frayed at the edge

A day at the seaside

We popped over to Berwick this morning, as we had to lodge our funds for the purchase of our holiday home with our solicitor, ready for the completion of the purchase on the 27th.  Having done that, we headed for a new cafe .......

....... and sampled a cheese scone - it passed our rigorous inspection with flying colours!

 

the service was very good, and we were given an extra plate for our shared scone - we'll definitely go back there!

 

when we were walking across the old bridge, we spotted this man in the water.  He didn't seem to be trying to progress against the current, but rather he was holding his position

 

I had just taken this photo of the heron .......

 

........ when it took off

 

I was delighted when it landed much closer, then posed prettily

 

as it was a lovely day, we decided to go to Eyemouth for lunch.  It was very enjoyable sharing a fish supper ......

 

sitting in the sun, looking out to sea

 

I'll tell you about the rest of our trip tomorrow, and I'll also have the usual sewing update.

 

Squishy!

You know that I love getting squishy parcels from far-flung places. so I was dancing round the kitchen when I saw this .......

 

....... as Iknew it contained the most delicious fabric that Thimbleanna had sent me.  I love the Ghastlies fabric, and this latest one is rumoured to be the last one ever (boo-hoo!)

 

I don't know what I will make with it - I think I will just admire it and stroke it for a litle while, before I cut it up!

 

but that wasn't all that was in the parcel.  Anna also sent me this super-cute little ID holder ...... perhaps I could put my College staff pass in it

 

and now for the sewing.  I am still working away getting every thing finished for Abbey Quilters' exhibition next month.  I stitched the binding on the little landscape - and have since done the hand-stitching of the binding on the back, but I forgot to take a photo!

 

I hadn't yet sewn in all the ends from quilting the lines across the fields, so I decided to make them part of the design

 

this shows both the binding and the sleeve on the sashiko piece

 

a pile of wallhangings waiting for their sleeves to be stitched on

 

Malcolm, meanwhile, was busy finishing his planter

 

filling it with homemade compost

 

hopefully the vine will flourish in its new home

 

and catch up with the other one, which is under the guest bedroom window

 

Malcolm then transferred the olive tree to the other end of the planter, as it had outgrown its pot

 

I also made some alterations to this little wallhanging - but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see what I did!

Wet, wetter, wettest

It was raining a bit as we set off this morning to drive down to Stitchin' Heaven, but I was hoping that it would dry up and I would be able to take some photos of the early summer scenery.  Alas, the rain got heavier and heavier, and it rained all the way home too, so no scenery.  

However there was lots of sewing going on.  Except for Ros, we were all working on Mrs Billings, Robin's Nest,  a combination of the two patterns, or an interpretation of the patterns.

This is Frances' Robin's nest

 

she was working on some tiny blocks for the next border - my thimble shows you just how tiny!

 

this is Annie's Mrs Billings

 

she is planning to do a lot of beading on it

 

Margaret was working on her Robin's Nest - she has changed the centre

 

Anne is combining elements of both patterns

 

her colour choices for the centre are similar to mine

 

Sue was patiently cutting out the pieces for her next border

 

so what was Ros working on?  An applique block in my favourite autumn colours

 

did I buy anthing?  Well, I didn't buy any fabric, bit I did buy a little something which I will show you tomorrow.

I took this last photo yesterday evening.  The sparrow looks a funny shape ....... but it is a second sparrow sitting behind it!

 

 

 

 

And the winner is .......

........ I have just activated my random number generator (aka, of course, Malcolm!), and he has picked Sandra Hoy, who is one of my friends from Abbey Quilters.  Well done Sandra, and I'll be in touch with you about your prize.  At this point I should be showing you a photo ......... but I forgot to take one!!  I shall make sure I remember over the weekend and show you on Monday.

You know I love getting parcels in the post, and I love it even more when they are prettily wrapped like this one

 

the pretty packaging continued inside with ribbon .......

 

and a hand-written thank you

 

all that for a fat quarter of tractor fabric ( and the p&P was free!).  We are having a Linus day next Friday at patch'n'chat, soI thought I would get a little bit more tractor fabric to use with some of the piece that Dawn sent me.

