frayed at the edge

It's getting closer!

Yesterday was grey, dreary and damp, so yet again we weren't able to go for a walk.  So we went off to The Old Melrose Furniture Showroom (that's their Facebook page, it's the only link I could find).  There was a Christmas Fair, but again we didn't buy anything.  However, we had the consolation of sharing a toasted teacake ......

 

....... and a cheese scone

 

on the way in to the Furniture Showroom, we saw this enormouse tree, which probably came down during Thursday night's storm.  The second and third photos were taken through the side windows of the car, which were wet

 

back home, I put up the Christmas tree(s) and decorations, but I had to wait until today to take photos, when it was brighter

the big tree

 

the driftwood tree

 

the minimalist tree - and the new bunting above it

 

the tiny mittens garland

 

the Gnome brothers and sisters as usual squabbled over which cushions and stockings were to be put on their chairs  ...... I had to remind them that only good Gnomes get presents from Santa!

 

the elves are counting down the days in the kitchen

 

the little wallhangings brighten the doors

 

in the dining room, I turned the table runner over, to reveal the Christmas side

 

and decorated the deep windowsill

to finish, I hope thhe owls play nicely with the robin, which has popped in to visit for Christmas

 

 

Beautiful!

After such a dull, grey day yesterday, we were delighted to have a much brighter day for our trip over to Duns.  And of course I was deighted when we encountered not one, but two, tractors (the spots on the left of the photo are on the car windscreen, not the camera lens!)

 

as always the Waterloo Monument stood out against the blue sky

 

after a potter round the shops in Duns, we headed to the garden centre for a bowl of soup for lunch.  While Malcolm was at the counter placing our order, I had a look at my magazine.  I have done quite well cutting down on the amount of magazines that I buy, but this one caught my eye this morning

 

Malcolm chose two different rolls to have with the soup, and as is our custom, we had half each

 

the soup was mixed vegetable, and we decided the strongest flavours were leeks and celery

 

on the way home, this big beastie stopped to let us squeeze past ....... but the car waiting on the right thought he had stopped to let him out - oops, a scary moment as he started to drive into our path

 

we came back through Kelso, and popped into the shop and garden centre at Floors Castle.  You can picture my delight when I saw that they had dozens of beautiful orchids ........ and of course one of them had to come home with me (and it must be a good one, as Malcolm didn't object!)

 

I have been working on two tiny cross stitch kits that Malcolm gave me for my birthday - isn't it amazing how the smaller the stitching, the longer it takes!

 

I looked out this scarf yesterday.  I started knitting it months ago, but then it got put aside. I have lost the ballband, so can't tell you what the yarn is.  Hopefully I will finish it tonight

 

Old-fashioned skies

When I was sorting out some photos for today's post, I realised that I had forgotten about these ones which I took late on Saturday afternoon.  Skies like this always make me think of those enormous paintings you see in museums, which feature God, angels, cherubs, saints etc

 

the maple toffee vodka has been bottled

 

and the Christmas pudding vodka has been strained twice.  First through a nylon jelly bag to drain the liquid from the fruit

 

and then through a paper coffee filter to remove the residue of the spices.  I'll bottle it tomorrow

 

as we are now counting down to Christmas, I changed over the quits on the guest bed this morning.  These aren't the best of photos, as it has been a gloomy, grey day, and I had to use the flash.  For most of the year, the row-by-row quilt is the top one on the bed

 

but this lovely quilt was given to me last year in Melbourne by the lovely Helen.  Although there are no Christmas fabrics in it, the colours are definitely Christmassy

 

Helen is well known for disliking fabric with birds on it, but she had been in such a hurry to finish this quilt, she didn't notice the birds on the border fabric!  So she very generously gave me the quilt top, which Kay quilted beautifully for me

 

underneath both quilts is this log cabin quilt which was one of the first quilts I made twenty years ago.  It is made from curtain fabric samples, and is very heavy!

 

I have been busy sewing all day, but I can't show you what I was doing as it is a Christmas present.  I was using my walking foot

 

but the bar across the centre was making it difficult to see where I was stitching a very precise line

 

I had a word with my resident Mr Fixit (aka, of course, Malcolm) and it was only a matter of minutes until he had solved the problem!  He simply used his junior hacksaw to remove the offending section

 

Top Secret project - part 3

I am having fun working on these little projects!  Part 3 is a needlecase.  I started with four pink strips and four blue strips, and some ric rac

 

I stitched the strips to a piece of wadding

 

then added strips of ric rac

 

I didn't add a strip in the middle, as that is where the needlecase will be folded.  I hope to finish it over the weekend

 

there has been more activity in the kitchen - this is maple and toffee vodka being strained through a paper coffee filter

 

this may look unappetising, but it is somewaht alcoholic toffee, skimmed off the top of the vodka before I strained it.  It will be delicious with some icecream

 

we had a busy afternoon at patch'n'chat.  I was first back in the workroom after our teabreak, and snapped the table covered in various projects

 

we had what is now our favourite Friday cake, the Norwegian apple cake - delicious!

