frayed at the edge

Neat and tidy - almost!

So what did I buy yesterday?  Well, first it was something practical - new blades for my small rotary cutter

 

next was this pretty pattern, designed by Carolyn, one of Anne's friends

 

I love the label - especially the cute owl!

 

and of course I bought fabric ...... the calico is for Mrs Billings, and the dark fabric was from the reduced shelf

 

I had taken along "Lillyanny" to finish handstitching the binding.  The original "Lillypilly" that I made as a sample for Anne is still displayed in the shop

 

when I came to make mine, I couldn't be bothered to do all those leaves, so mine is a winter tree!

 

a detail of the fmq

 

I have still to add the birds' eyes

 

I aso want to do some more stitching on the fence, to make it stand out more

 

I didn't do any sewing this afternoon, as I thought I ought to tidy the studio

 

looking much better, but it still needs a bit more organising

Flying solo

I had planned to go to Longframlington today to visit Anne, but because of the miserable weather, Malcolm decided not to come with me, as he didn't fancy beachcombing in the rain!  So I set off all on my own, with just a bag of wine gums the radio to keep me company on the 90 minute drive.  Of course as soon as I arrived the first thing I did was make a cup of tea (and a biscuit may have been consumed).  We were a small company today, as regulars Margaret, Ros and Frances weren't there, but there was a newbie, Barbara.  But the best thing was that Anne was there, looking much recovered from her recent bout of poorliness (is that a word?)

Sue was handpiecing hexagons

 

Barbara was working on her Whimsical quilt blocks

 

and Annie was prepping lots of circles, which she plans to use on a bag

 

after I had taken the photo of her circles, Anne reached under the table, and produced this stunning bag!

 

when I went (reluctantly) to give the bag back, Annie pointed out that I hadn't taken a photo of the side of the bag, which she said was her favourite bit

 

as always, there were lots of lovely new fabrics in the shop

 

did I buy anything?  Of course I did!  I'll show you tomorrow, and I'll also show you what I was sewing.  But to finish - very good news if you are going to be anywhere near Longframlington next week ........ head to Stitchin' Heaven for their fabulous sale (Anne very kindly gave me the discount today, as I won't be there next week!)

A little tutorial

As promised, a little tutorial for the fun technique that I shared with the ladies on Saturday.  I hadn't done this for a while, and it was only after I had made up the samples I realised that I had made a small mistake (I'll tell you later what it was)!  The technique is called faux chenille - so lets get started.  I chose this piece of  "picture" fabric from the scrap basket, and added three more fabrics,  cutting squares

 

I chose a thread to blend in with the main fabric, but as it doesn't matter what colour is used in the bobbin, I used up some odds and ends

 

next, I drew a line across the diagonal

 

I stitched along the line, then stitched parallel lines half an inch apart

 

the next stage is scary - you have to cut through the top three fabrics, along the centre of each channel.  You can use very sharp scissors ........

 

........ or you can get this packet out

 

I threaded the cutting strip through the centre channel

 

I positioned the ruler, and carefully cut along the channel, using my small rotary cutter

 

it didn't take long to complete the cutting

 

I put that piece aside and started on the second sample.  I cut three squares from calico

 

then cut out a flower from the leftovers from the first piece

 

to keep the pieces in place while I stitched, I used a basting spray.  I put the pieces in a cardboard box to spray them, to prevent the spray from getting on the surrounding area

 

again, it didn't take long to stitch and cut the sample

 

it was about now that I realised that I had made that little mistake.  The bottom fabric should have been cut half an inch bigger all round.  This makes it easier to use the scissors/cutting strip.  The next stage was to wash the samples, along with some old towels, then tumble dry them, again with the old towels.  This fluffs up the edges, and creates the chenille effect

 

it's important that you stitch on the diagonal to get the effect - if you stitched on the straight grain, the edges would fray right away.  If you are stitching a rectangular piece, you have to draw your line on the true bias, not from corner to corner

 

on Sunday  I layered up two more quilts for Linus

 

and made some more squares

 

so what did I buy yesterday in the little wool shop in Berwick?  This fabulous book

 

I think the cardigan on the cover will be going on the "to-knit" list, along with this one

 

but I think I will pass on these socks!

A busy weekend .......

