frayed at the edge

It all went Pete Tong!*

It was one of those mornings ....... I had just pegged out an enormous basketful of washing, when it started to rain.  So I had to take it all in again (I may have said "Oh bother, that's annoying!").  Then I had just settled down to some work in the studio ........ when there was a power cut!  (I may have said, crivens, crikey jings, help ma boab, that's irritating!").

Oh well, on with the work.  Stuart and Alison had asked me to make curtains for their guest bedroom, and brought the fabric down with them last weekend.  A luscious Laura Ashley fabric, to match the wallpaper on the wall behind the bed

 

Stuart had drawn a diagram of the two windows and all the necessary measurements (just what you would expect from an engineer!)

 

my drawing isn't quite so detailed!  I am going to use the fabric sideways, which will give two very full curtains, and if they want, they can put up one long rail covering both windows and the space in between, so that the curtains will meet in the middle when closed.  Once I get the lining and header tape, it won't take long to make them - although as always I shall have to get out the instruction book for the sewing machine to remind myself how to do blind hemming

 

then it was on with my own sewing.  I have finished the next stitchery - this is number 13

 

I have been struggling with the hand-piecing for Mrs Billings - I simply don't enjoy it, and I'm really not happy with the way the last border strips turned out.  Then, the other day, when I was blog-hopping, someone mentioned that as they didn't enjoy hand-piecing, they were going to use EPP (English paper piecing) instead.  Woohoo, lightbulb moment!!  I decided to re-work the borders using EPP, and use it for the remaining borders.  I started by drawing templates for papers for the triangles and diamonds, which are a quarter of an inch smaller than the acrylic templates

 

I marked out some paper pieces, so that I could work a small section to check that the size were correct

 

the pieces ready to sew

 

this is the hand-pieced version

 

and this is the EPP version - much more to my liking!

 

it will look very neat when stitched on to the previous border

 

next I made up a master sheet

 

and after running off several copies, I had a pleasant afternoon cutting out the papers

 

to finish, there was annoying consequence of the power cut (the power eventually came back on after lunch).   The smoke detectors in the studio are wired into the mains, so when the power goes off, the detectors beep, and beep and beep (using the back-up batteries) until the power is restored.  It's just as well I couldn't reach this one, which was beeping away above my head, or is might have suffered a bash or two!

Would you rather .......

........ have a leisurely paddle in a canoe

 

or go zipping across the water on one of these?

 

my answer is a definite NO to both!  You will only get me on the water on a very big boat!!  The canoes came very briefly into the dock on Saturday, and we saw the man on the jet ski when we were walking on the beach at Bamburgh with Stuart and Alison on Saturday morning

looking up at the castle

 

and down to a feather

 

looking out to the Farne Islands in one direction

 

and Lindisfarne in the other

 

of course, after a long walk on the beach at Bamburgh, the next stop has to be Seahouses for chips.  Stuart and Alison agreed that they are the very best of chips, and taste even better being eaten sitting in the sun beside the sea!

 

and the chips are much too good to share, even with handsome birds! 

 

I spent a lot of time at the weekend jumping out of my seat to take photos of what was going on in the dock.  First we had swans sailing in majestically

 

then the seal popped his head out of the water, with a fish in his mouth!

 

but the fish escaped - you can just see it to the right of the seal

 

then there was the whump, whump, whump of a helicopter.  I snatched a quick shot to make sure I got it before it disappeared

 

but had time to switch to the digital zoom to get a closer shot

 

the lighthouse looked good in the late evening sun

 

the swans were back in the early morning sun

 

look at this thing of beauty ........

 

 ....... it's the lid of the latest addition to my tin collection - and even better it is full of biscuits!

 

to finish ....... we didn't have scones at the weekend, but on the way home we popped in for a cuppa and scones.  A rather crumbly (but delicious) fruit one

 

and an exceedingly cheesy cheese scone.  No, we didn't have the jam on it!

Tasty!

The title could refer to the Friday cake, but you will have to wait until the end of the post for that.  Instead it refers to this tasty mouthful which Mrs Blackbird had gathered to feed to her second brood of chicks.  The nest is in the big conifer in the corner of the front garden, and she was sitting on top of the telegraph pole before she flew down to the nest.  (The photos were taken at full zoom, so aren't a sharp as I would have liked)

 

I was somewhat worried that I didn't have many photos for today's post, then I remembered I still had these ones from last weekend.  Do you have rather a lot of money to buy this house in Berwick?

