frayed at the edge

Contrast

The other evening, the collared doves enjoyed a quite drink from the birdbath ......

 

....... but it's just as well that they weren't there this afternoon, when we had a sudden downpour

 

I'm glad that I didn't get caught in a shower when I was out for my walk yesterday, as there few places to shelter.  I suppose I could have cuddled up with these sheep

 

I coudn't persuade these two to stand closer together!

 

I don't think that I would want to cuddle up to this one

 

I like horses - but only in the distance - they are a bit scary up close!

 

folklore/old wives' tales say that the severity of the winter is in proportion to the amount of hawthorn berries ....... there are very few this year, so hopefully we will have a mild winter

 

I have no idea what these bits of machinery for, but they make a good photo

 

I would love to steal this gate to refurbish it and put it in the garden

 

on my way out to the studi yesterday afternoon, I was distracted by some butterflies on the buddleia buddleiia buddliea butterfly bush

 

while I was taking photos of the butterflies, there was a wonderful buzz from this shrub - you can't see them, but it was covered in bees!

 

I did some more work on my "Welcome" block - I am delighted with it!!

 

I got out some embroidery threads - and found they matched my drawing

 

there was no patch'n'chat today, but I didn't want you to be deprived of the Friday cake, so I looked out Meredithe's recipe

 

it hadn't been in the fridge quite long enough, so it was a bit squidgy ....... but it was delicious!  There is plenty left over, so we will be having some with our afternoon cuppa for a while, as it keeps well in the fridge.  The forecast is mixed for the weekend, so I think I may be doing a lot of sewing, and Malcolm will be watching the cricket.  Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Alas and alack!

Remember I recently showed you a photo, taken from the front doorstep, of the higgledy piggledy fence?  Well, that wonderful old fence is no more, and has been replaced with a straight fence!

 

this is all that remains of the old fence

 

I went for a walk this morning, stopping first to eye up the apples in the neighbours' old orchard

 

but I didn't jump over the wall to pinch some - the wall may only be hip height on the road side, but it is twice that height on the orchard side!

 

I stopped at the church to read the information about the "village idiot"

 

I occasionally mention the joys of having the long lens.  The next two photos show the difference that it makes - the same view, shot from the same place, with first the standard lens which came with the camera, then with the long lens

 

this thistle is waiting for a breeze to waft its seeds away

 

I took lots of photos of seedheads

 

these rosehips, on the shady side of the road, are still green

 

but this one, on the sunny side, is red

 

walking down the hill, you might wonder why there are warning poles in the verge

 

ignore them at your peril - there is a deep ditch to the right of them!

 

there is a much better crop of apples in the hedgerow this year

 

it has been an overcast day, and the photos of the fields have a hazy look

 

I still have lots of photos from my walk, but I'll keep them for tomorrow, as I promised you some sewing.  I am teaching my textured applique workshop next month, so I got out these samples which I made years ago.  They show the difference that fabric choices make, as the leaves and flowers are the same, but the colours suggest the four seasons

 

I thought I ought to tidy them up a bit, so added borders

 

then layered them up and quilted the backgrounds

 

the last stage was to add the binding - much better

 

I also finally put the binding on the wallhanging that I made when I showed the Abbey Quilters the techniques (there is still a little bit of quilting to be finished)

 

when I was at Stitchin' Heaven yesterday, I selected some more thread for Nice People, Nice Things, and wound them on to bobbins this afternoon

 

I don't think I've had a knot in a skein of thread before

 

I mentioned yesterday that a length of fabric had sneaked into my bag.  Fortunately it was from the sale shelves, so wasn't too extravagant a purchase!

Just a quick post, as I am somewhat tired, having left home at 8.15 this morning, and only getting home at 5.30 this afternoon.  So where was I?  You have probably guessed that I went to Stitchin' Heaven.  But I didn't see Anne today, as she is really quite poorly at the moment, and isn't allowed to come to the shop.  I am sure you will join with me in sending her best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Her lovely husband Mick is holding the fort, and of course the local quilters have rallied round to help out.  Annie and Frances weren't there today, but Ros was ensconced in the corner as usual.  She was quilting one of her applique blocks

 

Margaret has started hand piecing a new project .......

 

......... having finished this beautiful double wedding ring quilt

 

Lucie was working on her hexagon quilt

 

and Susan was hand quilting her Lilly Pilly

 

I'll be back tomorrow with what I have been sewing ....... and a little bit of fabric may have sneaked into my bag and come home with me!