........ and a busy Monday, so lets get started!  I headed over to Kelso on Saturday morning, with the car stuffed full of all the things I needed for the cushion workshop.  It didn't take long to get set up

 

our Chairman Sandra had taken a pile of fabrics, as had I, and after the obligitory oohing, aaahing and stroking of the fabrics, everyone started sewing.  We were so busy, I didn't take very many photos!

Anne Marie cutting out her first cushion

 

Helen was about to quilt this lovely fabric for her cushion front

 

Doreen made this large cushion

 

by the end of the day Anne Marie had made three cushions!

 

but my favourite was this pretty Sunbonnet Sue, made by Valerie.  I shall have to buy lots of tickets for the raffle at our exhibition, in the hope of winning it!

 

I also showed the ladies another technique, but I'll show you tomorrow, as I have put together a little tutoral.  It was miserable yesterday morning, so again we didn't go for a walk.  We popped down to Sainsbury's to get the Sunday papers, and have a cuppa.  We shared a "skinny" lemon and poppy seed muffin - a lot fewer calories than a scone!

 

I was busy in the studio in the afternoon, but I'll show you what I did tomorrow.  This morning we headed over to Berwick again, stopping in the Garden Centre on the way for a cuppa and a scone (I have swapped my "fast" day to tomorrow)

 

it was a bit wet and miserable, but we had an enjoyable stroll round the town.  We had a walk round the grounds of this old church

 

is spring on the way, with blossom on this tree, and snowdrops at the foot of the trunk

 

the date on this gravestone is 1763

 

we only had to walk a few yards to admire another church

 

the building next to the church had a seagull on top of every chimney

 

obviously they were admirers of architecture, choosing such a handsome building to sit on

 

what building is it?  I doubt you would ever guess!

 

I remembered to look up, and saw these wonderful details on yet another old building

 

of course after all that walking about taking photos, we needed some lunch!  Delicious butternut squash soup

 

I may have bought something in this little shop!  I'll show you tomorrow

In the pink

I glanced out one of the windows at the back of the house this morning ........ and immediately grabbed the camera and headed out into the garden.  Despite shivering with the cold, I managed to hold the camera steady enough to capture the wonderful colours in the sky

 

yesterday I made a start to the quilt top for Lucie and Quilts for Comfort.  I put two fabrics right sides together and pressed them - this makes it easier to cut them

 

the biggest square that I could cut was five and a half inches, so I cut four of each colour.  I marked a diagonal line on the lighter fabric .......

 

........ stitched on both sides of the line, then cut along the line

 

after pressing the seam, the last stage was to trim the square to five inches

 

that's when the fun started, arranging the squares on the design wall

 

I made a second batch of squares and played some more

 

I cut four plain squares and did some more re-arranging

 

one last change

 

I'm looking forward to making more squares, and playing some more with the layout!

 

Now for the Friday cake ........ oh yum, it was our favourite apple and sultana cake.  I remarked that the only time we are silent on a Friday is when we are tucking into the delicious cakes that Annette makes for us!

 

I'm looking forward to my day out tomorrow, doing all things cushiony!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Stretching my legs

Hooray, the sun shone this morning and the sky was blue (I won't mention that we had a few flurries of snow this afternoon), so I decided to go out for a walk.  It was such a treat to see the sun shining on the Mintos

 

and then  - look what I spotted under a hedge and through a fence

 

then, further up the road, more snowdrops

 

and another view over to the sunny hills

 

I do like a higgledy piggledy, falling down fence

 

only for you, dear readers, would I negotiate the mud and puddles ........

 

to visit the Jacob's ewes, who will be lambing soon

 

on down the road, more snowdrops gleaming in the sun

 

and more expectant ewes

 

I stopped to take a photo of the moss on a wall, and spotted these tiny mushrooms

 

of course clear blue sky means a photo of electrical gubbins!

