frayed at the edge

A split weekend!

Because of the snow, we stayed at home on Saturday, then went to Berwick on Sunday ........ so to paraphrase football commentators, it was a weekend of two halves!  We went up to Alnwick on Saturday morning, to find there was a bigger than usual Market

 

including a stall selling all things alpaca, made with the fleece

 

of these delightful creatures

 

who posed quite happily for the camera - ok, they were bribed - Malcolm was feeding them slices of carrot!

 

maybe if I ask Santa nicely he might bring me a champion alpaca!

 

on Saturday afternoon, I was busy in the attic ....... but you will have to wait until Wednesday to see what I was doing!  At the end of the afternoon, I was treated to this wonderful sunset

 

Sunday was bright and sunny - a delight after the horrid snow!  We went for a walk round the Walls ...... I hadn't intended to take any photos, so I only had the point and shoot camera with me (I don't have a smart phone, so I always have the little camera in my handbag).  It has a limited zoom, so the lighthouse looks a long way away!

 

I do like old chimneys

 

the bare trees ........

 

....... stand out against the blue sky

 

I like the way the bramble has grown round the bottom of this weed, which is on top of a wall

 

if I had taken the big camera with me, I could have zoomed in on the shadow shot of the gate on the stone wall

 

there was a "super moon" last night ...... but this was the best the little camera could manage!

 

all sorts of Christmas things are happening here, so do come back on Wednesday - if only you could smell the delicious aromas coming from the kitchen as I type this!!

 

Snow!

Yes, I know that snow looks pretty, and people who live in places where it doesn't snow wish it would ....... but is a pain in the bahookie when plans have to be changed because driving conditions are bad.  I briefly opened the door to take this photo

 

but the other photos were taken through the window

 

it snowed off and on all day, and was quite a bit deeper than this later on

 

no sitting out in the garden!

 

however, before the snow got too bad, we went along to Nelson's to meet up with Lucie and her lovely daughter Sarah.  There were no other customers in when we arrived, so we bagged the table next to the heater!

 

Malcolm and I tucked into cheese scones

 

while Lucie and Sarah both chose chocolate brownies

 

and I have to admit that wasn't the only scone that I ate this week.  I popped up to Alnwick on Monday to do some Christmas shopping, and treated myself to this wonderful fruit scone

 

we had planned to go the Berwick after our cuppa with Lucie and Sarah, but the weather changed that plan!  So as long as we don't get any more snow, we'll go up on Sunday.  Right now, the log burning stove is lit, and we are planning a cosy evening watching tv!  Whatever the weather, have a good weekend, love Anne

 

17UFOs in 2017 : November report

I have been working hard for the last two weeks to catch up on making progress on my remaining UFOs.  First up on the design wall we have my pathetic attempt at Mrs Billings

 

I have finished stitching on the last of the small hexies

 

I was going to add these pyramids round the outside, but I decided against it

 

but don't worry, they will be used - I think I will cut squares from these two fabrics and appliqué the pyramids, then stitch the blocks together into a quilt

 

just for fun, I took poor Mrs B with me to The Quilt Shop yesterday, so that you can compare her with Sue's wonderful Mrs B!!

 

but I do have plans for poor Mrs B ..... I have been watching this excellent DVD, and have more or less worked out how I am going to quilt her, to try to restore a bit of her glory!

 

next up is The Aunts' Quilt, which is much to big for the design wall.  I have stitched all the lollipop flowers on the outer borders, and then had to decide what to do with the corners

 

I still had bias and circles left

 

I decided on this layout, and have stitched to first corner and started the second ....... so hopefully it will be finished for the December report (as it is so big, I shall have it longarm-quilted by the lovely Lucie)

 

so, on to the last quilt.  I had started quilting the sashing, but I wasn't happy with it, so I sat one afternoon and unpicked what I had done!  I then did a fmq continuous line, which I was much happier with

 

having done all the long horizontal sashings, I then did the short vertical ones

 

all the quilting done

 

the next stage was to add the binding

 

woohoo - the finished quilt!!

 

I can't believe that there is only one month left for the challenge ........ and Meredithe and I are planning another challenge for next year (but don't worry, it won't be 18 UFOs!).  Do pop over to Meredithe's blog to see her report, then scroll to the bottom of her post for the linky thing to see what everyone else had been doing (thanks again, Meredithe, for doing the technical stuff!!)

