frayed at the edge

Which is my best side?

I had some help with the photos of my knitting progress, but the vain little bear just couldn't decide which was his best side

 

we were in Jedburgh this morning, and I didn't really intend to take photos ......... but I had to take some shots to show off the blue sky

 

back home, the filtering of the sloe gin goes on - it is a slow job

 

I have been doing more work on Mrs Billings, prepping large amounts of hexies

 

I popped a penny on top of one of the hexies to let you see how small they are

 

 

there were lots of sparrows in the garden this afternoon, with several of them drinking from the birdbath

 

every so often when we are out and about, Malcolm will issue a command to take a photo of something he has spotted ....... so, to finish, we have today's command

Gin at 8am!

No, don't worry, I wasn't indulging in an early tipple of Mothers' Ruin!  Stuart and Alison are comig to stay for the weekend, so I thought I would bottle the sloe gin, which has been maturing since November, so that they could take a bottle home with them

 

it looked a bit cloudy after being strained through the nylon sieve, so I shall have to put it through a paper coffee filter as well

 

on Saturday I headed to Abbey Row for Abbey Quilters' workshop

 

before it became a community centre, the building was a school

 

but why Abbey Row and Abbey Quilters?  Because of this

 

after a quick cuppa (and delicious cheese scones made by Val), the ladies settled down to make Japanese folded patchwork bags, with Lorraine and her Mum Ivy showing them what to do

 

Anne S soon had her first pieces prepped

 

in between making cuppas and washing the dishes, I did some work on Mrs Billings

 

Tricia, who was also on tea duty, was prepping pieces to make a bag

 

some people (I won't embarrass them by naming them!) used the floor as a bin!

 

Moira brought her kimono to show us - she was just auditioning the background fabric, you can see that it is a bit small

 

I was so busy pouring cups of tea theat I forgot to take a photo of the cakes that I took ........ no, don't be silly, I didn't bake them, Malcolm bought them for me on Friday!  But I did get a reasonable amount of work done on Mrs B

 

I did more stitching on her over the weekend, and have finished the centre. It is just sitting on a piece of white fabric for the moment - it will eventually be appliqued to a square of the background fabric

 

I have been working today on the step-by-step instructions for week 4 of Get Set for Patchwork

 

I should have had a knitting update as well, but I forgot to take a photo!

 

A tale of two cakes

So, looking back to Tuesday night at Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting.  Charlie showed us how to make a folded Japanese kimono, but before we attempted to do it with fabric, we had a trial run with paper

 

Charlie was happy for me to take photos of her fabulous wallhanging - I love the colours of her fabrics

 

at patch'nchat this afternoon, I was working on the tiny macaroon case which I was sent by the lovely Glenda in Melbourne.  I have put my thimble in the photos, so you can see how small it is

 

and now, the two cakes.  As well as showing us how to fold our kimonos, Charlie also treated us to the most delicious cakes.  She and her husband had done a workshop at Cocoa Black in Peebles,and  they had come home with more cakes than they could possibly eat, so she brought a selection to share with us.  There were little chocolate tarts, New York cheesecake ......... and the most wonderful lemon meringue pie

 

then this afternoon Annette had a new cake for us to try.  She couldn't remember what it was called, so we decided to call it raspberry ripple coconut cake

 

there is an Abbey Quilters' workshop tomorrow, making a folded Japanese patchwork bag.  I will be there, but I won't be making the bag.  I am taking my turn at making tea and coffee for the participants.  I'll take Mrs Billings with me to do some more stitching, as I haven't had a chance to work on her since last week at Anne's.  As always we are hoping for good weather on Sunday so that we can go for a walk.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A fully-fledged lecturer!

Thank you so much for all your good wishes for today!  I arrived early, so that I could get organised before the students arrived, and the wonderful Tracey who runs the campus immediately made me a cup of tea, which helped to settle the butterflies.  Once everyone arrived there was a bit of admin to do, and they had to be told where the fire exit, the first aid box and the toilet are.  Then they settlled down to sew

 

Tracey had asked if Jac, who teaches photography (and IT), could take some photos of the class, to put in the next college newsletter.  So after Jac had taken lots of photos, I asked her to take one of me with my camera for the blog (please note the painted nails!)

 

the ladies did really well, and got much more done than I thought they would.  They all got to the stage where they had to trim off the excess wadding, so with a great deal of trepidation I showed them in turn how to use the rotary cutter (I think they will hear my voice saying "cover the blade" in their dreams tonight!).  There was one left-handed lady, but it was straightforward to show her too how to use the cutter

 

Betty was the star student, as she almost finished her needlecase

 

we had a break mid-morning for a cuppa ..... and a chocolate biscuit, then all too soon it was time to go.  The ladies all said they had enjoyed themselves and were looking forward to next week.  We also had a chat about doing follow-on classes, to make a sampler quilt.  After they had gone there was some more admin to go through with Tracey, and she showed me how to access my college email, both at the college and at home.  I packed everything away ready to go

 

and before I left, Tracey presented me with a set of keys and showed me how to activate/deactivate the burglar alarm.  So that's me, a fully-fledged college lecturer ....... but I don't think I'll be keeping Malcolm in the lap of luxury any time soon!

ps - I haven't forgotten about Tuesday night - I'll show you what we did at Abbey Quilters tomorrow.