 

another favourite - an arty photo of a seed head

 

on the way back down the hill, my favourite view

 

the sun shining on the church

 

a little wisp of fleece caught on a branch

 

there were no donkeys about, but this fine fellow posed prettily for me

 

one last photo, the fence that used to be higgledy piggledy, but was replaced last year, reflected in a very large puddle

 

I had to see my doctor two weeks ago, as my sinuses were really bothering me.  As I thought he would, he diagnosed a bout of sinusitis, gave me a two week course of antibiotics, and said to go back in two weeks' time.  So I went back this morning, to tell him that although things had improved a bit, the problem hadn't cleared up completely.  So has has given me another two weeks of antibiotics.  Much aas I appreciate him taking good care of me, there is just one little niggle ........ like many other people, I have been "dry for January".  Not one drop of wine has passed my lips since New Year's Day, so of course I was starting to look forward to enjoying a glass (or two) on the 1st of February ........ but now I will have to wait until the following Thursday, when I finish the antibiotics!!

 

 

Disgruntled gnomes!

Did you notice on Monday that there was no mention of lunch when we were in Berwick?  That, of course, was because it was a "fast day" (after several weeks of "normal" eating over Christmas, I am being a good girl and sticking to the diet!).  However we had a delighful lunch in The Damascus Drum today.  Malcolm had delicious broccoli and Stilton soup

 

which came with rustic bread and butter

 

as for me, I had my usual, the ploughman's bagel ....... wonderful sharp cheddar, rich homemade chutney, little pickled onions and a refreshing salad

 

back home, I sorted out some cushions to take with me on Saturday to give the Abbey Quilters members some ideas for their cushions

machine quilted, with apple fabric to echo the quilting

 

handquilted, and edged with cord

 

this beautiful fabric didn't need anything fancy done to it

 

I added this knitted panel to an existing cushion

 

handstitched Hawaiian applique, and hand quilted

 

my very first hand quilted cushion, from 20 years ago!

 

this counted cross stitch cushion is even older ........

 

......... perhaps the quilt started my interest in patchwork?

 

and as for those disgruntled gnomes ....... they were most annoyed that I used their chair to take the photos!

Absolutely delicious .......

....... and for once I don't mean scones!  I ordered some fabric for Mrs Billings from here.  The fabric designs are based on the tv programme Downton Abbey - which I have never watched, but I liked the look of the fabric.  The colours are luscious, and I am looking forward to getting started

 

over the weekend, I finished the little Linus quilt that I made from the scraps of the first two, which are also finished

 

I frre motion quilted the little quilt in much the same way as the bigger ones

 

however, I decided to finish the quilt differently.  I usually finish quilts with traditional binding, but that uses quite a lot of fabric, so I decided to bring the backing fabric over to the front.  First I stitched round the edge with a long basting stitch

 

then I trimmed the excess wadding away

 

the next stage was to trim the backing fabric to an inch bigger than the quilt

 

I folded the backing fabric in half, so that the raw edge was lined up with the edge of the quilt

 

then I folded the backing fabric over again, to enclose the raw adges

 

the last stage was to topstitch the "binding" ....... but I forgot to take a close-up of the stitching!  So here is the finished quilt

 

on Saturday Abbey Quilters are having a "cushion day".  The cushions will be raffled at our exhibition in the summer, to raise money for charity (every quilting group I have beeen a member of has raised a lot of money for charity).  Sandra, our Chairman (and also, of course, our "Linus Lady") mentioned that some of the members had said that they hadn't made cushions before.  These are obviously new quilters, because everyone who has been quilting for any length of time has a vast collection of cushions - quite often when you go to a class/workshop you make a sample piece which ends up as an ABC ( Another Bl**dy Cushion!).  As I have been making cushions for many, many years, I offered to demonstrate a basic technique, which can be adapted to suit all sorts of cushions.  I started by cutting a 12" square for the front of the cushion

 

I then cut two rectangles 12"x15" , and folded them in half.  The first one was topstitched along the folded edge

 

the second one was stitched along the folded edge, then an inch further in

 

I put the front right side down, then put the first back piece on top, then the second back piece on top of that, aligning the raw edges

 

this shows the pieces pinned together, and the first length of binding also pinned in place

 

after stitching on the first lot of binding, I just stitched a short length what would be the third side to be done, to show how the corner will look

 

just in case you haven't seen enough herons, here is another one, which I saw in Hawick this morning

 

back in the garden, this blue tit provided a bright spot of colour

 

to finish - something silly!  I have shown you photos of this before, but when I went past this morning, I thought I would capture it again.  So, why does this chimney go through the windoow?

 

seen from another angle, you can see that it doesn't - but then, why is it there ...... I have no idea!

