frayed at the edge

Friday afternoon cake!

I know you have missed the Friday afternoon cakes, so I will start with today's offering ......... light as air fairy cakes

 

Margaret was working on another of her stunning applique quilts

 

but the main event of the afternnon was the silent auction of 24 of Margaret's quilt tops, to raise funds for her disabled granndson Harry, to help fund his playing boccia.  He recently returned from a big match in Poland with both a gold and a bronze medal, much to the delight of his proud Grandma

 

at the end of the afternoon, we were treated to cheese and wine

 

Margaret is sitting, with behind her from left to right, Cathy, Annette, the other Margaret, and Sandra

 

I left before the closing time for the bids, so I shall have to wait to see if my bid was successful ....... if it wasn't I'll give Margaret a donation.  We're off to Berwick in the morning, and no doubt, weather permiting we will have a walk on the beach.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Another Sunday, another castle!

On Sunday we headed down the coast to the village of Craster.  We had to park just outside the village, as it is so small only residents' cars are allowed in.  The tide was out ......

 

....... in the harbour, which had been built as a memorial to

 

whenever I see a pile of lobster pots, I am tempted to acquire one to put in the garden

 

we had a spot of bother getting through this gate, as it was guarded by these cows - I turned back to take the photo once we had got past them

 

then, there in the distance was our destination, Dunstanburgh Castle

 

it might look as if there weren't many other people out and about ...... but that's because they were all coming up behind us!

 

well, the cases are packed, everything that can be turned off has been turned off, and our lovely neighbours as ever have the keys to look after the house for us.  I am taking my Hudl with me, and hopefully I will be able to do some posts along the way, so do pop in now and then to catch up with our travels.  But before I go, I have one last thing to share with you.  Starting on the 7th of October,    Borderland Fabrics will be hosting a silent auction of some of Margaret's work.  I have shown you Margaret's beautiful applique work on Fridays, when she has brought them to patch'n'chat, and there are two of her applique quilt tops in the auction, as well as some of her fabulous hand pieced quilts

 

Margaret is parting with her beautiful quilt tops to raise funds for her grandson Harry, who has been picked to play for England in the Boccia games in Poland.  He is an extraordinary young man who has overcome his disability to become a top player.  So please put it in your diary to either visit Borderland Fabrics' website, or even better, call into the shop and see the wonderful quilts, then enter a bid to win one.  And if you need some more persuasion, here is a detail of the amazing clown quilt

 

 

On our holiday we will see .....

........ this

 

and this

 

and this

 

so no prizes for guessing that we are going to Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne!!  When we are in Sydney we will be visiting our wonderful friends Lee, John and their gorgeous daughters, then in Melbourne I will be meeting up with Meredithe.  But not just Meredithe - Malcolm is leaving me with Merdithe, Miss Helen and Mrs Mac, as well as Miss Glenda who isn't in the photo.......

 

and we are going off for five days on a retreat here.  While I'm off doing all things quilty, Malcolm will be enjoying himself visiting wineries!  I think Meredithe is expecting me to take some of my Mrs Billings to work on (it was seeing M's award-winning version that inspired me to do it), But I am taking a stitchery project instead.  This is part one of an eight part project

 

I have tacked the first for blocks to thin cotton wadding, ready to stitch with the wonderful threads I showed you the other day

there was a slight worry at patch'n'chat this afternoon that there would be no cake, as Annette is on holiday - but we needn't have worried, as Cathy had made delicious orange and date muffins for us

 

I finished stitching the binding on Father Christmas - now he just needs the black buttons for his eyes, the red buttons on his coat, and the pompom on his hat

 

we will be popping over to Berwick for a last visit before the holiday.  No doubt there will be a walk on the beach and some sconnage-scoffing!!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Getting organised

On my way to Kelso yesterday, I made a slight detour to the College, to photocopy the pattern sheets for the Father Christmas workshop.  This afternoon I put them in order, folded them, and popped them in bags

 

next I free motion quilted the second Father Christmas

 

I trimmed the edges

 

then stitched the binding on the two long sides, before pinning the hanging sleeve in place, ready to sew the binding on the top edge

 

that just left the binding to stitch to the bottom edge - but I could see that the bobbin thread was running out

 

would there be enough?  Usually it runs out with six inches to go!  For once there was enough left - but only just

 

all the binding on, and the top edge folded over and clipped in place, ready to be handstitched on the back

 

I needed two more samples, but I didn't really want two more full-sized ones, so I decided just to make up heads

 

and then I forgot to take a photo of the next stage!  But you can see one of the heads on the design wall in this photo, which also shows that I have tidied up quite a bit

 

so, why am I getting everything ready for the workshop when it isn't until the middle of November, and tidying the studio?