 

ps - if you are living somewhere really hot and sunny :

a) can I come and visit you?

b) come back tomorrow for snowy photos to cool you down!

 

An extra post!

I forgot on Monday that I would be doing my November report on my 17 UFOs tomorrow, so for today, just a quick post.  Malcolm has finished recovering the dining chairs ........ and what is this, I hear you cry, another chair covered in the same fabric?

 

actually, he has done another two chairs ....... he bought these chairs in Indonesia, when I was on a trip back home.  When I got back, our driver Sumario told me that "Mister" had been to his favourite shop and bought the chairs (Sumario called me Madame, which I rather liked!).  Everyone who sees these chairs wants them, and Stuart's step-sister Claire had demanded suggested that we leave them to her in our wills!!

 

I did think about making new cushions for them, but I made these cushions for my Dad for Christmas the year my Mum died, so they are 22 years old, and I can't bear to part with them

 

I used to make a lot of soft furnishings, often finished with piping and/or frills - these days I wouldn't make the effort of putting ties on the back!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with several projects that I have been working on this month - there may even be a finish!!

 

Feathers

 On Friday morning, we got up to a rather dramatic sky .........

 

....... so I left Malcolm to make breakfast .........

 

......... while I took photos!

 

on our way back to the flat after our morning in town, I paused on the quayside to take this photo of the three bridges

 

in the afternoon we went for a walk on the beach - but I kept stopping to take photos of feathers!

 

Malcolm always manages to find an interesting stump - and always declares it would look good in the garden!

 

while Malcolm was collecting some interesting bits of driftwood, I picked up all sorts of litter.  I collected bits of fishing line and nets, bits of ropes, nasty bits of metal

 

and a long piece of rope which had all sorts of other rubbish caught in it.

 

a bit of fun to finish ....... the large container ship hadn't really been washed up on top of the breakwater!!

Jumping up and down .......

......... and squealing with excitement!!  We were walking over the old bridge into Berwick this morning, when Malcolm spotted this little bird on a buttress.  We were so excited, as it is the first time that we have seen a kingfisher in real life rather than in a photo or on tv!

 

you would normally expect to see kingfishers sitting on a branch overhanging a river, so I don't know why it had chosen to sit on the bridge.  As we crept closer to get a better look, it flew off - but landed on the next buttress, which gave us a better view of the colour on its side

 

so, after all that excitement, let's have a bit of sewing!  When I was at The Quilt Shop on Wednesday, I was working on my Christmas Whimsy wallhanging.  Having added the prairie points and the binding, I auditioned little bits of bling to add to the blocks

 

as I knew I wouldn't have time to sew the bits on

 

I took a photo of each block

 

to remind me what to put where

 

it was good fun

 

going somewhat over the top

 

with the bling - and I still have more to add!

 

it's Friday, so of course that means a little foodie treat!  This is the Potting Shed

 

which is part of the Treehouse in Alnwick Gardens

 

where on Sunday we shared an excellent fruit scone with jam and clotted cream

 

then this morning we shared a tasty cheese and sun dried tomato scone in Café Crema

 

but just feast your eyes on the last two photos - and that's all I got to do, I didn't get to tuck into these delights!  We popped along to Nelson's in the village yesterday for a bite of lunch, and we were entertained by two of the ladies who work there setting up and taking photos for their website

 

so of course I asked if I could take photos too.  I also volunteered to pose eating the chocolate cake, but sadly they said no!

 

whether or not chocolate cake features on your menu, I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

A busy boy!

The seats of our dining chairs had started to look a bit grubby - but then we did buy them when we lived in Indonesia, and we have been back home for 17 years!

 

so Malcolm assembled a few tools

 

and removed the seats (the wine cupboard is Indonesian too)

 

this beautiful furnishing fabric was an absolute bargain at £7 a metre! (the couch is also Indonesian)

 

the fabric cut to size, with a generous margin to turn under the seat

 

the first stage completed

 

and the finished seat

 

a very smart revamp of the chairs, for a relatively small expenditure ....... and they go well with the rug!