 

I really didn't like geometry ........ I didn't mind algebra, it made sense to study arithmetic, but geometry and trigonometry just didn't appeal.  This afternoon I wished that I had paid more attention, as I wanted to draw an elengated triangle.  I knew that I needed to use my protractor (yes, I have a protractor and a set square) but I simply couldn't remember what to do.  So as always, Malcolm came to the rescue (only after I made him a cup of coffee!).

But to start at the beginning ....... I had yet to draw the pattern for the August block for Lucie's "A is for applique" challenge.  I started with this

 

I added some flowers and birdhouses, and decided to use some coloured pens.  I know it looks as if I asked a passing 5-year old to draw it for me ....... Malcolm was warned not to laugh!

 

The triangle that Malcolm drew for me is a template for the bunting

 

I chose these pretty Tilda fabrics

 

the fabric version looks a bit better than my drawing!

 

you know I love to get post from far-flung places - and this envelope has come along way

 

so what had come all the way from China?

 

it was cool this morning, which is probably why this bee stayed still long enough for a clear photo!

 

and to finish, more carrots.  These were grown by Stuart - not bad for his first attempt!!

 

I don't mind at all including these cats, the latest wonderful quilt from Margaret

 

I was a little bit late getting to patch'n'chat, as the road was temporarily blocked by a tractor which was trying to pull an overhanging branch from a tree!

 

dinner was slightly delayed on Wednesday, as I took photos of this wonderful piece of machinery which wraps silage/haylage bales ..... the joys of a big lens - I was standing in the kitchen taking these photos of the field across  the road!

 

we had pizzas cooked in the new pizza oven for dinner

leek, cheese and pear

 

chorizo and mozzarella

 

of course I had already enjoyed the Friday cake - this week Annette's delicious cupcakes topped with chocolate icing and a Smartie

 

and I have to admit that I had already had chocolate this morning ....... when we have a cuppa in the middle of doing the housework, I have proper hot chocolate .........

 

made with hot milk, some of which gets frothed to top both the hot chocolate and Malcolm's coffee

 

Malcolm says to thank you for all the beehive love - I don't know what he can do now to equal, if not better it!  Rain is forecast for the weekend, so he will have plenty of time to plan his next project - perhaps something using his large stash of driftwood?  As usual I will be in the studio.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne<

On Friday, Maureen gave me her leftover piece of iron-on bias for my New Zealand vineyard wallhanging.  There was a great holding of breath as I measured it ........ then a great sigh of relief that it was long enough.  I ironed it in place on Saturday afternoon - as you can see there was just an inch left over

 

I stitched the remaining bias strips in place.  I will do some more quilting before I put the binding on

 

I cut the borders of the Mount Fuji wallhanging

 

and added the binding to the front

 

usually when I make templates I use cereal packets, but when I made my flowers on Sunday, I used these pretty pieces from a tissue box

 

I put my two fabrics right sides together and drew round the circle template five times

 

the three stages of making the flowers, after stitching round the cirlcles and turning them right side out

 

I have also been working on the red, white and blue blocks.  By the end of Sunday afternoon I had three of them on the design wall

 

and this afternoon I added the fourth one

 

the next stage will be to machine quilt the blocks, then I shall add some embellishments

 

tiny birds

 

and teeny tiny bees

 

and now for the beehive.  The woodwork was finished at the weekend

 

then it had its first coat of paint

 

to finish - I know I have lots of projects on the go, but I'm already planning the next one!  I got these fabrics recently from Stitchin' Heaven ...... but what am I going to put in the centre?

 

ps - Typepad has resumed its wicked ways of putting comments in the spam folder, sometimes days after you have left them!

Maureen brought in her chicken wallhanging

 

funny face!

 

elegant double prairie points

 

Katy was working on an diamond shaped log cabin block

 

then it was time for tea ....... and cake!  First, my orange teabread was well received

 

opinion was divided on the salted caramel shortbread - some of the ladies weren't aware of the current popularity of salted caramel

 

Maureen brought in these wonderful courgette and cocoa muffins

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that everything I ate today was naughty ...... I had a bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast!

 

several of you have guessed that Malcolm is making a beehive ...... however we are not going to be keeping bees!  It is an ornamental one, which he intends to use for garden storage.  I think he is going to paint it to match the summerhouse.  Hopefully he will finish it over the weekend.  As usual I will be busy sewing, and weather permitting we will have our Sunday morning walk.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

........ I always laugh at his cartoon, and yesterday's made me laugh more than usual

 

when we were out and about today, we popped into Lochcarron for a bowl of soup for lunch.  We had hoped that their wonderful Spicy Thai chicken soup was on the menu, but it wasn't.  However the lentil soup was delicious, as was the sun-dried tomato bread

 

over the weekend, I got on with a lot of sewing, working on my two pieces that I started at the Gail Lawther workshops.  I quilted the  Mount Fuji wallhanging (don't worry about the bit of bias tape hanging off, I ironed it back in place after I finished the quilting!)

