frayed at the edge

A warm welcome!

As soon as you arrive at my studio, you know you are welcome ......

 

the frogs welcome you

 

the cow welcomes you

 

and of course I welcome you too

 

OK, I won't tease you any more, and will tell you my VERY exciting news .........I've got a job!!  Well, I've sort of got a job, with the grand title of community classes lecturer.  Do you remember some weeks ago I was working on a Top Secret Project?  It all started with a conversation with my friend Maureen.  She had been going to classes at the Borders College in Jedburgh, and had got to know Tracey, who runs the campus.  When Tracey found out that Maureen quilted, she asked her if she would like to teach patchwork and quilting.  Maureen said no, but said that she would ask me if I would be interested.  I went along and had a chat with Tracey, and after a bit of thought came up with "Get Set for Patchwork" - four classes where the students would make a needle case, pincushion, scissor holder and bag to put everything in.   Along the way they would learn the basic skills of patchwork and quilting.  I then had an interview (that was a shock, having a proper, formal job interview) and yesterday I had to fill in reams of paperwork.  There is just one last hurdle - the class has been advertised, and five people have signed up ....... but the minimum number for the class to go ahead is six!  However if that last person doesn't sign up before March 6th, when the classes are scheduled to start, all is not lost, as the college are keen for the classes to go ahead, and will re-advertise them for a future date.  But before you get too impressed with the thought of my teaching at the college, perhaps I should show you this photo

 

the Jedburgh campus is actually just a very small building, with, I think, two classrooms!  I went to the new Hawick campus for my interview - it is a fabulous building, where proper full-time students go, and tomorrow I will be popping in to the main Galashiels campus to hand in the reams of paperwork to HR.  Hopefully, if the classes are successful, I will get to teach more. 

I have made a start to the Blue Peter stage by stage and "here's one I made earlier" samples.  I'll just show you a selection

 

after all the soggy, grey days, it was wonderful to see this beautiful blue sky, when I came out of the studio at 4pm after a busy day quilting another little quilt for Linus!  (I'll show it to you tomorrow)

 

Not the best way .......

......... to spend Monday morning, with not one, but TWO visits to the dentist!  Last week one of my fillings fell out, and I had intended to phone the dentist this morning to make an appointment, but then over the weekend I had toothache in another tooth.  So this morning I phoned and asked for an emergency appointment.  I had to wait until they had received all the calls for an appointment and decided who could have one.  Fortunately I got a return call to say I could go in at 10.15.  I didn't see my usual dentist (the one with the name that would score well at Scrabble), but instead saw a delightful lady dentist who poked, prodded, tapped ...... and eventually said that there was no sign of decay, and that she thought the tooth was sore because of pressure from the clasp on my partial denture, and that also the gum was inflamed.  She gave me some advice, and said to go back to see her on Friday, and as I hadn't used up all the appointment time, she had a look at the tooth the filling fell out of.  She said that the "hygienist dental therapist" could put in a new filling, so I went off to the reception desk to ask for an appointent with her ....... there was a cancellatiion, so I could have an appointment at 11.50!  So I went to Sainsbury's, whizzed round and did the food shopping, drank a cupppa in record time, and went back to the dentist.  The hygienist dental therapist turned out to be a girl who looked about twelve!  She made a very good job of the filling, which turned out to be a marathon job as there was a lot of decay to be drilled away ....... better than some dentists I have endured in the past!  She explained that she can't diagnose dental problems, but can carry out quite a lot of treatments, freeing up the dentists to see more patients.

 

So after that tale of woe, lets have some photos of our walk in Jedburgh yesterday morning, when the rain stayed off just long enough!

 

as we headed back to the car to go for our cuppa, it suddenly clouded over, and started to rain, and by the time we had eaten this magnificent cheese scone it was raining so hard we had to make a dash for the car!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with some sewing ......... and some VERY exciting news!  To finish - don't worry that Jedburgh has been invaded by giant toadstools - this is a garden ornament!

 

 

A busy weekend .......

