Date night

We are leaving baby H. with my parents and going to have dinner and a movie. A date night!!! And the fact that i haven't been to the movies in over a year (due to bedrest and then because of nursing the baby) makes it all the more special.

Everything is slowly coming together...

Quite nicely I might add.

Family and food and surprises

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Living in a catholic country where at least the younger generations aren't so religious after all, Christmas has become more and more about running around like crazy shopping for presents than about the birth of Jesus. I think i'm in the middle. I'm spiritual but not religious and I'm married to someone who is neither, so we don't embrace the original meaning of this holiday, but we love the family gathering, the typical food of the seaon, the antecipation and joy of exchanging gifts. Personally, I love the decorations too, and in my parents house this was always so under appreciated that now that i get to spend Christmas with my inlaws I finally found the Christmas decorations paradise. My MIL is so crazy about Christmas, every year she adds new decorations (notice the "add") and her house truly is a cozy home filled with lots and lots of loud people, it's the best!

This year, I ate from a tray in my lap on the sofa, my presents and my daughter's had to be brought to me and i needed help everytime i wanted to get up and basically go to the toilet (as I don't get up for anything else). So, this year, my three favourites - family, food and surprises (gifts) - were appreciated in a different, but nonetheless very special, way.

Last Christmas I was sad because I wasn't pregnant yet, this year I have my baby on the way and all I want is for her to come in her due time, instead of too early (Like the doctor predicted and warned me about), so I truly am happy and feel loved and blessed... by whoever, wherever, I don't care. I just feel what I actually do consider to be the spirit of the season. I'm as happy as can be!!!

Aurora*

I miss my grandmother. She died 15 years ago today and is still such a big influence on my mother and me. Now that a new female member of the family is on the way and we are busy knitting and sewing, she is constantly on our minds because if she was here my baby would have even lovelier things, because she would teach us and push us beyond our limited abilities... or she would make things herself :)
That's how gifted she was. A strong stubborn woman, a busy bee and home fairy, an obsessive cleaner who always smelled of bleech and the most perfect chubby grandmother one could ask for, so full of patience and joy (up until my grandfather died and the grief ultimately led to her death too).
She taught me how to read and write using recipes, she hanged all my drawings in the kitchen wall and made me fresh orange juice everyday for lunch. I still have a sweet tooth after meals and an utter dislike of cheese because of her. I still always thinks of her first when I say "grandmother", even though my father's mother was also a great woman and I had ten more years beside her.
But my grandmother Aurora was the real deal. If I had to choose just one person to see again in the after life it would be her. I wished so very bad that she had lived enough to meet my husband, see me in my wedding day and meet Helena in a few months...


* A female name with Latin origin, meaning the break of dawn, not used nowadays. Except for my sewing machine and Sleeping Beauty...

I hope my husband is ready for this...

A knitted quilt

This isn't the first time I have to stay in bed for a long time. I celebrated my 20th birthday eating from a tray in my lap after a knee surgery gone bad that left me temporarily paraplegic. A second surgery and many months of intense physical therapy later I started walking again, but during a dark time in my life I needed help with everything, I couldn't go to the toilet on my own or have a quiet simple shower. My parents (specially my mother) and my husband (then boyfriend) were by my side the whole time and I'm very thankful for that. I also met some amazing people and learnt lots of lessons in the process. So now that I'm in bed again I've caught myself looking back on those months and how I'm a better, stronger person for it. I KNOW that now that i'm older and expecting a child this bed rest thing is a piece of cake compared to that.

Anyway, this isn't meant to be a self-pity post, I just wanted to show you the patchwork blanket my mother and I knitted during those months. I was always so tired and in pain that knitting was pretty much all I felt like doing (can you believe that i didn't read a single book that whole time???) and she spent so many hours in the waiting room while I did my treatments that all the blue squares came to life pretty quickly.

Blue has always been my favourite colour and I have always loved patchwork, but at the time I didn't know a thing about sewing and quilting, so this was the closest thing I could come up with. When I got married we decided to add more squares to make it a king size "knitted quilt". It's hard for me to go back to this project, so my mother has been doing the recent squares.

We added a border, which is like a giant scarf, in nvy blue to match all the different blues of the "quilt top". In the back there is a lavander fabric that has some foam stiched to it (I'm sory but Ii don't have pictures and it's the best way I find to describe it) which gives the idea of batting and quilting.

I love this blanket despite everything. I know that one day when my mother is no longer by my side this blanket will always remind me of her. The way the smell of bleech reminds me of my grandmother Aurora (my mother's mother).

Progress on the baby front

My mother and I have been busy. I finished the bibs she started and knitted the yellow and the pink boots, she knitted the white and pink boots. The yellow boots will have matching scarf and hat. The cutest!!! But wait until you see the blanket she's knitting! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

A very special stroller quilt

(If you are here because of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, welcome! Please stop by more often and leave a comment. Here is my entry.)



