frayed at the edge

I think we might lead a sheltered life .......

 as we got all excited today about going to ........ a different supermarket!!  Not only a different shop, but one in a another country (ok, England is only thirteen miles away!!).  As we approached the border (on the side road, before we joined the main road), there weren't any cars behind us, so Malcolm stopped the car, I opened the window, and took some quick photos of the hazy hills

 

 

Further down the road, the sky grew more dramatic

 

You are not supposed to shop on an empty stomach, so we thought it advisable to stop and have an early lunch .......simple, but delicious, poached eggs on toast

 

I love this blue and white china

 

So why the excitement over the supermarket trip ....... because it was to Waitrose, which are few and far between here.  It is a very posh supermarket, and we oohed and aahed over the wonderful choice (well, you know how much we love our food!)  We bought something special for tomorrow's dinner - I will have to remember to take photos before we eat it all!  Of course we didn't just go all that way to do a bit of supermarket shopping.  We also had a wander round the nearby garden centre, then called in at Kirkharle, to browse round the wonderful craft shops.  We bought a Christmas present that I can't tell you about, and after I remarked that I really liked some necklaces, Malcolm bought one for my Christmas - but I will have to wait to see which one he got!

 

Back home, I popped out to the studio to start on a new project.  I decided that instead of continuing with fmq samples, I would find something among my UFOs to quilt.  I found this ....

 

...... and this

 

I have to admit that these are ten years old!  I did them at a workshop with Cindy Walter.  It was the first workshop that I ever did at Houston - but I nearly didn't get to do it ........ first, the friend I was going with pulled out of our trip at the last minute, my flight to Paris was delayed by fog and I missed my connecting flight to Houston.  Having managed to get another flight - I got to Houston, but my luggage stayed in Paris for two days.  So of course, I didn't have my stuff for the workshop.  However when I explained to Cindy what had happened, she organised everyone to give me bits of fabric, gave me some of her steam-a-seam  and let me use her scissors.  The pieces were made by putting steam-a-seam on a selction of fabrics, then cutting them up in to little bits (remembering to take the backing paper off first!)  Then we arranged the little bits into the wreath and the tree and pressed them into place.  Simple but fun.

I have layered the tree ready to quilt, using lots of pins round the tree, as it was too much of a struggle to pin through it

 

The final thing I did was decide which thread to use.  Much as I love veariegated thread, I knew that it would be lost among all the busy fabrics, so I got out this set of threads with strong clear colours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bliss and blisser

It was exceedingly miserable this morning when I went to Kelso, to pick up my latest picture, which I bought from Gretel, from the framers.  I also did a little bit of Christmas shopping, then stopped in Jedburgh on the way home for a bit more shoppping ...... the rain had got steadily heavier, and this was the view through the windscreen when I parked

 

This isn't the best photo of the picture - I'll take a better one once it has been hung

 

Now for the bliss - I had seen recipes for limoncello on a couple of blogs recently, then I saw a recipe in a magazine, so yesterday I bought the ingredients .......

 

...... vodka, unwaxed lemons and caster sugar (it might seem extravagant buying Smirnoff vodka, but it was on special offer and was the same price as the supermarket own-brand).  The last ingredient needed was water.  Having dissolved the sugar in the water, I added the lemon peel and simmered it for 15 minutes

 

The next stage was to add the lemon juice (it's not a good time to discover that you have a papercut on your finger, when you are squeezing lemons) and simmer it for another five minutes.  Finally, I divided the syrup between two jars and topped them up with vodka.  All that remains to be done is to gently shake them every couple of days for the next two weeks, before straining and bottling the limoncello (if you are reading this Stuart, yes, there will be a bottle with your name on it under the Christmas tree!)

 

Now for the blisser - when I was looking through a food magazine last night I found a recipe for Turkish Delight vodka .   I thought I had reached vodka heaven when I had chocolate vodka years ago ........ but Turkish Delight vodka sounds even more delicious!!  Very simple ingredients for this ........

....... vodka, Turkish Delight and rosewater, which I bought this morning.  The recipe  also has caster sugar, saying that the sugar on the Turkish Delight should be rinsed off ....... but that seemed a bit daft, so I just shook the excess off before adding it to the vodka (you pour some out to make room) and popping in the rosewater through a little funnel

 

Now it just needs a little shake every day over the next two weeks, then it can be bottled.  The recipe says it will keep for a year ....... I doubt I will put that to the test!!

 

Oh dear - I've just read over what I had typed so far ........ I don't really drink that much vodka (I prefer wine), and I have certainlly never bought two bottles in two days before!!

 

It may have been miserable for most of the day, but finally the rain went off, and we even had a little bit of pink in the sky as the sun set!

All the fun of the fair!