........ and a busy Monday, so lets get started!  I headed over to Kelso on Saturday morning, with the car stuffed full of all the things I needed for the cushion workshop.  It didn't take long to get set up

 

our Chairman Sandra had taken a pile of fabrics, as had I, and after the obligitory oohing, aaahing and stroking of the fabrics, everyone started sewing.  We were so busy, I didn't take very many photos!

Anne Marie cutting out her first cushion

 

Helen was about to quilt this lovely fabric for her cushion front

 

Doreen made this large cushion

 

by the end of the day Anne Marie had made three cushions!

 

but my favourite was this pretty Sunbonnet Sue, made by Valerie.  I shall have to buy lots of tickets for the raffle at our exhibition, in the hope of winning it!

 

I also showed the ladies another technique, but I'll show you tomorrow, as I have put together a little tutoral.  It was miserable yesterday morning, so again we didn't go for a walk.  We popped down to Sainsbury's to get the Sunday papers, and have a cuppa.  We shared a "skinny" lemon and poppy seed muffin - a lot fewer calories than a scone!

 

I was busy in the studio in the afternoon, but I'll show you what I did tomorrow.  This morning we headed over to Berwick again, stopping in the Garden Centre on the way for a cuppa and a scone (I have swapped my "fast" day to tomorrow)

 

it was a bit wet and miserable, but we had an enjoyable stroll round the town.  We had a walk round the grounds of this old church

 

is spring on the way, with blossom on this tree, and snowdrops at the foot of the trunk

 

the date on this gravestone is 1763

 

we only had to walk a few yards to admire another church

 

the building next to the church had a seagull on top of every chimney

 

obviously they were admirers of architecture, choosing such a handsome building to sit on

 

what building is it?  I doubt you would ever guess!

 

I remembered to look up, and saw these wonderful details on yet another old building

 

of course after all that walking about taking photos, we needed some lunch!  Delicious butternut squash soup

 

I may have bought something in this little shop!  I'll show you tomorrow

In the pink

I glanced out one of the windows at the back of the house this morning ........ and immediately grabbed the camera and headed out into the garden.  Despite shivering with the cold, I managed to hold the camera steady enough to capture the wonderful colours in the sky

 

yesterday I made a start to the quilt top for Lucie and Quilts for Comfort.  I put two fabrics right sides together and pressed them - this makes it easier to cut them

 

the biggest square that I could cut was five and a half inches, so I cut four of each colour.  I marked a diagonal line on the lighter fabric .......

 

........ stitched on both sides of the line, then cut along the line

 

after pressing the seam, the last stage was to trim the square to five inches

 

that's when the fun started, arranging the squares on the design wall

 

I made a second batch of squares and played some more

 

I cut four plain squares and did some more re-arranging

 

one last change

 

I'm looking forward to making more squares, and playing some more with the layout!

 

Now for the Friday cake ........ oh yum, it was our favourite apple and sultana cake.  I remarked that the only time we are silent on a Friday is when we are tucking into the delicious cakes that Annette makes for us!

 

I'm looking forward to my day out tomorrow, doing all things cushiony!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Stretching my legs

Hooray, the sun shone this morning and the sky was blue (I won't mention that we had a few flurries of snow this afternoon), so I decided to go out for a walk.  It was such a treat to see the sun shining on the Mintos

 

and then  - look what I spotted under a hedge and through a fence

 

then, further up the road, more snowdrops

 

and another view over to the sunny hills

 

I do like a higgledy piggledy, falling down fence

 

only for you, dear readers, would I negotiate the mud and puddles ........

 

to visit the Jacob's ewes, who will be lambing soon

 

on down the road, more snowdrops gleaming in the sun

 

and more expectant ewes

 

I stopped to take a photo of the moss on a wall, and spotted these tiny mushrooms

 

of course clear blue sky means a photo of electrical gubbins!

