frayed at the edge

The red sky last night ......

...... didn't lead to a shepherd's delight today, as it is raining steadily.  But it was such a stunning sky I went out into the front garden just before ten o'clock last night to take soe photos.  The horses in the field across the road were kicking up their heels and running back and forward (that's a telegraph pole in the foreground)

 

the sky changed colour in the few minutes that I was outside

 

Malcolm was out today, so I thought I would spend some time having a bit of a tidy up in the studio, especially this corner

 

after a quick break for a bowl of soup for lunch, I finished the tidying - that's much better (ok, I admit it, I didn't vacuum the very messy carpet!)

 

I bought this box some months ago, as it had been greatly reduced in price 

 

I hadn't yet decided what to keep in it, but I have been prepping a lot of hexies for Mrs Billington, and the box turned out to be just right for storing them

 

much as I love our many sparrows, I wish they wouldn't chatter quite so loudly at 4am!  It looks as if they are refurbishing their nests ready to raise a second brood.  This handsome fellow .......

 

....... was having a good look through this plant for nesting materials

 

this youngster was shivering in the rain!  You can see he still has his downy feathers on his back.  He was making a lot of noise, but when his parents didn't appear to feed him, he flew off in a huff

 

I think we need a bit of Majorcan blue sky to finish!!

 

I have probably told you before .......

........ that foundation piecing is my absolutely most least favourite patchwork method (in case you got lost in that ungrammatical statement, I don't like it!!).  However this year's Abbey Quilters' challenge is a foundation pieced landscape.  As we have to hand it in at next month's meeting, I thought I had better get a move on.  I had drawn out a rough pattern before we went on holiday (sorry, forgot to take a photo), so on SaturdayI auditioned some fabrics, putting some sheets of paper round them as a frame

 

I was so busy concentrating on the despicable horrendous delightful method, that I had stitched on several pieces of fabric before I remembered to take a photo

 

I trimmed the finished piece, leaving a big margin - the finished size is just inside the line of stitching which you can just see an inch from the edge.  I still have to embellish it with hedges, trees and fences - I might even add some sheepies!

 

I thought I ought to put the final border on the sampler quilt!

 

I trimmed the little Linus quilt which I made before we went on holiday

 

and added the binding

 

this afternoon I did some prep of the step-by-step for next week's sampler class (oops, forgot to take photos of this week's)

I also spent some time today birdwatching.  This swallows' nest is on our neighbours'  house

 

I sat in the back garden for some time trying to get photos of the blue tits.  It was very difficult, as they fly straight in and out of the hole ....... if only they would land on the roof and pause for a few seconds, before popping into the nestbox!  So rather a lot of photos ended up like this

 

but eventually I manage to snap the tiny birds

 

you might think this is just a dried leaf caught underneath the wooden rail at the edge of the deck - but as I saw it fly past me and land there, I know that it is a moth!

 

and to finish, a little visitor to the studio this morning.  This teeny, tiny snail was about four feet from the bottom of the back door - quite a climb for it.  I stuck a sheet of paper on the other side of the door so that you could see it, and added the pin for scale

A squashy parcel ........

......... with foreign stamps

 

was waiting for me when we got home on Saturday.  It was a surprise parcel from my wonderful Australian bloggy friend Lee, filled with lots of goodies

 

the envelope contained one of Lee's handmade cards

 

the set of cards has super bird illustrations

 

the bamboo skewers are topped with Lee's signature doilies, and are for decorating cakes

 

so, on to the sewing update.  I did take some sewing on holiday - but I didn't do very much!  I only did three of these pieces for Mrs Billings - I stitched the fourth one last night!

 

however I did add to my collection of Spanish quilting and craft magazines (is this the reason my suitcase was slightly overweight coming home?!)

 

 

I have been working on the patterns/instructions for the Sampler Quilt class - although at the moment I don't know if it will be going ahead!  Just before we went away, one of the ladies dropped out, so it wasn't going ahead, then last week another lady signed up, so it was back on, then yesterday someone else dropped out ....... so Tracey at the college has changed the start date to next Thursday, hoping that she can sign someone else up - she does have one lady who is interested.

I don't have a problem doing the illustrations for the geometric blocks

 

but I struggle when I have to draw the pattern freehand.  This shows my pathetic attempt at the top, and Malcolm's much better drawing

 

I traced Malcolm's drawing twice ......

 

........ but then encountered a slight problem.  I couldn't fit in the other two sections.  So Malcolm  modified his drawing, and I drew out the complete  pattern

 

this is the block in the quilt

 

I had fun colouring in the illustrations!

 

to finish ....... I had one of those accidental purchases on holiday!  I had seen these boots in the shop where I bought my basket.  I talked about them for several days, then the next time we passed the shop, I somehow went in and bought them!  Well, could you have resisted them?

 

May Day .........

........ don't worry, that's no a cry for help!  Unlike at home, where we have a public holiday on the first Monday of May, here they celebrate on the first day of the month.  We popped into the old town this morning to buy the newspapers, but the shop was shut.  But I did get the chance to take a couple of photos in one of the narrow old streets

 

we decided to head into Puerto Pollensa for an ice cream, but the sun was so bright, there was a bit of a failure taking a photo!

 

do you remember the laundry bag that I made?  It looks good hanging in the bathroom

 

 

Another problem resolved!

