frayed at the edge

The Maureen show and tell ......

Maureen has been a very busy girl!  First, she had four quilt tops for Linus ....... this is the one I liked best

 

next, she had finished her redwork Santas

 

and finally ..... she has finished her multi-pocketed bag!

 

Margaret didn't want me to take a photo of her latest quilt, as it isn't finished ....... but after a little persuasion a lot of nagging, she let me take this photo

 

as always, Annette had baked a little tasty something for us to have with our afternoon cuppa ...... her light-as-air cupcakes (it was hard, but I managed to resist having a second one!)

 

when we were doing the housework this morning, Malcolm shouted for me to come through to the back lounge.  We had bought this bunch of pussy willow wands before Christmas

 

and this morning he noticed one of the wands has tiny leaves emerging!

 

tomorrow I'll be heading to Kelso for Abbey Quilters' 25th birthday party.  I will be taking a platter of sandwiches to share, and of course showing the others members how to make the love birds.  Sandra (the vice chairman) was decidedly unforthcoming about all the surprises she has organised for tomorrow - it promises to be a fun day!

I hope you too have a fun weekend, love Anne

 

Who would have thought .......

....... that if you put these two ingredients together

 

you would end up with sausages

 

we saw the sausages in a butcher's shop inn Hawick this morning, and as I like chillis, and of course grew up drinking (and still drink) Scotland's other national drink, I had to buy some!  Then I saw these haggis truffles (haggis wrapped in sausagemeat and a savoury coating), so I had to buy them too

 

then the butcher mentioned that he also had black pudding truffles

 

but don't worry that we are going to overindulge in these tasty treats!  I have popped them in the freezer ...... but I don't think it will be long before the lure of Irn Bru sausages is too much to resist.  I made one last purchase before escaping from all the temptation on offer.  We saw this book yesterday, but thought it a bit too dear - but there it was on the butcher's counter at a considerably lower price

 

the recipes look delicious, although I'm not so sure about this one!

 

but of course the best way to eat haggis is with neeps and tatties

 

this afternoon I finished the quilting on the second Linus quilt, but not without difficulty!  I only had four more rows to stitch on the outer border when the bobbin thread ran out (typical!).  I filled the bobbin, rethreaded the machine, started sewing ........ clonk, clonk, oops.  I threaded it again, took out and reinserted the bobbin.  More clonk etc.  I cleaned the machine - still clonk.  I changed the needle - yes, more clonk.  I did think of getting Malcolm to have a go, as when I can't get my laptop to do something, I give it to him, he does exactly what I was doing and it works!).   I fiddled and faffed ..... and it just started sewing properly again!!   You can't really see the quilting on the right side

 

it shows much better on the wrong side

It's in the bag!

Last night I picked up Maureen (you know her from patch'n'chat) and we headed off to Kelso for our evening at Abbey Quilters.  The first part of the evening was taken up with seeing what to do with the squares that we had made for the January meeting, which was of course cancelled because of snow.  The project was to make a multi-pocketed bag, but we only pinned the folds in place, as we need to do some machine stitching.  The first fold was on the diagonal

 

then we folded the point on the left over to the right

 

the point on the right over to the left .....

 

...... but then this point is manipulated to form another small pocket

 

my new apprentice Maureen held the bag open to show off the pockets - there will be seven of them when it is all sewn together (once I have finished the bag I will take some clearer photos)

 

the next item on the agenda was me!  I handed out the requirements list, explained the little bit of prep I want them to do before the meeting, and showed them the little wallhanging and some other samples that I had taken with me.  In a sign of the times, several ladies got out their mobile phones and asked if they could take photos, to help them with their fabric choices!

Then Caroline, on the right, helped by Sandra (as well as being our wonderful Linus Lady, she is also vice-chairman of the group) showed off the fabulous quilt that she will be teaching at a workshop in April (boo hoo, I can't go!!)

 

and then ....... Caroline produced a smaller quilt, which is made with the leftovers from the first one!

 

for the last part of the evening, we watched a DVD about stained glass patchwork ..... but I didn't take any photos!

