frayed at the edge

Sheepies!!

I had just mentioned to Malcolm yesterday that there hadn't been any sheepies on the blog recently (the swans have been hogging the limelight) ......... and then, this morning, there were sheepies in the field across the road!!

 

there was a definite feel of autumn when I was out in the garden taking photos this morning.  The rowan tree is laden with berries, which the blackbirds love

 

 

 

and the climbing roses are hanging on

 

 

when the post arrived this morning - woo hoo, an envelope from far-flung places

 

there were birthday cards for both of us from Lee and her lovely family in Sydney.  I think you will guess which one was for Malcolm and which one was for me!

 

I was very busy sewing at patch'n'chat this afternnon - but I wasn't doing my own sewing!  Margaret had stitched a beautiful applique panel to put on a bag for her great-granddaughter, but she wasn't sure how to stitch it on.  I started by showing her the stitch that I would use to do it ....... and ended up sewing the whole thing for her!

 

Margaret did allow me to have a break, so that I could enjoy the Friday cake - cute little cup cakes with chocolate icing and fresh strawberries

 

we have a busy weekend ahead, with our lovely neighbours (the shoe shop owners) coming over to Berwick on Sunday for a visit.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, love Anne

 

I was just about to publish the post when the robin turned up for a bath - so here are some extra photos!

 

 

A delightful evening

We had a pleasant stroll over to the restaurant yesterday evening, and we sat at a table in the window, just where the sandwich board is

 

I managed to take a quick snap of the interior before it got busy

 

toasting the birthday boy

 

if we had known how generous the portions were for the main course, we wouldn't have ordered starters - for Malcolm Canarian potatoes with a trio of dips

 

and for me sizzling garlic mushrooms

 

for my main course I chose a trio of tapas - chicken paella, lamb meatballs and patatas bravas

 

Malcolm had decided to order something from the specials board - lobster paella.  He expected to get a dish of paella with pieces of lobster mixed through it.  WRONG!  This is what he got!

 

a magnificent whole lobster, which took him quite some time to eat.  When he had eventually extracted the last morsels from the claws, he went off to wash his hands.  I promptly had a word with the waitress, and asked if she had any candles that she could pop on a cake.  After a bit of a search, she found some and went through to the kitchen with the candles and a large piece of cake.  When Malcolm sat back down at the table, he was somewhat surprised when she put this in front of him

 

it was a wonderful meal, the service was excellent, and we shall certainly go there again.  And now for some sewing!  I have prepped the other two Christmas stitcheries

 

and I have done more stitching on the first one

 

on Tuesday, after playing with my new rulers, I got on with some prep for the Father Christmas class.  I wanted to check that I had got all the measurements right for the fabric that will be included in the kit, so I assembled the fabrics and the fusible web, on which I had already drawn out the pattern pieces.  This shows the first piece stuck to the wrong side of the fabric

 

but instead of using my usual fusible web, I am using double stick web.  It is tacky, and sticks to the fabric without ironing.  You can see the web of adhesive on the fabric

 

once the piece is cut out and the backing paper removed, this side is tacky as well, and sticks to the background fabric without ironing - you can see here that is didn't fall off when I picked it ip

 

but it can be peeled off if it needs to be repositioned

 

I laid the backgrond fabric over the pattern sheet

 

and started buiding up the pieces

 

once they are all in  place they will be ironed, which will fuse them permanently

 

to finish, one last photo from yesterday evening - do you like the candles on Malcolm's cake?!

Birthday boy!