Decisions, decisions

After I folded up the Abbey Quilers' raffle quilt, ready to take it to tonight's meeting, I had to decide which quilt to have on top of the pile on the guest bed.  Perhaps the second quilt I made, way back in 1993?

 

or the Birdie Border quilt, which the lovely Helen gave me ......

 

........ I could turn it over to show off Kay's wonderful quilting

 

the next option is the Row quilt

 

this quilt has been folded over the back of a chair for quite a few months, so I thought I would put it on the bed for a while.  I made it in March 1994 for my Mum's birthday.  Sadly she died only 18 months later

 

when I made this little lap quilt, I was going to give it to Malcolm's Mum .......

 

........ but having hand-quilted it, I decided to keep it for myself (I did make her another one!)

 

I love having a big vase of flowers in the hall.  I bought these lilies two weeks ago, and they have only just opened fully.  The hall is full of their rich scent

 

the sun has been shining again today, so Malcolm decided to open up the summer house, and give it a quick clean.  You can just see him wielding the vacuum cleaner

 

there is another sign of spring ....... I have been woken up at 5am for the last few mornings by the birds chirping and singing outside our bedroom window.  They are starting to investigate the little gaps at the top of the house wall, which they use for nests

 

last spring, swallows started to build a nest on our neighbours' house.  I wonder if they will have another attempt at building it this year

 

to finish - we are used to seeing small birds in the garden, but this pigeon is considerably larger!!

 

A strange name

So, continuing our walk round Berwick (thank you for all your good wishes for our holiday home!).  Some names are straightforward

 

but this one suggests unsavoury happenings

 

I think this duck is a goosander

 

I don't know who this chap is - he was on a house some way down a side street

 

you know that I love to get things in the post - especially if they have come from abroad

 

so I was delighted to receive my "Daphne's Diary" magazine - I recently took out a subscription

 

the magazine is quite unlike any other magazine that I have read - and I have read a lot of magazines!  It has a quirky style, with lots of "handwritten" sections.  There are always interesting travel items - this month's destination is Dingle, on the southwest coast of Ireland

 

and there are delicious recipes

 

we had a heavy rain shower this morning, then the sun came out, so again we had a rainbow in front of the house .........

 

......... with a sheepie at the end of it!!

 

I finished the cross-hatching on the raffle quilt last night - would you like a sneaky peek?

 

doesn't it look great in my guest bedroom - I will have to buy all the tickets so that I win it!!  As always I shall be busy sewing at the weekend.  If you have wondered what Malcolm does when I am out in the studio ....... he has peace and quiet to watch football (and sometimes cricket) on tv, while reading the papers and tackling the crosswords.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

ps - I have already bought some seaside themed fabrics to make something for the holiday home!

Rock star!

We were in Berwick again today (I'll tell you why at the end!).  These are the last photos I took as we crossed the old bridge on our way back to the car, but they deserve star billing

 

we were so engrossed watching the seal, which seemed to be responding to our voices, that we forgot that we were running late for getting back to the car.  We were somewhat worried when we saw an official looking car parked in front of ours, but fortunately it turned out to be a Coastguard car, rather than a traffic warden, so we didn't get a parking ticket for being 15 minutes past our allotted parking time!  So, back to the beginning of our day out.  We started with a cuppa (you of course knew that!) and a lemon and poppy seed muffin

 

then we walked down to the river, making a slight detour to snap these lobster pots

 

what a wonderful front door - but the building seems to be unoccupied

 

it is such a shame that this magnificent building is slowly rotting away

 

a reminder of the town's turbulent past

 

we walked along the breakwater to the lighthouse, having duly noted this stern warning

 

we thought the sign on the lighthouse would tell us its history, so we were surprised to see this

 

mindful of the warning notice, we managed to not trip over this large rusty ring

 

we had a detour to collect driftwood and sea glass

 

we admired these details on a building .......

 

which sadly is empty and delapidated

 

I'll save the rest of the photos for tomorrow, so that I can show you my accidental fabric purchases

 

I love fabric that has text on it

 

you may have thought that the red and white check fabric was a bit boring - but look at it opened out!

 

when we got home, there was a parcel for me

 

oh dear, another accidental purchase - when I saw Kate's latest design I somehow clicked my mouse several times and bought a kit!

 

so, why have we been visiting Berwick so often?  We are buying a little holiday home there!!  I didn't want to say anything until the process was well under way, but we have now signed the first lot of paperwork, and we should complete the purchase at the end of June. 

 

 

Making a start .......

........ to Mrs Billings!  On Saturday, I assembled all everything I need to make the quilt top

 

and fussy cut the first batch of hexagons

 

Malcolm gave me these quirky paper clips .......