On Saturday morning, Malcolm headed off into Hawick as usual and I packed all my goodies in the car and headed down the road the Southdean Village Hall.  There was a moment or two of panic when I saw the size of my table - how would I ever fit everything on it!  I wasn't the only one with that concern, but the idea of the organisers was to have lots of small tables to provide a wide variety, rather than just a few large tables.  Eventually most things were squeezed on

 

with the bargain basket on a chair in front of the table

 

Then I realised that the bunches of dried lavender were still in a poly bag - oops ...... so that meant another photo!

 

My friend Lorraine had the table next to me  - and she sensibly had brought an extra little table to add to the front to give her more display space for her wonderful, cakes, jam, chutneys, liqueuers ...

 

..... and her fabulous marzipan fruits

 

So how did it go?  Quite well ...... of course I would have liked to have sold more, but I did sell a reasonable amount (and then spent a large part of what I had made buying something for Malcolm's Christmas!)  There is still rather a lot in the bargain basket, but the rest of the stuff is now packed into one box (except for the painted pine cones - I only sold one packet of them!)

 

And I may just have bought something for myself ....... well, could you have resisted this!  It's only about two inches tall - I think I will put it in a little box frame

 

Yesterday we went to Melrose, as we had a voucher for free entry to Melrose Abbey.  You can read about the Abbey here and here.  Although there was a chilly wind, the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue.  Most of the photos will be appearing in future Shadow Shot Sundays, but here is a little taste

 

 

Back home, by the time I had tidied away the leftovers from the fair, I just had time to do a little bit of sewing.  You might have noticed that I didn't do my Farmer's Wife blocks last week, so I thought I had better get one done!

 

Then a quick fmq ....... a little bit of background filler

 

...... and back to basics with a little bit of stippling - I love this variegated thread

 

Now to the knitting update.  I have finished one sock .....

 

..... but haven't done the heel on the other one, as I knitted (yet) another pair of Cranford mitts.  I finished them on Friday morning, just in time to take them to patch'n'chat to give to my friend Jane - sorry, i forgot to take a photo!  I have also finally made a start to the Glimpse scarf.  Although it looks complicated, it is fairly simple to knit.  The blue edge at the top is the provisional cast-on.  This will be the centre of the scarf.  After knitting the first half, I'll pick up the stitches from the cast-on edge and knit the second half

 

To finish, two photos which I took on the way home yesterday.  The first one isn't too clear, as I was pointing the camera towards the sun .......

 

....... but in this second one you can see that it is a shepherdess, complete with crook and two sheepdogs!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

There were no shadows to be had today - it has been grey and miserable (but mild!).  Fortunately I bagged some shadows when we went for a walk along the River Tweed in Kelso last Sunday.  To see more shadows, do pop over to Hey Harriet.

 

 

 

 

no, this isn't our house, it's Floors Castle!

 

 

This last photo was taken later in the day - the sheep in the field behind the house are beautifully silhouetted against the sunset

Friday fun

Today has been a rather lean day for photos!  This first one is of a fabulous quilt top, made by the very talented Sandra ..... all her corners always match and her borders always lie flat!  (the colour isn't true, as the photo was taken under fluorescent lights, which tend to give a yellow hue)

Last week, Pam had asked about needle felting - so we had some fun playing with woolly bits this afternoon - and I was also prepping hexagons!

 

Some of you may have spotted the tin of chocolates - they weren't mine!!  Annette (the owner of Borderland Fabrics) had brought them in to share with us - I only had a couple as I was saving myself for the Friday afternoon cake.  This week's treat was one of Annette's lighter than air sponges - and even better, a chocolate sponge!

 

So that's it - a mere three photos ......... but I do have some good ones for tomorrow's Shadow Shot Sunday post (for new readers wondering why I post that on a Saturday, it's because SSS is hosted by the wonderful Tracy in Brisbane, so the meme starts mid-Saturday afternoon for us).

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - I am looking forward to spending the afternoon at the Christmas Fair - even more so as I will be coming home to one of Malcolm's wonderful fish pies!!  Love Anne

A sweet smelling gift

I made two more things for my sales table yesterday.  First, I made six bags using two remnants of beautiful Liberty fabrics

the rectangles measure 10" x 5"

 

stitch together and press the seam open

 

stitch, matching the centre seam, and press the seam open

 

Oops, I forgot to take a photo of the next stage ..... decide which is the lining fabric, and tuck the outer fabric inside and stitch across the bottom, then turn the bag right side out.  I decided to fill the bags with a mixture of lavender (from the garden) and rose petals (bought)

 

I cut pieces of cotton wadding to wrap round the filling - it gives a nicer appearance to the finished bags

 

All that was left to do was tie the tops with ribbons

 

I also made simple organza bags, folding a rectangle in half and sewing the side seams.  I popped some sets of bangles into them and tied them with gold cord

 

I spent quite a lot of time today putting tags on everything

 

Then I 'made' one last thing ....... I sprayed three lots of pine cones, with gold, silver and 'snow'

 

Once the paint was dry, I put them in bags and added labels.  Looking at all the stuff on the table, I think there is more than will fit on the small table I will have on Saturday!