Happy birthday to Malcolm, who despite having been "retired" for nine years, still thinks he is 29 (same as me!).  It's very difficult to get a good photo of him - he always manages to pull a face or blink at the wrong moment ....... I took this one this morning when we were out for a walk, and he looks as if he is half-asleep

 

I gave him a gift voucher for a two day stained glass course, which I got from here.  I hope he enjoys it as much as he enjoyed his dry stone walling course.  I am also taking him out for dinner tonight to the tapas restaurant in Berwick, which we are looking forward to.  We will be able to walk to and from the restaurant, which is a pleasant change from going out in Hawick, when either one of us can't have wine with dinner, or we have to get a taxi.  We have walked off the calories in advance, going for a walk along the other side of the river.  First, we had to stop and admire some ducks

 

and a robin, who was a bit shy

 

then the walk began in earnest, with yet another view of the new and old road bridges

 

and the railway bridge

 

we had a good view across the river to Berwick Castle

 

and a rather grand house, half hidden in the trees

 

I let Malcolm hold this dead crab for the photo!

 

this little boat is often tied up in the dock - I think it takes people on sightseeing trips up the river

 

there were several herons on the river

 

as we walked up a path to take us back to the road, we passed an old weathered fence post with rusty wire.  But does it look better from this side

 

or this one?

 

I have been getting on with as much sewing as possible, to keep up with Meredithe and her stitching contest ....... I'll tell you more tomorrow, as right now I am off to titivate for our night out!!

Gizmos and gadgets

I had been waiting for a little something arriving in the post - but I didn't expect it to arrive from here!

 

we have recently been eating courgette ribbons instead of pasta, but it's a bit of a faff cutting them, so I have invested in this gadget (or is it a gizmo?)

 

which promises to turn courgettes into spaghetti with just a twist

 

quite often these things promise a lot, but deliver a little ......... but this one does just what it says on the packet!

 

so now for the goodies I came home with in Saturday.  First, who can resist that magic word "sale"

 

then there were these yummy woolly bits, which were on a special offer, saving me £4

 

I have seen these gloves being used in online quilting classes, so I thought I would give them a try (although I think it's a bit of a silly name!) 

 

they are light and comfortable, with "sticky" fingertips

 

I almost didn't get to make my last purchase ......... the stallholders were having problems with the machine for processing credit card sales, and I didn't have quite enough cash left to pay for my purchase.  However, as I had been patiently waiting for quite some time, they let me off with some of the bill!!  (as I was leaving, I stopped to give the few coins I had left to a chap collecting for Help for Heroes - so I came home with a completely empty purse!!).  So what is in my bag from Parrs Reel Ruler

 

two rulers (one came with the basic kit, I added the second one), a foot for the machine, and a "sew slip" mat

 

the mat, as you can see, is much bigger than the one I got some time ago

 

there was a slight pause at this point, as I stared in disbelief at the tv!

 

the trickiest bit of using the new rulers was getting the protective covering off them, but eventually I was ready to start.  Put simply, the foot fits into the slot in the ruler and you simply follow along the slot

 

but of course it isn't quite as simple as that, as you have to make sure that the ruler doesn't slip, and as you are free motion quilting you have to concentrate on keeping your stitches even.  My first attempt with the straight ruler wasn't too bad ......

 

then I set up the curved ruler

 

once you have stitched your first line, you can then stitch an echo line - you line the edge of the slot up with the first line of stitching

 

then you can turn the ruler round and stitch a cable.  Of course you can stitch longer lines - you just keep moving the ruler along

 

I went back to the square ruler and stitched a square within a square - Malcolm came into the studio at that point and was quite impressed (it obviously appealed to the engineer in him)

 

I also had a little play with some fmq - first some spirals

 

then some meandering

 

next some waves/flames

 

followed by flowers

 

I thought I would have another attempt at an owl.  Malcolm had laughed at my previous try - and he laughed at this one too!

 

so to finish we'll have two better looking birds - one of our many sparrows, sitting on top of the stone owl in the front garden

 

 

Non-stop fun!

Well ........ it was fun except for getting up at 6am on Saturday!  It was a long way to Harrogate - including a comfort stop, it took four hours to get there.  As always I have taken some general shots to share with you

 

those of you who watched the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee might recognise the chap in this photo (click on it to enlarge it).  I didn't get too close to take the photo in case he tried to flog me a signed copy of his book  (I overheard him telling someone that business was slow!)