This morning we headed to the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel for a financial seminar (thrilling stuff!!)  It is a beautiful old building

 

the first room we were in had beautiful faded old walllpaper with butterflies

 

the second room had another old wallpaper, which had me thinking of quilting patterns!

 

then, the reward for sitting through all the dry financial stuff ...... a delicious lunch!

In a rush!

I've just popped in for a quick post, as it's the Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting tonight.  There was still snow in the garden this morning, but the sun was shining, casting a strong shadow of the pergola

 

the tiny daffodils are still flowering, despite the freezing weather

 

in the studio, I was doing some more work on the textured applique wallhanging - I will be handing out the requirements list tonight, for my evening of showing how to do it next month

the flowers all stitched in place

 

some embroidery added

 

a cluster of French knots

 

an edging of French knots

 

a tendril

 

and to finish - some more sunshine.  The sun shining in through the Velux highlighted some of the photos on the wall

A special day!

Yesterday was Mother's Day,and the day got off to a good start when Malcolm brought me my orange juice and tea in bed.  I opened my card from Stuart, with this wonderful message .......

 

....... but of course, as Stuart has my strange weird wonderful sense of humour, that wasn't the whole message!

 

Malcolm took me to Milestone Garden Centre, for what was to be breakfast, but given the portions, turned out to be brunch!

 

and if you think that is a lot, let me lift the top of the roll, to let you see what's inside!

 

we were going to go for a walk after breakfast, but the sun had gone in, it was flighting snow, and the wind was bitterly cold ...... so we did the sensible thing and went home!  However, I did take some scenic photos on the way

 

back home Stuart phoned, and as we chatted, I could tell there was something bothering him.  Everntually he asked if I had checked my emails ......no, I hadn't.  As we spoke, I quickly looked at them, and found that he had sent me an Amazon gift voucher!  I'm not sure if he was worried that it had gone astray, or if I was just being ungrateful and not saying thankyou.  I shall, of course have no difficulty in spending it (thanks again, son!)  Also, as we chatted, it started to snow, and then snowed off and on for the rest of the afternoon, while I was busy in the studio

 

then this morning, we got up to find it had snowed in the night

 

I wonder if my car was warm under the blanket of snow!

And the winner is ........

I have enjoyed reading all the horrid things you have eaten!  It didn't take long to pick a winner ...... as soon as I read Tracy's comment, it shot to the top of the list.  But then you might like the sound of this and plan to make it for your dinner!!

 

The worst thing I've ever eaten is something called "scrapple," it's a Pennsylvania German traditional food where I come from in Pennsylvania in the US--it's basically a mush made of pork scraps (anything leftover from pig butchering basically) and cornmeal made into a loaf, which is then sliced and the slices are pan fried before eating. It is foul, nasty stuff and smells about as good as is sound... GAK!

 

Well done Tracy!  So, after that exciting start, a bit more sewing.  Another of the textured flowers for the applique wallhanging is made with a yoyo/suffolk puff.  I started by drawing round a circle template

 

then cutting out the circle with a quarter inch seam allowance

 

I turned in the seam allowance, and stitched round the edge with a running stitch

 

then drew the gathers in tight and fastened off the thread

 

the finished yoyo

 

but that sample yoyo is much bigger than the ones that will be on the wallhanging - I made it that size to make it easier to take photos

 

I took this photo earlier in the week - I have done more work since then, but the light wasn't good enough this afternoon to take a photo - it has been grey and wet and generally horrid all day

 

but of course there was a bright spot this afternoon, when we tucked into chocolate cake!

 

the forecast for the weekend isn't very good, so I may just have to light the fire, put on a DVD, and sew!!  Whatever your weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Very Meredithe!

I think when Meredithe sees the fabrics that I got yesterday at Anne's, she will be on the first plane from Melbourne, so that she can steal them away from me!!

 

I think I will use them with this fabric, which I also got recently at Anne's ........

