frayed at the edge

Backlog!

It has beeen such a busy week that I have several photos that haven't yet made it into the blog, so I shall share with you now.  But first (fingers crossed!) the troublesome photo from yesterday ....... and I remembered another little snippet about the wallhanging.  I had asked the members to bring their wallhangings in and I would award a prize to the best one.  One of the members, who was by far the most experienced quilter in the group, informed me that she had changed my pattern, to make it better.  She was most miffed that she didn't win ...... but she didn't make the wallhanging as set out in the pattern, so as far as I was concerned that disqualified her (never mind her tactless remark that her version was better!)

 

earlier in the week, I looked out the kitchen window and saw that there were lots of sheep in the field across the road.  Several of them were lying round a feeder, which looked as if it had a bale of haylage in it.  I fetched the camera, went to take a photo ....... and discovered that two horses were spoiling the shot!

 

however I was able to take a photo of the sheep the following day .......

 

........ as well as photos of the frosty, foggy scenery

 

this horse is a toughie - all the others have blankets on

 

and of course this sheep has a warm woolly coat!

 

I was delighted recently to read on Kate's blog that she has published a book of Shetland knitting patterns.  For those of you who don't know of Kate, a brief history ....... Kate was a highly successful academic when she was struck down in her mid 30s by a devastating stroke.  She has battled through the aftermath of the stroke to regain her health, but sadly had to give up her beloved academic career.  However, she is also an incredibly talented knitwear designer (she also designed the fabulous teacosies that I knitted recently), and is now forging a successful second career. 

 

even if you don't knit, you could buy the book just to drink in Kate's photos of the stunning scenery ....... and you will definitely love the chapter about puffins!

 

when I bought the first issue of Homemaker magazine, I loved it so much I promtly took out a subscription, and was delighted when issue two arrived earlier in the week

 

there are lots of yummy things

 

a free gift .....

 

...... with patterns, recipes, and delicious papers

 

it's Friday, so of course that means cake.  Today we had Annette's wonderful fruit cake

 

and to finish .....I saw this robin this morning and rushed to get the camera ....... amazingly, he was still there when I ran back to the window to snap him!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - it looks as if we will be having a soggy one!!  Love, Anne

A new apprentice

I had to take on a new photography apprentice, Katy, this afternoon, to take a photo of Kay handing over my quilt to me ........ the quilt top was given to me by the lovely Helen, when I met her in Melbourne

 

the quilting is fabulous ..... but you will have to wait until Monday to see it in detail, when I get the chance to take photos in good light.  Of course I knew it would be fabulous, as Kay is this year's Scottish Champion

 

there was great excitement this morning when a nuthatch appeared on the bird table.  I got somewhat exasperated as it kept flying off before I could get it in focus, but eventually I managed to get a couple of photos

 

a flash of red in the hawthorn tree caught my eye - the robin's breast is much brighter at this time of year

 

when I was in the hall cupboard yesterday, I noticed a box tucked away under the bottom shelf.  I discovered that it contained a whole lot of glasses with the remains of scented candles.  I cleaned them out and popped them in the dishwasher (along with the day's dishes, not just on their own) ....... so now I have fifteen sparkly clean glasses - I just have to decide what to do with them!

 

oh yum, yum, yum ...... our favourite apple and sultana cake

 

I shall be doing something very special tomorrow afternoon ...... but you will have to wait until Monday to find out what!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

Glutton for punishment!

As I have quite a lot of stuff left from Saturday's fair, I have decided to have my own fair!!  I am inviting everyone I know in the area, and as an added inducement we will be having mulled wine and nibbles.  If only you all lived close enough to come along next Wednesday night ...... but perhaps it's just as well you can't all come, as it would be a bit of a squash to fit you all in the studio!  On Saturday I was limited as to what I could sell, as I only had half a table, but as I will have lots of room next week, I had a look through my stash to see what else I could make.  I found some large notebooks that I bought when Woolworths closed down - so I have had them for several years!  I had a trial run yesterday to make a much simpler cover than I usually make, then today I delved into my stash of curtain samples

 

having made the sample in a dark fabric, I picked out cream/beige fabrics for the others, so that I wouldn't have to change the thread in the machine.  By the end of this afternoon, all the books were covered

 

I can no longer deny that it is getting near Christmas ...... and I certainly can't forget how long it is to go, now that these two little elves have appeared in the kitchen

 

it has been miserable today ...... snowing when we got up this morning, then turning to heavy rain for the rest of the day.  But at least it has got a lot milder, although I still needed the log burner to keep warm in the studio

 