 

it is a beautiful old house, but sadly dilapidated.  It would be a decided money pit to restore it to its former glory

 

when I was looking through the folder for the previous photos, I spotted this one.  Malcolm pointed out the reflection of the lighthouse on the water

 

and the pilot boat was reflected in the dock.  The little blue boat ties up against the pilot boat and the crew climb on to the pilot boat and then on to the dock ..... the blue boat is too small for the crew to access the dock directly

 

and now for the most important photo of the week ...... the Friday cake!  Annette's treat for us this afternoon was a chocolate, cream and strawberry cake -yum!!

 

Stuart and Alison have already arrived in Berwick (they are having a night out on the town!) and we will join them in the morning.  They have been told to bring old shoes for walking on the beach, and no doubt Stuart will have his new camera with him, so there will be frequent stops for photos!  I hope you have a super weekend, love Anne 

Six months to go!!

I don't want to worry you, but it is only six months until Christmas!  So I thought that I would do a bit more work on "Twas the Night before Christmas", instead of waiting until the middle of December.  When I made this quilt some time ago as a shop sample for Anne, I really didn't enjoy making all the foundation pieced stars

 

so I thought I would do this one differently.  I popped all the stitcheries on the design wall, although I have still to press and trim them to size

 

I decided to remove these two stitcheries, as they don't really relate to the words 

 

then I decided to remove this one as well, as it is a lot bigger than the others

 

next, I had a look in my stash for a Christmas fabric, and found this lovely rich, dark red one

 

at first glance it doesn't look like Christmas fabric, but this close up shows  little sprigs of holly 

 

a rough layout - I think once it is pieced, I will do some applique on the plain blocks, of Christmas related things

 

I don't usually open a jelly roll until I use it, but I couldn't resist a sneak peek at the one which I won last Friday - delicious!

 

the stacking bug has struck again ....... this little seaglass stack appeared in the studio this afternoon!

 

to finish ...... I have great admiration for wildlife photographers who spend days, weeks, months and even years waiting for the perfect photo.  My latest attempt to capture some of our sparrows resulted in these three photos

blending in with the foliage

 

refusing to turn round

 

flying off!!

In between showers .....

........ I was able to take some photos in the garden.  The red poppies are doing well

 

the pale poppies have just started to flower

 

in the back garden we have a pale honeysuckle

 

and a dark one in the front garden

 

the pieris is looking stunning

and I love my little Robinia Lace Lady tree.  We had one in a large pot on our last garden, but when we went to lift the pot when we were moving, we discovered that it had put roots down through the drainage holes in the pot  and was firmly anchored to the ground ..... so we had to leave it behind!

 

I like the way that some of the ferns have spread into the cracks in the wall

 

hooray, the bottle brush looks set to flower again this year

 

another plant captured with a fly on it was this one in a planter in the front garden.  I don't know what this is - it looks a bit like garlic!

 

in the back garden a bee decided to pose as well - I can never remember what this flower is called

 

I also can't remember what this shrub in the front garden is called!

 

when I was taking photos in the front garden, I heard a clip-clop, clip-clop ....... and down the road came a horse and rider

 

ok, I have teased you enough with all these garden photos, when I know that all you want to know is whether or not I finished the Lovely Baby Quilt!!  I have to admit that I didn't finish it last night, and for that you can blame the England Cricket Team!!  I got engrossed in their exciting match with New Zealand (I know a lot of you will be saying that cricket isn't exciting!!).  But I did finish it this afternoon ....... so here is the big reveal

 

and one last photo from the garden to finish.  We didn't get round to planting anything in our "vegetable garden" this year, so when I saw a tray of "living salad" in Lidl, I bought it and planted it out.  After a rocky start, the plants are starting to flourish

 

 

A busy sewing day!

First up this morning was The Lovely Baby quilt (now its official name!).  Having finished the quilting, I trimmed the edges

 

and stitched on the binding

 

leaving a gap, so that I could join the ends

 

first, I unfolded the right hand tail, and pinned it in place

 

I overlapped it with the left hand tail, the end of which I had cut diagonally

 

placing a ruler against the edge, I drew a line on the right tail

 

I then lifted the left tail out of the way and marked another line, half an inch away from the first line - this was my cutting line

 

I put together the two edges

 

stitched the seam and pressed it open (oops, steamed up the camera lens!)

 

a nice, neat seam

 

all I have to do now is hand-stitch the binding to the back of the quilt.  I hope to finish it this evening, so we can have a big reveal tomorrow!

