frayed at the edge

A lack of support

I turned my back for two minutes ....... and look what happened to my hyacinths!!

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, Katy was showing off her miniature quilt.  The squares are just an inch, embellished with beads ......

 

....... and I love this tiny fussy cut bird

 

For our afternoon tea, we had Annette's delicious cupcakes, with a choice of toppings

 

Another batch of postcards (I think there will be one more after this)

Rattling On

Rattling On

 

Sarah

Sarah

 

Shandy

 

Caroline

 

Carol

 

Dee

 

Is it just me, or are you having trouble with the new word verification on Blogger blogs?  I have great trouble making out the obscured word ...... last night I made numerous attempts to leave comments and in the end I gave up!  I gather too that ocasionally word verification pops up when you are commenting here.  It shouldn't, as I have my preferences set for no word verification, so I'm sorry if you are annoyed by it (I have also encountered it occasionally on other Typepad blogs, so perhaps the blog owners don't know that it happens)  So if you don't get a comment from me, it's simply that I can't get past the dreaded word verification!

 

The weather forecast isn't very good for the weekend, so I think I will be spending a lot of time sewing.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love  Anne

 

Stop splashing!

This afternoon, instead of going out to the studio to sew, I stayed in the lounge, so that I could take some photos of the birds in the garden.  I was immediately rewarded with this lovely photo of the sparrow on the rim of the birdbath looking most disgruntled at being splashed!

 

This great tit was tucking into the peanuts .......

 

........ while the sparrow enjoyed the seeds

 

They were joined by a big fat pigeon

 

But the pigeon is small compared to the heron, which swooped in to land on the River Slitrig this morning .........

 

.....before stalking along the edge to look for a tasty fish

 

Some more postcards .......

Lisa

 

Mary Ann

Mary Ann

 

Pat

Pat

 

To finish, a silly photo .......

Stop standing on my head!!

Going down in a blaze of glory!

We were treated to the most amazing sunset last night, with the sky blazing with colour.  The photos don't really show the true depth of red, as the camera kept trying to add light!

 

 

 

At Abbey Quilters last night, we had the choice of three small proects to work on.  As a new member, I chose the name badge.  I was pleased with how the embroidery turned out, as I didn't mark it, I just did it freehand

 

Next to me, Mary and Katy were prepping pentagons to make balls for babies

 

This morning we headed up to Lauder for a walk before lunch.  I got sidetracked by the way these plants were growing in the cracks in an old wall

 

 

When I caught up with Malcolm, he pointed out these stones stuffed in to the cat flap in this garden door - I guess that's one way of keeping cats out of the garden!

 

We had intended to have lunch in the Flat Cat Gallery, but it was very busy and we couldn't get a table.  So we headed off for Stow (pronounced to rhyme with now).  The scenery was stunning (sorry, there are funny marks on some of the photos .... courtesy of the dirty windscreen!)

 

 

 

 We had lunch in The Cloudhouse.  Bacon, poached eggs and toast ...... sometimes simple food is the best!!

 

To end, the first of the photos of the post cards from the swap

Anairam

Anairam

 

Lynne

 

Linda

 

Aren't they all fabulous!!  More tomorrow.

In a fankle

Just a quick little post, as this is my evening at Abbey Quilters.  I have been prepping the last lot of circles for the quilt.  I used the template to mark the circle on the wrong side of the four-patch, then cut out it out

 

I then ran a gathering stitch round the edge, and gathered the fabric over a card circle

 

Once pressed, the circle is ready to sew in place

 

Last night, I finished the heart, except for the hanging loop

 

I have made a start to the third Blankit - it will have a little blue cottage in the middle

 

I was winding the first of the embroidery threads on to a card bobbin when ........ disaster!  A moment's inattention and I have ended up with a complete fankle!!

 

We quilted until we wilted!

As usual on Friday morning, I headed over to Borderland Fabrics for patch'n'chat ........ but this was no ordinary one - this was a "quilt till you wilt"!  We had our usual afternoon session, including the wonderful apple and sultana cake with our cuppa

 

We also had sweets to eat .......

 

........ brought by Ruth, who doesn't get to join us very often.  Here she is showing off the progress of her Grandmother's Flower Garden

 

At the end of the afternoon, most of us stayed on, and some others arrived to join us.  We settled down for some serious sewing, pausing only to enjoy a Chinese takeaway.  I had duck in black bean sauce with boiled rice - delicious!

 

Everyone enjoyed their meals - and the plastic containers were washed out and kept to be re-used!

 

As the evening wore on, people started to head for home ...... I lasted until eleven o'clock, but there were still several going strong when I left!!  I finished the little house

 

and did quite a bit more work on my hexagons - as you can see I have still to add in some on the left hand side

 

Yesterday morning I set off down the road to Chesters, to one of the regular Woolgatherings, organised by Lindsay, who is not only a talented crafter, but also a very good baker ......... the cake was absolutely delicious

 

Having finished the little house on Friday, I started on the next Blankit.    This one is a large heart, which will be stuffed and have a hanging loop attached to it

 

As I will be out tomorrow evening, we had our Valentine's dinner last night.  I wish I had remembered to take photos, as Malcolm excelled himself!  To start, we had coquilles st jacques, then pork tenderloin stuffed with haggis, wrapped in pancetta.  Later we enjoyed an excellent bottle of cava - it was a lovely romantic evening!!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

It has been a bit grey today, but fortunatley we have had lots of wonderful clear, sunny frosty days, so I have lots of shadow shots to share.  For more shadow fun, visit Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

These first photos were taken last Sunday in Melrose ......

