frayed at the edge

Tiny bunting

I headed out to the studio this afternoon to make a start on some Christmas presents ....... but I had a little bit of fun first, making some tiny bunting.  I started with some pages from a tatty old song book that I bought at a car boot sale, some red and white string and a diamond template

 

 

I used the template to mark cutting lines on a page

 

 

After cutting out the diamonds, I folded them in half

 

 

To save time (and also because I usually end up with glue all over me!) I used glue lines to stick the bits together .... you can just see the glue line on the bottom of the diamond

 

 

I put the string in the middle of the diamond, then folded it over and stuck it down ...... and in no time at all I had a string of bunting

 

 

I like my old paper bunting, but of course you could use any sort of paper to suit the occasion

 

 

I have finished my crochet shawl.  I enjoyed doing it ..... and didn't have to frog too much!!

 

 

The snow that was forecast for today hasn't reached us yet, but it has been very cold.  If the weather stays like this, I will be glad of all the shawls and scarves that I have knitted (and now crocheted) recently

 

 

I bought this yarn some time ago - two 99p balls from the bargain basket in my local wool shop!

 

 

I have started another one, but as it is a present, I can't show it to you yet.  And of course I can't show you my Christmas present sewing ...... I will have to have two sets of projects on the go, so that I will have things to share with you!!

A little bit of string .......

........ was all it took to transform my empty candle jars into pretty tealight holders

 

 

I bought these lovely coloured strings in a garden centre some time ago, certain that I could use them for something!  I stuck some double sided tape round the bottom of the jars, then wound the string round.  I added some tealights, some pretty packaging and a fun label ....... a quick and easy way to transform the jars

 

 

I also solved the problem of how to attach the pencils to the notebooks.  I stuck them to strips of card with that horrible gummy stuff that free gifts are stuck to magazines with, then attached the card strips to the notebooks with tiny clothespegs.  A fun tag, and the job was done!

 

 

I may have mentioned before that my crochet skills are decidedly rusty.  Years (and years!) ago, I used to crochet ..... I even crocheted dresses when I was in my teens.  But I always had problems with my tension, and with knowing where to work my first and last stitches, so my work tended to have rather oddly shaped edges.  But having seen so many lovely crocheted things on other blogs, I decided to have another go.  I saw a nice shawl pattern in this magazine ......

 

 

It was funny buying a 'People's Friend' publication, as I can remember my Granny reading the People's Friend when I was little.

 

 

Once I had read the instructions for the special stitches several times, I made a start .......

 

 

.... but I had to frog a few rows, as there is a mistake (third row from the top, there should be three double trebles in the centre!)  But after that, I made good progress, and I've finished the first section

 

 

Weather forecasters might keep saying that it is late autumn, but it was definitely winter when I went out this morning ...... as you can see, it was minus one degree ......

 

 

....... and the windscreen took a bit of scraping!! 

 

Would you like to know ......

....... what was in the box?  It was exciting to find it on the doorstep when we got home yesterday and see the Italian postmark ......

 

 

..... and to see that it was from my lovely bloggy friend Meg.  This gorgeous card .......

 

 

.....told me that the contents of the box were belated birthday gifts.  First, there was a ball of Meg's beautiful hand dyed yarn

 

 

Then there was this beautiful felt bag

 

 

The flower is made with felt and embroidery

 

 

But that wasn't all, as I realised that there were two little gift bags inside the felt one

 

 

Inside the smaller one were these glass hearts, which Meg thought I might use as stitch markers

 

 

and inside the larger one, this fabulous glass bottle stopper

 

Thank you very much, Meg, for these wonderfull gifts!!

 

As it has been a wet and windy day, I was quite happy to spend the afternoon in the studio, with the stove to keep me warm, and 'golden oldies' on the radio.  The first job was to sew the rows of my quilt together, so that I can choose my border fabrics tomorrow when I go to patch'n'chat.

 

 

Next, I put more labels on, ready for the Christmas Fair

 

 

The last job of the afternoon involved the bright fabrics and notebooks ...... I cut squares from the fabric and stuck them on to the books

 

With brightly coloured pencils, they will make nice stocking fillers for Christmas.