Finally, I present you with the most special stroller quilt ever! My baby's obviously!!!



One thing you don't know about me is that I love naming everything, from dolls, to pets, to new recipes. I've decided to call this quilt "The Good News Quilt". I started it soon after knowing I was pregnant and because I didn't know if I was expecting a boy or a girl I wanted it to be colourful and gender-free. I meant to finish it before knowing the sex of the baby, so that then I would be free to start a crib quilt in blue or pink, depending. (That crib quilt is still just in my head, because I've unable to sit down at the sewing machine in these last weeks due to my pregancy complications.) Also, I wanted a bullet-proof quilt, that will be used outside, will get dirty, will be washed lots, and survives, hence the colours. And also, who can resist the simplicity of squares? No matter what i do, it's always my favourite design!



Cutting and piecing 300 squares of just 5 cm was quite time consuming but we have a portuguese saying that is: running because you like it doesn't make you tired. It's so true! I had lots of fun with this quilt.

I've talked about this quilt previously as a sort of the "making of" (at the time I didn't want to disclose who it was for), but here goes a detail of the flannel in the back and how I chose to quilt it, which was also opened for debate, but then I decided on straight lines every 3 squares, forming a 9 patch grid.
I know I said I wanted a quilt that could be either for boy or girl, but I used some squares in pink and actually the pale pink polka dot square you can see in this picture was what started the whole thing. I went through my scraps and this was one of the tiniest bits I found so I cut the rest of it in the same size. So I'm proud to say that this quilt is entirely made out of scraps I saved since I started quilting something like one year ago.



This was all done in a week I think, but then, as always, here came the binding... or the scary monster I should say. Well, this time around I knew I didn't need to hurry, so i really took my time and I've just finished this weekend, because this was something I could do from bed. I chose a solid yellow to match the quilting and because it popped out some of the quilt top colours.



As all pet owners already know, our dear furry friends always want to be in the picture so while taking these pictures my dog Sushi decided to appear (actually, it's my fault because that corner is his favourite place to be sunbathing and I was the one who went to take pictures there while he was gone, then he came back).
He is usually pretty shy but I have to show you these "backstage pictures" because it's just too cute to be true. Remember we are talking about a really small baby quilt, righ? And Sushi is quite big, he weighs 45 kg and measures 120 cm from head to butt (not counting the tail). But out of the blue he decided to lie down on the quilt. Yes, LIE DOWN really curled up like a ball. First he looked to both sides checking if anyone was watching and then slowly he did his thing. I was trying to guess what he would do, but he surprised even me! I laughed so much!!!

Motivos de força maior / Bigger than me

O que me tem impedido de actualizar mais o blog e até de costurar é na verdade uma coisa boa: estou (finalmente) grávida, mas é uma gravidez de alto risco que me obriga a estar de repouso absoluto na cama (tirando as aventuras no hospital, ja la vão quatro).
Espero ter boas notícias sobre mim e a minha muito desejada Helena, por agora resta-me fazer a minha parte para que ela venha ao mundo só lá para a primavera...

What's been keeping me away from the blog and the sewing machine is actually a good thing: I'm (finally) pregnant, but it's what the doctors call "a high risk pregnancy), which forces me to be in bedrest the whole time (except for my little adventures in the ER - four times already, and counting).
I hope to have good news soon about me and my much awaited Helena, for now I'll do my part to make sure she only arrives next spring...

I got a feeling...

The easiest crowd to please!

Sushi

O meu cão está a ficar velhote... Tirámo-lo da rua há dois anos, por isso não sabemos exactamente quantos anos tem, mas começo a ver alguns pêlos brancos no focinho. Eu AMO AMO AMO os meus cães!

My dog is getting old... We rescued him from the streets two years ago, so we don't know exactly how old he is, but I can see some grey hairs in this nose now... I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my dogs!!!

Back to life, back to reality!

As férias acabaram. Puff!!! O tempo passou num instante.
Mas pelo menos acabaram em grande. Ontem, mal os convidados para almoço* se foram embora, fui costurar. Fiz dois individuais usando só retalhos e agora só me falta quiltar. Têm de ficar prontos até 6ª à noite, que é quando me vou despedir do meu irmão antes de ele regressar ao Brasil, porque é suposto serem uma prendinha para o meu irmão e a minha nova cunhada (continuo a chamá-la de nova cunhada ao fim de 4 anos para distinguir da ex-cunhada, que só por acaso ainda é como uma irmã para mim).
Fotos em breve.
Hoje, o pensamento do dia é: "depressão pós-férias". Qualquer desculpa para uma depressão é bem-vinda por estas bandas hoje em dia.

*Em vez do habitual almoço de domingo a casa dos meus pais, a minha mãe insistiu em que eu fizesse um almoço em honra do meu irmão. Acreditem ou não, ela está tão feliz por ter o querido filhote por perto que foi a primeira vez que não só não encontrou nada de errado para criticar, como até fez elogios. Disse que a mesa estava bonita, que a comida estava boa e... pasmem... elogiou os meus cães! Sim, leram bem, a minha mãe e a Emma estiveram frente a frente e ambas sobreviveram!!! Há esperança!



