Frambooske.quilty.things

Autumn is wrapping up.  The sky is frosty blue and the sun rays bright, but strangely cold.  The days have become too short and evenings are slow, dark and heavy with sleepiness.  There's quietness before the merriness of Christmas.  There's a little break.  I find a cosy, tiny cave; pull the blankets over my head and warm my feet on a soft, woolly sheepskin.  Warm, glowing and hibernating.  A bear guards the entrance, keeping a watchful eye and letting me sleep for as long needed. Time to pause and just be for a bit.

Claire's birthday came and went back in July .  I did warn her that my light bulb moment had come a bit late (after her birthday) and that it would take a little while to sort out.  She had seen O's 'all boy' quilt and Martha's play mat and liked them both.  So why it took my brain so long to put one and two together I don't know!  Eventually realising she'd love something that combined Cath Kidston fabrics with a cottagey feel I started looking for the right things.  So I had to confess it might be a while before she got her birthday present. It was such fun looking for fabrics, putting it all together and thinking of steering away from 'just' squares and coming up with something I hadn't tried before.  I love some of the designs on this blog and often have a little admiring look around.  One day I want to be able to make such gorgeous designs! Anyway, there's absolutely nothing wrong with squares, but I fancied ...

   

Still waiting for the precious August baby to arrive... So instead of working on that I got a little distracted.  Easily done when lots of parcels with beautiful fabrics arrived through the post.  One of the parcels had little bags with lavender in to keep the fabric fresh, genius and what a lovely touch!  Behold the chaos on my kitchen table a couple of hours later.  Right now I can't say much more about this project... The what, who and why will have to wait a little bit,... it's a surprise!  I'm really looking forward to sewing this together though.  Maybe not today, my head is spinning from the calculating, changing my mind and recalculating, double-checking.  And can you spy what I spy in the top left hand corner?  Oh yes :). De augustus baby laat nog even op zich wachten... Vandaag kwam er welkome afleiding.  Niet zo moeilijk als er plots enkele pakjes met nieuwe stofjes in de post toekomen.  Één van die pakjes had ook ...

My beautiful, big bottles for making Port.  Gifted to us by a stranger; someone who we met in the street and took our old kitchen table and chairs off us before we got to the charity shop.   I love Port and its sweet belly warming properties.  Autumn is just around the corner and once the green, unripe walnuts hang heavy in the trees it will be time to patiently start making this delicious treat. Brewing, stirring and soaking up the flavours for a good few months it will be ready just in time for Christmas.   I can't wait and might even share my mum's ambrosial recipe with you. Home sweet Home is an idea of  Barbaramama , you can find a list with all participants on her blog!

I love making presents for new babies.  I often wait until after the birth to choose the colours, the pattern and fabrics.  Often the gift isn't ready for a good few weeks after the announcement reaches our house.  This time it's a little bit different.  I've know for a while what this August baby is going to receive.  The fabrics were carefully selected last week - you would not believe how much time I can spend fabric shopping .  It is more or less finished, thanks to a sunny afternoon and Owen happily playing in the garden.  I sat down at the kitchen table with a cuppa, one eye on the garden and now most of this little gift is finished. I can't wait to hear what my husband's cousin is going to have - my money is on a girl, we shall see.  So, waiting (patiently?) for this August baby to be welcomed into the world and finish this off with some boy or girl detail!  To be continued! Ik maak graag iets voor baby's.  Meestal w...

This was still a work in progress at the weekend... A couple of weeks ago we heard the great news that one of our friends had given birth to a beautiful baby girl called Martha.  I love the name and I think it sounds very peaceful and warm.  So anyway, here is the playmat I made.  I've enjoyed every minute making it and declare it all finished and ready to post this morning! Have fun sleeping, looking, rolling and playing my little one! And the most fabulous thing about it is?  That it can be machine washed and tumble dried - how cool (and ultra-practical) is that!?

A pretty little tin bought on holiday last week in Lyme Regis.  Inside it are ten 'clothes plasters' or iron-on applications.  This is the boy's one; it has a rocket, tractor, dinosaur, robot, shark, plane and other fun boy designs.  Perfect to finish off my little man projects. So this week I made an apron for O.  At two and four months he loves stirring cookie dough and very much needs a 'boy apron'.  I made him one out of my old, much worn pair of pale blue jeans. Just one of the legs was enough fabric to make it.  I let O choose which 'plaster' he wanted on it.  He was adamant it had to be the red rocket.  Good choice. I'm always a bit weary of how well these iron-ons will stick to the fabric, but these are great!  Anyway, the little apron is all finished.  It now hangs over one of the chairs in the kitchen, very much rejected by a toddler who's refusing to wear it, hmm. Check out the other little tins with iron-ons ...

  These last couple of days have been so good: beach hut rainbows ~ secret beauty discovered ~ boardgames played ~ coastal paths, protected by nervous bulls ~ empty beaches ~ pebbles, sand and shingles ~ fresh air ~ sand dancing, blasting everything in its way ~ gale force winds ~ crashing waves ~ surfing thrill seekers ~ ice cream eating ~ a toddler who gave up naps, napped ~ cream teas ~ home-made strawberry jam ~ warm apple cake ~ souvenir shops ~ wine and laughter shared ~ memories to treasure.