 

our very own Kay Bell, who does such wonderful longarm quilting, has added to her collection of awards and trophies.  She got a First for quilting the stunning quilt which was also Best in Show.  Do pop over to Kay's blog to see a photo of the quilt.  

 

but what was this .........

 

another version of Mrs Billings!

 

of course I bought some things, but I didn't get the chance to take photos today, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see my goodies!  We didn't have a comfort stop on the way home, so it only took us three and a half hours, then when we got back to Kelso, I only had a thirty minute drive over to Berwick.  Malcolm, Stuart and Alison had long since had dinner by the time I arrived - a delicious spread of tapas, but Malcolm had kindly kept some for me.  On Sunday morning we went out for breakfast- no photos were taken to avoid embarrassing those of us who ate large amounts of sausage, bacon and egg (Alison was somewhat more restrained with poached eggs and toast).  After the visitors left, we decided to go for a walk on the beach.  Woohoo, I've got the big lens back ...... and the next two photos show the difference it makes - the same boat snapped from the same place with first the small, and then the big lens

 

in this photo you can see Bamburgh Castle and Holy Island beyond the lighthouse

 

Malcolm was busy collecting driftwood, but I got distracted by these feathers

 

then there was an arty seedhead

 

and a little bird darting back and forward

 

after a long walk, we were of course in need of a cuppa.  It was such a lovely afternoon that we sat outside in the sunshine while we shared a toasted teacake

 

Malcolm as usual had coffee, while I had tea in a rather snazzy insulated cup

 

I was glad to have the big lens back when the swans came into the dock, going from this

 

to this

 

to this

 

these ones appeared in the evening, and soon settled down for a nap

 

 

ignoring the seal, which kept popping up among them

 

 

to finish, we didn't have a big ship come into the dock over the weekend, just this funny little boat

 

This and that ......

........ sometimes I just can't think of a title, and despite seeking Malcolm's help, that's the best I could come up with for today's post!

On Saturday morning, we walked to the local DIY shop, to buy, amongst other things, a hook to hold back the new bedroom curtain.  On the way, we had a detour to the local church

 

it was hard to take photos of the church itself, as it is surrounded by very large trees

 

the church is surrounded by a large graveyard, with some very old headstones

 

 

 

if you can't read this one, do click on it to enlarge it, as it has a lovely sentiment

 

 

a lot of the headstones are well preserved, although sadly some of them can no longer be read

 

 

back at the flat with the new hook, we spent some time trying out various options for the new curtain - should it go to the left or the right, should it be fixed right across the top, or pulled to the side?  This is what we finally decided on

 

when I saw this man coming into the dock in a small rowing boat, of course I reached for the camera.  I didn't expect a bonus in the photo - the seal popped its head out of the water just as I snapped!

 

we went to Bamburgh Castle yesterday, but I have so many photos, that I will keep them for a separate post tomorrow ......... but I will show you what we had for lunch.  As we had tucked into kippers and soda bread for breakfast, we shared a sandwich ........ delicious brie and onion chutney

 

late on Saturday afternoon, we saw a ship anchor offshore, waiting for high tide to come into the dock.  They obviously had decided not to use the high tide in the middle of the night, so when we got back yesterday, we were just in time to see the ship coming round the final bend of the deep water channel ........

 

....... while the pilot boat waited to usher it in through the opening to the dock

 

this ship was nowhere as big as the previous ones we have seen, and it had room to spare as it came in

 

this photo of it passing a lorry parked on the dockside shows the size of the ship (as an aside, Stuart was at school with, I think, three of the Stevenson famiy, owners of the haulage firm)

 

as usual the swans went off in a huff

 

supervised by that cheeky seal!

 

later on, there were two more arrivals

 

the swans didn't like that one either - off in another huff!