 

 

The Year of the Kit - 1st report

Now that we are just over two weeks into the new year, I thought it was time for my first report of work on my collection of kits.  Before starting anything new, I decided to finish up various kits, one of which only needed its little hanging loop made and attached

 

 

next to be finished were these two little cross-stitch kits, which Malcolm gave me for my birthday last year.  I haven't yet decided to do with them ....... but I will probably incorporate them into some sort of needle case or sewing bag

 

I had made a start to this sashiko pincushion last year (after having the kit for about ten years!)

 

I marked out the sashiko pattern using a special pen - the marks vanish when ironed

 

it didn't take long to do the stitching, then I popped it on the ironing board, ready to remove the marking pen

 

the marks vanished as soon as the iron touched the fabric - so much easier than any other sort of marking pen or pencil that I have tried in the past (but of course I always do a test first, so make sure it will come off the fabric)

 

I had already made the little pincushion to go inside the cover, so it didn't take long to sew it all together

 

I shall use the pincushion when I finish this sashiko sample, which I started at a recent Abbey Quilters' meeting

 

the next kit to to be tackled will be this one - it shouldn't take too long to make the two birdie brooches

 

when we were in Hawick this morning, we had a potter round the Oxfam shop, and came home with these goodies, which were all on the "reduced" table.  The serving plate was 50p, the mirror (which will be decorated with driftwood or corks) was £1, and the knitting needle box was 99p

 

 

Before the sewing update ........

........ we have had a frequent visitor to the garden, an occasional visitor, and some little birds that I have only seen in the garden once before in the seven years we have been here!  So first, the frequent visitor, the robin

 

next the occasional visitor, the nuthatch

 

then, this afternoon, some long-tailed tits swooped into the garden.  I just had time to take two photos before they flew off again.  The only other time I have seen them in the garden, several years ago, they swooped in, attacked the fat balls and flew off again.  Fingers crossed I don't have to wait so long to see them again

 

now for the sewing!  Yesterday I made Stuart's camera bag.  Fortunately he has the same camera as me, so there was no problem with getting the measurements

 

to start, I got out my project book, and tape measure

 

I measured the circumference

 

then used my 6" ruler to measure the height

 

I cut the fabric to size and stitched the short seam, finishing it with a zigzag stitch

 

I centred the seam and stitched across the bottom seam, again finishing it with zigzag stitching

 

next, I folded over the top edge a quarter of an inch and pressed it, then folded it over another half an inch and pressed it.  I opened out and flattened the seam at the top, and stitched round the opening for the cord

 

I flattened the corners, and marked a line to stitch

 

after stitching, I cut off the corners

 

the finished bag

 

I have written the details down in my project book, so that I can make a bag for my camera

 

next was a little bit of repair work.  This is a little Cath Kidston bag, which was a free gift some time ago with a magazine.  I keep it in my handbag, and we had used it to put driftwood in when we had our walk on the beach at Berwick recently.  However, the amount of driftwood we crammed in was obviously too much for the little bag and the seams gave way

 

so after washing the bag, a quick session restitching the seams, and the little bag was ready to go back in my handbag

 

a quick change of thread in the sewing machine, and I got on with the little Linus quilt.  I stitched the outer blocks together, and stitched the side strips on

 

when I added the top and bottom strips, as you can see, they didn't quite fit

 

but a quick trim with the rotary cutter, and the top was finished

 

I still have a pile of leftovers .........

 

I got out this little top, which was the prototype for my Country Cottages pattern.  I added this colourful boder, and once it is quilted, it will be another quilt for Linus

 

before Christmas, I offerred to make a quilt top for Lucie , which she will then longarm quilt.  Then she will give the quilt to a very worthwhile cause, Quilts for Comfort.  Some years ago I made a quilt using black and red fabrics for Malcolm's Dad, which was very striking (it was so well loved and used, that by the time he died it had worn away into holes in places!), so I looked out these fabrics.  I think I will use the same design, which was half square triangles

 

last night so many of us turned up for Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting that more tables and chairs had to be brought into the room!  We were embroidering name badges for the exhibition in the summer

 

we always stop for a cuppa (and possibly a biscuit might have been consumed!)

 

I think Sheila should be promoted from beginner to fully fledged quilter after making this lovely bag!

 

ps - how did I take photos of my camera?  I unearthed my little Fuji from the depths of my camera bag!