 

another favourite - an arty photo of a seed head

 

on the way back down the hill, my favourite view

 

the sun shining on the church

 

a little wisp of fleece caught on a branch

 

there were no donkeys about, but this fine fellow posed prettily for me

 

one last photo, the fence that used to be higgledy piggledy, but was replaced last year, reflected in a very large puddle

 

I had to see my doctor two weeks ago, as my sinuses were really bothering me.  As I thought he would, he diagnosed a bout of sinusitis, gave me a two week course of antibiotics, and said to go back in two weeks' time.  So I went back this morning, to tell him that although things had improved a bit, the problem hadn't cleared up completely.  So has has given me another two weeks of antibiotics.  Much aas I appreciate him taking good care of me, there is just one little niggle ........ like many other people, I have been "dry for January".  Not one drop of wine has passed my lips since New Year's Day, so of course I was starting to look forward to enjoying a glass (or two) on the 1st of February ........ but now I will have to wait until the following Thursday, when I finish the antibiotics!!

 

 

An unexpected day out

This week is a bit topsy turvy, so we had our Wednesday day out today (did you follow that?!).  On the way, we were stuck for a while behind a lorry which had a strange looking cargo ....... was it perhaps a satellite that they were going to launch into space?  Alas, it was nothing exotic, but merely a silo, possibly for grain

 

I, of course, was a happy bunny when we passed this tractor

 

when we arrived in Berwick, we parked near the "new" road bridge across the River Tweed

 

we walked part of the way across the old bridge, and looking down at the river, saw this flock of pigeons on the shore

 

Malcolm's sharp eyes spotted this heron, just before it disappeared behind the bottom of the bridge (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

then he spotted this one

 

and this one

 

I spotted this one - although you may have to squint a bit to see it in the middle of the photo

 

we were still expressing our amazement at seeing so many herons in a short stretch of river, when we looked over the other side of the bridge ...... and there was another one!

 

I think this is a cormorant ......

 

........ and I know these are ducks

 

........ and this is a swan!

 

on the way home, we were stuck behind this JCB for a while - but I didn't mind too much

 

it was too miserable to go for a walk yesterday morning, but we still went out to buy the Sunday papers ....... and to share this magnificent scone, which was lemon and ginger flavoured.  That may sound a weird combination of flavours for a scone, but was delicious!!

 

then in the afternoon, we had  the last of the Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing!

 

 

 

You've seen Gorrillas in the Mist* .........

........ so now I bring you Donkeys in the Mist!!  Yesterday we awoke to the hardest frost of the winter so far, and a heavy mist, but we still headed out for a walk. We decided to have a stroll past the donkey sanctuary.  As you can see, the frost was so heavy it almost looks like snow

 

aas soon as they saw us, the two donkeys and the horse in the first field came over to the fence, no doubt hoping for something to eat

 

in the next field, this donkey was looking quite magnificent

 

as we walked on down to the river, I was sidetracked by frosted seedheads ........

 

......... and icy puddles

 

the footbridge across the river was decorated with beautiful spiders' webs

 

on the way back to the car, wwe passed the donkeys and horse in the first field, busy munching on hay

 

we went to the Woodside Garden Centre for some delicious sconnage

fruit

 

cheese

 

while we ate our scones, we were entertained by finches on the bird feeder stuck to the window.  Sorry about the quality of the photos - but the window was dirty!

 

on the way home, the mist had mostly lifted, but there were still some low lying pockets

 

Fatlips Castle seemed to be floating in the air

 

in contrast to the mist, it was nice to see some blue skies and sunshine when we were out on Saturday

 

* I have to admit that I haven't seen Gorillas in the Mist - and having read about it, I think it is a bit too serious for me!

A day at the beach

Last Thursday, the weather was much better, so we went to Berwick.  We had a potter round the shops, a quick lunch in the nearby garden centre, then we went for a walk on the beach

 

the sea was still running high after the stormy weather

 

I couldn't decide whether to have the lighthouse on the right or the left of the photo!

 

 

 

two of my favourites - weathered wood and rusty bolts

 

trying to be arty with seaweed and rocks!

 

more weathered wood

 

the beach theme has continued in the studio, as I have been working on two quilts for Linus, which I had started some weeks ago when we had a Linus day at Borderland Fabrics.  The two quilts are the same

 

once the tops were made, it was time to layer the quilts, ready for quilting.  I taped the backing fabric to the table

 

then cut the wadding to size

 

the last stage was to add the quilt top, then pin the layers together

 

there are differing opinions as to whether or not cutting certain things blunts scissors.  I think cutting paper definitely blunts scissors, and I also think cutting polyester wadding does too, so I have different scissors for different tasks - from left to right, embroidery, paper, pinking, wadding/general and fabric.  Malcolm knows never to use my scissors without asking - but then I wouldn't use his tools without asking!

