frayed at the edge

Party time!

But before we go to the party, an orchid update.  This one had been flowering for months now

 

and this one has been flowering almost as long

 

I don't make a note of which orchid is in each pot, so it will be a nice surprise to see what colour this one is

 

so, on to the party!  It is Margaret's birthday today, so we had a special lunch.  I took along crackers and festive napkins

 

and Margaret brought along her own birthday cake!

 

Annette produced two candles, and we sang Happy Birthday before Margaret blew them out - I hope the wish she made is granted!

 

we may have had birthday cake at lunchtime, but that didn't stop us eating Annette's delicious gingerbread at teatime!

 

I took along the little birdie kit that Malcolm had given me some time ago, and made both little brooches

 

it was miserable driving home, with heavy rain which was doing its best to turn to snow.  The forecast isn't very good for the weekend, so I think I will be spending a lot of time in the studio!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A busy weekend .......

........ and a busy Monday, so lets get started!  I headed over to Kelso on Saturday morning, with the car stuffed full of all the things I needed for the cushion workshop.  It didn't take long to get set up

 

our Chairman Sandra had taken a pile of fabrics, as had I, and after the obligitory oohing, aaahing and stroking of the fabrics, everyone started sewing.  We were so busy, I didn't take very many photos!

Anne Marie cutting out her first cushion

 

Helen was about to quilt this lovely fabric for her cushion front

 

Doreen made this large cushion

 

by the end of the day Anne Marie had made three cushions!

 

but my favourite was this pretty Sunbonnet Sue, made by Valerie.  I shall have to buy lots of tickets for the raffle at our exhibition, in the hope of winning it!

 

I also showed the ladies another technique, but I'll show you tomorrow, as I have put together a little tutoral.  It was miserable yesterday morning, so again we didn't go for a walk.  We popped down to Sainsbury's to get the Sunday papers, and have a cuppa.  We shared a "skinny" lemon and poppy seed muffin - a lot fewer calories than a scone!

 

I was busy in the studio in the afternoon, but I'll show you what I did tomorrow.  This morning we headed over to Berwick again, stopping in the Garden Centre on the way for a cuppa and a scone (I have swapped my "fast" day to tomorrow)

 

it was a bit wet and miserable, but we had an enjoyable stroll round the town.  We had a walk round the grounds of this old church

 

is spring on the way, with blossom on this tree, and snowdrops at the foot of the trunk

 

the date on this gravestone is 1763

 

we only had to walk a few yards to admire another church

 

the building next to the church had a seagull on top of every chimney

 

obviously they were admirers of architecture, choosing such a handsome building to sit on

 

what building is it?  I doubt you would ever guess!

 

I remembered to look up, and saw these wonderful details on yet another old building

 

of course after all that walking about taking photos, we needed some lunch!  Delicious butternut squash soup

 

I may have bought something in this little shop!  I'll show you tomorrow

Absolutely delicious .......

....... and for once I don't mean scones!  I ordered some fabric for Mrs Billings from here.  The fabric designs are based on the tv programme Downton Abbey - which I have never watched, but I liked the look of the fabric.  The colours are luscious, and I am looking forward to getting started

 

over the weekend, I finished the little Linus quilt that I made from the scraps of the first two, which are also finished

 

I frre motion quilted the little quilt in much the same way as the bigger ones

 

however, I decided to finish the quilt differently.  I usually finish quilts with traditional binding, but that uses quite a lot of fabric, so I decided to bring the backing fabric over to the front.  First I stitched round the edge with a long basting stitch

 

then I trimmed the excess wadding away

 

the next stage was to trim the backing fabric to an inch bigger than the quilt

 

I folded the backing fabric in half, so that the raw edge was lined up with the edge of the quilt

 

then I folded the backing fabric over again, to enclose the raw adges

 

the last stage was to topstitch the "binding" ....... but I forgot to take a close-up of the stitching!  So here is the finished quilt

 

on Saturday Abbey Quilters are having a "cushion day".  The cushions will be raffled at our exhibition in the summer, to raise money for charity (every quilting group I have beeen a member of has raised a lot of money for charity).  Sandra, our Chairman (and also, of course, our "Linus Lady") mentioned that some of the members had said that they hadn't made cushions before.  These are obviously new quilters, because everyone who has been quilting for any length of time has a vast collection of cushions - quite often when you go to a class/workshop you make a sample piece which ends up as an ABC ( Another Bl**dy Cushion!).  As I have been making cushions for many, many years, I offered to demonstrate a basic technique, which can be adapted to suit all sorts of cushions.  I started by cutting a 12" square for the front of the cushion

 

I then cut two rectangles 12"x15" , and folded them in half.  The first one was topstitched along the folded edge

 

the second one was stitched along the folded edge, then an inch further in

 

I put the front right side down, then put the first back piece on top, then the second back piece on top of that, aligning the raw edges

 

this shows the pieces pinned together, and the first length of binding also pinned in place

 

after stitching on the first lot of binding, I just stitched a short length what would be the third side to be done, to show how the corner will look

 

just in case you haven't seen enough herons, here is another one, which I saw in Hawick this morning

 

back in the garden, this blue tit provided a bright spot of colour

 

to finish - something silly!  I have shown you photos of this before, but when I went past this morning, I thought I would capture it again.  So, why does this chimney go through the windoow?