 

 

 

...... then these ones were taken on Wednesday in Selkirk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why did it rain all day?

Because I had an appointment at the hairdressers!  I should have been there last week, but I had to change the appointment because we had visitors - who sent us this photo of the two of us in the churchyard (or should that be three of us - the "village idiot" is behind us)  (note to self - the tails of a long cardigan hanging down below a jacket is NOT a good look!!)

 

As I spend some time at the hairdressers getting my colour done, I always take a book to read.  Today's book might not be intellectually challenging, but it is very enjoyable - and obviously has lots of knitting in it!

 

When the post arrived this morning, I was a bit puzzled to receive a small parcel fromLynne, which contained a lovely card and something wrapped in tissue paper ........

 

....... a lovely crochet mat which Lynne had made for me in return for my knitting mitts for her

 

When I was in the chemists this morning, I spotted this bottle of my favourite bubble bath .... marked down to half price

 

Excellent, because my other bottle is almost finished

 

Do you like the cacti on the bathroom windowsill?

 

And did you notice that they are actually candles?!

 

I went to the jewellers on Monday to get a new battery put in my watch ...... but it wasn't the battery that wasn't working, it was the watch.  The jeweller told me that if I wanted it repaired he would have to send it away and that it would probably cost £50.  I said I would think about it - although I really like the watch it's a lot of money to spend on it.  I do have another watch, but it is a tiny, dainty, delicate one, not really suitable for everyday wear.  However Malcolm offered to lend me his old watch - he has very slim wrists, so it wouldn't be too big.  There was just one drawback - it needed a new battery!  All I have to do now is put the date right!

 

I have almost finished the little house - last night I added some embroidery

 

I think I have now received photos of  most of the postcards from the swap, so I must get them organised to share with you next week.

I won't be here tomorrow as I will be out until very late - I'll tell you all about it on Monday (although of course I'll be back as usual on Saturday with Shadow Shot Sunday).  So, a day early, I will wish you all a good weekend, Anne

 

A cold and frosty morning

We wrapped up warmly and headed to Selkirk to go for a walk at The Haining.  The paths tend to get very muddy, so it is best to go there when it is either frozen or dry!  The views are stunning ......

 

 

...... with the Sheriff Court standing out against the hills

 

There are several paths to follow, and today we headed for the one through the woods

 

The snowdrops were peeping through the dead leaves

 

I often mentioning looking up ....... which Malcolm did today, spotting first this

 

then this, which we decided is a large nest

 

The wind came up as we walked back to the car, making it very chilly indeed, so we were glad to go for some lunch to warm up.  We both had the corn beef stovies  (delicious!) ..... the photo looks a bit blurred, as the camera kept steaming up, coming in to the warm!

 

Back home, I got on with the quilt top.  When I mentioned yesterday that I had stitched the wrong two rows together, it didn't occur to me to say why!  The first row has circles on blocks 2, 4 and 6, so on the second row, they should be on blocks 1 ,3, 4 and 7. 

Having stitched sashing to the lower edge of each strip, I put them back on the wall to make sure that they were all correct

 

I then sewed strips one and two together, then strips three and four, and then sewed the first two to the second two (did you follow that?)  It is much more accurate to do it this way, rather than adding strip after strip, as the piece can become distorted

 

This stage is much slower to do, as I have to make sure that the blocks are aligned

 

To finish, two quite different, but equally appealing photos.  First, I just love how the little window is squeezed in next to the chimney

 

and second ....... all together now --aaaaah, isn't that the cutest little dog!

Just when it was all going well .......

I've been working hard on the quilt top, and this morning I finished the first phase of putting on the sashing, which gave me three piles sitting on the work table

 

Once I had sewn all the strips and pressed them, I put them up on the design wall,  except for one strip, which there wasn't room for

 

I then took the leftover strip, and the top one from the wall and stitched them together

 

oh no  ........ I had stitched two similar strips together, so then had to unpick them.  When I then went to put them in the correct order on the wall. I kept ending up with two similar squares together, and every time I changed them, I still couldn't get the arrangement correct.  In the end, I took the strips into the house and enlisted Malcolm's help.  Of course he at first said how could I have got them muddled, it was surely easy to put them in order - but he sooon found that it isn't as easy as it looks!  However we eventually sorted it all out, and the strips are now labelled, ready to be stitched together.

In the evenings, I have been working on the Blankit - it is looking good

 

It has been cold for the last few days, and we have had lots of birds visiting the garden

 

 

 

 

Sitting pretty

I have been doing more work on Cobweb - although as I wasn't happy with her wings, I ended up frogging them, and will knit a new set.  But she was quite happy to pose for photos ......

 

....... especially as she has lovely purple flowers in her hair!

 

Yesterday morning we went to Melrose for a walk along the river.  Although it was cold, with a little snow on the ground, it was bright, and it was good to get out and stretch my legs after spending rather a lot of time asleep on the couch last week!

Don't worry, Malcolm hasn't started carrying a manbag, it's my camera bag, and the other bag has the Sunday papers in it

 

It took several goes to capture this crow, as it kept turning its head

 

On the way back into town, in search of a hot drink, we came across these shaggy beauties

 

I enjoyed my hot chocolate, while Malcolm declared his americano to be excellent

 

The Post Office building in Melrose is very stylish .......

 

....... the ER over the door refers to Edward VII, not Queen Elizabeth, who is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee this year

 

I saw this little knitting sheep in a cake decorating shop window ........ if the shop had been open I think I would have bought it!

 

Another bit of fun to finish - someone in this furniture shop has come up with eye-catching signs!!