 

to finish, a little taste of tomorrow's post

A high score at Scrabble

Yes, I had an appointment with my Polish dentist this morning, the one whose name I can't spell, but I'm sure would give me a winning score at Scrabble!  It was just for my routine annual checkup - you have to imagine his saying in his James Bond film Villain's voice ...... is good, no cavities, no decay, just need scrape and polish.  That was soon done, with only slight discomfort ....... I was very brave and didn't cry!  There was no patch'n'chat today, as there was a group visiting the shop, so Malcolm had come to the dentist with me, and as soon as I had paid the bill (that's the biggest ouch!) we headed for Berwick.  We stopped just over the border for lunch at Cornhill Village shop

 

it just looks like a little place from the outside, but inside there is a food shop, a gift shop and a small coffee shop

 

the lady who took our order was delightful, and soon we were tucking into a delicious lunch.  Malcolm had a haggis, beans and tatties pie (the tomato is from my salad, you know that I don't like it) 

 

I had a roll stuffed full with chicken tikka

 

when we got to the flat, as soon as we had unpacked, we headed out for a walk to the lighthouse, but got sidetracked by this ship being loaded in the dock

 

then as we walked across the old bridge there was another pause as we saw the seal in the river.  As Stuart still has my long lens, you will just have to trust me that the little dark blob is indeed the seal

 

finally, the lighthouse was in sight

 

but there were still distractions.  This Edward VII postbox is from the early 1900s (he was Queen Victoria's son)

 

in the distance we coud see (just) Bamburgh Castle

 

and Holy Island

 

and of course I had to stop to admire some swans

 

but at last we reached the lighthouse.  Would you like it on the left of the photo

 

or on the right

 

the clouds started to build up, giving us dramatic skies

 

it would never do if I had to do without my Friday cake, so on our way back to the flat we bought two slices of a rather delicious lemon cheesecake

 

the ship was still being loaded

 

with a constant  stream of large lorries

 

there was a scary moment when these two got a bit close to each other

 

I haven't forgotten about the sewing - the cloth is on the table

 

the cushion is on the bed

 

and the curtain is up, with Malcolm acting as a temporary hook to hold the tieback in place!

 

we plan to be out and about over the weekend - whether you are at home or away, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Home sewing

When I went out to the studio this morning, I pulled these three fabrics from my stash

 

the first job of the day was to make a table cloth for the little round table that we took over to the flat.  It is being used temporarily as a bedside table, but the dark wood doesn't look right against the pale wood of the bed.  Ths is a piece of embroidered silk that I found in a charity shop.  It was a half width, so the first job was to cut it in half lengthways and trim the ends

 

the sew the two pieces together. Then I folded the resulting piece on the diagonal to give me a square

 

having trimmed away the extra fabric, I folded it in half, then in half again to give me a square.  For the next stage I needed a map pin, a marking pen and a piece of string

 

I tied the string to the pin and pushed it through the corner into the floor (don't worry, it's just wooden flooring underneath, not wonderful floorboards that would be marked by the pin!)

 

I tied the pen to the other end of the string

 

and drew a quarter circle

 

I then cut out my circle

 

it took longer to pin and stitch the hem than the first stages took!

 

the next job was to run up a quick curtain for our bedroom in the flat.  It faces east, so on sunny mornings we have been woken up very early as the sun streams through the thin blind.  As we haven't decided on a colour scheme for when we decorate the bedroom, I don't want to spend a lot of money making curtains at the moment.  The fabrics I used were sample curtains which I bought for 25p each!  I started by cutting the patterned fabric into three strips (the sun decided to suddenly shine through the velux as I took the photo, causing a deep shadow on either side of the fabric)

 

I used the strips to put a border along the bottom and on one side of the main fabric

 

I added some recycled curtain tape, and that was my curtain made - it will be tied back to one side during the day

