frayed at the edge

Sun, sun, sun!

The weather is still glorious, so instead of using the implements of fitness torture, I headed out the door at 6.40am for a walk.  I was so early the sheep were still lying about in the field across the road

 

but the horse was up and about

 

every few yards there was a pop of colour in the verge

 

and this handsome chap added even more colour

 

this ewe kept an eye on me through the fence

 

while her lamb watched through the gate

 

this dog regularly barks at me

 

but these two sweeties are very well behaved.  They belong to Marion, the owner of the Jacob's sheep.  I remember when she got Jason, on the left ...... and now he is the father of the other gorgeous dog (whose name I can't remember!)

 

after breakfast, I headed out to the studio to do some more work on the Vineyard wallhanging ...... but before I show you what I did, I have to show you these photos, which I forgot to do yesterday.  So with apologies to Charlie, Anne S and Sheila, here is what they did on Sunday (having pestered them to take photos for the blog, I am very embarrassed to have forgotten to put them in yesterday!!)

 

this morning I filled in the rest of the scene and added the borders

 

then added some of the iron-on bias strips

 

I must make the effort to scrub and repaint my chair, which is looking very neglected

 

it sits beside the studio doors.  Do yoy like my heart decoration?  I could lie and say that I made it, but I bought it yesterday in Sainsbury's!

 

at teatime, a collared dove appeared to drink from the bird bath

 

isn't life grand when the sun shines!!

A wonderful weekend!

After patch'n'chat on Friday, I headed to Kelso, as it seemed silly to go home for dinner, only to retrace my steps to go to the talk by Gail Lawther.  It was a lovely evening, so I bought some fish and chips and sat in the sunshine to eat them

 

I still had some time to kill, so I took some photos of the Abbey

 

Gail's talk about her travels in New Zealand was very entertaining, and she had twenty five quilts to share with us.  She asked us not to take photos of the quilts, but when I asked if I could take a photo of her for the blog, she offered to pose with one

 

I enjoyed the talk as I have been to many of the places she mentioned, including the public toilets at Kawakawa, which were designed by Hundertwasser.  This is a postcard which I brought home with me

 

the New Zealand theme continued on Saturday, when I chose a pattern which featured a vineyard nestled in the hills.  I was so busy that I didn't take very many photos!  The stitching is done from the back .......

 

......... the piece of fabric for the sky stitched in place

 

the mountains added

 

lunch was supplied by a local pub - delicious leek and potato soup

 

and a wonderful selection of sandwiches (we had the same soup, but different sandwiches on Sunday)

 

the eager beavers back at work after lunch!

 

by the end of the afternoon, this is how far I got

 

yesterday the theme was Japanese - I chose Mount Fuji.  Again, I started with the sky

 

stitching the mountain

 

adding the shrine and the outer border

 

looking good by the end of the afternoon

 

Gail had lots of patterns for sale (you can find them on her website) and I bought two ....... but I can only show you one of them, as the other one is to make a Christmas present with

 

the weather has been glorious, and the peony has finally flowered - and isn't is beautiful!!

A stroll in the garden

Our garden isn't big enough to have much of a stroll in, unlike the garden we visited on Sunday afternoon.  After visiting the Barn, we went a short distance down the road to Sizergh, a fine medieval house.  As we had some time to wait until we were able to see inside the house, we had a long walk round the wonderful gardens

 

we kept getting glimpses of the house

 

unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside the house, but if you are holidaying Cumbria,  I can recommend visiting Sizergh.

 

This morning we headed off down the road to Stitchin' Heaven.  Malcolm dropped me off at the shop and went off for a day of beachcombing.  I handed over Leanne's House, delighted to have finally finished it (after approx 200 hours work!).  The pattern is available on the website

 

Annie was working on her stunning applique blocks.  She is calling her version of the quilt Baltimore meets Kyoto, as a lot of her fabrics have Japanese patterns

 

when I arrived, Anne had just received a parcel containing a teapot and matching mugs.  If you are having a good day, it is ........