 

seen from another angle, you can see that it doesn't - but then, why is it there ...... I have no idea!

 

 

An unexpected day out

This week is a bit topsy turvy, so we had our Wednesday day out today (did you follow that?!).  On the way, we were stuck for a while behind a lorry which had a strange looking cargo ....... was it perhaps a satellite that they were going to launch into space?  Alas, it was nothing exotic, but merely a silo, possibly for grain

 

I, of course, was a happy bunny when we passed this tractor

 

when we arrived in Berwick, we parked near the "new" road bridge across the River Tweed

 

we walked part of the way across the old bridge, and looking down at the river, saw this flock of pigeons on the shore

 

Malcolm's sharp eyes spotted this heron, just before it disappeared behind the bottom of the bridge (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

then he spotted this one

 

and this one

 

I spotted this one - although you may have to squint a bit to see it in the middle of the photo

 

we were still expressing our amazement at seeing so many herons in a short stretch of river, when we looked over the other side of the bridge ...... and there was another one!

 

I think this is a cormorant ......

 

........ and I know these are ducks

 

........ and this is a swan!

 

on the way home, we were stuck behind this JCB for a while - but I didn't mind too much

 

it was too miserable to go for a walk yesterday morning, but we still went out to buy the Sunday papers ....... and to share this magnificent scone, which was lemon and ginger flavoured.  That may sound a weird combination of flavours for a scone, but was delicious!!

 

then in the afternoon, we had  the last of the Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing!

 

 

 

Before the sewing update ........

........ we have had a frequent visitor to the garden, an occasional visitor, and some little birds that I have only seen in the garden once before in the seven years we have been here!  So first, the frequent visitor, the robin

 

next the occasional visitor, the nuthatch

 

then, this afternoon, some long-tailed tits swooped into the garden.  I just had time to take two photos before they flew off again.  The only other time I have seen them in the garden, several years ago, they swooped in, attacked the fat balls and flew off again.  Fingers crossed I don't have to wait so long to see them again

 

now for the sewing!  Yesterday I made Stuart's camera bag.  Fortunately he has the same camera as me, so there was no problem with getting the measurements

 

to start, I got out my project book, and tape measure

 

I measured the circumference

 

then used my 6" ruler to measure the height

 

I cut the fabric to size and stitched the short seam, finishing it with a zigzag stitch

 

I centred the seam and stitched across the bottom seam, again finishing it with zigzag stitching

 

next, I folded over the top edge a quarter of an inch and pressed it, then folded it over another half an inch and pressed it.  I opened out and flattened the seam at the top, and stitched round the opening for the cord

 

I flattened the corners, and marked a line to stitch

 

after stitching, I cut off the corners

 

the finished bag

 

I have written the details down in my project book, so that I can make a bag for my camera

 

next was a little bit of repair work.  This is a little Cath Kidston bag, which was a free gift some time ago with a magazine.  I keep it in my handbag, and we had used it to put driftwood in when we had our walk on the beach at Berwick recently.  However, the amount of driftwood we crammed in was obviously too much for the little bag and the seams gave way

 

so after washing the bag, a quick session restitching the seams, and the little bag was ready to go back in my handbag

 

a quick change of thread in the sewing machine, and I got on with the little Linus quilt.  I stitched the outer blocks together, and stitched the side strips on

 

when I added the top and bottom strips, as you can see, they didn't quite fit

 

but a quick trim with the rotary cutter, and the top was finished

 

I still have a pile of leftovers .........

 

I got out this little top, which was the prototype for my Country Cottages pattern.  I added this colourful boder, and once it is quilted, it will be another quilt for Linus

 

before Christmas, I offerred to make a quilt top for Lucie , which she will then longarm quilt.  Then she will give the quilt to a very worthwhile cause, Quilts for Comfort.  Some years ago I made a quilt using black and red fabrics for Malcolm's Dad, which was very striking (it was so well loved and used, that by the time he died it had worn away into holes in places!), so I looked out these fabrics.  I think I will use the same design, which was half square triangles

 

last night so many of us turned up for Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting that more tables and chairs had to be brought into the room!  We were embroidering name badges for the exhibition in the summer

 

we always stop for a cuppa (and possibly a biscuit might have been consumed!)