 

one more foodie item to end.  Maureen knows I like spicy food - the hotter the better.  So when she and her partner Alan found this sauce much too hot for them, she gave it to me .  I'll let you know just how hot it is!

 

whatever you are eating this weekend, I hope you have a good one.  We have vouchers for free entry to Jedburgh Abbey, so I am hoping for good weather for taking photos - and no doubt sconnage will be involved after our visit to the Abbey!  Love, Anne

 

Herbilicious!

I suspect that's not a real word, but it sounds good!  When we moved here, I did the weekly food shopping in Morrison's supermarket, but when Sainsbury's opened I started shopping there.  But Morrison's have just had a major makeover, and when Malcolm popped in yesterday, he was impressed with the new fruit and veg section.  So when we were in Hawick this morning we went in so that I could have a look.  There is an amazing counter with unusual vegetables and a good selection of fresh herbs ........ all of which are constantly misted with cold water.  As I was about to do things with fresh herbs and olive oil, I bought sage, tarragon and thyme

 

and added rosemary from the pot in the garden

 

a few years ago I bought bottles to use for sloe gin, flavoured vodkas etc ........ and like my jam jars, you only get a bottle of something delicious if you promise to return the empty one.  The bottles had all been washed in the dishwasher, but some of them still had the remains of their labels, so I popped them into a bowl of hot soapy water to soak (warning, very exciting photo!)

 

the herbs, washed and set aside to dry

 

according to the recipe, it should only take a few weeks for the olive oil to be flavoured by the herbs - just in time for Christmas!

 

last week Maureen gave me her copy of Homemade With Love magazine

 

as I read it, I was delighted to see a pattern by Tracey Todhunter

 

I met Tracey two years ago at Woolfest, and we kept in touch, meeting up again at Woolfest last year.  However I didn't see her this year, as she was away on holiday.  When I met Tracey, she was taking her first steps to build a career in designing knitting and crochet patterns, and over the months since, her patterns have appeared in lots of publications.  Then a few pages on ...... another pattern!

 

and then ....... an interview with Tracey.  Do look out for her patterns, and pop over to her blog for her latest creations

 

as I don't have any sewing to do for Anne at Stitchin' Heaven at the moment, I have been returning to my own long-neglected sewing.  I looked out my hexie wallhanging, to take  with me to patch'n'chat tomorrow

 

as I was locking the studio door this afternoon, some sheepies appeared in the field out the back, but by the time I had turned on the camera and zoomed in on them, the little beasties had turned their rear ends towards me!!

 

 

The smell of Christmas.......

When I saw this recipe at the weekend

 

I thought yum yum!  So this morning I started it off.  It doesn't look too good, but it filled the kitchen with the smell of Christmas

 

for lunch I had a little bit of the new cheese, with crackers and some homemade apple and sultana chutney - delicious!

 

then it was out to the studio to get on with the Top Secret project.  I stitched the second side of the pincushion

 

the pincushion stitched together and stuffed

 

the opening stitched shut

 

next I looked in the bead drawer for some little beads, but I couldn't find anything suitable ....... so I got out my jewelllery making supplies

 

and found these little hearts - perfect!

 

the finished pincushion with the scissors holder

 

when I took the photos of Malcolm's makes for the Christmas Fair, I forgot these - driftwood and cork trees on canvas

 

and too finish - I realised that I could show you the poster for the Christmas Fair.  I simply took a photo of the laptop screen!

Thoroughly spoiled!

I had a busy afternoon on Saturday, workinng on the Top Secret project.  Fortunately it is only what it is for that it a secret, you can see what I was doing.  When I have a busy sewing afternoon, Malcolm makes sure that I keep my energies up by supplying me with hot chocolate, complete with frothy milk ......

 

....... and in case I was peckish, half a salted caramel cookie (there had been an odd number of cookies in the packet) and half a mince pie, which had been part of the "meal deal" he had for lunch on Friday (a turkey and stuffing sandwich and a coffee - as the mince pie was wrapped, he brought it home)

 

I played some more with folding paper to make the scissor holder, as I wanted to get rid of the long point at the bottom

 

with a good idea of what I wanted to do, I chose two of my four fabrics and a thin cotton wadding

 

I cut out an  eight and a half inch square from each fabric and the wadding, layered them and stitched round the four sides, leaving an opening to turn the fabrics through to the right side

 

having pressed the square I folded it in a similar way to the paper, but it was a bit lumpy at the bottom.  So I turned it back through and cut a corner off

 

then stitched across the corner

 

I turned it back through to the right side and pressed it, and slipstitched the opening shut

 

I topstitched a quarter of an inch from the edge

 

the first fold, with the edge handstitched in place

 

the second fold pinned in place

 

ah - that's better with the flap folded back

 

all the handstitching done, and a little button added to hold the flap in place

 

then it was on to the next part of the project, a hexagon pincushion, using English paper piecing

 

it didn't take long to stitch the first side .......