 

a detail of the sky and the top of the mountain

 

and the foot of the mountain

 

I then got out my mini iron

 

to iron on the rest of the bias tape

 

all that's left to do now is trim the outer edge to match the shape of the inner border, then back and bind the wallhanging

 

then it was on to the vineyard piece.  I did some of the machine quilting

 

I then added more of the bias tape

 

all that was left was the four strips round the border.  I looked at the amount of tape I had left, and thought that I might not have enough.  I measured it, and found I only had enough for three sides!!  I sent an emergency email to Maureen, as we had shared a reel of the tape when we were at the workshop.  Back came the answer that she had a piece left that might just be long enough, plus a couple of smaller pieces - if I have to have a join I can put a button over it!

 

Yesterday I got out this box

 

which contains the latest project for Anne - Nice people, Nice Things

 

it is a double-sided quilt,  but I am doing it as two quilts, as there isn't anywhere to hang it in the shop that would show off both sides.  One side has stitcheries of little pictures, the other side has stitcheries of sayings.  The pattern comes with iron on transfers, so I sorted out the fabric and transfers into two bundles

 

there are six stitcheries on each transfer, and after a great deal of ironing-on, I had eighteen pieces of fabric, ready to be layered up with thin bamboo wadding

 

I wound the embroidery threads on to plastic bobbins, and decided to use my cute sheepie tin to keep them in

 

I forgot to include this photo yesterday - Malcolm had kept it for me on Friday, when it was in his newspaper (we read different papers!).  Perhaps I could offer to do another review of all the wonderful scones they didn't mention?

 

I made a start to my cake today, as the mixed fruit, orange zest and brown suger has to soak overnight in tea ( I used Earl Grey)

 

I also made something with these ingredients - I'll tell you what tomorrow

 

while I was busy in the kitchen, Malcolm was starting a new project in the garage ...... can you guess what it is?

I was busy sewing on Saturday afternoon, when the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone right on the needle area, making it hard to see what I was doing.  I glanced up the velux, and saw that it was in serious need of being cleaned (as was the other one).  So I thought I would clean them while waiting for the sun to move round a bit.  Having cleaned the insides, Malcolm offered to clean the outsides, an offer I gladly accepted as it's very awkward to do the outsides.  When he had finished, I thought I might as well do the two sets of French doors, then as I still had soapy water left, I fetched a scrubbing brush and gave my chair a good scrub, ready for repainting

 

back in the studio, I admired the lovely clean veluxes

 

Typepad has just thrown a major wobbly and I have lost the rest of the post, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until tomorrow, as I can't face doing it all again!!

I started my efforts to take more photos last night, when I just caught the sun before it sank below the horizon

 

when I was cleaning the bathroom this morning, I noticed the flowers in the planter on the windowsill showing through the glass

 

we have a cuppa in the middle of the Friday morning housework, and this morning we finally had a taste of the salted caramel shortbread (I can't quite believe it either that we have had it for almost two weeks without eating it!)

 

I was going to cut it into lots of little squares, but having tasted a little bit before I cut it, I ended up cutting it into somewhat larger pieces - it is delicious!!

 

at patch'n'chat this afternoon, Anne S. had brought some more of her daughter Roberta's fabulous tiny teddies for us to see

 

Andrea has almost finished this stunning wallhanging.  It is her first attempt at free motion quilting and she has done very well!

 

Maureen has finished her Gail Lawther wallhanging

 

a real treat for the Friday cake - Annette's wonderful chocolate sponge, with fresh cream and strawberries

 

next week's cake might not be of quite the same standard ...... Annette and some of the others are heading to Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts, so I have volunteered to bake a cake.  It's not that I can't bake, it's just that I rarely bake ..........

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - preferably with cake or scones on the menu!  Love, Anne

<

On the road again!

Just a quick post, as I am somewhat tired, having left home at 8.15 this morning, and only getting home at 5.30 this afternoon.  So where was I?  You have probably guessed that I went to Stitchin' Heaven.  But I didn't see Anne today, as she is really quite poorly at the moment, and isn't allowed to come to the shop.  I am sure you will join with me in sending her best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Her lovely husband Mick is holding the fort, and of course the local quilters have rallied round to help out.  Annie and Frances weren't there today, but Ros was ensconced in the corner as usual.  She was quilting one of her applique blocks

 

Margaret has started hand piecing a new project .......