Scraps

After cutting out the lavender hearts, I was left with this pile of scraps ....

 

 

....... but of course nothing is wasted in the studio, so I cut out little hearts to use for labels

 

 

I showed you the front of the label yesterday, so here today is the back

 

 

I will have to decide how to present things on the stall - I have a collection of nice baskets which I can use

 

 

The needle cases also look good in this one

 

 

I got some lovely crisp white tissue paper to line the boxes for the baby gift sets ...... and used more of the spotty ribbon to wrap the facecloth round the baby soap

 

 

The next project is to use these fabric pictures .....

 

 

..... to decorate the covers of these notebooks and then think of some way to attach a pencil

 

 

This morning, while we were having our breakfast, the birds were gathering in the hawthorn tree in the front garden for theirs

 

 

A splash of colour against the grey sky

 

 

These ones braved the rain to look for food

 

 

The good news is that the antibiotics are starting to take effect ...... fingers crossed that when I wake up tomorrow the pain will have gone - especially as we are heading off for Morpeth in the morning to visit Jennifer.  No doubt this means that we will be going out for lunch .......

 

The continuing saga .......

Oh dear, just when we thought things were getting better ....... last night I was struck down with raging toothache again!  I was at the dentist's first thing this morning (even before the dentist arrived) and fortunately he saw me as soon as he came in.  He promptly wrote me a prescription for antibiotics, with instructons to take double doses today ..... so hopefully by the time I get up tomorrow, things will have improved!

But now for more cheerful things! Yesterday was glorious - cold and frosty, with a beautiful blue sky.  We went to Jedburgh for a walk along the river - I had to stop every few yards to take photos!  I took lots of shadow shots for next weekend, as of course with winter just about upon us (there was snow just down the road from us on the Carter Bar this morning) I have to stock up on them when I get the chance.  We were delighted to see not one, not two, but THREE herons.  One of them kept tucking its head down out of sight, but finally I managed to capture this shot

 

 

I love autumn colours, and this tree was beautiful in the sun

 

 

The carpet of leaves glowed under the trees

 

 

Of course after a long walk in the cold, we had to go for a cuppa - how could I not enjoy a cup of tea from such pretty china!

 

 

Back home, it hadn't got any warmer, and there was still ice on the windscreen of my car ...... this feathery shape would make a lovely quilting pattern!

 

 

There was lots more activity on the Christmas Fair front - here is a little taster - I'll show you the rest tomorrow!

 

Needles and pins

The collection of things for the Christmas Fair is growing, with boxes of finished stuff on the floor, piles of fabric on the worktable and a lovely smell of soap and lavender in the air.  After finally deciding how to package the little pails, the next decision was what to do with the knitted washcloths.  I had them folded this way, I had them folded that way .... and finally, I decided to present them like this

 

Two facecloths, wrapped round bars of soap and tied up with pretty ribbon

 

I also looked out some little baby beenies that I had knitted some time ago, and popped them into bags - again tying them up with ribbon 

 

 

The first batch of hearts is finished, and I've cut out a second batch

 

 

The next thing on the list was a needlecase.  I had a vague idea for a design ..... and it has turned out ok

 

 

Inside, there are needles ......

 

 

...... and pins

 

 

And the finishing touch - a label on the back

 

 

Of course, I didn't just make one ......

 

 

Visitors to my studio are, of course, very welcome ...... and even more so since Malcolm bought this welcome sign for me!

 

 

Tomorrow, I'm planning to renew my photo Driving Licence.  I've had it for ten years, so the photo is obviously out of date ...... but I'm a bit peeved that I have to pay £20 to have a new one issued - especially as in all those years, I have never used it for an ID check ....... I've always had to use my passport!

 

 

Some things never change!

I bought this book in a charity some weeks ago, but somehow I've just not got round to sharing it with you!

 

I didn't know that she had written a needlework book too

 

 

even this reproduction is old!

 

 

I don't know how I've lived without one of these in the house - although I do remember antimacassars on the furniture when I was a child!  I wonder how many younger people would even know what an antimacassar is.