 

....... using it as a background for applique blocks

 

this afternoon I got out this quilt top for Linus, which I pieced some weeks ago.  I layered it with some soft cotton wadding and bright floral fabric on the back (oops, forgot to take a photo of the backing fabric!)

 

I decided to have another go at using a hoop.  I had tried before, after the first workshop that I did with Sheena Norquay, but didn't persevere

 

it takes a bit more concentration, as you have to be aware of the edge of the hoop, or you catch it on the foot, or get stuck against the side of the machine.  However by the end of the afternoon I had settled in to the different way of working

 

I have also been working on the little textured applique wallhanging.   I took these photos some days ago, but somehow didn't get round to putting them in a post!  First, how to make a little 3-petal flower

take two small squares of fabric, and draw round a reel of thread

 

sew on the line

 

cut out and snip a cross in one side

 

turn through, and stitch the snipped bits together

 

take the thread over the edge and back through the middle

 

pull the thread tight

 

and I've just discovered that I didn't take photos of the last stages!!  Oh dear ...... well, you do that twice more , forming three petals.  You can see the flower  on the right

 

I've done quite a bit more since then - I'll show you tomorrow.  Remember you have one more chance to win a prize by telling me (either in a comment or an email) what the worst thing is you have eaten.  I have had some great answers ...... can you tell me something even more revolting!!

 

South of the border ......

....... but not down Mexico way!  We set off south this morning for Longframlington, to go to Anne's shop.  We had to stop at the border

 

as there was major work on the bridge over the River Tweed

 

I had hoped to take some scenic photos, but it was very misty.  However you can just about see this pocket of snow on the hills through the gloom

 

At the shop, Lucie showed off her Lilly Pilly, which looks fantastic with its colourful leaves

 

Frances was working on an amazing applique seahorse

 

as always the shop was full of delicious fabrics

 

Lucie chose these fabrics for her next project

 

I came home with one of Anne's special carrier bags - I'll show you what's in it tomorrow!

 

to finish - making my tassel for the Lovebirds

everything you need to make the tassel

 

threading the beads

 

winding the thread round the card, with a bead at the bottom of each turn

 

the tassel all wound round the card

 

the top of the tassel tied with heavy gold thread

 

the scary bit - sliding the tassel off the card!

 

binding the top of the tassel, with the ends ready to be cut off

 

the finished Lovebirds

 

well, that was to be the finish, but then I realised that  I hadn't shared these two photos of the children's quilts with you

the girlie quilt

 

the owl quilt (I hadn't quite finished stitching the binding on the left)

 

and finally ...... you still have a chance to win a prize.  Simply tell me what the worst thing is that you have ever eaten.  I will pick the best (or should that be the worst!) answer on Friday.

Love is in the air

I am sure I have teased you enough, so without further ado ........

Notes of Love

 

in the centre, Kay quilted a beautiful feathered heart, using two different threads

 

the quilting is stunning - with lots of my favourite feathers

 

I have been busy with the Lovebirds

marked out and stitched round

 

 

cut out and the top curve snipped

 

turned right side out

 

scraps of wadding shredded for stuffing

 

the hearts cut from felt

 

the wings also cut from felt

 

a stuffed bird

 

the wings attached with little buttons

 

ready to be threaded together

 

tomorrow I'll show you how I made the tassel and threaded it all together.

Shocking!!

I went for a walk at lunchtime, and as I approached the donkey field, this sign caught my eye

 

I don't know if they have installed the fence to keep the donkeys in or the public out, but at least I now know how to say electric fence in several languages!  Just let me know if you get fed up with photos of the oh-so-cute donkeys!

 

and if that's not cute enough ......

 

and if you still need another dose of cuteness ...... these lambs have just been born in the last few days.  They are in the field across the road, so I have been spending too much time looking out the window to see them!

 

as I was walking up the hill, I could hear a tractor working in a field, with a great deal of squeaking machinery

 

I thought someone was waving a tiny white flag, but it was just a little feather caught on a twig

 

a dried weed, with a lovely mossy old wall behind it

 

I wil be back tomorrow with a sewing update, but to end I will tease you with another little bit of Notes of Love