 

......... having finished this beautiful double wedding ring quilt

 

Lucie was working on her hexagon quilt

 

and Susan was hand quilting her Lilly Pilly

 

I'll be back tomorrow with what I have been sewing ....... and a little bit of fabric may have sneaked into my bag and come home with me!

 

Geometry

I really didn't like geometry ........ I didn't mind algebra, it made sense to study arithmetic, but geometry and trigonometry just didn't appeal.  This afternoon I wished that I had paid more attention, as I wanted to draw an elengated triangle.  I knew that I needed to use my protractor (yes, I have a protractor and a set square) but I simply couldn't remember what to do.  So as always, Malcolm came to the rescue (only after I made him a cup of coffee!).

But to start at the beginning ....... I had yet to draw the pattern for the August block for Lucie's "A is for applique" challenge.  I started with this

 

I added some flowers and birdhouses, and decided to use some coloured pens.  I know it looks as if I asked a passing 5-year old to draw it for me ....... Malcolm was warned not to laugh!

 

The triangle that Malcolm drew for me is a template for the bunting

 

I chose these pretty Tilda fabrics

 

the fabric version looks a bit better than my drawing!

 

you know I love to get post from far-flung places - and this envelope has come along way

 

so what had come all the way from China?

 

it was cool this morning, which is probably why this bee stayed still long enough for a clear photo!

 

and to finish, more carrots.  These were grown by Stuart - not bad for his first attempt!!

 

More cats!!

I don't mind at all including these cats, the latest wonderful quilt from Margaret

 

I was a little bit late getting to patch'n'chat, as the road was temporarily blocked by a tractor which was trying to pull an overhanging branch from a tree!

 

dinner was slightly delayed on Wednesday, as I took photos of this wonderful piece of machinery which wraps silage/haylage bales ..... the joys of a big lens - I was standing in the kitchen taking these photos of the field across  the road!

 

we had pizzas cooked in the new pizza oven for dinner

leek, cheese and pear

 

chorizo and mozzarella

 

of course I had already enjoyed the Friday cake - this week Annette's delicious cupcakes topped with chocolate icing and a Smartie

 

and I have to admit that I had already had chocolate this morning ....... when we have a cuppa in the middle of doing the housework, I have proper hot chocolate .........

 

made with hot milk, some of which gets frothed to top both the hot chocolate and Malcolm's coffee

 

Malcolm says to thank you for all the beehive love - I don't know what he can do now to equal, if not better it!  Rain is forecast for the weekend, so he will have plenty of time to plan his next project - perhaps something using his large stash of driftwood?  As usual I will be in the studio.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne<

A hive of activity!

On Friday, Maureen gave me her leftover piece of iron-on bias for my New Zealand vineyard wallhanging.  There was a great holding of breath as I measured it ........ then a great sigh of relief that it was long enough.  I ironed it in place on Saturday afternoon - as you can see there was just an inch left over

 

I stitched the remaining bias strips in place.  I will do some more quilting before I put the binding on

 

I cut the borders of the Mount Fuji wallhanging

 

and added the binding to the front

 

usually when I make templates I use cereal packets, but when I made my flowers on Sunday, I used these pretty pieces from a tissue box

 

I put my two fabrics right sides together and drew round the circle template five times

 

the three stages of making the flowers, after stitching round the cirlcles and turning them right side out

 

I have also been working on the red, white and blue blocks.  By the end of Sunday afternoon I had three of them on the design wall

 

and this afternoon I added the fourth one

 

the next stage will be to machine quilt the blocks, then I shall add some embellishments

 

tiny birds

 

and teeny tiny bees

 

and now for the beehive.  The woodwork was finished at the weekend

 

then it had its first coat of paint

 

to finish - I know I have lots of projects on the go, but I'm already planning the next one!  I got these fabrics recently from Stitchin' Heaven ...... but what am I going to put in the centre?

 

ps - Typepad has resumed its wicked ways of putting comments in the spam folder, sometimes days after you have left them!

Warning : cake overload!!

Maureen brought in her chicken wallhanging

 

funny face!

 

elegant double prairie points

 

Katy was working on an diamond shaped log cabin block

 

then it was time for tea ....... and cake!  First, my orange teabread was well received

 

opinion was divided on the salted caramel shortbread - some of the ladies weren't aware of the current popularity of salted caramel

 

Maureen brought in these wonderful courgette and cocoa muffins

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that everything I ate today was naughty ...... I had a bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast!

