Hullo Autumn

Have I mentioned before how much I love Autumn? (And gourds?)


Yesterday I popped into the lovely posh toyshop on Gloucester Road to look for present inspiration for my niece, but ended up buying presents for myself, in the form of nine felt Autumn vegetables, to make a seasonal garland for my living room. I might even take down the paper snowflakes that have accidentally been up since last Winter (then I can make new ones this Winter, woop!) Seasonal decorations should not just be confined to Christmas, oh no.


In other news, I finished my patchwork quilt/duvet hybrid! The top is quilted, but it also has a extra back with poppers to put a duvet in, so it can be a duvet cover, or go on its own on top of the bed, clever huh? I finished it at just the right time, when it's suddenly very much AUTUMN. It's really great Autumn weather, golden sunshine and chilly nights - I think the fornight before clocks changing is one of my favourites, not yet having given into the ever-present dark of Winter, but feeling all cosy in my little flat with blankets and candles. Plus I've been rewatching Gilmore Girls from the very beginning, it's the perfect, cosy comforting Autumn viewing... I wish there was Apple Day at St Werburghs this year, I've never felt so much like I could be living in Gilmore Girls at when I went to Apple Day...


Other than that the days have been filled with obsessive watching of Mad Men, Uno paying, baking crumble, parties with bonfires, listening to Nancy Sinatra and planning sewin projects. I keep meaning to do a separate sewing post, but I know I'll never get round to it so I'll squeeze it in here, after finishing this post I'm going to cut out this vintage Maudella dress pattern in lovely bright blue gabardine from John Lewis haberdashery, ooh!

I also got this pattern on Ebay so I can start knocking up lots of lovely gingham shirts for George, my first men's pattern, I'm kind of excited.

Right, Sunday is slipping away and I've got pottering a plenty to do... For tonight's dinner I am planning an Autumnal treat of crepes filled with mushroom ragout... so ta-ra for now xx

Come on in my kitchen

A slight deviation from my usual blog topics and a post on one of my most favourite of things, home! Or, more specifically, kitchens...

Kitchens have always been my favourite room in the house, right from when I was very little, arranging the furniture in my dollshouse, to now, slowly taking over my the tiny kitchen in my little flat with all manner of vintage kitchen clutter.... Even when we were teenagers having a bad time in secondary school, me and my best friend Kim would phone each other up before school on blustery grey days to say "bring a tea bag", so we could spend breaktimes hiding out in the little pretend Food Technology kitchens at the top of the science block, drinking tea and watching all the cooler kids sneaking off up the lane to smoke.

This post was inspired by my second trip to Jacob's Antique Market in Cardiff, where I picked up the two Kathie Winkle dinner plates above (having given myself specific dinner plate purchasing limitations). There is just something about 60s and 70s kitchen things that make me feel all warm, the orangey-brown colours remind me of my friend Anna's kitchen when I was in primary school, tiny with a brown rayburn and brick tiles, my heart is so full of happy kitchen memories!

(illustration by Ruby Star Rising)

Actually I credit Anna's house for a lot of my favourite things today, it was the first place I was allowed to walk to on my own (being only a 5 minutes walk through a field thus avoiding any roads) and I used to stay there almost every weekend but it would always be a last minute thing - an invitation to stay for supper followed by me and Anna dragging piles of bedding (candy striped flannel sheets and floral duvets) out of the airing cupboard to make a bed on her floor... Such a safe and welcoming place, I hope if I ever have a family our home can be like that to other people's children. At the moment all my homey/mothering instincts are inflicted on people too tipsy to walk home and touring bands!

Anyways, a bit of a long post but I wanted to share some more pictures of kitchen inspiration.

My mum and dad's cat in the kitchen window of their first home

Kitchen inspiration from Design Sponge

From yesterday's Guardian Weekend magazine

I really want this print I saw at the V&A

Hornsea spice jars
I couldn't possibly do a post on kitchens without lovely pyrex

That's it for now, I have a post on quilts and vintage patterns in the making.. check back soon! Sarah x