On Friday, Maureen and I headed to Kelso after patch'n'chat, and had a potter round the town centre deciding where to go for dinner. We chose the Waggon Inn, where neither of us had been before, but it has a very good reputation. And boy, did it live up to that reputation! I chose macaroni cheese, which was delicious
Maureen had fish and chips, which she enjoyed
then I disgraced myself by having a pudding (Maureen was very good and had a cup of tea). This is a toffee sundae. Layers of ice cream, whipped cream, toffee sauce, little crunchy bits .........
I somehow managed to stay awake during Sheena's talk, which was both informative and entertaining. But you won't be surprised that Maureen and I only had a cuppa at the end of the evening, and didn't have any of the delicious cakes. Lunch on Saturday and Sunday was supplied by the Waggon Inn - we had delicious soup and very tasty sandwiches
and Maureen and I were able to catch up on the cake-eating, as there were lots left over from Friday night
so now that we've seen all the food - on with the sewing! Sheena asked that I didn't take photos of the stages of what we were doing, as it would show the details of her workshop, but she was happy for me to show you sample piece from the Saturday workshop, and my pattern from Sunday. On Saturday we did a lot of work learning to draw curves. In the morning we worked on "s" curves. producing this
once we had marked the curves on our fabrics, we then used different stitches to produce different effects
this was done with a twin needle
one of the many decorative stitches that my machine can do
a length of decorative thread held in place with a zigzag stitch
in the afternoon we learned how to draw "c" curves, which we then used to draw up a pattern for a wide border. By the time I had drawn my pattern, I didn't have time to stitch it, but as soon as I get it done I will let you see it
on Sunday we were worked very hard producing patterns for a handstitched sampler. There was a great deal to take in, but by the end of the day I had produced this
one of the exercises was to make a pattern with our first name initial. I decided to add my surname initial as well ........
....... before I went over to the dark side of patchwork and quilting, I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch, and in a corner I would put AD followed by the year - of course as well as my initials, it could be anno domini!
as we packed up yesterday afternoon, Maureen pointed out the way the low sun was shining on the tops of the trees in the distance - there was a rush to the window with cameras!
to finish ...... some more food! This afternoon I started with these veggies
and finished with a big pot of chilli con carne - there is enough for six meals