# 56 - And Now Something From The Official Quilter

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

For doing this for us we are so thankful that you are going to be making the quilt.

We love the fabric too it is so great to have something very Australian

since we have some very Canadian fabric too.

Now we just need to get the very Chinese piece we have our eye on. Thanks again Auntie Jan.

# 55 - Whimsy Bugs

I think Grace is going to like this one it is so pretty.

Thank you so much to Dawn in Australia for this one.

Dawn is a really good friend of my Aunty Jan.

I have lots of memories of feeding the lorakeets at Dawns.

# 54 - More From Australia

My Mums cousin Betty sent this one for us to put in the quilt.

We are just over half way there now. Thank you so much for the fabric. Love the stripes.

# 53 - Currumbin Beach Fun

My Great Aunty Maree and Judy (Mums cousin) sent us this. We just got it in the mail yesterday. It is so bright and fun. Auntie Maree lives across the road from the beach and I have so many memories of visiting and walking over to the beach to play. We would also stay at Aunty Maree's house so we had lots of fun eating pikeletts too.

Thank you so much. We can't wait to bring Grace over to see you after China (we are saving like crazy).

# 52 - Reno

This fabulous material is from Eileen and Reno the dog. They are long time family friends. Reno is a Jack Russell just like the one on the fabric.

The boys love to play ball with Reno when I go over to do everyone's hair.

# 48, 49, 50, 51 - Something Special

Thank you goes to Mrs. Darby (one of my clients) for these four cute designs.

She brought in a few pieces and we narrowed it down to these four.

She has made quilts in the past for some babies and had used these ones in making them.

# 47 - A West Coast Image

My Auntie Barb sent this one and it is so representative of where she lives and where we are from. Thank you so much for this wonderful piece of fabric.

Are We Getting Closer?

CCAA Website and News:
There have been changes on the CCAA website. Files logged in to October 31, 2006 are in the matching room and files logged in to January 9, 2006 have been matched.

This is a little tidbit we just received today. It may not seem like much but believe me it is huge. The CCAA has processed 5 days worth of files in the last month and a half. At this rate we will be going within the year.

The Map

Where will Grace come from?

The Infamous "Matching Room"

This is what the "matching room" looks like, our files are some where in this room waiting to be matched with Grace.

# 46 - "It's A Small World"

My parents wanted to include this fabulous material it has the world on it and each continent has an animal on it. We love it! We are going to sew in a "Red Thread" linking China to Canada.

# 45 - Family Ties

Thank you so much to Irene and Lawrence for this special material that has been a part of so many family memories and occasions for so many years.

Thank you for being a part of our family and for including us into yours.

# 44 - Grace

This fabric is what we think represents Grace.

# 43 - The Zoo?

When the boy's and I went shopping for material we couldn't resist this one.

Seeing as we all love animals so much. Plus it reminds us of our trip to Calgary Zoo.

We will definitely be taking Grace with us next time we go.

Some Chinese Traditions

The Red Thread- "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - An ancient Chinese belief.

Ladybugs- Believed to be good luck in the adoption community. They say if you see a lady bug while you are waiting for your referral, it means that your referral is going to come very soon!



100 Good Wishes Quilt- To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the Northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei or "100 Good Wishes Quilt". It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy and good wishes from all the family and friends who donated a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. Waiting families often collect the wishes along with a sample of each fabric square into a scrapbook for their new child.

# 39, 40, 41 & 42 - Love Your Choices

These four pieces are from our dear friends Vanessa (1st one), Bryan (2nd one),

Lucas (3rd one) and Oscar (4th one).

We just love all the colours and that all four pieces represent them each so well.

Thanks Guys.

# 38 - Daffodils From Dorothy

The daffodils are from Dorothy, she loves them and when we see a daffodil we always think of her. Dorothy is a long time family friend and she is Marilla's grandma.

This material is also in a quilt that was made for her.

Thank you for sharing such beautiful material with us.

# 37 - For The 3 Of You

It has been in the boys room for years so we thought it very fitting that it also be in your quilt.

I have made curtains, covered a laundry hamper and made a stuffed elephant.

Now it will be passed on to you, in your quilt.

# 36 - Soft And Lovely

My cousin Gail sent this to us for your quilt.

I think it represents Gail so well both in colours and in the softness of the fabric.

Thank you Gail for this beautiful piece of fabric.

# 34 & 35 - Luke's Choice

I bet you didn't guess that these were Luke's picks. He decided on these two pieces because "so Grace will know me" in Luke's own words.

Luke is always talking about going to China and meeting you and telling everyone that he is going to be a big brother and Jacob is going to be a big, big brother.

# 32 & 33 - Jacob's Choice

Your big brother Jacob picked both if these because "it's me" as quoted by him.

He is really excited to go to China and meet you.

# 31 - Lucky Dragonflies

These lucky dragonflies are from our dear friends Jen, John, Amber and Rio.

This fabric is special to them and us because Jen decorated Amber's room with it.

Thanks Guys.

# 30 - On Walkabout

This is from Mummy.

I love Australian aboriginal art and I thought it would be nice to add it to your quilt. I bought it in Australia last year when Grandma and I were there. It also has feet on it. What more can I say when you start life with a foot name you always will have a foot fetish of some sort.

# 29 - Sweet Flowers

Muggins and Slick (part of the family) gave us this delicate floral.

Thank you Grace will love it.

# 28 - Sentimental Lily

Even though Uncle George didn't know that he sent this we thank him anyways.

We also thank Auntie Pat for this gorgeous lily that she cut out of her favorite shirt.

What a sacrifice. Thanks Auntie Pat.

# 27 - "Three Frogs A Leapin"

More Christmas fabric... love it. Thank you, long time family friends Judy and Tricia.

Thank you for the poem too.

# 26 - "The Cow Jumped Over The Moon"

Thank you to long time family friends Joan and Jodie.

We all love the cows jumping over the moon.

# 25 - Floral Bouquet

Ruth is a long time family friend I love the colours in this piece thank you so much.

# 23 & 24 - Cousins

The first piece is from big cousin Jade, this is the same material as her favorite nightie.

The second piece is from big cousin Danielle, this is from a favorite blanket that Auntie Wendy made.

Thanks Guys.

# 22 - From One Waiting Family To Another

This darling little Holly Hobie inspired material is from family friend Tish.

Tish and her family are also waiting for their little girl.

Thank you.

# 21 - From The Boys

This is from the "Boys". Need I say any more?

Thanks Jacob and Luke

# 20 - Gone To The Dogs

We chose this to represent our dogs. Grace is going to have lots of fun with Tip and Harley.

# 19 - Fabric With A Past

This fabric was part of a quilt that was given to Rev. Erb when she retired. Marion helped make the quilt and wanted us to have a piece of it in Grace's quilt.

Thank you to long time family friends Marion and Dave

# 18 - Who Built The Ark?

This great Noah fabric is from the James' family.

They are long time family friends on both sides of their family.

Thank you for your generosity.

# 15, 16, 17 - Nana's Material

Nana picked some material that had a lot of sayings and pictures on it so we chose three parts of it that were both beautiful and appropriate. Thank you Nana.

# 14 - Luke's Blankie

I made a blanket for Luke when he was a baby so we decided to put a piece of it in Grace's quilt.

# 11, 12, 13 - So Many Faces

Thank you to Donna, a long time friend of the family. She originally gave us the bears and told me about the other two pieces and I asked if she could pass them along too. I love all the cute little faces.