I took these bird photos on Tuesday

 

there is always one bird that flies off just as I snap - this time it was a blue tit.  You can just make out the outline of its wings

 

today's prompt for#reverb12 is

Compare the “you” from the beginning of 2012 to the “you” that you are now. What new skills or talents have you learned or discovered this year?

the big difference between how I was at the start of the year, and how I am now, is that I have learned that there is a big difference between a fear and a phobia.  I have a fear of heights, and especially heights over water, but it isn't a phobia that prevents me from doing things such as walking over Sydney Harbour Bridge in September.  Yes, my heart was racing, and yes, I was hyperventilating, but I was determined to do it ....... and this was my reward

 

I have also realised recently that although I have always said that I don't like enclosed spaces, I am actually not bothered by small places like toilet cubicles, but I couldn't crawl through a small tunnel.  It is lack of height, rather than width that bothers me (I can't watch potholers on tv), so when I was recently stuck in the lift, I could cope because of the design of the lift.  It didn't have a roof, and I could see up to the next floor of the building.  OK, any excuse for handsome men ...... remember the hunks who rescued us

That's enough of that, thank you!!

This was the view of the back garden early this morning ...... that's quite enough snow, thank you

 

but let's go back to thhe start of the weekend, and of course, the Christmas Fair.  Oh dear, I didn't sell very much, although as I know several other stallholders also had poor sales, I didn't get too upset!  I did get slightly annoyed with a woman who had a good look, then said she was just getting ideas and picking people's brains for things that she could make .........

 

the highlight of the afternoon was the delicious bacon roll that I had for lunch!

 

at the end of the afternoon, I was delighted to be given a gift by the wonderful Maria, who had the table next to me - a set of wine glass charms (in return I gave her one of the toiletries and chocolates set)

 

from my friend Lorraine, I bought her gorgeous marzipan fruits, to decorate the Christmas cake with (I'll be making it tomorrow) ........

 

...... and new to her repertoire, chocolate ginger creams

yesterday, we went to Dryburgh Abbey (we had a voucher to get in free!)  There was a little bit of snow on the ground, which added a little extra something to the photos.  I also had some fun taking some in B&W

 

there were some tricky bits of road to negotiate

 

and beautiful scenery to admire

 

we popped into The Main Street Trading Co for a cuppa and a bite to eat.  We shared a delicious feta and spinach muffin ........

 

....... and a slice of cake, which was drenched in a citrus syrup

 

I love the mugs

 

they have just opened a deli and homeware extension - I wish I could have taken photos of all the wonders for sale!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update, but to finish, some birds in the snow

A dearth of photos!

It has been a miserable wet day (of course it rained, I was at the hairdresser!), so I wasn't out and about with the camera.  I did take three photos in the kitchen ....... first, Helen in Melbourne asked me what stovies are.  I got out this book

 

and found this recipe

 

I laughed when I read the bit about his not liking the kind made with tinned corned beef, as that is how I make mine ...... briefly, dice an onion and fry it until soft.  Add sliced potato, seasoning, stock (I generally use chicken stock) and a tin of corned beef.  Simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid almost boiled off.

 

Yesterday I took a bag of homemade Florentines when I visited Anne, as I know she likes them.  The recipe is very simple (ignore the asterisk, that was just a note I made to remind me that I had also made them with porridge oats).  I'm sorry I don't have a photo - I shall take one next time I make them!

 

now, in best Blue Peter "here's one I made earlier" traditon, here are some photos I took earlier in the week!

Extra cake!

Saturday morning saw me trundling back to Borderland Fabrics - I'm there so often I'm sure the car could drive thereo n its own!  That's my machine on the left, and Kathleen's on the right, and you can see part of my quilt top on the table

 

Kathleen was working with these lovely fabrics (I think they are Moda)

 

Having already cut her strips last week, Katy made rapid progress with her top (it was all a bit confusing, as we had Cath, Cathy, Catherine, Kathleen and Katy, all tending to answer to anything resembling their name!)

 

we also had two Helens, one of whom was working with these pretty fabrics

 

you know that when quilters get together, it won't be long until food and drink appears!  First we had a cuppa and biscuits

 

then we had delicious lentil and tomato soup, made by Annette, for lunch

 

and then Annette produced the most wonderful cupcakes for our afternoon cuppa - she really does look after us!!  (I shall have to spend longer exercising this week, to work off the extra cake!)

 

so how did my top turn out?  After stitching the pieces together that I had aready cut, I had a rummage and found more black and white fabrics to make an outer border ......

