frayed at the edge

The Ping Pong quilt .......

......... aka the four fat quarter quilt, came about way back in 2002, when the aunt and uncle of someone I knew announced that they were adopting a little girl from China.  There was much discussion as to what they would call their new daughter, and the brother-in-law of the aunt came up with the worst ever suggestion.  As Chinese people are very good at playing table tennis, he said, I think you should call her Ping Pong.  Of course his suggestion was vetoed, but somehow the name stuck to the quilt!

 

obeying my pattern, I cut the strips

 

then stitched them together

 

the strips were then cut into 81/2" squares, and I arranged the first blocks on the design wall

 

having read through the pattern, I realised that I should add in a bit to say that when you lay your fat quarters out for cutting, you should have the selvedges on your right.  If you have them at the top or bottom, you won't be able to cut your 8x21/2" strips (yes, I know because I made that mistake once!)  It's a very easy quilt to make, and if you want a bigger quilt, simply add a border.

 

the bird bath is in frequent use - Malcolm had just refilled it this afternoon when Mrs Blackbird appeared and had a good splash

 

the robin has been appearing every day just as it starts to get dark

 

Malcolm stuck his head in the studio door this afternoon to let me know that there were some butterflies on the buddleia

 

but this one preferred the wall

 

 

to finish, a sad tale!  Way back in 2009, I made this cushion for Malcolm

 

when Anna was here, we were looking at it, and I saw that it was looking a bit neglected, so yesterday I washed it.  But when I went to give it a gentle press - oh dear, it has frayed and holey bits!

 

so that's yet another project on the to-do list, a new cushion for Malcolm!

 

 

A weird combination!

It has been a poor summer for butterflies in the garden (although a very good one for bees).  These are all the photos I have in my butterfly folder this year!

 

the birds are reappearing in the front garden and making good use of the bird bath

 

we went out for lunch today, and Malcolm had a baguette with brie, bacon and tomato

 

but now for the weird combination - I had lentil soup and bread ........ and salad!!  Remember we recently were given a side salad with a scone, which we thought odd ...... but salad with soup - NO!!!!

The sun was shining ..........

.......... so we abandoned our chores and went out for a walk after lunch.  I had read somewhere recently that there is a bumper crop of sloes this year, and that they have ripened early, so we thought we would go on a sloe hunt.  We only got as far as the bottom of the road before I had to stop to take photos!

 

I think the countryside looks best in autumn

these two riders had been enjoying  gallop - if you look closely at the photo above you can just make out the line of white railings which mark the gallop

 

I do like a piece of higgledy-piggledy fence

 

every time we go on this walk I have to take photos of this beautiful old gate

 

it was good to see that this farmer has had new wooden gates made, instead of using the ugly utilitarian metal ones which are common now

 

of course I had to take photos of sheepies (yes Anna, they are for you!)

 

I guess someone couldn't be bothered to carry this fork home, and left it hanging on the fence for next time

 

there are no pavements on country roads, so it is a bit scary when big beasties like this timber lorry go thundering past

 

there is still some colour in the verges

 

this has been a very poor year for brambles, because the spring was too hot/cold/wet/dry (I can't remember which one was the cause!).  All we could find were these exceedingly poor things

 

so, did we find the abundant and ripe sloes? NO!  We did eventually find some sloes, but they were far from ripe - it is hard to pick them out, in the middle of the photo, but one of them is just turning purple

The star turn!

Last night was the first meeting of the 2015/2016 session of Abbey Quilters, so as usual I picked up Maureen and we headed over to Kelso.  After Sandra, our Chairman (you also know her as our lovely Linus Lady), welcomed us back and went through all the official stuff, it was my turn as the star turn of the evening!  I was showing the members how to make the thistle stitchery sewing kit, and had entrusted Maureen with the camera, with instructions to please take flattering photos!!

 

I seem to have accumulated a mixed bunch of photos that you haven't seen yet ...... these first ones of spider webs were taken yesterday morning when it was very damp and misty

 

then this afternoon in the garden I spotted a bud on the hellebore

 

and a tiny rose - it is not even the size of my thumbnail!

 

I bought these lily plants some weeks ago in the supermarket for a few pounds ....... what a bargain!

 

we know that summer is over when the robin reappears in the garden

 

but after "the locals" posing nicely for Anna, normal service was resumed when this sparrow would only show me his tail!

 

and a very special "to finish" ....... today the Queen became our longest reigning Monarch - and she was here in the Borders!  But I have to admit that we didn't go to see her, and I took these photos of the news report on the tv!!

A veritable pot pourri of a weekend

I was very busy in the kitchen at home on Saturday, and then equally busy in the studio, but I will tell you about that tomorrow.  Instead, I will start with what we have been doing in Berwick, both yesterday and today.  When we arrived yesterday, we went out for a walk round the town

old chimneys

 

who needs a cliff when you can use chimneys!

 

a different view of the lighthouse

 

a pigeon on the old walls

 

more old walls

 

did the English defenders fire on the pesky Scots invaders from here?

 

windpower

 

horsepower!