 

because ....... we are off on our travels again next Wednesday!!!  Where are we going ....... you will have to come back tomorrow to find out!

 

to finish - another of Malcolm's scary fish.  When I saw this shell on the beach I thought it would make a good fish head - what do you think?

Messing about on the river

On Sunday afternoon, Malcolm pointed out that there was a rowing boat coming down the river

 

which was quickly followed by several more

 

but perhaps the rowers in the last little boat weren't too sure of their stamina, as they also had an outboard motor (and none of the boats rowed back up the river, we saw them later being towed behind cars!)

 

the swans have been spending a lot of time out on the estuary, with only the occasional one appearing in the dock.  I realised that I don't know very much about swans, and whether they  migrate ...... like me, you can find out more here

 

the seal, as ever, entertained us ......... but every time I got him in focus he vanished under the water - on several occasions showing me his bottom as he went!

 

on Sunday evening the seagulls made a great deal of noise over in the river

 

while dozens more sat out on the sandbanks

 

yesterday I layered up the Father Christmas wallhanging

 

and finished making up the kits (except I realised later that I had forgotten to put in the red buttons for his coat)

 

I keep forgetting to take photos of the progress of Mrs Billings, as I have been stitching away on the hexagons for the last border in the evenings.  So yesterday I remembered to round them all up and count them - I have enough of the coloured pyramids and almost enough of the calico ones for another side, with several coloured ones left over to start the third side

 

then today I made another Father Christmas, and layered it up as well.  The one on the left will be used at the workshop to show the students how to hand quilt it, but for quickness I shall machine quilt the other one

 

all this sewing requires a lot of stamina, and Malcolm made sure I didn't flag this afternoon, bringing me two tiny cakes

 

and a mug of hot chocolate

 

and finally, for all my cat-loving friends, this afternoon I took this photo of the nasty little beastie cute little cat just for you !

Eating chocolate at 5am!

No, this is not a bizarre new diet.  We couldn't sleep, wondering what was happening as the votes were being counted in the Independence Referendum, so we got up at 3am to watch tv.  By 5am we were flagging somewhat, so a few squares of chocolate kept us going.  I haven't really mentioned the referendum before, as the blog is my little happy space, where the nasty outside world is not allowed to intrude ....... but you would probably have guessed that I was firmly in the NO camp when I referred to Alex Salmond as the Great Haggis, the Chief Turnip, the Head Numptie etc.  We are delighted that the NO vote prevailed, and our family of nations isn't being ripped apart.

 

OK, back to the happy world of sewing!  At patch'n'chat this afternoon we had just finished our cuppa when a lady approached and spoke to me.  She waited for me to realise who she was ........ but as I hadn't seen a photo of her on her blog, the only clue I had was her accent.  I was delighted to realise that it was Susan, who is over here with her husband visiting family and having a wonderful holiday.  Maureen was entrusted with the camera to take a photo of us

 

we had a lovely chat, then all too soon it was time for me to leave.  Susan had given me a parcel, which I didn't open until I got home.  I was delighted to find this apron with OWLS!!  Thank you very much Susan!

 

....... the gift tag is cute too!

 

now for the photos that I had planned to share with you today!  Out in the garden, we are still getting courgettes, albeit tiny ones

 

the tiny beans aren't maturing

 

the honeysuckle is flowering again

 

and after three years, the everlasting sweetpea has finally flowered!

 

and of course we can't have the Friday post, without the Friday cake!  I don't know what this is called, but it was delicious.  It is made with crushed digestive biscuits, cranberries, marshmallows and condensed milk.  It is made into a log, rolled in coconut, and then chilled in the fridge

 

the weather has been a bit grey and damp for the last couple of days, but hopefully it will improve over the weekend.  Whatever the weather, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne 

So that's where it went!

I pressed Father Christmas this afternoon and put him on the design wall to take a photo

 

but then I noticed a funny little bump under his moustache and beard - yes, his original nose had somehow migrated to a new location!

