frayed at the edge

A slight delay

Tracey phoned me from the College yesterday, to say that she had realised that my first class, scheduled for next Thursday, clashed with the Jethart Handba.  This means that the windows in the college will be boarded up, and lots of men will be running riot through the town, so we decided to delay the classes by a week.  Malcolm and I popped into the college this morning, as Tracey had various bits of paperwork to go over with me.  We had a cuppa (and biscuits) while she explained all the ins and outs of working at the college, including where the fire exit is, where the first aid box is, where the staff toilet is, and most importantly, where the fridge is!!  She also gave me my staff pass (Malcolm is still laughing at the terrible photo of me!!)  It was quite a thrill to see my samples in the college window!!

 

I have to write a little article about myself for the next college newsletter, and Tracey also asked me to send her some photos, so I took these this afternoon

 

I have had these beautiful Japanese silk threads since 2001 - I bought them on my first trip to Houston.  I had been waiting for a very special project to use them for, and finally I have one ........ Mrs Billings

 

I finished the quilt top for Quilts for Comfort this afternoon.  First I added a red border

 

and then a grey/black border

 

to finish - after we had been at the college, we popped into the Woolen Mill for a quick lunch.  I went to the Ladies, and was surprised to find this small chair  It is sadly in need of refurbishment, butI couldn't fit it in my pocket, to take it hoe and give it some tlc (goodness me, yesterday I was talking about stealing a garden gate, and today a chair!!)

 

ps - I am sorry that some of you had a problem leaving a comment yesterday.  I have been in touch with Typepad, who said that there was a brief problem yesterday, which has now been fixed.

Oops .......

I was busy on Saturday afternoon piecing the quilt that I am making for Quilts for Comfort.  I started by sewing the two rows on the left together

 

but did you notice the little oops in the photo ...... have a look at this one of the next stage, can you spot it now?

 

unfortunately I didn't notice it until I had reached this stage.  If you look at the fourth row from the bottom, the dark triangle on the right is turned the wrong way

 

that's better!

 

a bit more sewing, and the piecing is finished.  I think I will add a narrow red border, then a wider black/gray border

 

I also did some more quilting on the country cottages quilt

 

on Sunday I did some more stitching on my sampler from the Sheena Norquay workshop

 

this afternoon I was busy assembling the kit for the second week of the "Get Set for Patchwork" classes.  I saw this way of cross cutting strips into squares recently in an online programme.  It was one of those "lightbulb moments" - I had never thought of cutting across all the strips in one go.  This saves a lot of time!

 

fabric, papers, stuffing, and beads for embellishment

 

where are drumrolls and fanfares when you need them?  Yes, the big moment had arrived ....... starting Mrs Billings.  I had ordered the rest of the fabric I needed, so I gathered everything together

 

a special project like Mrs Billings needs a special notebook to record progress in

 

the first step was to cut up some hexagons into diamonds - these hexagons are tiny, they are sitting on one inch squares on the cutting mat

 

I chose my first three fabrics.  I will fussy cut the hexagons - I ran out of time to start cutting today

 

to finish - another old film, which I was watching this afternoon.  This one is from 1960 - The Time Machine

 

Was there a pot of gold ......

........ at the end of this rainbow on Saturday morning?

 

no ........ just some sheepies!!

 

so what did I buy on Friday?

three bargain metre lengths, to use for Linus quilts

 

ricrac for the kits for the patchwork class

 

I love a bargain!!

 

a small hoop for machine quilting, to use with my smaller sewing machine

 

sashiko thread

 

lots of luscious beads

 

I'm blaming Maureen for this last purchase .......... she dragged me to the stall and twisted my arm up my back until I bought it....... she pointed out this delightful kit, knowing that I am an owl fan

 

when I got home, there were two little parcels for me.  The first contained these sewing-related charms.  I had been looking for scissor charms when I found this pack of mixed charms

 

but as I needed eight scissor charms, I searched further, and found these ones

 

when I was busy sewing on Saturday, this film was on tv

 

the film starts with Charlton Heston getting in a pod, to sleep for a year.  He is clean-shaven when he gets in, but as you can see, he has a full beard when he wakes up.  I don't want to nit-picky ......... but why does he have short fingernails - surely they would have grown as much as his beard?