 

When I saw this beautiful bag marked down to half price last week, it just had to come home with me

 

I did hesitate slightly, as the bag only has a small pocket inside

 

and a small pocket with a zip on the end of a strap - handy to keep your keys in, if like mine they always end up somewhere at the bottom of my bag

 

I generally buy bags which have pockets or divided sections, as I like the (copious) contents of my handbag to be organised.  So I decided to make two containers to sit in the bag to keep my stuff sorted out.  I looked out some fabric and some stiff interfacing

 

and soon had two smart pockets to put in the bag

 

there was just one last little job.  The bag didn't have a fastener - no problem, a quick rake in the bits and bobs drawer produced this

 

a quick look in the tweed remnants produced this charity shop bargain

 

another drawer produced this tape, which I have had for years

 

a quick bit of pressing and the fabric squares were "hemmed" (oops, one turned out lightly more rectangular than square!)

 

I cut two small slits in each piece to put the legs through, then added the washers and bent the legs out to the sides

 

all I have to do now is hand-stitch them in place at the top edge of either side of the bag

 

the rest of the afternoon was spent doing more prep for the Aunts' Quilt, but you will have to wait until my next report to see what I did!

A special day

It was Fathers' Day yesterday, and as Stuart and Alison couldn't visit as they are on holiday, I took Malcolm out for brunch.  I'm showing you the photo of what we had to eat first, as it will take the rest of the post for you to recover from such a big meal (I didn't finish mine!!)

 

now to go back to the start of the weekend.When we arrived at the flat, we made up a small picnic, and headed off to the beach on the far side of the lighthouse.  As we sat eating, we had company.  This enormous seagull crept closer and closer

 

while this crow watched from a fence post

 

on the beach, Malcolm meandered along looking for driftwood, and I looked for things to take photos off

 

 

just the other day I read about building stone stacks on I live, I love, I craft, I am me .... and promptly added building stone stacks to my to-do list.  So on Saturday, I built my first one, topped with a piece of seaglass

 

delighted that it didn't fall over, I then built a shell stack

 

oh dear, I've definitely got the bug, as this morning I built this pebble, seaglass and shell one on my bathroom shelf!!

 

I haven't taken many of my "arty" photos recently, so I put that right over the weekend

 

in contrast to the tiny crab that I found last week, this shell was about 8" across!

 

these two boats were beached by the low tide

 

 

Malcolm spotted these seagull chicks, little fluffy bundles!

 

as we walked across the old bridge, we could see this photographer fiddling about with his tripod and camera (I was getting worried that his tripod would topple over and his camera would end up in the river!).  Then, having got everything set just right. he produced this black cloth and disappeared under it!

 

we can't have a Berwick post without some swans!

 

more geese have appeared

 

the seal popped his head out of the water

 

last week it was a big orange lorry spoiling the view of the dock ........ this weekend it was a beer lorry

 

 

yesterday was the longest day for us in the Northern Hemisphere (yes, it's downhill all the way to Christmas now!).  The sun was just setting at 10 0'clock

 

to finish ...... do you remember the sad tale of our little wisteria, which wouldn't grow and definitely wouldn't flower, no matter how much love we gave it?  Recently Malcolm dug it up, and I gave it to Maureen, to see if it would grow in her garden, as she already has a spectacular one.  She has been sending me regular progress reports, and yesterday she sent me this photo.  The wisteria is still in the plastic bag that Malcolm put it in when he dug it up, and that is sitting in a bucket, waiting for the ground to be prepared for where it will be planted.  Not only has it put out a lot of foliage, it has also flowered!!  We think it didn't flourish in our garden because we are quite high up on our hill - we are about 200 feet higher than Hawick, so we are pleased to see it doing well lower down in Jedburgh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies Race Day

Our special event today at patch'n'chat, at Borderland Fabrics, was a Jelly Roll Race (I'll explain in a minute what that is).  Annette, the owner and Cathy, her right hand woman, thought we ought to have a fun day, and asked us all to dress up as if going to a day at the races - hats were obligatory!

here we are at the start of the morning - Annette is front right, and Cathy front left

 

we had to pick a jelly roll each (without looking), and I was delighted with the one I picked

 

ok, so what is a jelly roll race.  First you join all the strips to make one very long strip

 

after doing that we had to have a short break for refreshments

 

before we resumed sewing, these three handsome chaps from Footeprint, the business next door, came in to judge the "best dressed filly".  They chose Margaret, who had decorated her hat with rosettes and a riding crop, and also had binoculars, so she really looked the part - she could have joined the Queen in the Royal Box at Ascot!

