Our niece, the oldest in her generation, has just had a wonderful baby girl. Many of us were expecting a boy, so we're just thrilled! Our niece Cecily is the oldest child of the oldest child, and Cecily is also the oldest in her generation. And she has just given birth to the cutest baby girl, Zoe, who is now also the oldest in her generation. Did you follow all those oldests?
And of course, as a tried and tried true crafter and artist, dedicated to keeping the family crafts my mom taught me alive, I jumped on this happy circumstance! This baby just had to have the things my mom made for my boys, and more.
But I'm crossing family and cultural lines here. I was born and raised in the east coast. But my hubby's family is a Hawaii born and raised Chinese family. I'm melding the two. And after all, our country is a wonderful melting pot. So, I'm happily and creatively melting!
My mom made hundreds of Amish baby balls over the decades. Yes decades! They were always made from scraps of leftover cotton fabrics. My adult sons still have the ones she made for them, and they definitely treasure them. I knew I just couldn't let this tradition go with her passing. But the Amish baby ball I made for our niece's baby was done entirely in Hawaiian fabrics. Somehow, doing that baby ball in traditional quilter's cottons just seemed all wrong!
And then there were the receiving blankets, made from cotton flannel, with a hand-embroidered blanket stitch all around the edge. I still have the ones mom made for me to use with my boys.. And now our niece has ones I made for her. And I must admit, they look so cute with baby Zoe in them!
Stay tuned for the next part of this article. Our Zoe girl has me so excited to create girly things!
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