#60

The third of the state swap is from New Mexico. I love how colorful it is and it certainly makes me think of New Mexico! Thanks Lussier-Fox Family!

#59

This is the second of the state swap that I have received. It is such a cheery design with dogwood flowers all over it (I LOVE dogwood trees). This one represents the state of Virginia. Thanks Blair family!

#58

I've joined in on another group swap that I thought sounded fun. It's a state swap, so you contribute a fabric you think would represent the state you're from. We only had about 16 participants, though, so it won't be all 50, but that's okay. This one is from New Hampshire with lilacs being the state flower. I love the rich purples in it, very different from most of the fabrics I have so far! Thank you, Bowden family!

#55, #56, #57

While every contributor is special to me, this particular one will always hold a very special place in my heart. My dear friend Laura and I have shared almost 30 years of friendship. She was my very best friend while growing up and while we grew apart in high school, we both have continued to treasure the fun, silly, outrageous and downright hysterical memories that we shared in those first years of our childhood. She doesn't live close by any more, but her parents do, so when she comes to visit, I hop right in the car and make sure I see her at least for a little bit of time. And the wish she made for Ping Ping-- oh my, I had not a dry eye reading it. It was all about friendship and its deepest treasures. Thank you so much, Laura! I hope you know how much I also treasure you.

#50, #51, #52, #53, #54-- halfway there!!

This sweet collection is from our good friends the Ungers. I feel so blessed to have them live so close to us! S and I met in nursing school at Seattle University and then she moved away to the east coast for a while and we lost contact. She got married and moved back and, lucky us!, moved to a neighborhood that is about a 5 minute drive from our house. S tells me that the blue gingham is from her oldest son's "lovey" that was made for him as an infant, the yellow is from her youngest son's lovey (though it was actually green!) and the pink is from her daughter's lovey. The "words" fabric is from S and the John Deere is from her husband. I was going through all my fabrics yesterday and noticing that these simpler patterns are GREAT for calming down all my other busy fabrics. They are a wonderful addition! Thanks, Unger family!

#47, #48, #49

These three very important fabrics were given to me by LilyJoy's grandma and grandpa Johnson. The first, is grandpa's. He chose it because he thinks that snowflakes represent purity and that is what he wishes for our Ping. The second is grandma's and I think she knows that I'm really into this pink thing :). The third was chosen after grandma was given a bit of a hint as to what Lily's name was going to be!! Just right, I'd say! I love all the colors in it. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!

#46

This very simple yellow piece is from the Brenner Family. We met the Brenners when we were both pregnant with our first children. We were both in the same labor and birthing classes at the Hospital. I think it is so cool that we still keep in touch, now about 5 years later! Thanks so much, Brenner family!

#43, #44, #45

These three FUN fabrics are from our friends, Scott and Becca. My favorite is the blue sailor fabric-- I keep wanting to buy some more so I can sew Lily a cute little sailor dress. The sailor fabric is also very appropriate because Scott is in the Navy. They all three coordinate so well together, too!! Thanks, Becca and Scott!

#42

This beautiful fabric was given by LilyJoy's Auntie-- my sister (she prefers to be called "Auntie"). My sister has the most amazing ability with quilting. She makes art quilts that are stunning. I watched her use this particular fabric in one of her more recent quilts with a kind of Asian feel to it. It was the water upon which she appliqued some gorgeous water lilies sitting in the rain. Under the water, she added some koi fish. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it, but wow! Thanks, Kari!

#36

This very sweet, sparkly fabric was sent to us by Steve's Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim (I know, random that we both have an Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim!). Their explanation for their choice was this: "Hearts represent love. Our wish for you is to always be surrounded by love... A love we hope will always be rooted in your heart is the love of God. He loves you unconditionally and for always..." How much I agree with that!! Thanks, Jim and Nancy!

#35

This fun and very colorful square is from the Minyard Family, part of the shabby chic exchange. I love the colors in this one, very cheery! Thanks, Minyard Family!

#34

This lovely one was given to me by my daddy, Ping Ping's Papa. I love hearing stories about how intentional people are about the fabric that they choose. My dad had a list of a few requirements that had to be present in his fabric. There had to red, orange and chrysanthemums. He couldn't find exactly the last req, but he found one that was pretty close! It kind of reminds me of a dress that my mom made me when I was a very little girl. Thanks, pOp!