 

so it is now ready to layer up and quilt

 

I had enough bits left over to make the binding too

 

yesterday we went to the big craft fair in Kelso, but although there were lots of lovely things, we didn't buy anything.  However, as it was a beautiful sunny morning, we went for a walk ...... here are just a few of the many photos that I took

 

the next three photos were taken by Malcolm

 

it has been wet, windy and miserable (but mild) today.  However, the bad weather didn't stop the birds from tucking in

Little sparrow, little sparrow ......

 ........ has the title got you singing Dolly Parton?  As it was very windy earlier in the week, we didn't see many birds in the garden, but this morning they were back.  If you look carefully you will see at least half a dozen sparrows in the hawthorn tree

 

tucking into the birdseed ......

 

....... and the peanuts

 

washing it all down with a quick drink

 

as well as sparrows there were blue tits ......

 

...... and coal tits

 

at patch'n''chat this afternoon, Anne S had two projects to share with us - a fabulous wallhanging .....

 

......and this very clever wallhanging .......

 

..... which actualy consists of lots of pockets to display your Christmas cards in

 

the Friday cake was the delicious apple and sultana - a firm favourite

 

of course I will be back at Borderland Fabrics tomorrow for our Linus day, then on Sunday we will probably pop in to the big craft fair which is on in Kelso over the weekend.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

A very busy weekend!

Despite talking more than sewing, I did get quite a lot done on Friday, sewing quite a few more clamshells (sorry, forgot to take a photo!) and making a start to the embroidery on the Needle Nookie

 

Katy brought in her chicken wallhanging - it is just so cute!  The chickens are called Clara, Doris and Ethel

 

the wallhanging has an amazing edging

 

and the chickens look appealing with their ricrac topknots

 

as always there was the Friday cake - Annette's delicious cupcakes

 

this Saturday we are having a "Linus Day" at Borderland Fabrics, where we will work together to make as many quilts as possible.  Katy made a start to one, using this Jelly Roll of Christmas fabrics ......

 

sub-cutting some of the strips and deciding on a layout for them

 

later, we ordered Chinese food

 

I had my favourite chicken chow mein

 

yesterday morning we went for a walk in Kelso.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue - a perfect background for these old chimneys

 

I want a window like this one!

 

Malcolm took this photo (the boy has talent!)

 

as well as tractors and rusty things, I also like boats!

 

and you know I love herons

 

this is Floors Castle, home of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe

 

I finished the baby quilt.  These aren't the best of photos, as it was another dull, grey day

 

I also finished my ripple rug!

 

I also made a start to quilting the little teddy bear quilt for Linus

 

on Friday, I got these fabrics from Sandra, our wonderful Linus Lady - I'll show you tomorrow wwhat I have done with them!

A big delivery

I was in the bath this morning when these logs were delivered, so I missed seeing what kind of machine lifted them off the lorry - boohoo!

 

in no time at all Malcolm had them neatly stacked in the garage ...... I wonder what he will make with the pallet?

 

I mentioned recently that my Dad had taken me to see where my Grandparents' shop was in Glasgow.  I think Granny and Grandpa were only in their 50s when this photo was taken, but they look much older!

 

it had just been one of those days when there hadn't been anything much to take photos of ...... then the robin appeared for his bath!

 

as it has been windy, he had to share his bath with some leaves

 

to finish ...... this bag from the Botanic Garden in Sydney caught my eye in the studio today ........ I wonder what it reminds me of?!

Tiny tags

This morning I popped into The Reiver's Moon Gallery with the cards that I hope are going to sell like hot cakes!  I had spent some time on the packaging and presentation.  I bought the luggage labels on ebay (very cheap!) and trimmed the bottom with fancy scissors.  The hearts were recycled from labels I hade made for something else which hadn't sold.  I put these labels on packs of cards

 

on the back I put a sticker.  The label is stuck on to the paccket with a clear seal, the idea being that you can remove the label and transfer it to the outer wrapping if you are giving them as a present

 

for single cards, I made tiny labels using my Cuttlebug

 

I found this pink and white string in my stash - perfect!

 

one of the orchid cards with its little tags - and the box of the clear seals

 

I have decided that next year is going to be "The Year of Using It Up" ...... and this afternoon I made an early start when I got our my card making supplies, which I haven't used for some time.  First I made these cards using photos which I got ages ago - I had ordered postcards, but when they arrived they were photos (I did get a refund).  I wan't sure if I should use rafia or string, but having asked Malcolm's opinion, I went with the string

 

I then made this batch using a piece of old sheet music that I bought some time ago in an Oxfam shop for 50p!

 

there was an amazing sunset tonight ....

 

but the crows which were massed over the house were slightly scary!