude is asking for ...

After all the feathers that flew out to her from all over the world

for her Magic Feather Project

she now is ready to start with the vast project

of giving all these feathers a place in cloths

that Wendy Golden-Levitt will use in her work with children.

To balance the light feathers and the blue sky-fabric

she is in need of stones

No,

not real stones ofcourse

but stones made out of fabric !

( in needle-turned applique )

That's why I thought of the good old game

paper ... scissors ... stone

though here it will be :

cloth ... scissors ... stone !

It was really fun to do

and join Jude's stitching community again !

one made out of cotton, one of silk and the rest of silk velvet

(or what was left of that after using discharge paste)

*

After some wet and cold weeks

there finally is a bit of sunshine

(though that will not last long, I think)

Time for the garden !

A lot of green !

and bits of blue ...