 

do you like these delicious colours?  You will have to wait to find out what they are for!

 

I did some more work on assembling the kits for the Father Christmas workshop.  White and black felt, and pink fabric for the face

 

wadding, binding and fusible web

 

embroidery threads

 

the robin has been having more fun in the birdbath

 

I think this is a very young female sparrow

 

to finish ...... do you think this firm is owned by the Three Bears?!

 

Sewing report

We have to go back to the weekend for the start of the sewing report.  I finished the second Christmas stitchery

 

and made a good start to the third one

 

on both Monday and yesterday afternoon I was playing with fmq, after watching more Angela Walters videos.  This is my version of her peapod design, first with loopy infill

 

then with pebbles - I wouldn't use this for a large quilt, as the pebbles take forever!

 

next was spirals with hooks - I like this one, as the hooks help fill in the space, so the quilting isn't too dense

 

then it was back to peapodding, as I really like the shape of this

 

however, it didn't all go to plan!  I still can't get my head round feathers.  I start off ok, then I just lose the plot and the feather goes wonky!

 

after playing, it was down to some work, making a start to assembling the kits for the Father Christmas workshop.  After quite a lot of measuring and cutting, most of the fabrics were assembled

 

each student will also get a pompom for Father Christmas's hat, a buckle for his belt, and a pencil for tracing the pattern pieces

 

I also realised that I ought to get on and make up some samples for the class - this is the background fabric, with the borders added, with the pattern placement sheet underneath

 

all the pattern pieces added, ready to be ironed in place .....

 

at least, that's what I thought, then I realised that I had lost his nose!  Despite a thorough search, I couldn't find it and had to cut out another one

 

last night I stitched all the white blanket stitch

 

and the pink nose!

 

we came over to Berwick this morning.  It was a bit damp and dreary, so when we went for lunch we had soup ...... delicious lentil soup, with a very tasty cheese and onion scone

 

as it wasn't an afternoon for walking on the beach, I was able to do more sewing this afternoon, and finished all the blanket stitch  (I know it is a bit wrinkled, but I don't yet have an iron in the flat!)

 

to finish - you know I love tractors, but I wasn't so keen on this monster that we were stuck behind this morning!

Do you remember the slogan .......

.........save water, bath with a friend?  Someone must have told the sparrows, as they crammed as many as possible into the bird bath

 

then the starlings decided to join in

 

but were politely told to leave, as the sparrows were in the middle of their ablutions

 

so they waited until the sparrows were finished

 

the birdbath wasn't quite so crowded yesterday, when this very young sparrow came for a drink

 

when he flew off to sit on a shrub, you could see he still had his juvenile feathers

 

this starling posed nicely on top of the telegraph pole

 

while the swallows congregated on the phone wire

 

the nuthatch was poking about in the border

 

and a tiny wren was bobbing about in one of the shrubs - but even at maximum zoom, I couldn't quite get it in focus

 

so now for some sewing.  I wanted to do some more with my new rulers, so I thought I would combine it with an Angela Walters class that I watched on Craftsy at the weekend.  I started by marking a square on my practice piece

 

having stitched round the square, I marked dots around the edge, ready to quilt the design, using the straight ruler

 

having stitched the straight lines .....

 

....... I decided to do some fmq in half of the triangles

 

then this afternoon I had another play with the straight ruler, creating a geometric shape

 

before playing with the curved one

 

creating an abstract shape

 

some of which I filled in with fmq

 

and to finish, we have another cute bird - my latest attempt at an owl!

 

 

A shoal of ........

........ rather scary fish!  Malcolm has been busy in the garage, creating these wonderful driftwood fish (and a whale).  They are now sitting on the hearth in my studio until he sells them ....... I fear for my ankles every time I walk past!

 

I know that I promised you more photos from the weekend, but I forgot I am going out tonight!  It's the first meeting of the new term at Abbey Quilters, so I shall be leaving soon to drive through to Kelso.  It will be good to see everyone and catch up with what they have been doing.  So I'll finish with some sewing - I have finished the first Christmas stitchery

 

and made a good start to the second

 

this afternoon I cut out lots (and lots) of triangles for Mrs Billings, ready to make the next border

 

ps - the chutney turned out fine, and will now go in a dark cupboard for a month or two to mature.