Oh dear, no sooner was the blog sorted out, when the comment form went awol ....... not just for me, but for Typepad generally.  That too has now been fixed.  Thank you all for your lovely comments - I was delighted to read that you had missed me!

I went off to patch'n'chat early this morning, all organised for the Linus day.  I had a search in the shop for a fabric to team with the tractor fat quarter, but I couldn't find a green that looked right, so I opted for this fun chicken fabric

 

after adding the chicken borders, I layered the quilt, ready to do some machine quilting

 

it didn't take long long to do the quilting

 

Maureen was deciding what to do with these leftovers from a quilt she had made some years ago

 

Pam was making colourful blocks

 

Margaret, as always, was hand stitching her quilt

 

then there was the Friday cake ......... oh my, there was silence in the room as we tucked in to the most delicious chocolate sponge, topped with fresh cream and strawberries

 

so, to finish, what is the exciting news?  Well, this time tomorrow, we will be in Majorca!  Those of you who have  been reading the blog for a while (thank you!) know that for several years now we have headed off to Majorca at this time of year.  We are going for three weeks, and are staying in the same villa as last year.  I am hoping that the villa still has a wi-fi connection, as I am taking my Hudl, so that I can share some photos with you.  However if there is no wi-fi, unless I can find a cafe or a bar with wi-fi, you might have to do without me for three long weeks!  But to finish, here is a photo to help you picture where we will be spending quite a lot of time!

 

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

 

Darkening skies

We had dramatic skies last night as the sun set - but I have to admit to being lazy ....... I didn't go outside to take the photos, I simply pointed the camera through the (newly-cleaned) window!

 

and now for the promised sewing update.  I have been beavering away on the sampler quilt.  On Saturday I made two more blocks and rearranged the others on the design wall

 

the middle block on the top row took a while to make, as there were five blocks, each made up of 16    small squares

 

On Sunday I added white borders round six of the blocks

 

and made a start to adding the black sashing

 

no sewing on Monday (too busy with domestic duties), but I had a full day yesterday.  First I squared up some of the applique blocks.  I always cut the background fabric bigger than the finished size, as it can be distorted by the stitching

 

then it was time for the cunning plan for the grandmother's fan block - you may remember that it had turned out a little bit small.  First I squared it up, then I added slightly wider sashing strips

 

and trimmed it to the same size as the other blocks - it isn't noticeable that the sashing is fractionally bigger

 

the top row stitched together

 

the vertical sashings added

 

then the horizontal sashings and the cornerstones added

 

to finish, do pop over to Lucie's blog, to see how she quilted the top that I gave her for Quilts for Comfort ........ it is fabulous!!

ps - don't forget to leave a comment to be included in Friday's draw for my fabulous giveaway (well, hopefully it will be fabulous when I finish rooting through my various stashes for a gorgeous prize!)

 

Colourful visitors

Yesterday evening, we had a little bright bird in amongst the brown sparrows, in the front garden

 

 

today,when I came in to the kitchen to make my lunch, I heard the distinctive call of a pheasant.  I looked out the front door, and there he was, strutting round the garden.  I ran through to the lounge and grabbed the camera -  he was bobbing in and out of the bright sunshine and deep shade, sometimes half in one and half in the other

 

it was such a lovely day, I had my lunch out in the garden

 

I didn't share my ginger beer with this little beastie!

 

Malcolm has been hard at work, tidying up the garden - it is looking good!

 

don't forget to leave a comment if you would like to be in the draw on Friday for the giveaway to celebrate my 1,500th post.  I'll be back tomorrow with lots of sewing.

 

 

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!!

If you are squeamish ......

........ scroll quickly past the first photo!  I had a slight accident when I was sewing last night - oops

 

perhaps I was distracted by this super cute baby monkey on tv.  The babies have red hair to make it easy for the adults to see them if they need to run to safety (the big leaves on the right aren't part of the jungle, they are on our rather large rubber plant, which sits beside the tv!)

 

did I mention yesterday that I bought one or two little things at Stitchin' Heaven?  First, a posh needle threader.  When I am using very small needles, by the end of the evening I struggle to thread them.  I have in the past just used little metal needle threaders, but they soon become bent and often break, so I have invested in this one

 

you have seen the little red clips that I use, but when I saw these purple ones yesterday, I was delightd to find that they are almost half the price of the red ones

 

I bought this fat quarter to do some sashiko, although it is a tighter weave than traditional sashiko fabric

 

I have to admit to an online purchase of fabric ........ I get regular emails from here, telling me about their latest fabrics.  They don't just sell patchwork fabric, and when I saw this furnishing fabric, I thought it woud be perfect for cushions for our holiday home

 

I did some more work on blocks for the sampler quilt this afternoon.  This is the start of the Rose of Sharon block

 

once I have stitched those pieces in place, I will add these pieces

 

I prepped this circle for the centre ........

 

........ but I think it is too dark.  I might use this fabric instead

 

next was a Dresden Plate block

 

I have to turn under the seam allowance round the points, then stitch the plate to the background fabric.  The last stage is to add a circle to the middle.  The dark red fabric works better here

 

to finish - while I was busy sewing, Malcolm was working in the garden.  When I went back into the house at the end of the afternoon, I saw that he had removed the protective fleece from the olive tree, revealing this little beauty