Presents for little nieces

With the boys still at home (it's summer holidays Down Under) and some work deadlines coming up, I haven't been able to sew much since we came back from our holidays, but I did make this balloon ball as a first birthday present for our little niece in Holland.



I used this pattern - it's a quick make and a good way to use up some scraps. Many years ago my boys got a balloon ball as a present and they still play with it. It's a great gift for littlies.



Here is the birthday girl, one year old now, with the Aussie Baby Quilt I made for her last year:



In August last year another niece was born in Holland - the daughter of DH's youngest sister (we have four nieces now! The boys are outnumbered). For her I also made an Aussie Baby Quilt, as I still had a lot of Aboriginal fabrics and I really liked the design:



This time I quilted it in a different way, with gum leaves in the squares. It looks very nice on the back:



I pieced the back together using some Australian fabrics:



The quilt can be found as a project in the Australian issue of Down Under Quilts, now on sale:



And here is the adorable recipient!