Clams and Mermaids

I am so grateful that I have been able to spend these beautiful days with my sister and her family. We have been enjoying ourselves so much. My sister and her new baby came home a few hours after delivery and we have been recovering, re-discovering, resting, reminiscing and adjusting. Mom, Dad and baby are doing very very well, and are extremely touched by all your prayers and wishes. As of course, am I.

:)

I have enjoyed many more walks with my niece Ariel, so Mama, Papa and Baby-sister can sleep in a bit.

And I have also enjoyed plenty of cuddly/burpy time with baby Orianthi. It seems that Tia Valita has a special Burpy-touch! ('Ori~Anthi' means beautiful flowers or mountian flowers in greek, which makes her proud Greek uncle very happy!)

~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I received a beautiful gift:

Our wonderful Ria from Treasure Quilts came to see me and take me away!

It was a wonderful break and I got to see her quilts in person...

Ria's 1/2" Hexi-flower garden...

OMGoodness!

We were giggling like crazy girls, in her car, parked under some lovely trees: gasping, ooh-ing and aah-ing, talking and sharing like we have known one another all our lives!

Ria's Leeanne's House... unbelievably rich colours!

Ria's Dear Jane...

and yes we did get passerby's

to stop to admire her work!

Later we hit the high-way in a wonderful mad dash to reach to this wonderful quilt-shop called De Naaidoos, the sewing box, a transformed centuries-old farmhouse in the midst of vast Dutch Country-side.

...and yes, we did leave our hard-earned euro's behind in exchange for textile delights...

Een Dag met een Gouden Randje!

A Happy Day!

Today our first Clam-shell Club report day...

Thank you, Jossie, for the inspiration and for getting us organized.

I am so excited to be sharing this project with so many Blog-sisters.

Considering the month is has been, I did not expect to have much to report today, but with the help of my lovely assistant I was able to cut out, baste (a few), and admire my Niece Ariel's, lay-outs. I truly cherished the beautiful start to this little project and

know it will be a very special quilt :

"Clams and Mermaids"

I finger-press my clam-shell's seam-allowance over my template, and baste them. Then I mark the centres of the clams with a pin, match-up and applique. I will let you know how this works out. I really don't mind if it goes a bit wonky because I intend this one to be a dolly-quilt.

I am so happy to have had all of you come with me on this Dutch adventure. Tomorrow is my last day, and I am very excited to see my boys again on friday.

pssss....Next monday, my Beloved has planned a week-long family get-away.

I get a feeling we are up for an adventure! ...so keep those virtual suitcases packed, girls!

Love, Always,

Valentina

While Mom and Dad go to the Hospital...

We go downtown!

Early this morning,

while Mom and Dad went to get Baby sister,

we went to see the flowers,

Listen to some dutch street pipe organ music...

Go to the Dutch candy Shop

to get some authentic 'Drop',

Dutch Licorice.

and have some fun with Tia Valita,

(that's how my niece calls me!)

and these are my 20 dutch Klosjes to report from this week

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and just as I am writing these last words, a little text message:

Baby is here!

:)

Thanks be to God,

Thank you for being here with me...

:)

The Bump, books and views from Groningen

Enjoying a sunny friday morning in Northern Holland

This Bump gets around! And how she loves being the centre of all this attention...

Thanks you, all your wishes and prayers mean so much.

Today we were about town again, enjoying the sunny weather, and trying to forget the heaviness and anxiety for a little while. Not easy being 10 days overdue...

I love good Bookstores and yesterday I had a chance to get lost in one, even if it was only half an hour... And I found a wonderful read.

"Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad"-- can't put it down...

The Martini-tower of Groningen

The flower market~ bicycles~

the canals~ finding nice little presents for the boys~ Tasty breaks ~ waiting for you, little one... We can't wait to meet you!

walking and waiting

Going for walks with my niece seems to be the most wonderful highlight of this trip so far. As we are still waiting for her baby sister, it feels like such a wonderful way of spending our time.

I cannot get over the vibrant greens, the water... and birdsong.

What nourishment for the soul...