 

The rest of our walk

On Friday, we had just reached the end of the beach.  We went up on to the promenade to walk back, where I spotted this little gate - I don't really know why it was there, as the fence was so low I could have stepped over it

 

we had a meander through the streets running behind the promenade - this old house has a fine collection of chimneys

 

there is a small park which we walked through

 

the lavender is still flowering

 

as is this pretty fuchsia

 

we were somewhat surprised to see these little points of spring bulbs peeping through the soil in a planter

 

a splendid gate in an unusual arched opening

 

we passed the old school

 

this tower would have had the school bell in it

 

walking back to the carpark with a bag full of driftwood and sea glass, the low sun gave us long legs - if only  I could have long legs for reaching the top shelves in the kitchen cupboards!

 

I took this photo early on Saturday morning.  It may look as if a meteorite is speeding to earth ........ but it is the sunrise reflected on a contrail

 

Malcolm bought this little bundle of Liberty fabrics for me on Friday

 

I shall need to design a special project for it, and not just add it to my stash!

 

I shall be back on Wednesday with a report on Malcolm's latest project in the house.

 

Night and day

Yesterday, we went up to Kelso, as I had an appointment with my lovely hairdresser Melissa.  While she restored my blonde gorgeousness, her puppy Jake snoozed in his bed beside me

 

we then went on to the flat, walking over to the town in the evening for a pub supper

 

the electrical shop was still lit up, showing off its wares

 

one of our favourite restaurants, Audela, has recently moved to new premises.  It looks very smart inside - I think we will have to go for dinner one night before Christmas

 

I just liked this doorway!

 

a rather tasty dinner - slices of roast beef, wrapped in Yorkshire pudding, with chips, peas and gravy (Malcolm ate my peas as I don't really like them)

 

as we walked home, I tried to take a photo of the railway bridge, which is lit up under the arches - as you can see, it was a bit of a failure!

 

this morning, we walked over to town, pausing to check out the progress of the work on this new restaurant

 

this is looking through to the courtyard behind a hotel, which is also having work done on it

 

and then we spotted this - an empty shop being turned into a coffee shop - no doubt we will try it out, so that I can tell you about it

 

after lunch we went for a walk on the beach, where I had a little play with B&W photos

 

Malcolm, as usual, wanted to take this stump home!

 

I switched back to colour when I found this little bit of china

 

the beach is littered with detritus after the recent storms, but nature has already moved in

 

there were lots of bricks on the beach - I could probably have collected enough to build a wall

 

this is just a small tyre, unlike the massive one that was on the beach for a while

 

looking over to Bamburgh Castle in the hazy distance

 

the tide was coming in

 

so I had to beat a hasty retreat ......

 

 

........ several times while taking photos at the water's edge

 

looking back to the lighthouse

 

I still have lots of photos left, so I will save them for Monday.  When we were in town this morning, we popped into Café Crema ......

 

...... for a cuppa, and we shared an excellent cheese and red onion scone

 

we will be heading back home in the morning, and are hoping for good weather over the weekend, as we still have the last of the spring bulbs to plant.  Whatever the weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

 

It may still be November .......

......... but it is all go for Christmas in the quilting world!  On Saturday we had the second part of the Christmas Whimsy workshop with Lucie.  This shows my blocks all cut to size and my sashings cut

 

here, we have Christine on the left and Karen on the right, with their interpretations of the pattern

 

then a little while later, Karen had added her outer border

 

this is Heather with her version - it's always amazing at workshops to see the variety of colours that people pick

 

at home on Sunday, I assembled my top ...... using a somewhat different layout from Lucie's original design

 

then yesterday, I quilted in the ditch round the blocks

 

next, I will trim the quilt and add prairie points before doing the binding.  Then the fun will start, adding lots of bling

 

at The Quilt Shop today, it was a busy Wednesday session.  Sonia had brought in her finished snowman cushion cover to show me - she is quite rightly delighted with it.

 

Hollie is going to turn this cute tractor block into a little wallhanging for her gorgeous little boy Gideon (although I did say she should have put yellow centres in the wheels, so it would look like my favourite John Deere tractors!)

 

Avril was finishing off this delightful crochet reindeer

 

I did try to keep it after I took the photos!

 

I took these last two photos on Saturday morning.  They aren't very clear as I was hiding behind the curtain, which was reflected on the window

 

as I tried to slowly move to get a better shot, you can see the sparrowhawk looking right at me!  It promptly picked up the carcass and flew off.  All that is left is a sad little pile of feathers.