 

several of you have guessed that Malcolm is making a beehive ...... however we are not going to be keeping bees!  It is an ornamental one, which he intends to use for garden storage.  I think he is going to paint it to match the summerhouse.  Hopefully he will finish it over the weekend.  As usual I will be busy sewing, and weather permitting we will have our Sunday morning walk.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

Although Garfield is a cat ........

........ I always laugh at his cartoon, and yesterday's made me laugh more than usual

 

when we were out and about today, we popped into Lochcarron for a bowl of soup for lunch.  We had hoped that their wonderful Spicy Thai chicken soup was on the menu, but it wasn't.  However the lentil soup was delicious, as was the sun-dried tomato bread

 

over the weekend, I got on with a lot of sewing, working on my two pieces that I started at the Gail Lawther workshops.  I quilted the  Mount Fuji wallhanging (don't worry about the bit of bias tape hanging off, I ironed it back in place after I finished the quilting!)

 

a detail of the sky and the top of the mountain

 

and the foot of the mountain

 

I then got out my mini iron

 

to iron on the rest of the bias tape

 

all that's left to do now is trim the outer edge to match the shape of the inner border, then back and bind the wallhanging

 

then it was on to the vineyard piece.  I did some of the machine quilting

 

I then added more of the bias tape

 

all that was left was the four strips round the border.  I looked at the amount of tape I had left, and thought that I might not have enough.  I measured it, and found I only had enough for three sides!!  I sent an emergency email to Maureen, as we had shared a reel of the tape when we were at the workshop.  Back came the answer that she had a piece left that might just be long enough, plus a couple of smaller pieces - if I have to have a join I can put a button over it!

 

Yesterday I got out this box

 

which contains the latest project for Anne - Nice people, Nice Things

 

it is a double-sided quilt,  but I am doing it as two quilts, as there isn't anywhere to hang it in the shop that would show off both sides.  One side has stitcheries of little pictures, the other side has stitcheries of sayings.  The pattern comes with iron on transfers, so I sorted out the fabric and transfers into two bundles

 

there are six stitcheries on each transfer, and after a great deal of ironing-on, I had eighteen pieces of fabric, ready to be layered up with thin bamboo wadding

 

I wound the embroidery threads on to plastic bobbins, and decided to use my cute sheepie tin to keep them in

 

I forgot to include this photo yesterday - Malcolm had kept it for me on Friday, when it was in his newspaper (we read different papers!).  Perhaps I could offer to do another review of all the wonderful scones they didn't mention?

 

I made a start to my cake today, as the mixed fruit, orange zest and brown suger has to soak overnight in tea ( I used Earl Grey)

 

I also made something with these ingredients - I'll tell you what tomorrow

 

while I was busy in the kitchen, Malcolm was starting a new project in the garage ...... can you guess what it is?

One thing leads to another!

I was busy sewing on Saturday afternoon, when the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone right on the needle area, making it hard to see what I was doing.  I glanced up the velux, and saw that it was in serious need of being cleaned (as was the other one).  So I thought I would clean them while waiting for the sun to move round a bit.  Having cleaned the insides, Malcolm offered to clean the outsides, an offer I gladly accepted as it's very awkward to do the outsides.  When he had finished, I thought I might as well do the two sets of French doors, then as I still had soapy water left, I fetched a scrubbing brush and gave my chair a good scrub, ready for repainting

 

back in the studio, I admired the lovely clean veluxes

 

Typepad has just thrown a major wobbly and I have lost the rest of the post, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until tomorrow, as I can't face doing it all again!!

Trying harder!

I started my efforts to take more photos last night, when I just caught the sun before it sank below the horizon

 

when I was cleaning the bathroom this morning, I noticed the flowers in the planter on the windowsill showing through the glass

 

we have a cuppa in the middle of the Friday morning housework, and this morning we finally had a taste of the salted caramel shortbread (I can't quite believe it either that we have had it for almost two weeks without eating it!)

 

I was going to cut it into lots of little squares, but having tasted a little bit before I cut it, I ended up cutting it into somewhat larger pieces - it is delicious!!

 

at patch'n'chat this afternoon, Anne S. had brought some more of her daughter Roberta's fabulous tiny teddies for us to see

 

Andrea has almost finished this stunning wallhanging.  It is her first attempt at free motion quilting and she has done very well!

 

Maureen has finished her Gail Lawther wallhanging

 

a real treat for the Friday cake - Annette's wonderful chocolate sponge, with fresh cream and strawberries

 

next week's cake might not be of quite the same standard ...... Annette and some of the others are heading to Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts, so I have volunteered to bake a cake.  It's not that I can't bake, it's just that I rarely bake ..........

I hope you have a wonderful weekend - preferably with cake or scones on the menu!  Love, Anne

<