 

........ but if it's a bad day

 

I may have come home with some fabric - I'll show you tomorrow.

 

Bag Ladies!

On Wednesday Katy, Tricia, Maureen and Andrea went to a workshop at Borderland Fabrics to make a bag.  They all used the same pattern, but different fabrics.  Katy has been put in the over-achievers' corner, as she has finished hers

 

Tricia had picked much cooler colours

 

while Maureen chose a blue and gold palette

 

Andrea had used some of the same fabrics as Tricia, but with a very different result

 

Margaret was working on yet another wonderful applique quilt, this one featuring penguins at the beach

 

I love this detail with the bucket

 

Friday, of course, means cake ...... and today's offering was my favourite apple and sultana

 

tomorrow, we're off to Cumbria for Woolfest, so hopefully on Monday I will have lots of photos of cute animals and all things wooly!  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

ps - remember to leave a comment or send me an email about an important event that you forgot about, to have the chance to win a wonderful prize.  I'll pick the winner on Monday.

 

 

A busy day!

First thing this morning I popped my knitting in to soak

 

it is knitted with the most wonderful soft alpaca yarn, which I bought here, when we were in Australia lst year

 

once I had rinsed it, I squeezed out the excess water ...... remember, NEVER wring your wet knitting!  Then I rolled it in a towel and squeezed it some more

 

I put an old pillowcase on the rug in the back lounge, and got out my blocking wires.  I had invested in them some time ago when I was knitting a lot of shawls (both baby and adults ones).  They make it much, much easier to block out knitting

 

so, finally, here it is!  I got the idea to knit a cowl from Meredithe, who knitted a very pretty one recently.  I started knitting it when we were driving up to Stuart and Alison's the other weekend ......

 

........ and that's when a slight problem arose!  Through not paying close attention, and also because I was using a circular needle that was slightly too long, so I was juggling the stitches ....... I somehow managed to twist the knitting, and have ended up with a somewhat different cowl to the one I intended to make.  However, once it is dry and I can take photos wearing it, you will see that it actually has turned out ok (just don't ask me to produce another one the same, as I don't know what I did!)

While the cowl was soaking, I cleaned this vase.  I don't know quite how old it is, but I remember it as already being old when I was a child

 

I think the vase probably belonged to my grandparents, and would have been given to my parents when Granny and Grandpa moved to Galway to live with my only aunt and uncle (I only had one set of grandparents, as my Mum was an orphan).  The top of the vase is silver, so I had to unearth the silver polish from the back of the cupboard

 

once it was clean, I grabbed the secateurs and had a quick snip to fill the vase

 

by then it was time for a cuppa.  I would love a teapot like the one on the box!

 

so, what was the other thing that Malcolm made at the weekend?  A miniature chair!

 

I saw a tiny chair in this post on Thimbleanna's blog, and asked Malcolm to make one for me.  The frame is made from bits that he recenty removed from the gate-leg table in the studio, and the seat is oak that he used when he made crackets (stools).  The plan is to paint the frame, then upholster the seat.  I think he is worried that I am going to steal the paint he used for his chair, which several of you enquired about (he needn't worry, I intend to use Annie Sloan chalk paint)

 

when Malcolm was out and about this morning, he popped into the garden centre to get some compost and plants for his new planter.  Considering that it only a few hours to make, and is made with scrap wood, it looks exceedingly good!

 

I spent the rest of the day quilting, and have just about finished the in the ditch quilting - this evening will be spent sewing in rather a lot of ends!

 

a bit of silliness to finish.  I heard that annoying "walks like Rihanna" song on the radio this morning, and I thought of another chorus

She can't serve

She can't volley

But who cares

She shrieks like Sharipova .........

 

Shrieking!