 

I also have different pins for layering quilts.  The ones on the left were all that were available when I started quilting more than twenty years ago.  I then moved on the the curved pins, which are easier to use.  The coloured ones on the right are wonderful - they are very thin and very sharp, very easy to use.

 

as always, I cleaned the machine and inserted a new needle, ready to free motion quilt.  I used a big meander in the centre, and a loopy, wandering line round the borders.  You can see the stitching best on the back

 

today, I got organised to trim the quilts, ready to put the binding on.  I have folded the quilt, so that you can see the two boards lined up.  I also used two rulers

 

the two quilts trimmed ready for the binding, which I had made some days ago

 

having stitched on the binding, I folded a bit over and clipped it in place, to let you see what it will look like once I have hand-stitched it on the back

 

 

but, what to do with the leftovers?

 

first, I cut strips of varying widths and layed them out ready to stitch together

 

the strips stitched and the seams pressed

 

the next stage was to get out my revolving mat, small cutter and 6" square ruler

 

the squares are cut on the diagonal - this is the first square

 

I managed to cut eleven squares ......

 

then was able to make the last one from leftovers

 

I put the blocks up on the design wall

 

these are the leftovers from the blocks from the quilts

 

I think with a bit of effort, I can make the borders fit round the centre blocks!

 

to finish ....... little JDthetractor was most annoyed when he saw last night's post, as he said the photo did not do him justice.  So he popped out to the studio this morning to pose for me

 

but he's not just a handsome tractor, he is hardworking as well!!

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Happy New Year!

I requested a photo of braw laddies in kilts to wish you a Happy New Year, but instead I got this photo of Stuart (on the left) and three of his friends!  Stuart apologisies for the quality of the photo, but it was taken with his phone in poor light

 

casting my mind back to before Christmas ......... Stuart and Alison came for the weekend, and on the Sunday morning we decided to go to the Waterwheel cafe for a cuppa.  But first we went to have a look at the archimedes screw.  There was a tremendous amount of water going over the cauld ......

 

...... which had caused some problems leading to the screw being stopped.  The doors to the building housing the workings for the screw were open, and several men were standing about discussing the probblem.  Of course, Malcolm and Stuart, as engineers, immediately fell into a very technical conversation with one of the men, while Alison and I looked as bored as this little dog!

 

the vast volume of water meant that some was diverted into the old mill race, and the wooden wheel was turning - in seven years that is the first time that we have seen it turn

 

on our way home, we stopped to take photos of the snow on the hills.  Fortunately, we haven't had any here

 

 

 

the weather has been awful - although not as bad as some parts of Britain, which have suffered storms and flooding.  But in between the showers, we have been out and about.  Can you see what Malcolm spotted?

 

a heron on the tree, high above the river

 

looking out over Hawick

 

a rather handsome duck

 

a walk in the park in Hawick

 

back home, the nuthatch has returned to the garden, but I haven't managed to get a good photo yet

 

of course we have to have some food!  There hasn't been much sconnage consumed

 

but we are enjoying having a piece of Christmas cake with our afternoon cuppa

 

I still have lots more to share with you, which I'll do over the rest of the week.  To finish, I must have been a very, very good girl, because Santa brought me my very own tractor - and not just any tractor, but a John Deere

 

Yet again, dear readers .......

......... I braved the cold to take photos of the moon.  This was at 8am, so it was quite a bit lighter.  You can see Hawick in the distance

 

so what did I come home with yesterday?  The first thing was this delightful candle, which was a present from Carolyn, who made it

 

this miniature box of chocolates was from Lucie

 

I couldn't resist these new designs from Rosalie Quinlan

 

each contains the design printed on fabric, ready to stitch

 

I hummed and hawed abut buying this set of patterns as it was quite expensive.  I picked it up and put it down, and picked it up and put it down ........ but in the end it came home with me. (that's my pocket money spent for the next year!!)

 

I also brought another amazing pattern home - but it is my Christmas present from Malcolm, so you will have to wait to see it!