 

I think a little boy will be delighted to have a quilt with this super fabric in it

 

if you want a really sweet treat this weekend, you could try this recipe

 

and on the subject of cake, we had the choice of two this afternoon - ok, I admit it, we all had a piece of both of them- a delicious gingerbread and a lovely gooey chocolate cake (I had already removed the white chocolate shavings from my chocolate cake when I remembered to take the photo)

 

after havinng the pleasure of Miss Molly's company last week, today we had Barley who belongs to Annette and Norrie, the owners of Borderland Fabrics.  He is a very cute Dandy Dinmont

 

it has been another lovely sunny day, and the forecast is good for the weekend, so we will be out and about, and no doubt consuming sconnage!!  Have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Please don't eat the daisies*

the pair of collared doves have been back in the garden, and this shot explains their name

 

they have been billing and cooing as they hoover up the fallen seed under the bird table

 

the scruffy little robin was back today as well

 

but what was he watching ?

 

he was watching the sparrows, who were tucking into the yellow daisy-like flowers.  They were in a feeding frenzy - in seven years of living here, I have never seen anything like it!

 

 

and to continue with the bird theme for the last photo, I saw these mugs this morning when we were out and about.  They had been reduced to £1.29 each ....... and we had a voucher for a further 15% off!!  We had planned to just use odds and ends of china for our new holiday home, but I couldn't resist such a bargain.  I had picked up two, but then picked up another two, so that when Stuart and Alison come to visit we can have matching mugs for our cuppas

 

remember this is the last post you can comment on to be included in the draw for my giveaway.  It has been great getting lots of new commenters, including Myra from Winnipeg!!

*  I remember reading this book when I was in my teens.

 

 

Pretty little things

Hooray, we finally had a good long Sunday morning walk!  We went to Harestanes, where we hadn't been all winter, as we knew it would be very muddy underfoot. But yesterday it was dry, and everywhere we looked there were signs of spring

 

the new bridges over the stream are looking good

 

this tree was very big ........

 

........ but not as big as it used to be, having lost an enormous piece off the back

 

of course after a long walk, there is only one thing to do ....... eat scones!

 

I went out for a walk at lunchtime today, as we had seen lots of lambs in the nearby fields when we came home yesterday.  Before seeing the lambs, there were horses big and little to be admired

 

and the donkeys were enjoying the sunshine

 

 

but the sheep weren't co-operating, and were all at  the far side of their fields!

it was good to see the sun shining on the Mintos .......

 

......... and the Eildons

 

on round the bend there were sheep much nearer the road - but there were no lambs!

 

but then, in the next field - hooray

 

 

of course on the way home I had to pause to take a photo of my favourite view

 

remember to leave a comment to be included in the draw for my giveaway to celebrate reaching 1,500 posts on Friday (I still don't knw what the giveaway will be, I will have to have a search in the studio tomorrow!)  To finish, I am sure you thought that today's title referred to the lambs ....... wrong!!  It referred to these little beauties - my new shoes for the summer

Post #1,500 .........

.......... and I still haven't run out of things to say!  Yes, it's a very special day in frayedattheedgeland, as I reach 1,500 posts.  When I started writing the blog, I am sure Malcolm thought I would do it for a few weeks then give it up.  He certainly anticipate that it would last so long, and that he would become involved in it, pointing out photo opportunities, and of course making such wonderful things for me to share with you.  So, of course, we have to mark the occasion with a little giveaway.  What the giveaway will be, I don't yet know - I shall have to have  a hunt through my various stashes for a little special something!  All you have to do is leave a comment between now and next Friday, when my random number generator (aka Malcolm) will select the winner.  You can leave a comment every day - the more you comment, the more chances you will have!

Today is special for another reason ........ earlier in the week, I had an email from Dawn in Durham (no blog), saying that when she was in Florida on holiday, she visited a quilting shop where she saw something that she knew I would like.  She asked if I would email her with my address, so that she could send the something to me.  Obviously knowing that I wouldn't give out my address to someone I didn't know, she did say that (Stitchin' Heaven) Anne could vouch for her.  So the parcel arrived this morning, along with an envelope from the College.  

 

I opened Dawn's parcel first, to find this

 

and look what was inside ........ John Deere fabric!!    Dawn has said that perhaps I could make something for Linus, but that hopefully there would be enough to make something for me - and that's just what I will do.  Thank you so much Dawn, for such a thoughtful gift!

 

the envelope from the College contained the latest Community Classes listings

 

with an article about ME!

 

we had a very special visitor at patch'n'chat this afternoon.  May I introduce you to Miss Molly

 

her owner is the delightful Seonaid (or perhaps it is Molly who owns Seonaid?!)  Sorry Seonaid, I was so busy concentrating on the adorable Molly I only got half of you in the photo!  Seonaid used to be a regular at patch'n'chat, but had lost her sewing mojo, so we were delighted to welcome her back today

 

no more photos please, I've posed enough

 

oh well, just one more for my adoring audience!!