No, not me, but Maria Sharipova this afternoon at Wimbledon!  I think that if I were her opponent, I would leap the net and stuff a tennis ball in her mouth to keep her quiet ..........

On Saturday, I got ready to start the quilting on Leanne's House.  As always when starting something new, I cleaned the machine and put in a new needle

 

it's amazing how much fluff accumulates under the bobbin case

 

I taped the backing fabric to the table, followed  by the wadding, and then added the quilt top

 

the next job was to thoroughly pin all the layers together

 

I decided to quilt in the ditch, which means stitching along the seams.  Once I have done that, I will add some decorative quilting on the bigger blocks

 

as the stitching doesn't show on the front, this is the back, showing how far I had got by the end of this afternoon

 

we were going to go for a walk yesterday morning, but just as we parked the car, it started to rain heavily.  So we just had to make do with some sconnage for an early lunch

cheese

 

cherry

 

when I did the food shopping this morning, I popped a bunch of flowers in the trolley - pretty sweet williams

 

while I was busy sewing over the weekend, Malcolm was sawing and hammering in the garage.  He has only just put the chair he made last year out in the garden, and yesterday it was joined by his latest creation, a sturdy planter

 

he also made something else, but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see it ........ yes, I forgot to take a photo of it!!

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Frothy!

When we do the housework on Friday mornings, we stop half way through for a cuppa.  Malcolm has coffee and I have hot chocolate.  We do love our gadgets, and this is one that was also a Christmas present for Malcolm.  It may look like a caffetiere, but it is a hot milk frother

 

it has a nylon mesh insert, which you pump up and down, creating creamy, frothy milk

 

I was busy at patch'n'chat this afternoon, working on both the revised version of Country Cottages and the June block for A is for Applique - the birds and the bees.  I have mentioned before that any photos I take there never come out well because of the lighting, so I waited until I was home to take these

the fusible web prepped ready to make up the cottages

 

the three elements of the birds and the bees

 

perhaps I need to work on my poetry!

 

what a delicious treat with our afternoon cuppa, Annette's light-as-air chocolate sponge, with cream and strawberries

 

the sparrows appear at the end of the afternoon to have a drink from the birdbath - although strangely they don't seem to be as keen to have a bath as they do in the freezing winter weather!

 

this one was giving a running commentary on the proceedings

 

I haven't been doing much knitting, as I have been doing so much sewing, but I have finally produced ....... well, hopefully I'll finish it at the weekend and show it to you on Monday!

 

I hope you have a good weekend - I'll be busy sewing!  Love, Anne

So what did I do?

After Malcolm went off to build his wall on Saturday, I went for a walk.  The cottage we were staying in was part of what had been a working farm - you can read more here

 

the owners of the cottages rent out the surrounding fields to a local farmer - there are cows in the summer and sheep in the winter.  As I got to the bottom of the farm road, all the heifers in the field kicked up their heels and came running over.  It was a bit scary, and I was glad that there was a well-built wall between them and me!

 

they were almost dancing as they followed me

 

when I was talking to one of the owners of the cottages the next day, he described them as a bunch of teenage hooligans!

 

this cow in the field across the road was slightly more sedate!

 

back in the cottage I setted down to do some sewing.  This is the comfy sofa I spent quite a lot of time sitting on, sewing, over the weekend (I didn't get time to read my magazines).  The tv is just out of sight on the right - on Saturday I watched King Solomon's Mines (the Richard Chamberlain version) and on Sunday it was Coraline (which was scary!!)

 

looking at the room from the tv corner, you can see the well-equipped kitchen (yes, that is a tiny dishwasher on the left!)

 

the small, but charming, bedroom ........

 

....... and the ensuite shower room

 

on Sunday morning I went out for another walk, but this time the heifers ignored me, as they were too busy licking at something in a bucket

 

the sun was shining and the birds were singing- bliss ....... except for the large amount of cars going past!  It is so quiet here when I go out for a walk - I was out early this morning and all I encountered was  a tractor in the distance and one of the neighbours walking his dogs.  When I saw all these walls, I wondered if Malcolm would want to stay on a repair them!