 

the nuthatch paid a brief visit to the peanut feeder this morning

 

when I was out in the garden this afternoon, a little flash of yellow caught my eye.  These are miniature narcissi, just six inches high

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a sewing update, although I can't show you one of the the things I am working on at the moment ........ I am hand quilting the Abbey Quilters' raffle quilt.  I am spending two hours every evening stitching away, crosshatching twenty five Baltimore blocks.  I have done the lines in one direction on all the blocks, and am on the tenth block working the lines going the other way.  Once I have finished, I'll pass the quilt on for quilting to be done on the applique centres of the blocks, then someone else will put the binding on.  I hope to be able to show you the quilt soon.

 

 

A grand day out!

Maureen arrived ten minutes early this morning, but as I am a very punctual person, I was ready even earlier!  We had a good run up to Edinburgh, although there was a bit of rain and sleet.  Suitably fortified with a large cup of tea, we split up and hit the show.  I decided to look at the quilts first.  As you know, I'm not supposed to show you the quilts, in case you copy them, so I'll just show you some details

 

when I was waiting in the queue for lunch, I was chatting to the lady in front of me ....... like me, she was hoping that macaroni and chips was on the menu.  Hooray, it was!!!!  (I don't like tomato ketchup, I am a brown sauce girl!)

 

of course I spent all my pocket money (and possibly a little bit more) ....... I'll show you my purchases on Monday.  After a further bout of quilt viewing and shopping after lunch, Maureen and I decided that we would head for home, and stop off at a garden centre on the way for a cuppa and cake ........ we were tucking into the cake when Maureen realised that I hadn't taken a photo - oh well.

 

For the rest of this evening, I will be sitting with my feet up on my stool, resting my weary legs ........ and enjoying a delicious glass of wine or two, a present from Maureen to say thank you for giving her a lift.  As always I shall be busy sewing over the weekend, and I hope you have a good weekend too, love Anne

The rest of the news ........

........ after the excitement of yesterday's lambs and donkeys, I hope you are not too bored by today's post of scenery and sewing (and some excellent sconnage)!!  I headed over to Kelso on Saturday morning for the Abbey Quilters' workshop.  It turned out to be a quiet day, with only seven of us there.  But it got off to a very good start when the lovely Val produced a tin of delicious scones, topped with a tasty, sharp cheddar

 

then at lunchtime she produced a wonderful chocolate tray bake - yum, yum!

 

I was working on my samples for my upcoming classes - more of that later.  On Sunday we got up to blue skies - hooray!  We decided to go for a walk to have another look at the Archimedes screws, as they were having problems with them when we were there just before Christmas with Stuart and Alison.  There was a lot of water going over the cauld

 

and a lot going through the screws

 

I paused to read the informative signs (click on the photos to enlarge them)

 

now that the building work is finished, we were able to walk on along the riverbank

 

I wonder why someone had spray painted this pine cone

 

we walked back to the Waterwheel cafe for a cuppa - but had a diversion over to the neighbouring field to take photos of the sheep

 

the scones were delicious ...... one cheese and one fruit

 

I took some photos of the scenery as we drove back down to Hawick - you can see a little bit of snow on the hills in the distance

 

today I finished off the prep work hhat I was doing on Saturday for the needlecase, which is week one of the classes, and pinned all the stages to a polystyrene sheet

 

I finally decided which fabrics to use for the kits that the students will get

 

this is what they will get on the first morning - I have still to add the ricrac and a length of ribbon

 

the last thing to go in the pack will be the worksheets - I know they will be last as I haven't written them yet!

 

I was very spoiled this afternoon when Malcolm brought out my hot chocolate ...... he had bought some custard doughnuts when he was out this morning ........  I will have to work extra hard on the implements of torture for a few mornings to work off the calories!!

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Romance!

I have mentioned before that when we have our cuppa on a Friday morning, in the middle of doing the housework, I have proper hot chocolate, made with milk.  For Christmas, Malcolm gave me a tub of pink, bunny shaped marshmallows which I finished last week.  I mentioned in passing yesterday that I would have to get some more marshmallows, as I had become somewhat addicted to having one floating on the top of my hot chocolate.  So I was delighted when he gave me a tub of heart shaped ones for Valentine's Day

 

Malcolm has his coffee in this mug, which I gave him some years ago

 

our delicious drinks

 

what did I give Malcolm?  A little woodblock sign (it's the size of a postcard)

 

at patch'n'chat, I finished my sock monkey, so that is another kit off the list.  As soon as I got home, the naughty boy was swinging from the kitchen cupboards ......

 

........ then making himself at home in the lounge

 

we had our absolutely best most favourite cake this afternoon, the apple and sultana one

 

weather permitting, I am going to an Abbey Quilters' workshop tomorrow (it has been snowing again).  Whether you are wet or snowy in the northern hemisphere, or far too hot in the southern one, I hope you you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Cute quilts alert!

