frayed at the edge

A tale of three scones

 If you are being good and eating healthily, you might want to scroll down past the next four photos, and not torment yourself with so much delicious sconnage!  I got to eat all of this first scone, as I was on my own shopping in Alnwick on Monday, and popped in for a cuppa

 

then we shared this one yesterday, on our way up to Kelso (I was going to the hairdresser to have my gorgeous blondeness restored!)  I do like places that give us two plates when we are sharing

 

and isn't the vintage china lovely

 

after my hairdressing appointment, we went to Berwick, where we shared this really tasty cheese and red onion scone - and it was still warm from the oven!

 

this is my hairdresser Melissa's dog Jake

 

she was a bit worried about him, as he hasn't been eating well ....... he was looking very sorry for himself

 

this lorry was parked on the dockside this morning

 

you can see from the map (found on the internet) that it is a long way from home - 318 miles to be exact

 

 

unlike our last visit, when it was very windy, the sea was calm, as you can see from the reflection of the pilot boat

 

when we got home this afternoon, I nipped out to The Attic for a quick play on the Super Quilter.  My leaves might be random shapes, but my control of the speed and movement of the machine is getting better ......

 

........ although the leaf on the right started out on its top edge as a holly leaf, then went a bit awry on the bottom edge!

 

a little sneak peak of my new project for this month's 6&6 challenge

 

the forecast for Sunday isn't too bad, so hopefully we will get out for a walk.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

A new skill

Just before Christmas, the lovely Lucie gave me her Super Quilter, which she no longer used now that she has her longarm machine.  Fortunately she had the full instructions for setting up the frame.  At the weekend Malcolm did the technical bit, assembling the frame and clamping it to the tables

 

my sewing machine sits on the platform which runs back and forward and from side to side on the platform

 

then yesterday I loaded it up with backing fabric, wadding and a piece of red fabric to practise on - I thought I ought to familiarise myself with the workings before I attempted to quilt a proper quilt top

 

it is a somewhat odd way of working, as you are standing up, which makes it slightly awkward using the foot pedal.  At first I didn't have the machine running fast enough, resulting in large stitches

 

but with a bit of concentration on keeping the speed up, my stitching improved

 

oops, some big stitches crept in again, and that little jump in the line is where I stopped, and didn't manage to keep the machine stationary until the needle went down

 

I think I am going to have fun using the Super Quilter - thank you so much Lucie for giving it to me!

 

as usual for a Wednesday, I spent the day at The Quilt Shop.  I took my sewing in my new tin, which Malcolm bought for me yesterday

 

he didn't see the back of the tin because of the packaging  - everyone who saw the tin today had a good laugh when they saw the back!

 

I had taken some hexies with me to stitch

 

my hexies, on the left, are somewhat bigger than Sonia's!

 

at this time of year a lot of us are trying to eat healthily, and perhaps shed a few pounds, so I thought I would remind you of my advice.  First, you have to make sure you have 5 portions of fruit and veg each day.  Here are some helpful suggestions

blueberry muffin

carrot cake

raspberry pavlova

beetroot and chocolate cake

apple pie

strawberry cheesecake

lemon meringue pie

all washed down with a glass of wine, as it is, of course, made with grapes

 

when it comes to counting calories, remember

there are no calories in broken biscuits, as the calories fall out

there are no calories in a piece of chocolate given to you by a friend, as they are her calories

there are no calories in healthy foods (refer to the first list!)

 

disclaimer : the above advice has not been clinically tested and should not be taken seriously!!

A little bit chilly!

 Although we didn't have any snow over the weekend, it was decidedly chilly ........ just the weather to stay indoors and be busy.  I finished the baby quilt - it was a reasonably quick and easy make, as it is simply a printed panel

 

quilted with my favourite big lazy loopy meander

 

and backed with a soft and cuddly pink fleece, with unicorns

 

yesterday morning we headed over to Amble for a (chilly) walk.  If you need evidence of how cold it was, this is ice in the harbour!

 

this eider duck was swimming at a great rate of knots ........

 

...... to catch up with its friends

 

there was a great swarm of gulls round this boat, but as they were in constant motion they are just a blur in the photo

 

whereas this one posed beautifully for a photo!

 

this fishing boat looked all shiny and new at the front

 

but somewhat more rough and ready at the working end

 

Malcolm occasionally talks about buying a boat .....

 

....... his budget might just about run to one of these two!

 

of course we went for a cuppa (we needed to thaw out!)

 

it's a while since we had one of our famous two-scone lunches .... so we indulged in a delicious fruit scone with jam and cream

 

and a tasty cheese scone, which had been heated on the grill - and as we have half each, we don't feel too naughty!

 

back home, I retired to my Attic to get on with some Christmas projects.  You can't see the sewing yet, as it one of my 17 UFOs, but I can show you my little plaster cherubs, which were looking a bit sad

 

I popped them into a cardboard box to spray them - they look a funny colour here, but they did dry to a deep gold (OK, I admit I forgot to take a photo of them when they had dried)

 

next up was a polystyrene wreath and some soft brushed cotton fabrics from my stash

 

I ripped the fabric into strips, to give a rustic look

 

and tied them round the wreath

 

I found these cinnamon sticks in my stash of decorating bits and bobs

 

and put pins through the raffia binding, and then pushed them into the polystyrene

 

so far, so good ........

 

........ but even better with some little lights added

 

I saw this idea on Pinterest, but I didn't pin it, and I can't find it again to credit the original creator.  It was simple to create - the original on Pinterest was on a mirrored plate, but as I don't have one of those I used a wooden platter.  Take three different-sized wine glasses and fill them with little baubles.  Turn them upside down and place on your base, and stand a candle on top of each glass

 

and to finish, the big reveal of the Christmas tree!  I took this photo this afternoon ......

 

....... and this one this morning before it was quite light

 

 

It's beginning to .......

........ smell a lot like Christmas!  On Monday I baked the Christmas cake.  I don't do much baking, but I do always bake our cake.  First, I assembled all the ingredients - the fruit had been soaking in brandy for two days, and smelled wonderful.  When I got the packet of soft brown sugar out of the cupboard, I discovered that it had formed a rather solid lump, but fortunately I remembered a tip that someone gave me many years ago - put it into a container and cover it with damp kitchen paper, and it will soon soften and run freely again.  I think I have had my little cake book since the 80s!

 

after all those years of cutting up greaseproof paper to line the cake tin and slathering both it and the tin with butter - now I just use one of these paper liners

 

as I always make the same size of cake, I have highlighted the column of ingredients

 

I love my scales - I sat the bowl and the sieve on them, turned them on, and they were set at zero, ready for me to tip the flour into the sieve to weigh out the correct amount

 

I do have proper measuring spoons, but for the cake I always use this demitasse spoon, which may have fallen into my pocket many years ago on a Singapore Airlines' flight!

 

did I say I love my scales? They give me another easy way to weigh something - put the tub on the scales and remove the required amount

 

the cake ready to go in the oven - and here is another tip I was given many years ago - make a hole in the middle, and you will have a level top on the cake (and you get to lick the delicious cake mixture off your finger after you have made the hole!)

 

and while the cake was in the oven I had the less enjoyable job of washing up!

 

and here is the cake, ready to be wrapped up for the next two weeks, during which time I will feed it with brandy, before icing and decorating it

 

I also said I would tell you what I was up to in the Attic ...... I was quilting the night time snowman which I made when I taught the class at The Quilt Shop

 

the thread selected and the quilting gloves at the ready

 

all quilted and trimmed

 

the cushion cover assembled, just needing the binding hand stitched on the back, sitting on top of the cushion pad - amazingly I had one the right size

 

the new cushion on the couch with the original one - you may notice that the new snowman doesn't yet have any eyes ....... I can't find the small black buttons that I used on the first cushion - but I am sure I will find them soon!!

 

I'll be back on Friday with some more Christmas decorations, which are slowly appearing around the house!

Jumping up and down .......

......... and squealing with excitement!!  We were walking over the old bridge into Berwick this morning, when Malcolm spotted this little bird on a buttress.  We were so excited, as it is the first time that we have seen a kingfisher in real life rather than in a photo or on tv!

 

you would normally expect to see kingfishers sitting on a branch overhanging a river, so I don't know why it had chosen to sit on the bridge.  As we crept closer to get a better look, it flew off - but landed on the next buttress, which gave us a better view of the colour on its side

 

so, after all that excitement, let's have a bit of sewing!  When I was at The Quilt Shop on Wednesday, I was working on my Christmas Whimsy wallhanging.  Having added the prairie points and the binding, I auditioned little bits of bling to add to the blocks

 

as I knew I wouldn't have time to sew the bits on

 

I took a photo of each block

 

to remind me what to put where

 

it was good fun

 

going somewhat over the top

 

with the bling - and I still have more to add!