 

....... they are ideal for holding the fabric in place while I tack it over the paper hexagon

 

the diamonds didn't need to be fussy cut, so I was able to mark them in a grid to cut out

 

everything I need to start sewing (except for the silk thread)

 

so today we headed down the road, and Malcolm dropped me off at Stitchin' Heaven (he went to visit his Sister, Jennifer).  I tacked all my hexagons and diamonds

 

and laid them out ready to stitch together

 

the first three diamonds stitched together

 

the centre finished and some of the hexagons added

 

as always, there were all sorts of projects being worked on.  Ros had made this fabulous picture at a recent workshop

 

and was prepping lots of petals for a Baltimore that she has been working on for some time

 

Margaret was working on tiny blocks for a quilt which is similar to Mrs Billings

 

while Anne was marking and cutting out blocks for the same quilt

 

Sue had a tin full of hexagon flowers for her Mrs Billings

 

Carolyn is going to incorporate these quirky buildings into stitcheries that she is designing

 

Lucie was using her workstation, which she painted herself, while working on a project to use up scraps

 

Barbara has used wonderful shaded fabric for the petals on a Baltimore block

 

I may have made one of those accidental fabric purchases that somehow happen at Stitchin' Heaven - but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what came home with me!

 

 

Almost organised

I have been sorting out my samples for the classes at the college, and today pinned the stage-by-stage for the needlecase to a display board

 

I had a bit more sewing to do on the hexagon pincushion samples, before I could make up that board - the last pincushion is in different fabrics, because I ran out of the other ones

 

I divided up the three little packets of tiny buttons, to add to the kits for the pincushions

 

 

I then turned my attention to the scissor keeper.  This shows the two fabrics and wadding sewn together, with a gap left to turn it through to the right side

 

having turned it through and pressed it well, I topstitched round the edge (I used a contrasting thread so that the students can see what I did - I would normally use a matching thread)

 

the first fold

 

again I used a contrasting thread to show the stitching

 

the first pocket finished

 

the second pocket pinned in place, and the flap also pinned in place to show off the little scissor charm

 

having washed the sashiko piece at the weekend, I used rulers to work out where to cut it to size

 

I had to take the previous photo from the side, as the sun shining in the velux was reflecting off the rulers!

 

I cut four 1"strips and folded them in half

 

pleased with the look, I stitched them in place and trimmed them

 

but what to use for an outer border?  I have some lovely fabric which I have had for years.  Way back when I was a Quilters' Guild rep, I was introduced to a man who worked for a (now defunct) patchwork fabric firm.  On learning that a) I made quilts for Linus, and b) we lived near each other, he called at the house and gave me a big box of fabric samples to use for Linus quilts.  Some of the fabrics weren't suitable for children's quilts because they had a rough texture, so I swapped them for some of my own fabric.  First I auditioned this one

 

and included a little butterfly from another of the fabrics

 

then I considered this one

 

but they were really the wrong shades of blue.  So it was back to the stash

choice #1

 

choice #2

 

choice #3 (top) and #4 (bottom)

 

do leave a comment and say which one you prefer.  By the end of the afternoon, the studio was looking just a little bit untidy!!

 

Maureen had reminded me on Friday about the time she had a heron in her garden, something which is very unlikely to happen here ....... then today she sent me this photo - I don't think I am likely to find one of these either in our little garden!!

 

I did some work on Mrs Billings on Saturday, but I'll show you that tomorrow.  I am going down to Stitchin' Heaven tomorrow, to spend the day with Anne and her lovely Wednesday Ladies and Mrs B will be going with me - hopefully I will get a reasonable amount of sewing done, in between blethering and drinking copious cups of tea!!

 

A tiny envelope .......

......... arrived in the post this morning

 

containing teeny, tiny buttons, some of which I am going to add to the kits for the hexagon pincushions

 

when we stopped for our cuppa in the middle of the housework this morning, I had to open a new tub of hot chocolate.  As they are vacuum packed, I only open one tub at a time.  After a great deal of "will I have this one, will I have that one", I decided on the creme brulee ......... delicious!

 

at patch'n'chat this afternoon, Maureen showed us a delightful little wallhanging that she has made for her friend Jane, who keeps chickens

 

I was going to say that I finished my little sashiko sampler, but you would then tell me that I haven't worked the last row!  The reason for that is that I ran out of the thread that Rinecke gave me when she demonstrated how to do sashiko at a recent meeting of Abbey Quilters, and the new thread that I bought last Friday is a bit thinner.  But don't worry, the extra marking will wash off.  Then I will add a border and make it into a small wallhanging

 

then there was the Friday cake - Annette's delicious, light-as-air chocolate sponge

 

I will of course be busy sewing at the weekend, finishing of my step-by-step samples for week 3 and week 4 of my classes.  I think it is to be chilly over the weekend, but if it stays dry we will, of course, go for a walk on Sunday morning.  And no doubt sconnage scoffing will happen too!!  Have a good weekend, love Anne