 

but Molly didn't get to join us in tucking into Annette's delicious cupcakes

 

at last it looks as if we will be able to have a good long walk on Sunday, and of course I will be busy sewing.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

 

ps - last week, Maureen sent me a photo of a deer in her garden, but unfortunately I couldn't get the photo to co-operate to put it in the blog.  However, at the other end of the scale, today she sent me this one - what a brilliant photo!!

A post of two halves*

We start with last night's meeting at Abbey Quilters.  We had a delightful speaker, Vicky Mitchell, who was quite happy to have photos taken of her work, and of her!

 

a wonderful array of quilts

 

this large quilt is stunning

 

I love the landscape on the left

 

but my favourite exhibit was also the smallest - a delightful handstitched book

 

 

as we had a guest speaker, instead of just having a biscuit with our cuppa, Val (one of the committee) had made scones - her scones are fabulous, and it wasn't long before the plate was empty!

then we move on to today.  We picked up Maureen this morning, and set off to spend the day at Stitchin' Heaven.  Maureen hadn't yet been to the shop, so was looking forward to a day spent shopping stitching.  As always the ladies were working on all sorts of projects

Ros is now working on the outer borders of her fabulous applique quilt

 

Margaret is working on Robin's Nest, designed by Karen Styles, who also designed Mrs Billings

 

Annie was going to make a bag with these tiny squares, but has decided to use them as a background to an applique wallhanging

 

a new lady, Jill, was hand-quilting her sampler quilt

 

Maureen was finishing an Advent calender

 

Frances was making some tiny hexagon blocks

 

Carolyn was working on new stitchery patterns, which I can't show you as a naughty person has pinched one of her designs and someone has put it on Pinterest, so the new designs are under wraps

 

Anne's quilt is a combination of Mrs Billings and Robin's Nest

 

Sue was working on her Mrs Billings

 

to finish ....... this scruffy little robin was enjoying himself in the birdbath!

* football managers frequently describe a match as "a game of two halves" ....... all football matches consist of two halves, what they usually mean is that they were being beaten in the first half, but took the lead in the second half (or vice versa).

The last class!

Well, that's it, we had out last "Get Set for Patchwork" class this morning.  But hopefully we will be getting together in May to do "Stitch a Sampler Quilt", as five of the ladies have already signed up for it (the sixth one will be on holiday), so when the classes are advertised if a sixth person signs up the class will go ahead.  "Get Set for Patchwork" will also be advertised again, so fingers crossed that another six people will sign up for it.  We were able to use the bigger room in the college this morning, with more room to work

 

when I made a start to sorting out the piles of paperwork, I found some patterns that I had forgotten about (oops!)....... I shall have to make room on the to-do list for them

 

 

when I was at the College this morning, I picked up a copy of this month's Jed Eye, Jedburgh's local newsletter.  The photo on the front is of the Handba, which caused my classes to be delayed by a week (the photographer must have been standing just about outside the College)

 

but I was more interested in an article inside the newsletter ........ an interview with Sandra, our lovely Linus lady

 

I have been painting my nails every Wednesday evening, so they looked nice for the classes ......... but the ladies agreed with me this morning that this colour was not a good choice!

 

I had a quick look for the photo of me being presented witth the bottle of wine for winning the triathlon, but I couldn't find it.  However I did discover these two (not very good) photos of me in action! 

Model pupils!

We had a much more relaxed morning at the college, as the ladies stitched away on their hexagon pincushions.  Last week they hardly spoke as they concentrated on the sewing, but this week there was lots of chatter as they prepped their hexagons and started stitching them together.  I didn't get round to taking photos until we were having our mid morning cuppa (again, biscuits may have been consumed)

Rosemary, Susan and Betty

 

Vera, Jane and Jo-an

 

I was sewing along with them

 

that looks familiar!

 

I almost finished my  first side - just one seam to sew

 

by the end of the morning, the ladies were well on the way to finishing their pincushions - did you notice their finished needle cases in the first photo?  They are looking forward to making their scissor holders next week, and they will also be getting an extra project - but you will have to wait until next week to find out what that is!

After the class I headed to Kelso to go to the hairdressers (that's why it was raining today!).  I had some time to kill, so I had a potter round the craft department in the Garden Centre.  First, I got some pressed paper eggs, to decorate and hang on my driftwood tree for Easter

 

this is sticky-backed fabric ........ I'm not sure what I'll do with it (cover notebooks perhaps), but it was reduced, which made it  a good buy

 

and last, this magazine was half-price ........

 

......... and who could resist these tiny buttons!