#33

This bright and bold piece is from the Fries family. If you look closely at it, you can see kind of a mosaic swirly pattern that is very fun! I feel very blessed to know the Fries'. They are one of those jewels that I stumbled upon when I got married and began to meld my friends with Steve's. The Mr. was Steve's best man in our wedding and has remained close with Steve since then and I have gotten to know the Mrs. better, especially after our kids were at the age that they could play together. God bless you and thank you, Fries family!

#32

This sweet fabric was given to me by my aunt Bonnie, who also happens to be my Godmother. She explained that this fabric has been quite a few places in its lifetime! She is also a quilter and included it in a doll quilt that she made for her two oldest granddaughters and in another quilt that she has laying on a guest bed in her house. What a special piece to include in Ping Ping's quilt. Thank you, Aunt Bonnie!

#31

This absolutely gorgeous piece was given to me by my good friend Anna and her family. I used to work with Anna at the UW Hospital when I was working as an RN. This gal is amazing! I swear she sent this within weeks of relocating her family halfway across the country-- I have no idea how she was so organized to do it all! I sincerely wish that Anna had not moved away as she was kind of an inspiration to me and my lack of knowledge of the Asian world as a whole. She basically grew up in Japan and married her high school sweetheart who is Chinese (she is caucasian). She has a HUGE heart for cultural diversity and actually based her master's degree on nursing diverse populations. She is a wealth of knowledge, not to mention a very fun person, and I hope to keep in close contact with her. Thank you Anna and family!

#29 and 30

These two were an unexpected surprise from someone that I have never met! My husband put out an email to his department and the SRO where he works decided to join us in wishing our Ping Ping well. I love the first one because it is so cheery and has sparkles :). The second she chose because her kids love pictures of the flag, appropriate since Ping Ping is becoming an American citizen. Thank you, Alana!

#26, 27, 28

These fun fabrics are from the family of Steve's cousin, Brad. His wife Rachel and their kids put together such a sweet package for Ping Ping that it made me cry! We are not very close, but their wishes just made the gap so much smaller. We are blessed to have family.
The first one is from Connor, who is, apparently, a big fan of the Huskies!! Neither Steve nor I attended UW, but I worked there for the five years of my nursing career before becoming a mom and staying at home, so it's kinda fun to add this one!
This fun princess/fairy fabric is from Ava. This one just makes me smile, it's so sparkly and girly!!
And finally, this is one that Rachel picked out because she loved the star print. It is very sweet. Rachel also told me that all of her kids had blankets based on the themes of each of these fabrics.
I also wanted to include the wish that they put together because it is so beautiful!

#25

Any guesses who this one is from?? If you keep in mind that Elmo, Bert and Ernie are very big with the 3 and under set, you may guess that this is from other big brother Timothy! Being only 2 1/2, he didn't have quite as clear of a picture of what he wanted to pick out as Samuel. I brought him to the "licensed character" fabric, thinking that it might help eliminate other choices. He had a very hard time choosing between the Tinker Bell, Dora, Diego and a few others. Choices! I narrowed it to 3 for him, though, and he settled on this one. It's pretty cute and is a fair representation of where we are right now.

#24

This is from my mom's other walking buddy, Margaret. She has been a friend of the family equally as long as Laurie and again has sacrificed her early morning hours of sleep for 20 years or so for the sake of a little exercise. The fabric is so pretty-- I really love the feminine and sweet little flowers. Thank you, Margaret!

#23

Well, this sort of has to be one of my favorites because it was chosen by one of my favorite people. This is from Ping Ping's oldest brother, Samuel! When I told Samuel that we were going to the fabric store to pick out some fabric for the quilt, he boldly walked into the store and declared, "I want some pirate fabric!" He was so sure that Ping Ping would just love pirate fabric (not to mention that he is very into pirates right now) and that was what it had to be, no discussion. So, I led him to the pirate fabric section and after nixing a few that were just too, um, shall we say, violent? (at one point, he yelled in a very loud voice in a very quiet store, "LOOK Mom! GUNS!!" I just cringed and said something like,"heh heh, yeah-- hey buddy, how about this one??") I allowed him the fun of a less bloody pirate print. Enjoy!

#21 and 22

These two are from one of my mom's best friends, Laurie. She has been a friend of our family for many, many years. In fact, she and my mom (and another friend... see the next post) have continued their crazy habit of waking up at 5 am to go walking around the neighborhood for exercise. I think they've done this for some 20 or so years now. I wish I was that dedicated!