 

 

do you think Malcolm would like these for Christmas?

 

 

how many people have a hankie these days, never mind an embroidered one!

 

But some things haven't changed over the years - this beautiful shawl wouldn't look out of place in a modern book of patterns

 

 

Our clocks change this weekend, so it will feel as if winter has arrived ...... it will be dark by 5pm!  Sunday, of course, is Halloween.  We live too far out in the country to have children come to the door (we call it 'guising', not 'trick or treat')  When we were little, we had to recite a poem or sing a song, and we would then be given apples or monkey nuts.  We also had homemade costumes, not ones from shops, and we made lanterns from turnips, not pumpkins. 

I hope you all have a great weekend, love Anne

 

Do you like my painting?

 

No, I haven't miraculously been given a new talent - this is a postcard sent to us by Sarah from Rome, where she has just had a brief holiday.  I can't speak Italian, but I think the info on the back of the card says that it is a detail from the Creation of Adam by Micheangelo, in the Sistine Chapel.  Also on the back is this rather impressive stamp

 

 

I have been making more for the Christmas Fair - this time it was lavender hearts.  I started with linen fabric and a heart template

 

 

Then I got out some of the lovely red and white ribbon that I bought recently

 

 

I stitched strips of ribbon at random angles on the hearts

 

 

I added another strip of fabric at the back, pinned the hearts and cut them apart

 

 

I stitched round the hearts, inside the line, with red embroidery thread, leaving a small gap

 

 

and cut them out on the line with pinking shears

 

 

The next stage was to fill them with toy stuffing and lavender (from the garden)

 

 

To (almost) finish them, I added a loop of ribbon

 

 

and then the final touch ..... my own label!!

 

Rain rain go away ....

......come back another day!  That's what we used to sing as children, and I was singing it again today, when we got up to one of those dreary grey days.  However, the antics of the two horses in the field in front of us made me smile (sorry, more photos taken from indoors, it was much to miserable to go outside!)

 

look at me when I'm talking to you

 

 

go on, give me a kiss

 

maybe I'll just go and talk to the sheep in the next field instead!

 

It wasn't just the horses which were miserable in the rain - this sparrow was not a happy little bird!  (remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it - it is a very small sparrow!)

 

 

Malcolm has made a driftwood frame for the owl picture that I bought for him in Keswick

 

 

and another frame for the Christmas Fair

 

 

I think to finish we'll have, first, a photo from our walk on Sunday, with some rather handsome black cows .....

 

 

....... and then one with some lovely blue sky!

 

A wonderful surprise!

When we came home on Saturday morning,we found a mysterious package had arrived in the post. The label told me it was from Leenie - but what could it be?  I was so excited that I forgot to take a photo before I ripped it open

 

There was a card, an envelope with coins in it, and this .....

 

....... one of Leenie's stunning watercolours.  This is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse on the coast of Maine

 

On the other side, there is a painting which Leenie abandoned because she didn't think it was good enough!

 

 

I mentioned that there were also coins in the package

 

Four quarter dollars - the two on the left are from the State of Maine and show the lighthouse.  The two on the right are from Idaho, and show a falcon, as Idaho has the World Centre for birds of prey.  I am so delighted with my present - thank you very much Leenie.  I will let you see the painting again when I have had it framed.

Now that the weather is so much colder, winter dishes are creeping  on to our menu.  At the weekend, I prepared a big batch of my 'winter roast vegetables'

 

you can use any mix of winter veggies

 

 

put your seasoning and several glugs of olive oil in a large freezer bag

 

 

this will keep in the fridge for several days - roast for approx 40 mins at 200 degrees

 

I was busy at the weekend with things for the Christmas Fair.  After much folding, unfolding, turning things this way and that, I finally ended up with this ....

 

Two face cloths, a body puff and a bar of soap in a little pail ...... and the finishing touch - wrapped up in cellophane

 

 

I took this last photo at quarter past eight yesterday morning.  I actually took it through the window, as it was much too cold to go outside in my jammies to take it.  The moon was so clear in the morning sky, and again there was a hint of pink reflected on the clouds