I started this project quite a while back !  This week has been all about finishing things off: the quilt, now the zoo basket.  Tick, tick, tick! This is for a very close friend of my sister-in-law.  This friend now lives in the States and her first baby is due any minute!  Boy or girl?  We don't know, so I've tried to keep it colourfully gender neutral (I'm not a fan of beige and all its shades). Last time I made them for Lucas' first birthday  and I'm still loving this zoo basket pattern from Maggie, check out her Etsy shop!   She's got so many cute patterns - I want them all! Ik begon dit een hele tijd geleden !  Deze week worden er een heleboel dingen afgewerkt:  lapjesdeken, Zoomandje,... Er ligt altijd meer dan één projectje op mijn tafel. Dit mandje met dieren is voor een vriendin van mijn schoonzus.  Die vriendin woont nu in Amerika en is super-hoogzwanger!  Een jongen of een meisje?  We weten het n...

Mijn grote frustratie: slakken ~ met en zonder huisje, bruin, beige en feloranje, gestreept en gespikkeld, lang, dik, glanzend,... soms mini en soms monsterachtig groot.  De kippen laten ze liggen, ik kan ze geen ongelijk geven. We wonen bijna vier jaar in ons huis en elk jaar probeer ik, met gevarieerd succes, groentjes, fruit en kruiden in de tuin te groeien.  Ik ben echt nog een beginneling en het 'moestuin project' nog klein.  Elk jaar groei ik mooie plantjes maar zodra ze buiten in de volle grond staan gaat het mis.  De blaadjes worden opgepeuzeld door slijmerds en 't is gedaan met moestuin spelen. Veel plaats hebben we niet.  Dit jaar in de grond en potten: bonen, erwtjes, rabarber, aardbeien, kweekpeertjes, bieslook, basilicum, laurierblaadjes, rode pepers.  Misschien komt er ook nog wat rucola of zo bij. My big frustration: slugs and snails - brown, beige, bright orange, stripy and speckled, long, fat, shiny and slimy,... so...

Zo begon het meer dan een maand geleden...  Op een avond in april lag de keukentafel vol met kleurige lapjes stof.  Onze kleine jongen zou een grote jongen worden en bij dat grote bed hoorde een lapjesdeken (dacht de mama).  Nu slaapt hij nog steeds niet in dat bed, want dat is blijkbaar toch niet zo tof - maar zijn lapjesdeken is eindelijk af.  160 lapjes puur kleur en jongensdingen! Vanmorgen zette ik er rondomrond het boordje aan.  Eerst met de naaimachine en dan de achterkant met de hand - leve de laddersteek, dat werkt altijd toch mooi af!  De achterkant is Amerikaanse muslin (katoen), de vulling is 80% katoen 'batting'.  Het was eigenlijk bedrieglijk veel werk dat dekentje, zo'n simpel ding uit grootmoeders tijd.  De lapjes aan elkaar zetten vond ik nog therapeutisch, maar door alle drie de laagjes stikken was niet om te lachen.  Zonder mijn nieuwe wandelende voet lag het hele boeltje ergens in de kast voor de volgende x jaa...

There is some sand at Sand Bay.  I'm sure O would have appreciated us taking him to the sand, but he didn't know it was there.  Instead we left the bay behind us and walked up the steep steps to a path leading all the way 'in to the sea'.  I'm still amazed at the stamina my little man has, he's never been a 'buggy baby'.  It was a sunny and warm afternoon with an invigorating sea breeze clearing our heads.  The views just amazing, what a surprising and beautiful country this is.  At the top (or the end) we sat down for a bit, with a can of coke, just admiring the world around us.  What a way to spend a late afternoon - a mini holiday for the mind.  I love discovering these gems so near to us! On that walk I realised I really don't know enough about the wild flowers dotted along the path and growing between the rocks in the salty air and soil.  Some are probably just weeds, but who decides on whether s...

Sewing pattern from  here  - I love Etsy and its PDF patterns from all over the world - straight to your inbox and printer, then the fun begins! Patroontje komt van  hier - Etsy is super voor PDF patro ontjes, via email ontvangen en een keer alles geprint is kan de fun beginnen! If you have been following my blog for a while then you might have a little déja-vu.  Here is the same comfy jumper  once before : same pattern, but a whole size smaller and with a pocket.        Als je mijn blog al een tijdje volgt dan heb je misschien een déja-vu, want ja deze super comfy pull  maakte ik al eens.   Toen was hij een hele maat kleiner en naaide ik er nog een zakje op. And I do love my little boy in blue - turquoise, teal, royal blue, cornflower blue, ...  My little sweetie, who no longer wants to nap, has stopped sleeping through the night and shouts 'Ready, steady, gooooo!' at 4.30am. En ik zie mij...