 

I think Sheila should be promoted from beginner to fully fledged quilter after making this lovely bag!

 

ps - how did I take photos of my camera?  I unearthed my little Fuji from the depths of my camera bag!

You've seen Gorrillas in the Mist* .........

........ so now I bring you Donkeys in the Mist!!  Yesterday we awoke to the hardest frost of the winter so far, and a heavy mist, but we still headed out for a walk. We decided to have a stroll past the donkey sanctuary.  As you can see, the frost was so heavy it almost looks like snow

 

aas soon as they saw us, the two donkeys and the horse in the first field came over to the fence, no doubt hoping for something to eat

 

in the next field, this donkey was looking quite magnificent

 

as we walked on down to the river, I was sidetracked by frosted seedheads ........

 

......... and icy puddles

 

the footbridge across the river was decorated with beautiful spiders' webs

 

on the way back to the car, wwe passed the donkeys and horse in the first field, busy munching on hay

 

we went to the Woodside Garden Centre for some delicious sconnage

fruit

 

cheese

 

while we ate our scones, we were entertained by finches on the bird feeder stuck to the window.  Sorry about the quality of the photos - but the window was dirty!

 

on the way home, the mist had mostly lifted, but there were still some low lying pockets

 

Fatlips Castle seemed to be floating in the air

 

in contrast to the mist, it was nice to see some blue skies and sunshine when we were out on Saturday

 

* I have to admit that I haven't seen Gorillas in the Mist - and having read about it, I think it is a bit too serious for me!

Ruling the roost

Our little parliament of owls grew significantly at Christmas .........

 

........ the beautiful card on the left was given to us by Maureen - she had bought it at the German market in Edinburgh specially for us.  The painted owl at the front, and the wooden owl behind it were from Meredithe - the wooden owl has little holes in it for cross stitching, but I think I will work it with long and short stitch to look like feathers.  Malcolm gave me the tin - it had sweets in it, which were soon eaten, and now contains pins.  And keeping all the little ones in order is a large fabric owl, which matches a little one on the yucca.  I had seen the big one in Sainsbury's before Christmas, but couldn't really justify buying it - but then after Christmas it was reduced to £2, so, of course it came home with me.

Malcolm gave me this tiny kit - I have put my 6" ruler behind it to show how small it is

 

it really does contain everything you need to knit the bootees - a tiny pattern book, yarn, stitch markers, pink and blue ribbon, darning needle ...... and the tiniest circular needle that I have ever seen!

 

Malcolm also added to my button and bead stash, and the lovely brooch on the card will look good on my new cardigan

 

when we were at Stitchin' Heaven before Christmas, I couldn't show you one of the things I came home with, as it was my big Christmas present from Malcolm.  It is the pattern for the amazing Mrs Billings quilt.  I first saw the quilt on Meredithe's blog (and when I spent the day at her house in October 2012, I was actually allowed to touch her award winning Mrs Billings), and when Anne decided to order the pattern for the shop, I immediately put my name down for one

 

this detail shows the centre of the quilt

 

the pattern comes with a set of templates and ten packets of tiny hexagons (I've just shown one here) - a total of 1,000 hexagons!  I am keeping them in this fabulous tin, which was full of my favourite toiletries (half-price in the post-Christmas sales!)

 

there are twenty five pages of instructions, as well as several pages of detailed photos of the sections of the quilt, so I invested in a folder and poly pockets to keep them in order.  I will now have to decide on a colour scheme, and start collecting fabrics

 

in the back garden, I noticed some dwarf narcissi

 

buds on the hellebore (which flowers at random times throughout the year)

 

new growth on the climbing rose on the pergola

 

and on one of the clematis

 

in the front garden, daffodils are through in a sheltered corner

 

the honeysuckle is flowering

 

and there are a few buds on the climbing rose!

 

I started with owls, and I am going to finish with a sparrowhawk!  I was sitting in the lounge reading, when I glanced out of the window.  There, on the grass, was a sparrowhawk tucking into a sparrow.  Fortunately the camera was on the table beside me.  The first photos have the bird feeders in the top corner, as I didn't want to risk moving

 

I then moved very slowly across the room to get a better angle

 

Malcolm was out in the back garden, so I wennt out to tell him about the sparrowhawk, and we tip-toed round to the front garden ........ but it had gone.  Fortunately it had taken the remains of the sparrow with it!

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Happy New Year!

I requested a photo of braw laddies in kilts to wish you a Happy New Year, but instead I got this photo of Stuart (on the left) and three of his friends!  Stuart apologisies for the quality of the photo, but it was taken with his phone in poor light

 

casting my mind back to before Christmas ......... Stuart and Alison came for the weekend, and on the Sunday morning we decided to go to the Waterwheel cafe for a cuppa.  But first we went to have a look at the archimedes screw.  There was a tremendous amount of water going over the cauld ......