 

Did you notice my mug ...... it says forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate!!

A good yarn

I picked up a bag of assorted balls of wool for a mere £2 in an antiques shop this morning.  There were several part balls, but there were also these full balls, still with their labels

I've never seen 'mothproofed' wool before!

 

I could use this pale yellow along with this .......

 

...... cream - it says on the side the wool is 'patonised' - I wonder what that means?

 

this one was produced just up the road in Galashiels

 

I wonder if this Disney wool is still available?

 

I've never heard of this brand!

 

I made some more things for the sales table this afternoon, which I will show you tomorrow.  I just had time at the end of the afternoon to have a very quick fmq practice ...... round spirals and square spirals

Gold!

I was heading round to the front garden this morning, to refill the bird feeders, when I saw a little bird sitting on the bin store

 

Oh dear - the camera was out in the studio, at the far end of the back garden. I ran to get it (well, walked very quickly!) and hurried back.  The little bird was still there, and sat there quite the thing as I crept closer .....

 

....... and closer - I looked at the little bird

 

and the little bird looked back at me

 

I went into the garden to take a photo from the other side ..... and it still sat there!

 

So what is this delightful little thing?

 

It's a goldcrest (probably a female).  According to my bird book, it is the smallest European bird, smaller even than a wren.  It is also described as being tame and approachable.  This is the first time I have seen one, so I am thrilled that I was able to get so close!

 

After that, the rest of the day was quite tame!  Lorraine, Tricia and Anne S. arrived for our regular get together.  After all the hard work getting things ready for the Fair on Saturday, I decided to have a day of playing with some fmq patterns.  Sorry, I forgot to take photos along the way (ok, I was too busy chatting!) but this is what I ended up with ...... a big sea anenome and two little ones, mussels, pebbles and seaweed

 

I then had a lot of fun just trying out different patterns.  This is a first attempt on a bit of scrap sandwich

 

This is the second, somewhat tidier, attempt

 

I concentrated hard on my spirals - they are gradually improving

 

I then did some squished spirals and another pattern which would be a good background filler

 

And finally ...... I just doodled

I have so much to tell you ......

....... that I don't know where to start!  So I guess it makes sense just to work through the weekend in chronological order.

On Saturday, Malcolm discovered that he had been given a 'foreign' coin, although at first glance it looks like one of ours - if you read the wording round the edge of the right-hand coin, you will see it is from New Zealand ........ perhaps we could go there on holiday to spend it!

 

 

Having finally received my slider, I lost no time in fitting it to my sewing machine.  It really does make a difference - the quilt sandwich moves much more easily under the needle

 

I also unearthed a different embroidery hoop to use.  As the hoop is used upside down, the screw for tightening the outer ring was on the bottom under the quilt sandwich, and would occasionally catch on the edge of the extension table.  Although the slider now covers the edge, I thought using this smooth plastic hoop would help too.

 

When browsing through the fmq patterns, this one caught my eye - mussels - which I thought went well with my sea anenome

 

I looked out the things I had made for previous fairs, and marked them down to half price - well, we all like a bargain, and I really don't want to have to bring it all home again!

 

The collection of new stuff is growing

 

Yesterday morning, we went to a craft and design fair in Kelso.  There were lots and lots of wonderful stalls, but as it was a much more formal sort of event than next week's fair, I didn't like to take photos.  However, when I was talking to one of the stallholders whom I know, she mentioned that she had forgotten to bring her camera to take photos of her stall.  I offered to take photos for her, and she was happy for me to share one with you (you can see more of Linda's work here)

 

We had a pleasant walk along the river - but the rest of the photos have been filed for a future Shadow Shot Sunday!

 

Back home, I stitched some more mussels, and tried a little filling of pebbles

 

Looking round the studio, I thought that perhaps it was time for a tidy-up!

 

I was threading string through holes with a large needle when this happened - oops!

 

After the delay in receiving the slider, I was pleased today when this parcel arrived within the one hour time-slot given on the delivery firm's tracking page

 

a little clue to the contents .......

 

...... no, not jam jars, but super bottles to put the sloe gin in (but I will be buying jars and labels and more bottles - there are all sorts of goodies on the website!)

 

The knitting update ...... another pair of Cranford mitts -I only started these on Friday night, and finished the second one at 10pm last night!  This pair is for my friend Cath

 

another pair of afterthought heel socks ...... just the heels to do.  You can see where I have picked up the stitches on one side, and started picking them up on the other

 

To finish, another silly photo!  Malcolm spotted this yesterday ....... but was the car really on top of the fishermen's hut?!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

It's that time of the week again, when shadow chasers from around the world congregate at Hey Harriet to show off their latest captures.  This week I have more shadows from our Sunday walk, which I shared with you last week