 

looking down the High Street ...... then looking up at the buildings

 

 

 

the window of the new dental practice

 

of course after all that walking we needed sustenance

a tasty cheese scone

 

and a delicious toasted teacake 

 

and back at the flat, the swans were waiting in the dock for us

 

this morning, we were helping to set up this exhibition

 

I have two pieces in it - my "Sunset Over the Bay" wallhanging, and a little canvas with a driftwood and seaglass boat (which you can just see perched on the radiator on the left)

 

Malcolm was helping with things involving large ladders

 

while I was assigned this wall to pin up some schoolchildren's work

 

after I had pinned up all my pieces

 

I helped Malcolm to hang these paintings of the lighthouse

 

while on the other side of the room, there was some discussion about the positioning of my wallhanging

 

all too soon it was time for us to head off for some lunch, and on the way out I picked up this card, illustrated by local author Cara Lockhart Smith

 

this side shows you where the Watchtower Gallery is (bottom left), should you be able to come to the exhibition

 

while this side shows the wider area

 

we had a rather indulgent lunch.  Malcolm's didn't win any points for presentation, but it was exceedingly tasty ...... homemade corned beef pie, with rather a lot of beans

 

while I had a delicious Coronation chicken panini 

 

we had lunch at Marshall's, and popped into the outlet shop afterwards for a quick look round.  I was very glad that we did, as I got the bargain of the year (if not the decade!!)  A super warm jacket, which will be good for walking on the beach in the winter

 

it has an extra detachable bit inside, which when fastened grips round the hips to stop the wind blowing in

 

I wouldn't have paid the original price, although I may have paid the outlet price ........

 

......... but all I paid was £19!!!

The morning meeting

This year for the first time we had starlings nesting in the ivy (I didn't manage to take photos of any of them).  There must have been several nests in the area, as every morning they all meet up on the phone wires across the road

 

there is always a squabble for the best positions - move over, no you move over!

 

this afternoon, Maureen gave me a jar of her summer fruit jam, which she had just made this morning.  I may have to attempt making some scones ...... there is nothing finer to have with a cuppa than a scone with cream and delicious home made jam!

 

she has a very productive garden, and also brought me luscious plump blackcurrants

 

and delicious red gooseberries ....... I guess I will be busy making jam, jelly and curd over the next few days!

 

and now for the Friday cake ....... our favourite apple and sultana.  There were only a few of us there at the start of the afternoon, so we were anticipating a large slice each - we were unhappy bunnies as more and more people arrived and the envisioned slices got smaller!!

 

apart from the afore-mentioned jam/jelly/curd making, I hope to do some sewing over the weekend!  I hope you have an enjoyable weekend, love Anne

 

 

Before I tell you .......

....... why Malcolm was banished to Berwick at the weekend, I have some photos of the stunning sunset on Friday night

in contrast, I got up on Saturday morning to a prolonged thunderstorm, and torrential rain that was bouncing back out of the birdbath

 

which was in contrast to Thursday, when Mr Blackbird enjoyed a leisurely bath

 

then a little bit of sunbathing to dry off

 

ok, lets get on to the main topic!!  The studio needs redecorated, which of course means that I have to pack everything up.  I decided it would be much easier to do it on my own, as I am very fussy about how all my treasures are treated!  So Malcolm was sent off to have fun in Berwick, while I tackled this (I am embarrassed at how untidy it all is!!)

 

as I started the packing, I was distracted by this little tin, which was given to me by a friend years ago - she obviously recognised my many talents!!

 

but I realised that if I kept stopping to take photos, I would never finish!  By the middle of Saturday afternoon I had had enough of carrying boxes out to the garage, so watched Wimbledon instead!  However, I was busy packing when Malcolm came home at lunchtime yesterday.  He went up in the loft to get more boxes for me, so that I could pack up my books.  There was no way I could carry these heavier boxes, so I used the sack barrow

 

this afternoon, I packed my fabric into bags - the first packed were these three bright bags, which I bought in Majorca in May

by the end of this afternoon, quite  bit of progress had been made

 

to finish - if you don't like snails, go no further!  This one was slithering up the studio door yesterday

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!!

Not long now!

We are currently relaxing, before having an early dinner, then going over to the Town Hall to set up our stall for tomorrow's craft fair.  We came over yesterday afternoon, after we has managed to squeeze everything into the car.  As soon as we arrived, I was at the window taking photos of the swans!

 

I'm not sure if this is a duck or a goose, but I remember it hanging out with the swans last summer

 

in the evening, there was a great commotion of seagulls, out in the river

 

while the swans seemed to be investigating something in the dock

 

this morning, as we started to walk over the old bridge, Malcolm spotted a heron.  I immediately took a photo. in case it flew off before we got closer

 

then another one as we got closer still

 

until finally we were right above it

 

we went for a walk after lunch, and as we came down the hill back towards to river, I took a photo of the old jetty, which was damaged some years ago when it was hit by a ship

 

we have heard that there are moves afoot to repair it, but perhaps they could leave this little bit as a reminder of what happened

 

I wonder why this corner has been cut out of the door - it looks to small to be a cat flap, and as the door opens into a garden, I don't suppose you would want a cat flap in it anyway

 

we stopped to look in the windows of The Tower House Pottery.  Their work is stunning, but a little bit expensive

 

please keep your fingers crossed that we sell lots tomorrow, as we really don't want to have to take it all back home!  Have a good weekend, love Anne