Crafting - making a cushion cover Family Tree (ish)

I just wanted to show you this. I made a cushion!

(I know - that's one of the least thrilling statements of the year) 

A good friend of mine is going through the adoption process and welcomed their new daughter into their home a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to make something special to celebrate this. So I thought I'd make a simple family tree cushion.

Then I saw this Amy Butler Lark fabric upstairs and figured I'd go family-tree ish, but incorporate the flowers instead.

So this is the back:

This is the front. Obviously I cut out some of the flowers and leaves. 

Then I appliqued them on using very very close zig zag. 

I used the linen from the background to machine embroider their names (youngests name is hidden as they cannot disclose it legally), and I then added midnight blue piping (no you can't really see it in this photo) to finish before sewing it all up. It does have a zip.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I think she is too, although its always a gamble gifting something handmade. 

Next up, more bags (sneaky peak of current commission below)

My firstborn is 8 years old today!

Can you believe it. He is 8. My beautiful Joey is so grown up already. He got his bike yesterday which thankfully he's pleased with. It can be quite tricky getting him out of the house and away from the X-Box/PC/tablet, but once he's out there he loves it!

Joey had a very tricky start to life. He was an undiagnosed breech baby, and he basically got stuck on the way out. There was a high chance we'd lose him, and an even higher chance he'd sustained brain damage. That first week of his life, when his organs were failing and he was fitting - they kept him sedated and we didn't know how what was going on - that was not a good time.

He defeated the odds however, and look at him now. Life isn't always easy with my firstborn boy. He struggles with the world quite a lot. He's sad quite a lot. He thinks everyone is against him. But when he's happy - well look at that smile! 

He's more affectionate these days too - we never got many cuddles when he was little but now he's quite happy to be hugged. He is so bright, and he draws amazing cartoons. He is witty and imaginative and amazing. We love him just the way he is. 

Happy Birthday Joey.