 

as all that hadn't taken as long as I thought it would, I decided to make some cushion covers, using the beach hut fabric I bought several weeks ago.  I had already cut the fabric into three pieces before I remembered to take a photo!  The next stage was to trim the ends

 

I hemmed both the short ends of each of the three pieces

 

then with the wrong side out, I folded and overlapped the fabric to give me almost a square - the width was an inch more, because of the seam allowance

 

having stitched the two side seams I turned the cover through to the right side and pressed the seams

 

the last stage was to topstitch round the cover, half an inch from the edge

 

the first one, finished except for the ends of the topstitching threads to be darned in

 

but alas the other two didn't get finished.  I only had the topstitching to do, but the machine threw a wobbly and the bobbin thread tension went haywire.  Usually this means one of two things - the machine needs cleaned, or the needle needs changed.  As by this time it was late in the afternoon and dinner would soon be ready (we eat early), I decided to leave finishing the other two to another day!

 

A fun day out

We picked Maureen up this morning, on our way to Anne's shop in Longframlington.  Malcolm dropped us of and then went to visit his sister Jennifer in Morpeth.  We were so busy blethering (and drinking tea) that I nearly forgot to take some photos!  First, this is Frances' (or should that be Frances's) Robin's Nest

 

this Mariner's Compass is about four inches in diameter

 

I would never have the patience to sew the tiny pieces for these minute  blocks

Ros was working on a large clamshell border ........

 

....... and has just finished this stunning applique and embroidery block

 

Margaret works on this piece off and on - it has grown quite a bit since I last saw it

 

in between all the chatting and tea drinking, I did manage to sew the next border on Mrs Billings

 

when we visited the shop last month, Ishowed you the lovely yarn that Anne now stocks.  Frances has bought several skeins, and wound it into balls today

 

it was nearly time to leave when I remembered that I hadn't taken any photos of the latest delicious fabrics

 

 

but fabrics don't have to be colourful to tempt you to buy them ...... I had to be very strongwilled not to come home with lots of these 

 

but I did buy something, this panel of labels

to finish - if you don't like spiders, don't scroll down to the last photo.  This beauty was in the utility room at bedtime last night - it's not the best of photos as the room isn't brightly lit (the wall is actually green, not the sickly yellow it looks in the photo)

Slightly cheating?

I was busy over the weekend working away on the stitcheries.  I finished this one, apart from the dots over the i's and the polka dots

 

then I made a start to the dreaded satin stitch dots - you can see at the bottom that I outline them with backstitch, which I find helps to get the shape right

 

this morning I made a start to Stuart and Alison's kitchen blind.  First I disassembled the old one

 

then pinned the lining to the new fabric, right sides together

 

having stitched down one side, across the bottom and up the other side, I cut away the excess fabric

 

having turned the blind through to the right side, I pressed the seams then topstitched them, working on the wrong side as it was easier to see the stitching

 

it didn't take long to stitch the channels for the battens, as I could see the old stitching lines

 

then I snipped the stitches to open the seams where the battens will be inserted

 

the last job was to sew on the rings that the cords run through - I had left bits of thread when I cut them off the old blind, so I knew where to stitch them on the new one

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how the blind looks when it is put up in Stuart and Alison's kitchen

 

I have been making a very determined effort ot get on with Mrs Billings.  Each of these bags ..........

 

....... contains the hexies to make either a triangle with calico and patterned fabrics, or all patterned fabrics

 

I have also cut out lots more hexies, and am gradually filling more bags, which will then be sorted out like the ones above

 

I picked this blue fabric for the next border - although I have blue corner squares, I like the way the different blue frames them

 

now comes the "cheating".  The next border has lots of squares in it, and a further border has even more squares the same size.   So I decided to rotary cut them in batches, rather than drawing round the template and cutting each one out individually.  There are four different fabrics in each stack, which gives me the choice of twenty fabrics for the border

 

and to finish ........ although the weather has turned somewhat cooler, there are still butterflies in the garden