 

...... which had caused some problems leading to the screw being stopped.  The doors to the building housing the workings for the screw were open, and several men were standing about discussing the probblem.  Of course, Malcolm and Stuart, as engineers, immediately fell into a very technical conversation with one of the men, while Alison and I looked as bored as this little dog!

 

the vast volume of water meant that some was diverted into the old mill race, and the wooden wheel was turning - in seven years that is the first time that we have seen it turn

 

on our way home, we stopped to take photos of the snow on the hills.  Fortunately, we haven't had any here

 

 

 

the weather has been awful - although not as bad as some parts of Britain, which have suffered storms and flooding.  But in between the showers, we have been out and about.  Can you see what Malcolm spotted?

 

a heron on the tree, high above the river

 

looking out over Hawick

 

a rather handsome duck

 

a walk in the park in Hawick

 

back home, the nuthatch has returned to the garden, but I haven't managed to get a good photo yet

 

of course we have to have some food!  There hasn't been much sconnage consumed

 

but we are enjoying having a piece of Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I still have lots more to share with you, which I'll do over the rest of the week.  To finish, I must have been a very, very good girl, because Santa brought me my very own tractor - and not just any tractor, but a John Deere

 

Fun at the Fair

Saturday morning saw us trundling down the road to Southdean Village Hall for the Christmas Fair.  With a little bit of difficulty, given the size of our table, we got our stall set up

 

the hall was cold while people were setting up, as the door was wide open, so we were very glad when we were able to get a warming cuppa.  But once the door was closed and the heaters turned on, the hall warmed up and we were able to shed coats, gloves and scarves.  Unfortunately as the day wore on, the weather worsened, with rain and wind.  However quite a few people braved the weather, and Malcolm was pleased with his sales.  He had a lot of interest in his driftwood creations, and we had to endure a fair amount of teasing about how many bottles wine we must have drunk to provide the corks!!  However it wasn't a happy homecoming - as we had another power cut.  Fortunately the power was restored in time to cook dinner, and to settle down to watch the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing.

The weather was much better yesterday morning, so we headed into Hawick to go for a walk along the river

 

we weren't able to walk as far as we usually do along the river, as the unpaved section was too muddy, so we turned off and went through the tunnel under the old railway line

 

and took the footpath which follows the route of the railway

I followed my own advice, to remember to look up

 

we were heading to The Mill for a cuppa

 

but we were too early, so we walked across the footbridge to have a look in the window of Yvette Jelf's hat shop.  I wouldn't want a peacock feather on a hat - it's one of my superstitions, that they are unlucky

 

this fascinator is very pretty .......

 

....... but given the current weather, I would rather have this hat!

 

we were the first customers in the Mills' coffee shop, so I was able to take photos

 

the scones were delicious - we chose a fruit one and a cheese one

 

I was walking past the lounge door after lunch, when I glanced out of the window, and saw a woodpecker on the peanut feeder.  While the large window gives us a wonderful view of the garden, it also means that the birds on the feeders are aware of any movement in the room, and fly away, so I crept along the back of the couch to reach the camera, which was on the little table at the end of the couch

 

I also knew that Malcolm was on his way round to the front of the house, so I quickly took this photo as soon as I turned the camera on, in case he frightened the woodpecker away

 

 I then zoomed in and took another two photos, but when I took a step forward to try to get a better angle, the woodpecker flew off

 

to finish - sometimes it's just the little things that can brighten your day.  When I bought salmon this morning, I was given lemon pepper butter to have with it, and when I opened a new box of teabags, there was a little extra inside

 

 

In search of a title

Some days, I struggle to think of a title for my post - and this is one of those days.  So lets just dive straight in to the photos.  This morning the garden was full of birds - which promptly flew off as soon as I switched the camera on.  Eventually they returned

    

 

there is also a new bird in the house.  Maureen gave me this very cute owl as a thank you for giving her a lift to Abbey Quilters' meetings

 

and Maureen also provided me with another photo this afternoon, when she brought her finished Christmas wallhanging for us to see at patch'n'chat

 

Cathy has just finished this stocking for her newest granddaughter (there is a clue in the stocking to Cathy's nationality!)

 

then of course there was the Friday cake.  This week it was the delicious apple and sultana cake.  Although we flirted recently with the Norwegian apple cake,  we have reverted to our original opinion that this is our favourite cake

 

we are just about organised for tomorrow's Christmas Fair, fingers crossed that lots of Malcolm's creations sells!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

ps - I was a bit scared when I saw this root creeping round the label on one of my orchids - maybe I have watched too many horror films!