 

I was rather taken with this beautiful farmhouse - perhaps I could live in it while Malcolm works on the walls?

 

and these two gorgeous beasties were in the field in front of the farmhouse.  I think the second one looks like a sphinx

 

I liked the way that the trees arched over the road

 

I took this photo of the sign for the footpath on my way out........

 

...... then took this one from the other side of the road on my way back - yu can see the path meandering off into the distance

 

this little stone barn made me think of The Little House on the Prairie

 

back at the cottage, I tried to capture the beautiful scenery, but it was very hazy

 

I still have to tell you what we did on the way home on Monday, and about my walk this morning, and the walk we had before lunch ....... and I haven't even shown you any sewing yet this week!  We very rarely have pudding (I don't count a low-fat yogurt as pudding)  - but look at this  delicious concoction we had tonight.  And although it looks indulgent, it was surprisingly low in calories ..... the meringue nest is 50 calories, as is the spoonful of half-fat creme fraiche, and although I didn't work out the calories for the fruit, it wouldn't have added many more

Sweet treats

When we were shopping this morning, I spotted these cuties

 

on the packet, the lady on the left at the back, Pearl Stitch, is knitting ....... but you can't quite see that on the sweet, which is the middle one on the bottom (I did think of licking them to see if that made them clearer, but as this is a "fast" day, I couldn't have eaten them afterwards!)

 

I love meerkats - there is just something so appealing about them ...... and I'm sure I'll love these tomorrow when I get to taste them

 

could you resist them?

 

after such a cold spring, it seemed as if we were never going to have any colour in the garden.  But then we had some lovely warm weather, and everything exploded into life

 

it won't be long until the poppies flower

 

 I don't think we will get any cherries this year

 

but the quince is looking promising

 

we are off to Derbyshire tomorrow, for Malcolm to do a dry stone walling course (I gave him a gift voucher for the course for Christmas).  The cottage we are staying in has wifi, so I should be able to do a post as usual tomorrow.  While Malcolm is having fun with stone (fingers firmly crossed that it doesn't rain!) I shall be finally be hand-stitching the binding on the Birdie Border quilt, Notes of Love and the scrappy strippy quilt.  I also have several magazines to read (some were given to me, I am sticking reasonably well to my resolution to not buy them!)

Showing and telling

Last night's AGM was dealt with very quickly - a quick shuffle round of existing committee members, and two new ones added.  Then it was on to the best bit of the evening (apart from the cake we had later with our cuppa) ....... the show and tell.  It is always good to see what other members have been stitching, and there was a tremendous selection last night.  Here are some of the highlights ....... not always the best of photos, as there was so much to get through that there wasn't time for people to pose with their work

Isa (on the left) with her block of the month quilt

 

Sheila with her textured applique ......

 

....... and her finished jelly roll quilt

 

Sandra and her textured applique

 

Trisha's applique

 

Rinecke with ....... yes, another applique

 

oops, I can't remember who made this stunning quilt!

 

Catherine's exquisite calico quilt

 

Katy's beautiful quilt (but that's not Katy!)

 

Moira's textured applique

 

sorry, I don't know this member's name

 

I was delighted to see so many textured appliques ...... and then I had to admit that I haven't yet finished mine!  My excuse is that I will be teaching again in September, so prefer to have the unfinished one to show the stages of construction (ok, that's a feeble excuse!)  I didn't manage to get photos of all the entries to the clown challenge

no-one else made a clown fish!

 

Katy and Mary's wonderful clown dolls

 

and I also didn't manage to get a photo of the winning clown quilt (oh dear) but I did finally persuade Barbara, the outgoing chairman to present the trophy to the deserving winner, Moira (on the right) ...... they were both a bit shy!!