 

back to the sewing!  The next stage was to fold that very long strip in half and stitch along one side, cutting through the fold at the end

 

then the process is repeated

 

oh my, where had the morning gone, it was time to have lunch

 

 

having eaten two kinds of quiche, salad and one of Cathy's delicious puff pastry and potato rolls, I decided to forego the trifle and chocolate cheesecake ...... as I would have fallen asleep at the machine if I had eaten any more!

So, back to more sewing, continuing with the folding in half and stitching together continuing ......

 

until ta-da, I had produced a fabulous (because of the fabrics, not my sewing!) quilt top

 

later in the afternoon we had a break for some very silly fun .......  a hobby horse egg and spoon race!  I was in the first heat, so Maureen took charge of my camera ....... and good friend that she is, she captured the moment I dropped my egg!!

 

this is the second heat - Maureen is second from the left (not counting Pam and Annette in the background)

 

several more tops were finished by the end of the afternoon

 

just before I left, Maria finished her top

 

we were all given a medal for participating

 

and as it was a jelly roll race, that means there was a winner, the first to finish ......... and woohoo, it was me!!  I was absolutely delighted to be given a jelly roll for my prize - thank you very much Annette!!  And Annette also deserves a very big thank you for  laying on the day, providing the jelly rolls, the drink and the food.  Although we all paid a modest sum for joining in, Annette definitely subsidised our fun.  But it is all for a very good cause.  When the quilts are finished, they are being donated to the Margaret Kerr Unit, which is the Borders only Palliative Care Unit.  How much nicer to snuggle under a lovingly made quilt, rather than a hospital blanket, when spending time in the Unit.

To finish ....... Margaret didn't join in the race, as she prefers to hand sew, so she was working on her latest magnificent creation.  Not the best of photos, as I had to take it at a funny angle!

 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend ....... weather permitting we will be on the beach!  Love Anne 

Heads and tails

I had a potter along the road yesterday to see if the donkeys were out in the field, having been thwarted in my quest for photos on the last two occasions.  Yes, they were there, but uncooperative beasties that they are, they were in the top corner of the field, making it awkward to take photos

 

this little one had obviously found something very tasty to eat, and was munching away

 

this rather hairy tiny one was standing some distance away, all on its own.  I thought about climbing the fence and stealing it, but there are warning signs saying the fence is electrified, and I decided maybe that wasn't wise!

 

the sheep that share the donkeys' field have been shorn since the last time they appeared here.  They kindly presented their rear ends to the camera, showing off their white-tipped tails and white feet

they were then joined by the third sheep, which is white with black legs, providing a nice contrast

 

then the two horses decided to join in posing for the camera

 

I was impressed by the blond topknot of the horse on the left

 

but then I saw this horse in a little pen beside the field.  I have never seen a mane like this one!

 

we are having a special event at patch'n'chat tomorrow, which involves wearing hats ....... do come back and see what we are doing!

Baby quilt progress

Although the Lovely* Baby isn't due for some time, I thought I would get on with making the quilt for the Lovely* Granny-to-be, Rachel.  I had already stitched the charm squares together to make the centre of the top, so yesterday I measured up the fabric which was to be used for borders, backing and binding.  First, I cut the four strips needed for the binding

 

having joined the strips on the diagonal, I trimmed off the corners

 

and pressed the seams open

 

I then folded the binding in half and pressed it, and set it aside for later

 

after double checking my calculations (measure twice, cut once!) I cut the strips for the border and stitched them on

 

amazingly, the first piece of cotton wadding that I pulled from my stash of off-cuts was just the right size, and it didn't take long to pin the layers together

 

as always, I did a bit of stitching on a sample piece, to check that the tension was ok

 

as the quilt top has so many bright patterned fabrics in it, there was no point in doing any fancy fmq, as it wouldn't show, so I used a large meander.  This is the back of the quilt, where the stitching shows more

 

by the end of yesterday afternoon, I had finished the fmq in the centre of the quilt

 

this afternoon, I switched to my other machine, and put the walking foot on, again checking the tension of the stitching was ok

 

this is the bit I find hard - I can happily fmq all day, but I struggle to sew straight lines!  However, by the end of the afternoon I had stitched parallel rows on the borders

 

all that remains now is to trim the quilt to size and stitch on the binding.

 

** Rachel, on her blog, has always referred to her son as the Lovely Son, then she added the Lovely Girlfriend, now Lovely Fiancee/Mum-to-be ....... so I have just carried on with her description of the important people in her life!!

 

ps - if you like donkeys, sheepies and orchids, don't miss tomorrow's post!