 

it's Friday, so of course that means a little foodie treat!  This is the Potting Shed

 

which is part of the Treehouse in Alnwick Gardens

 

where on Sunday we shared an excellent fruit scone with jam and clotted cream

 

then this morning we shared a tasty cheese and sun dried tomato scone in Café Crema

 

but just feast your eyes on the last two photos - and that's all I got to do, I didn't get to tuck into these delights!  We popped along to Nelson's in the village yesterday for a bite of lunch, and we were entertained by two of the ladies who work there setting up and taking photos for their website

 

so of course I asked if I could take photos too.  I also volunteered to pose eating the chocolate cake, but sadly they said no!

 

whether or not chocolate cake features on your menu, I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

The rest of our walk

On Friday, we had just reached the end of the beach.  We went up on to the promenade to walk back, where I spotted this little gate - I don't really know why it was there, as the fence was so low I could have stepped over it

 

we had a meander through the streets running behind the promenade - this old house has a fine collection of chimneys

 

there is a small park which we walked through

 

the lavender is still flowering

 

as is this pretty fuchsia

 

we were somewhat surprised to see these little points of spring bulbs peeping through the soil in a planter

 

a splendid gate in an unusual arched opening

 

we passed the old school

 

this tower would have had the school bell in it

 

walking back to the carpark with a bag full of driftwood and sea glass, the low sun gave us long legs - if only  I could have long legs for reaching the top shelves in the kitchen cupboards!

 

I took this photo early on Saturday morning.  It may look as if a meteorite is speeding to earth ........ but it is the sunrise reflected on a contrail

 

Malcolm bought this little bundle of Liberty fabrics for me on Friday

 

I shall need to design a special project for it, and not just add it to my stash!

 

I shall be back on Wednesday with a report on Malcolm's latest project in the house.

 

It may still be November .......

......... but it is all go for Christmas in the quilting world!  On Saturday we had the second part of the Christmas Whimsy workshop with Lucie.  This shows my blocks all cut to size and my sashings cut

 

here, we have Christine on the left and Karen on the right, with their interpretations of the pattern

 

then a little while later, Karen had added her outer border

 

this is Heather with her version - it's always amazing at workshops to see the variety of colours that people pick

 

at home on Sunday, I assembled my top ...... using a somewhat different layout from Lucie's original design

 

then yesterday, I quilted in the ditch round the blocks

 

next, I will trim the quilt and add prairie points before doing the binding.  Then the fun will start, adding lots of bling

 

at The Quilt Shop today, it was a busy Wednesday session.  Sonia had brought in her finished snowman cushion cover to show me - she is quite rightly delighted with it.

 

Hollie is going to turn this cute tractor block into a little wallhanging for her gorgeous little boy Gideon (although I did say she should have put yellow centres in the wheels, so it would look like my favourite John Deere tractors!)

 

Avril was finishing off this delightful crochet reindeer

 

I did try to keep it after I took the photos!

 

I took these last two photos on Saturday morning.  They aren't very clear as I was hiding behind the curtain, which was reflected on the window

 

as I tried to slowly move to get a better shot, you can see the sparrowhawk looking right at me!  It promptly picked up the carcass and flew off.  All that is left is a sad little pile of feathers.

Just for you .......

 There were some of you (you know who you are!) who thought that they were going to see handsome young men with rippling muscles when they saw the word Chippendale in Wednesday's title.  So to make up for your disappointment, here is such a young man - but I won't make you envious by also showing you the photo of the two of us with our arms round each other!

 

there was great excitement this afternoon when Malcolm's new shed arrived

 

the sun decorated it with a super shadow shot

 

the three windows will give him plenty of light.  The first job will be to build a large workbench across the back wall, where he can set up his big saws and his lathe

 

I have been doing a lot of sewing, but I can't show you until next week, when I do the next report on my progress on my  17UFOs.  But I can show you this - remember I put the top heart the wrong way up on the right hand block?  Well, I made another one with the heart the right way up, but I can't decide which one I prefer

 

when I was at the class with Lucie, I invested in this gadget to make yo-yos (or if you are old-fashioned like me, you will call them Suffolk puffs)

 

and this afternoon I made my first yo-yo with it,  It is a lot easier making yo-yos with it, so I may even invest in some other sizes 

 

I had looked and looked for this Sue Spargo book on my shelves, and in the end thought maybe I hadn't bought it after all.  But of course, as soon as I stopped looking for it, I found it when I was looking for something else!

