Double Duty Decor

Shortly after Olivia was born, my sis-in-love had mentioned getting letters to spell out her name to go over her crib. Of course, I took this as "Perfect opportunity to get crafty and surprise the new mama & papa with some decor for the little miss!"

So I took six 5"x5" canvases from JoAnn's and painted them each with a fun little pattern in colors that coordinated with her bedding. I let these little puppies dry, then took a dark brown/almost black paint (same color as the crib & other furniture in her room) and wrote her name on them, one letter per canvas.

Earlier this week they surprised me with this photo from Livy's 3month photo session. I guess my wall decor plays double duty as photo props!

Heaven is bringing its angel baby home

Today Heaven is taking an angel home. Sweet Amelia Grace's path is unfolding differently than we had all been hoping and praying, but she will be in a better place.

Amelia's family has been close with our family for as long as I can remember, her mom and my brother grew up together and Amelia's grandma and my mom were friends for even longer. Tori announced her pregnancy shortly after Brandin & Courtney announced there's, and the anticipation of a third generation of friends bustled.

Heart-breakingly, it was announced that Amelia had a heart defect and liquid on her lungs and probably wouldn't even make it full term. Amelia proved her doctors wrong and made her grand debut into this world January 13th and has been a fighter ever since.

Unfortunately, diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome and a life-threatening heart defect, it has been no easy feat. Her short life has had it's fair share of high's and low's, and as we learned last night, God has different plans for her than we all had hoped. I ask that today you keep Amelia and her family in your thoughts, and pray that she has a painless return back up to Heaven where she may watch over all of us.

Sweet Amelia Grace, you have taught us more about miracles in your short time than we may have ever learned without you!

(A side note I wanted to mention that struck me as interesting - Amelia was born 1/13 at 2:22, my niece Olivia was born 2/22 at 1:13. I take this as a sign that this precious baby will forever be watching over my niece and keeping her in good hands!)

All around the world

If you ever visit my blog outside of GoogleReader, you've probably noticed those little icon's on the right side of my page that relate to sewing. See the one that says Fussy Cut Bee? Well, that little icon has been getting me all kinds of excited lately!

Let me give you the one paragraph explanation of a quilting bee. Basically, there are 12 people from all over the states (sometimes out of the country) and each person gets a month. When it's your month you send out fabric to the other 11 and they will sew you a block or two and send it back. Then you can sew them into a quilt, make pillows, do whatever you want with them. Comprende? 

 Well May is my month, so the end of April I sent out a little bit of these fabrics to the other 11 people. One package even went all the way to London. This quilt I had seen online was the inspiration (created by Alissa)

 And I'm starting to get blocks back in the mail. I am in LOVE with them, and can't wait until I get enough to put it all together! Here are a few that my lovely bee members have created for me

Aren't they gorgeous!? The first two were made by Jane over at Fancy Two she has two adorable little girls that keep her busy! The other four (I know, FOUR, wow! Thank you!!) were made by Lynette, you can visit her Etsy store here. Two very talented ladies! I will be sure to share once I get my blocks from all 11!

The modern quilting community is gaining quite a presence online... it's amazing how far quilting has come since the days of our grandma's and great grandma's! I urge those of you who aren't crafty to check it out next time you're in the market for a new blanket or baby gift, there's a lot of gorgeous handmade pieces all over Etsy!

Comment for a cure

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No matter if you are a compulsive commenter or you never post a peep on my blog... do me this one favor, visit Meandering Mom Shops and post a comment for the cure. For every comment posted BlogHer and KFC will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
So go, scoot, click your way on over, and pass this along! Let's see how quick we can help her meet her 1000th comment!

Now that's a bucketful of blessings!