Klosjes Saturday: From Holland with Love!

A quick update and a HUGE thank YOU!

Holland dressed in Orange for my arrival... Oh, not for me?

Oh yes, World Cup has Holland gripped in Orange Fever!

Hup, Holland, Hup!

:)

For all of those of you wondering and keeping my sis in your prayers:

No Baby, yet! She is back under the care of her midwife and we are patiently waiting for nature to take its course--

In the meantime we are making the best of our time together: resting, preparing and having fun.

My niece is so happy to have me around which puts my sis at ease.

Not much stitching going on. But I did manage to make a few Klosjes in the plane, using my handy dandy dental floss to cut threads!

:)

June's Strawberry Field, Hexi-flower, Charms and Mundial!

I am still home, but not for long as I am leaving for Holland tomorrow morning.

Baby girl still has not made her grand entrance, and even though my sister is anxious for her arrival she had to deal with other challenges. On friday she got a call that her 2 year old broke her leg at school. My stomach was turning all weekend thinking about it, and trying to come up with new adventures to share with her. To top it all off, Baby girl decided to flip and is now breech.

so what do I do? I pray, I keep busy, play with my boys( hugging them every chance I get), and stitch up rainbows of colour as we all enjoy the Mundial..

I know I don't need to ask you for your prayers, or that you keep us all in your heart.

I am sad to leave the boys behind as I will miss them, and that includes Mr Beloved. But I am also so grateful to be in a position to go and help.

I will attempt to keep you all 'in the know' as far as it is possible, and promise to take LOADS of pictures.

Thanks for caring,

Valentina

Update: I spoke to my sis this afternoon and the doctor managed to manually flip Baby Girl! Glory be to God!

And they are hoping to induce her on Friday morning, if Baby doesn't decide to beat them to it. In any case, this gives me time to arrive.

Thank you all so very very much!

V.

This is my Strawberry Fields quilt which I started hand-quilting. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I will be finish it before leaving, but I am so very pleased with how it turned out. Thank you Lori, I really enjoyed the whole process of quilting along with you!

If you want to see some beauties go here...

...and in case you are wondering, I am determined to stitch through this!!!

I have my Klosjes prepared, packed and ready... Can't wait to have a 'Klosjes Zaterdag' in The Netherlands!!!

:)

...and this is just one more hexi-flower I had to sneak in for One Flower Wednesday while doing last minute packing...

5 Flowers for Wednesday 's Garden Party

Hello my friends, and fellow gardeners, I am so happy to have taken a little time today to go and visit with you and see how your gardens grow...

How inspiring!

These are my little ones for this week...

I really like how they will look like when I stitch them together. I really get a happy nautical feel seeing them: my sea-side garden! I think they'll make a perfect addition for my boys' quilts.

I have been a bit overwhelmed this week: waiting for my sister's baby is a bit more stressful than I expected: I jump every time the phone rings, I keep preparing things and making lists for hubby for when I am gone, and I keep telling my boys how much I will miss them ( to the point I think I have started to scare them! OOOOPS!)

:)

Thank you for all the lovely Comments on last week's post. I know it was sappy, but I felt that I needed to express what is in my heart. And many of your comments reflected back to me that I am not the only one that feels this way. Thanks, it is nice to be able to say what needs to be said at least once in a while, :)

But now enough of 'touchy feelies' and let's get on with choosing a winner, shall we?

Drumroll please...

And with the help with our handy random number generator:

( who is now refusing to show the numbers... 1-73, random number 9!)

Enter a lower limit:
Enter an upper limit:
Random Number:

And that makes... Karen, our lovely winner!

Jippie!

And for those wondering how the rose-water was distilled... First you collect bucket-fulls of roses... preferably in the early morning...

You empty the buckets into the lower part of the distiller, and add spring-water...

You heat the bottom, and keep the top cool by replacing the top with fresh water, until you collect precious rose-water on the left...

and the perfume lingers and lingers...

:)

Congratulations to Karen!

and for everyone else, please rush over to Michele who is having a lovely give-away of her own,

Thanks Michele!

:)

Happy stitching!

Valentina