 

I had already sorted out fabric and threads (and worked a sample)

 

and more threads and needles

 

and I bought these gorgeous pieces of woollen fabric when we were in Wales.  I gave them a hot wash to lightly felt them.  But I will have to wait until next year to make a start, as I have a lot of sewing to do over the last two months of this year!

 

when I was taking the photos of the shed this afternoon, a microlight flew over ..........

 

at the same time as a jet, far above it, but I couldn't get them in the one photo

 

and now, the Friday food!  Today we have a cheese and bacon scone, which was served with some onion chutney - delicious!!

 

we will be heading up to the flat tomorrow, so hopefully we will be out and about, walking on the beach!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

 

 

I thought it was an oops!

When I was putting clean sheets on the bed this morning, I noticed these strange marks

 

what had happened?  Had I perhaps splashed the sheet with bleach?  No, it was the sun shining through the net curtain and casting the opposite of a shadow!

 

I have been meaning to show you these tray cloths and table cloths for some time, and today I finally remembered.  The tray cloths were embroidered by my Granny (I only had one Granny, as my Mum was an orphan)

 

it is hard to believe, but the tray and table cloths are older than me!

 

when I was about five, Granny showed me the basics of embroidery

 

and I have been sewing ever since!

 

I had thought that Granny embroidered these white-on-white table cloths as well, but some years ago my Dad's cousin Margaret told me that they had been embroidered by Granny's sister, Great-aunt Jemima

 

a detail of the flowers

 

and a butterfly

 

this one is kept safely in a cupboard now

 

as it is very thin, and has a small hole

 

this one is different to the other two, with a straight hemmed edge

 

and a different style of embroidery

 

somewhere on my to-do list is a white-on-white embroidery!

 

this last cloth was made for my Mum by our next-door neighbour Mrs Quinn.  It is a simple square of muslin

 

with circles of chain stitch in the corners.  It was used to cover the table when it had food on it, ready for visitors arriving

 

of course, at the end of Friday posts, our thoughts turn to food.  On Monday morning, we popped into the new deli/coffee shop in Berwick.  I am sorry I didn't take a photo of the outside, but it was raining!

 

there are just a few tables downstairs, but a much bigger space upstairs.

 

 

hopefully the views from the windows

 

will be sunlit next time we are there!

 

as always, coffee for Malcolm and tea for me ....... and an excellent cheese scone

 

sadly, we had missed the filming, but this is a report in the local paper (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

as bad weather is forecast for the weekend, we are staying at home.  Malcolm is planning to turn a wine rack in the kitchen into a piece of bespoke furniture (I must remember to give him a camera to record the process!) and no doubt I will be sewing!  Have a great weekend, love Anne

On the road again!

I have been down the A1 to The Quilt Shop so often recently, I think my car could drive there on its own!  Today I took in the finished Funky Chickens wallhanging (which is even brighter than it looks in the photo!)

 

I kept the quilting simple, stitching in the ditch round the blocks, and a quick fmq round the chickens

 

and here it is, hanging up in the shop.  Several people have already signed up for the class, so hopefully now that the sample is on show, more people be interested

 

this snowman cushion is a hybrid.  Sonia made the background at the original class, but then decided she didn't like it (she subsequently made another one), so she gave it to Ros, who added the appliqué.  They are now going to give it to charity

 

Ros was working on this little baby quilt, which will also be going to charity

 

Christine did the first snowman workshop, but unfortunately missed the second one, so today was the first chance that we had to get together for her to do the appliqué.  Don't you just love the fabric she picked for his trousers, and his funky purple boots!

 

Moira was making blocks with the tiniest of scraps - I think they will eventually become a bag

 

we had a newcomer to our Wednesday Ladies group ....... I asked her if her name was spelt Lyn or Lynne (I do try to get names right, having spent a lifetime having my name misspelt).  No, she said, it is Lynn.  She had brought a bag of scraps to use up, prepping some pieces ready to hand stitch together

 

Sue has been taking part in a giveaway of Aurifil threads.  Having filled in a coupon in a magazine, I gave it to Sue, having made the required spend of £15 (not difficult to do in a quilt shop).  Sue sent off the coupon, and this pack of delicious threads arrived yesterday in the post

 

it is a rather wet and unpleasant evening, so Malcolm lit the fire ........ sitting by a roaring fire brings back memories of childhood for both of us.