The first one, I absolutely adore! I've always been a fan of the "bandanna" print and Laurie specifically chose this one in red for the luck it symbolizes in China. So cute.

And this one was from a shirt that belonged to Laurie's mom. It's a fun one because of its texture. Thank you so much, Laurie!

#20

This is from my aunt Nancy and uncle Jim. It is just perfect for them because they live only blocks from the beach on the Oregon coast! The colors are so bright and fun. Thank you Nancy and Jim!

#19

I'm so behind now that I've decided to make it easier on myself and just upload one photo per entry. Maybe then I'll be able to make some headway. In the meantime, it is SO FUN to be receiving these beautiful fabrics and wishes for Ping Ping! It truly does make the time go faster.

This one is from another gal on the 100 good wishes quilt board. She wanted to do an individual swap with me and I took her up on it! She had to privilege of traveling to China a while ago for her beautiful granddaughter. Thanks, Debbie!

I'm a little behind...

My apologies to those who have sent me some really fun fabrics. I have started cutting the pieces, I just haven't been very good about posting my news ones! Also, I just figured out (DUH!) that it is much easier to scan the fabric than to take pictures of it, so hopefully you will see a difference in the color...

This is from my dear sweet 92 year old grandma Nelson (known as GG [Great-Grandma] to all her great-grandchildren). She is a tower of strength and the woman won't stop praying for anything! She is so excited to meet little Ping Ping. She's been wishing for a girl for me for a long time :)

This one is from my other Grandma. I am so blessed to have two Grandmas that are so excited for us to be adopting our little girl. This piece is going to be a challenge to cut and use, but I'm up for a challenge! It has very sweet pictures of a little duck tending her garden.

This one is from my grandpa. Okay, if you knew my grandpa, you wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry looking at what he chose. I say this because he is not your cuddly, sweet old man-- he is quite the opposite. I LOVE it, though, because it shows a side that I have only observed a few times-- and they have all been around my boys. It is a very tender side, indeed.


This last one is from Gail Ludowise, a neighbor of my Grandma and Grandpa's. My grandparents have lived in the same neighborhood, in the same house for the past, probably 50 years. This neighbor has lived nearby for an equally long time and has been a friend of our family's since.

A few more Shabby Chics

I received a few more from the Shabby Chic swap. This has been a fun swap!

DC Shoap

The Bales Family

Shabby Chic Swap

I'm part of a 100 Good Wishes Quilt swap groups online. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing a swap with strangers at first, but I found a swap I was interested in and joined up! All of the folks in this particular quilt group are all adoptive families themselves, so I guess that is pretty special. The group has members from all over the world, but most of these came from the U.S. I'm still expecting a few more, but here is what I have so far! I should probably also copy the wishes that accompany these because they are all just beautiful.

The Harkness Family

The Blair Family

The Arturo Family

The Benty Family

Sweet bloggy friends!!

I've received about 5 new fabric squares from 1 local friend and 2 of my e-friends! Let me just say how much I appreciate all of my adoptive friends and e-friends. I cannot imagine what adoption must have been like before the age of the www! The support and encouragement through emails, comments, facebook and just generally reading other blogs is immense and so important. I believe any big step like this cries out for others in a similar situation. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you bloggy friends and everyone else who has stopped to give an encouraging word. (BTW, I apologize for the quality of the pictures... they don't do the colors in the fabrics justice!)



This one is from my very good friend and fellow adoptive parent, Noelle, who has been a huge local support during this process. She and her family welcomed their baby girl from Ethiopia at Christmastime in 2007. The fabric is a batik from a quilt that she did for her little one.







These three cute cute cute fabrics were sent by my bloggy friend, Tiffanie who welcomed her first adopted daughter from Taiwan in Sept 2008. Her family is still logged in to the NSN line for adoption from China. God bless her, I love reading her blog because of the honesty with which she writes. Check it out, I highly recommend it!



This last, but not least, one is from my bloggy friend, Elizabeth. I apologize profusely to her especially because the background color is horrible in the picture and looks nothing like the sweet fabric that it is in real life! Elizabeth has had a bumpy road already in her adoption from China and she's not even finished with her home study. However, she has such a great faith that I know she is going to be fine. I'm so glad to know her. She could definitely use some prayers.