Our holidays are over. Puff!!! Time flew by!
But the least it ended on a good note. Yesterday, as soon as my lunch guests* were out the door, I went upstairs to sew. I made two placemats with my scraps and now I just need to quilt them. I have to finish them by friday night, which is when I'll send my brother off to Brazil, because the placemats are supposed to be my present for him and my new sister-in-law (after 4 years I still call her my new sister-in-law to make the distinction between her and my old sister-in-law, who happens to still be like a sister to me).
Photos will follow soon.
Right now, the thought of the day is: "post-holidays depression". Lately any excuse for a depression is welcomed around here.

* Instead of our usual sunday lunch at my parents', my mother insisted on me throwing a lunch in honor of my brother. Believe it or not, she's so happy to have her favourite son around, that for the first time not only did she not find anything to critize, but she even made me some compliments. She said the table looked beautiful, the food was great and... shocker... she said my dogs were nice. Yes, you heard me right, my mother and Emma were face to face and they both survived. There is hope after all!!!

Família / Family

Ontem foi o aniversário da minha mãe.

A nossa relação não é muito fácil. Somos muitos diferentes, ela é uma pessoa particularmente complexa, com tendência a querer moldar-me muito à sua imagem, porque é isso que as pessoas fazem e pronto. Eu sei que não é por mal. Em contrapartida, sempre fui muito independente e até rebelde, quero ser como sou mesmo que não saiba muito bem o que isso é. Tenho imensos traços dela, claro, e noto isso cada vez mais com a idade.

Acho que a nossa relação melhorou muito quando estive doente. Talvez tenha sido a primeira vez que ambas baixámos as nossas defesas. Ela permitiu-se mostrar-se impotente, eu permiti-me admitir que precisava dela. Estar doente coincidiu (ou antecipou) o fim da minha adolescência e a partir daí tenho vindo cada vez mais a ver as coisas do ponto de vista dela, enquanto adulta. Acho que quando eu for mãe será outra vez um ponto de viragem. Ou nos aproximamos ainda mais, ou tornamo-nos estranhas por completo.

Fomos jantar fora e o único primo da parte da minha avó Aurora foi connosco. A mulher dele ficou em casa sob suspeita da gripe A... Durante o jantar falámos dos meus avós. Contámos histórias uns aos outros que eram só nossas. Ultimamente quando se fala neles mexe muito comigo, pois tenho medo de os esquecer. Afinal, ambos morreram quando eu era tão miúda. Mas mesmo que me esqueça dos pormenores a minha avó Aurora será sempre uma pessoa que me marcou.

E no fim do jantar o primo da minha mãe comentou que chegou a uma fase da vida em que decidiu deixar de ser diplomata, afastar-se das pessoas de quem não gosta e dizer o que sente àquelas de que gosta. E a minha mãe falou num email que tinha recebido sobre a importância do elogio que a tinha deixado a pensar nisso.

Por isso, em vez de falar na minha aula de hoje na Dotquilts ou nos progressos com as prendas de Natal, quis escrever sobre a minha família. Não é perfeita, longe disso, mas é a minha.



Yesterday was my mother's birthday.

We don't have an easy relationship, my mother and me. We are very different, she's a peculiar and complex person, with a strong tendency to shape me to her image, because that's just what people do. I know she doesn't mean any harm. On the other hand, I've always been very independent and rebel even, I want to be me even when I don't know exactly what that means. I'm a lot like her in some ways, of course, and I can tell that more and more as I grow older.

I think our relationship got a lot better when I was sick. That may have been the first time both of us lowered our weapons. She allowed herself to be powerless, I allowed myself to admit I needed her. Being sick happened to be (or brought with it) the end of my teenage years and since then I've been seing the world through her perspective, as an adult I mean. I think that when I become a mother myself it will be another turning point. It will either bring us further in synch or make us total strangers to one another.

We went out for dinner and the only cousing from my grandmother Aurora side of the family went along. His wife stayed at home because she might have H1N1... While there we talked about my grandparents and shared stories the others didn't know. Lately, whenever my grandparents come up in a conversation, I get all emotional, because I'm so scared to forget them. They died when I was so young. But even if I forget the details, I know my grandmother Aurora will always be someone with a great influence on me.

And by the end of the dinner, my mother's cousin said that he's come to a point in his life that he no longer cares about diplomacy, he wants to get away from the people he doesn't care about and tell the ones he does what he feels for them. Then my mother said she had read an email earlier that day about the importance of compliment and that had got her thinking.

So, instead of babbling about today's class at Dotquilts or the progress I'm making with the Christmas presents, I decided to write about my family. It's far from perfect, but it's the one I have.