My lovely friend Margaret was our guest speaker last night at Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting.  She brought along lots and lots of wonderful quilts to show us - although, strictly speaking, they are mostly quilt tops, as she hasn't yet quilted them.  All her quilts are entirely handstitched ....... I can't imagine doing all that work by hand!  You will see little bits of Margaret on the right, and little bits of our Chairman Sandra on the left, holding up the quilts.  She no longer has her first quilt, as she donated it to be raffled, so this was her second quilt

 

this is a finished quilt, which she has on her bed

 

then she discovered jelly rolls, and produced these super tops

 

then she branched out and produced these two stunning tops, which are the same pattern

 

but, of course, we know Margaret best for her fabulous applique quilts, several of which you have seen on Fridays.

 

that is only a small sample of the many, many quilts that Margaret brought to show us!  After her talk, I was able to take photos of these wonderful gingerbread houses

 

we always have a cuppa at the end of the meeting, and we usually just have a biscuit ........ but last night we had a wonderful treat!  Val brought in some of her delicious baking ........ but I was very good and only had a scone

 

as well as being our Chairman, Sandra is also our very hard working Linus Lady.  This is part of a letter she has written, letting everyone know how many quilts and knitted blankets she was given last year.  While it is wonderful that so many people make quilts and blankets for such a wonderful charity, it is sad that so many children are in need of them

 

on Saturday I finished the crazy batik quilt.  I used the method of bringing the backing fabric over to the front to form the binding

 

I made a start to quilting the country cottages quilt

 

I also quilted flowers on the 9-patch cornerstones

 

and I made another batch of squares for the quilt for Quilts for Comfort

 

Another grey day

Oh dear, everytime we have a glimpse of blue sky and sunshine, we hope that it will last for more than a day ......... but after the bright end to yesterday afternoon, this morning it was back to grey skies (and later in the day it rained again).  Even the birds were reluctant to be out and about this morning, but eventually they appeared on the feeders and the hawthorn tree

 

this sparrow preferred to sit on top of Mr Owl and watch the others squabbling on the feeders

 

we had lunch today in the Rhymer's Fayre deli in Melrose (I can't find a link for it).  Malcolm had a cheese and pickle toastie (the photo looks very dark, but the table was dark brown and Malcolm was wearing a dark brown jumper!)

 

I had delicious cheese savoury sandwiches

 

after lunch we drove on up the road to Galashiels, and after a bit of a detour because of roadworks, we eventually found the Borders College campus.  I popped in to see Tracey in HR, and she helped me complete the reams of paperwork.  She also took a photocoy of my passport, to prove that I am me, and not someone pretending to be me!  (Note to self, remember to renew your passport soon!)

 

and now for yesterday's sewing.  I decided to quilt the scrappy batik quilt using a hoop.  The first stage was to pass the outer ring under the needle

 

and then lay the ring flat

 

the quilt was then passed under the needle and the area to be quilted first centred over the ring

 

I passed the inner ring under the needle and pushed it into the outer ring - this is the opposite way to how hand-embroidery is put in the hoop

 

before I started sewing I brought the bobbin thread up to the top, so that I didn't stitch all over it on the back of the quilt

 

with the needle down ready to sew, I held the threads to the back of the needle, out of the way.  Once I had worked several stitches on the spot to secure the threads, I cut the tails off

 

I stitched a meandering design, with big loops ........

 

....... all over the centre section (it shows up better on the back)

 

then I stitched a meandering sort of flower round the border - this shows it wandering round a corner

 

to finish - I have added another lovely tin to my collection.  This one contained biscuits - we ate the last ones yesterday

 

 

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)

 

Party time!

But before we go to the party, an orchid update.  This one had been flowering for months now

 

and this one has been flowering almost as long

 

I don't make a note of which orchid is in each pot, so it will be a nice surprise to see what colour this one is

 

so, on to the party!  It is Margaret's birthday today, so we had a special lunch.  I took along crackers and festive napkins

 

and Margaret brought along her own birthday cake!

 

Annette produced two candles, and we sang Happy Birthday before Margaret blew them out - I hope the wish she made is granted!

 

we may have had birthday cake at lunchtime, but that didn't stop us eating Annette's delicious gingerbread at teatime!

 

I took along the little birdie kit that Malcolm had given me some time ago, and made both little brooches

 

it was miserable driving home, with heavy rain which was doing its best to turn to snow.  The forecast isn't very good for the weekend, so I think I will be spending a lot of time in the studio!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne