birthday boy!

My little lion cub turned 5. I know it's cliche, but yesterday he was my sweet natured chubby toddler.... Sigh....

We made some bookmarks to go with his treats as a family effort. I did the cutting, my big boy punched in the names on my sewing machine (which happens to have an alphabet embroidery function on it) and my youngest was lying under my desk to work the pedal. After that they gave up and I finished them up. They are easy to make and quick! You can find a tutorial for them on my blog!

See you soon!

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Je vais te chanter la balade

la balade des gents heureux!

We went to France for a week together. We enjoyed the mild springlike weather, each-other and being outside after a cooped up winter! We did "adventurous" walks, city trips and a giant jigsaw with a 1000 pieces.

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Boys and beach - a love story

I love them both and they love each other

 

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family week

We've spent a week together being free together. Celebrating birthdays, being outside, cleaning house, undertaking small adventures, having some just be time. Tomorrow we will start our usual routine, but I have to take a deep breath to make myself face it. I could have easily done another week like this one. Even two. But after day 1, we will probably all be used to it again. Some pictures of our lovely week.

feeding the ducks near our house

A day in the zoo



We have made our first halloween pumpkin



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this weather is unbelievable

Eating ice creams in shorts in october, we enjoy every minute! Some happy pictures.

 

 

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Gym bag birthday gift

My niece asked for a new gym bag for her birthday. I have made one for her several years ago, but she needed a bigger one. You can find the old one here. She is a bigger girl now with bigger girls tastes. I tried a little more pursy - look using some fun bird fabric from Ikea.

I lined it with some red and white checker fabric. I didn't use fillers or batting, because both fabrics were pretty sturdy. A little pocket inside for deodorant, or hair ties.

Only one strap that I sewed on later in the folds on the side, to give it more of a purse look. I saw this method in this tutorial (on the bottom, the second variety).

And Fedde was painting on my sewing table but really wanted to be in the picture LOL. It looks more difficult than it was. You all should give bags a try!

See you soon!

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Big boys don't cry

And mine didn't even fall of his bike once when he tried it without training wheels the first time. I was totally amazed! He was such a proud little man. Breaking however is no his strong point, so we have to practice that some more!

We had a lovely weekend just the four of us in the sun enjoying the little things.

And some fabric arrived, from veritas and "de stoffenkraam"

Some "Stenzo" blenders

And look at those boats, perfect for the boat beach quilt!

See you soon!

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birthday boy

We had the party! And he got is own "tree house" and an I spy quilt to go with it!

His daddy and his aunt made him a "Buurman en Buurman" cake (neighbour and neighbour?) at his request.

And I finished the I spy quilt for him by handquilting it following the diamonds in multiple color threads. (also at his request, don't we spoil our youngest most do you think?) I bound it with a blue and white stripe and backed it with the hippo fabric I bought at Ikea a long time ago, some of his fathers old shirt and some elephants (from kokka I think). I love handquilting a small project like this in front of a good movie!

And the birthday boy himself to top it off!

My big big boy, sometimes I wish we could turn back time, just for a day!

See you soon!

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Presence - sugar block club

My handsome boy will be four next week. He has real presence. We were making some pictures for his invitation....

I cannot be mad at him for more than 5 minutes. Though this little stubborn one does not return this favor....

The presence (april) block looks like this, it was easy to make and I like the result!

And all four together so far, they look like the beginning of a lovely traditional sampler.

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big boys- explore

First of all my little lion cub went to practice pre-school for the first time today! He had great fun and so did his big brother, who could show him around. I thought starting preschool was a very emotional step for me with my eldest, but didn't suspect it feeling exactly the same the second time around. I stopped myself from deciding to take him home more than once on our way to school, thinking up things why he was still too small or too vulnerable to do this. He, on the other hand, did not have such scruples, he just said: bye mommie, see you later. And that was that. I am officially no longer a mom of any toddler....

That being said the block we made in the sugar block club this month had a very good name in the theme of this week: explore! For me and him that means exploring our new boundaries and opportunities, each in our own way! This block is partly paper pieced and partly traditionally pieced. I really enjoyed it! There is lots to see in this block!

So, now we have three! I think this will make a beautiful sampler.

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Old macdonald had a farm

That was the only theme song I could think of for the Farmers Wife quilt. There must be a better one for it, please help me think, otherwise I'll be singing this all day...

These nice little blocks catch my attention every time I come near my sewing space. Since I have been quite busy at work, that hasn't been much I'm afraid. So every time I just make one of these babies, to satisfy my sewing addiction.

Number 6 Big Dipper

Number 7 Birds in the Air (those triangles are so small!)

Number 7 Bouquet

And I did some baking with Fedde, some of it made it to the oven...

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Finished quilt top - family posing

I finished the top for Isabel's quilt! I really like the result. It's warm and friendly, but it has some boldness and character in it for sure. That would fit my sister in law just fine. I love having a person in mind when making something. Even though I don't over think what they will like or how it will fit with them, It just emerges while you create. Like they are sitting on your shoulder and give you whispered directions. I don't think I will add a border. I'm just waiting for some batting to arrive, so I can finish it in time for my first quarter goals!

We went out with my own and my both my sister's children. I always love to try and get them in the same picture. The weather was lovely, so I took my chances! Do you see a resemblance? The small ones on the left were born only a month apart. And I love the two little blond heads together. My big boy is always sweet and helps out with the small ones, though he is definitely to cool for these babies!

See you soon!

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Down the rabbit hole

I made another joining hands block, this time it was the Right hand of friendship block for Pam who asked for feminine colors and provided the background. It is a nice pattern and not to hard to do;

I promised the boys rabits in their new home. So now we have two new residents. Poepie and Snuffie. My boys are over the moon, they are so cute! (the rabbits and the boys of course)

See you soon with some plans for the new year!


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hohoho merry christmas!

Getting ready for Christmas. The boys needed new bow ties for their christmass festivities at school, at least I thought so! I've used some more sturdy fabric than last time. This was left over from some shorts I made once. I've made them before and browsed pinterest for tutorials. I didn't use one especially, but there are lots! They're easy to make and really rewarding! I use a velcro closing.

 

And I received the fabric I ordered at fatquartershop.com on black Friday! Yeah! How dou you like the mirror dots. They were on sale and I restocked!

Have a very mery christmas!Pin It