 

...... you might recognise the film I was watching!

 

we have a stall at this year's Southdean Christmas Fair (I was going to show you the super poster made by  Lindsay, who organised the crafty day I was at on Sunday, but it is the wrong sort of document or some such technical thing!)  I haven't made anything yet (oops), but Malcolm has been beavering away in the garage.  He has made lots of driftwood trees

 

and has branched out (yes, a groan for the pun!) with driftwood mirrors - the third one isn't quite finished. (sorry, not the best of photos - the things were propped up on the kitchen table for some quick snaps to email to a friend)

 

for years we have saved wine corks, with vague ideas of making things with them.  I think you will like what Malcolm has made - a mirror edged with corks, and two pinboards, which I think look so good they could be hung on the wall as art!!

 

 

Friday Fun

There was a new lady, Thelma, at patch'n'chat this afternoon.  She had brought this amazing quilt, which is made up of all sorts of fabrics from years of family history

 

Maria was working on her thistle wallhanging

 

 Maureen was blanket stitching round her quirky reindeer

 

Margaret has started yet another wonderful quilt - despite the fact this is a cat, I will share it with you!

 

then there was the Friday cake ....... Annette's wonderful chocolate sponge with fresh cream.  It is so light, it just melts in the mouth

 

as always, I will be busy sewing at the weekend, and I hope you will be having a good time.  Love Anne

 

to finish -  I took this through the front door this morning (it was much too cold to go out) - our farming neighbours playing working with big machines

Not one, not two ......

........ but three finishes!!  First we have the stripey socks

 

then the socks knitted on two needles (sorry, my apprentice photographer let me down and the photo is slightly out of focus)

 

the line down the middle of the cable panel is where I crocheted the edges together

 

the third finish involved these little wooden birds and owls which I found in a shop in Hawick this morning, and the bunting kit which was a freebie with a magazine

 

it didn't take long to make the bunting.  I hung it up on the design wall to take a photo, but because there wasn't room to hang it level, the poor little birds are hanging off the side flags at drunken angles!

 

I started work on  a new project this afternoon.  I can show you what it is, but I can't yet tell you what it is for!  (how mysterious).  It is a sewing set which will comprise a needle case, a pincushion, a scissor holder and a bag to keep them in.  I chose these pretty fabrics

 

the pincushion will look like this one, made with hexagons using the English paper piecing method

 

I played with some paper, working out how to fold a square to make pockets for two pairs of scissors

 

to finish, more food!  Malcolm made this for dinner - haddock and spinach in a half-fat creme fraiche sauce, topped with an egg.  It looked so good I had to take a photo!!

 

 

The history of Scotland

When I was at Sheena Norquay's workshop, one on the members of Abbey Quilters informed us that there were places on the bus which Kelso Embroiderers' Guild had hired to go to see The Great Tapestry of Scotland.  Of course I immediately put my name down, and on Monday met up with fourteen other enthusiastic stitchers to head to Cockenzie House.  We had a slight hiccup when we got to Port Seton, and couldn't find the house.  The bus driver pulled in to the side of the road while the trip organiser looked through her info for directions, which gave me the chance to take this photo of Cockenzie Power Station!

 

Rineke jumped off the bus and asked for directions, and within minutes we had arrived at our destination

 

although we were anxious to see the exhibition, we had just spent ninety minutes on the bus, so first stop was the tearoom for a cuppa ....... and a delicious apple and cinnamon scone

 

some of the ladies I was with had worked on the Tapestry (how fabulous is that, contributing to such a major project!).  One of the organisers came into the tearoom with the hard-backed book of the making of the tapestry (a much weightier tome than the paperback that I bought).  She asked the stitchers to sign the page with the photo of the panel they stitched, which they were delighted to do.  Then we headed off to see the Tapestry ...... there are one hundred and sixty panels, and each time you thought you had seen what had to be the best one . you would go into the next room and find an even more stunning one!    I was delighted to find that photography was allowed, so that I can share my favourites with you

this was the first panel to be finished

 

a little bit of our history - our house in Falkirk was on the line of the Antonine Wall

 

this is the only panel that wasn't finished on time - one of the stitchers took ill

 

if you think these boys look fierce .....

 

..... look at their adversaries!

 

another mention of Falkirk!

 

a sad tale of deceit and murder

 

enlarge the photo to see the detail of the stitching below her hem

 

there is an incredible amount of stitching on this panel .......

 

...... and the "knitting" is so delicate

 

these are places in the Borders - we can see the Eildon Hills from the house!

 

I viewed the exhibition with Tricia, one of the embroiderers.  After ooohing and aaahing over all the wonderful stitching, we headed back to the tearoom, where Tricia treated me to lunch!  The quiche was delicious, with onion, broccoli and potato

 

to finish, some of the little details which caught my eye

 

and this last one is for Stuart!