frayed at the edge

What we did today .....

....... or what we did up to and including lunch .... it was such a busy day I will have to save the afternoon's doings for tomorrow!  We went over to Duns, where our first stop of course was for our morning cuppa - you know that we normally share a scone, but when Malcolm went up to the counter to place the order, he couldn't make up his mind, and ordered the cheese one which you can see, and also a plum and orange one.  Both were delicious, but we preferred the cheese one

 

While Malcolm was getting some money from the hole-in-the-wall, my eye was drawn to this architectural detail above us

 

Of course I had to visit my favourite shop, Albany Vineyard .... I bought a super remnant, which I'll show you tomorrow (ok, I forgot to take a photo of it when we got home!)

 

I also bought a new British quilting magazine, which I had a browse through at lunchtime.  I'm not a great fan of Popular Patchwork and Patchwork and Quilting, so it's good to see a new magazine with a mixture of projects, articles and interviews

 

This cushion may have to go on the to-do list .....

 

...... but not the mug cosy, as I don't like my tea too hot!

 

Our lunch in Pearson's garden centre was delicious ....... I had a cheese and onion toastie

 

and Malcolm had leek, bacon and cheese quiche (I should say that after such a fabulous lunch, we had a very frugal dinner tonight!)

 

These last photos are out of sequence, as I took them on the way home ....... but I wouldn't make you wait an extra day for lambs ......

 

........ and three fat hens!

 

ps - I'm sorry about the wire mesh in the photos - but they were taken hurriedly from the car when Malcom made one of his emergency photo-taking stops!!

Please scrub my back!

These photos of the robin were taken hurriedly through the window as it was getting dark  yesterday  - so not ideal conditions!

 

I am rushing to get this post done, as this is my night for going to Abbey Quilters.  When I joined in the autumn, I signed up to do a quilt, with part of the instructions being given to us each month.  Despite my best intentions, I hadn't yet started mine, so I thought I had better make an effort.  I choose this bright fabric for the centre

 

then picked out this dark patterned fabric and calico to make the first border

 

having marked the diagonal lines on the calico, I sewed a seam on either side of the lines, then cut the squares apart, not only on the diagonal lines, but also on the centre lines

 

this gave me lots of units like this

 

which I then sewed in groups of four to make pinwheel blocks.  But then, when I went to trim the squares .... a little problem - they were much bigger than the pattern said

 

You can see from this photo the before and after sizes.  So what went wrong?  I had missed the bit in the instructions which said to trim the units before I sewed them together in fours.  However, they turned out ok in the end!

 

I stitched them into rows, then added them to the centre panel (I forgot to take a photo of this stage!)  Then I read the next part of the instructions - oh dear, cut strips, cut squares blah blah - so as you can see I simple added a plain black border ......

 

..... then a fun chicken border

 

...... and finally a red border

 

So ....... not quite what I had intended when I started, but I am pleased with how it turned out!

Soaking up the sun

As usual we went for a walk yesterday morning, choosing Melrose for a stroll along the river.  Last time we were there, there was snow on the ground, but yesterday was glorious!  Although I think perhaps these fishermen would have felt it a bit chilly round their nether regions, standing in the waters of the River Tweed

 

For a change, we crossed the footbridge and walked along the far bank

 

The air was full of the scent of wild garlic, which grows in profusion along the bank and under the trees

 

These shaggy ponies are usually in a field over beside the Abbey ...... they look quite content in their new surroundings

 

There were signs of spring everywhere

On our way to have a cuppa after the walk, of course I had to pause to take a photo of the Abbey

 

Having worked up an appetite after a longer-than-usual walk, we decided to have an early lunch ...... the bacon rolls were delicious!

 

Perhaps I should have saved a bit to give to this dog, which watched us with big sad eyes as we walked past, on our way back to the car

 

One last pause, to take a photo of this quirky chimney

 

As well as embroidering the stitcheries for Anne's quilt, I have also been busy in the studio doing the piecing.  This is as far as I can go until the stitcheries are finished

 

When I was looking for something to watch on tv, I found this programme

 

You might think they are somewhat mad, capturing large alligators, but there is a lot of money to be made!

 

I learned from the programme that alligators never stop growing - I wouldn't want to face a little one, never mind some of the huge ones the brothers deal with

 

It was so warm yesterday afternoon, we had our cuppa in the garden.  I fetched the camera and set the timer to take a photo of us, Malcolm with his coffee and me with my hot chocolate ......

not a very good photo, let's try again

 

now you can't see Malcolm's face and I've somehow acquired several chins!!

 

Gold!

I don't like it when I get letters in plain brown envelopes ..... usually they contain a demand from the taxman, or an invitation from the NHS to have intrusive and painful things done to my female bits.  But the brown envelope this morning contained something much better - a promise to give me lots of money in return for my gold jewellery!

 

So did I whip off my gold bangles and remove my lovely hoop earrings .......of course not!  But I did keep the bag and envelope to use (I will turn the envelope inside out).

 

Remember the bowl of hyacinths which our visitors gave us some weeks ago.  Now that the hyacinths have finished flowering and have been put away to keep for next year, I have put the bowl in my bathroom.   Despite not having visited the house before, the visitors managed to pick a colour which goes well with the newly redecorated bathroom!

 

I am enjoying embroidering the little stitcheries for the quilt I am making for Anne.  I have now completed three and started the fourth (they look a bit wrinkled, as they have still to be pressed)

love delights in the little things

 

a loving kiss is carried all day

 

love is a chance to deliver happiness

 

love and joy are united as one

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, I finished the prep for the Baltimore block

 

Our teatime treat was Annette's wonderful cupcakes

 

It was hard to choose, but in the end I decided to have one with pink sprinkles!!

 

 I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

 

Sewing old and new

Some years ago, I made a quilt for Stuart, and every so often he kindly lets me borrow it to show off  to friends.  I had asked to borrow it again, so that I could show it to Kay, as she was interested in how it had been  longarm quilted.  Having shown it to her last Friday at patch'n'chat, the quilt is now safely installed on the spare bed, until I return it

 

 

Rather than a duvet, we have a comforter on our bed ....... we actually have two, a summer one and a winter one.  However they have seen better days, as we bought them when we were living in Indonesia - and we have been home for over eleven years!!  So I asked Kay if she would make a new one for me.  I chose an all-over design - you can read about the quilting here.  I got the comforter from Kay on Friday ....... but I have to put the binding on, which will be a long job!  So for the moment the comforter is folded across  on the spare bed

 

 

 

After a busy morning sewing, I decided to go for a quick walk after lunch - and of course the camera went too!  I was delighted to find sheep in the field at  the bottom of the road, as there are no sheep in rest of the surrounding fields at the moment - Billy the Farmer, who would normally have ewes in the field across from us, is laid up after falling off his horse at New Year and breaking his back, and the elderly farmer who came to my rescue last year when I found a tiny lamb in the middle of the road sadly died last summer, and his farm is lying empty.

 

 

 

I was taking some of my "arty" photos ........

 

 

....... when I couldn't persuade the camera to focus  on this dried nettle - I guess it just couldn't pick it out from the busy background.  Then I had one of those "lightbulb" moments ...... I put my hand behind the nettle, focused, then took my hand away

 

I then used the same method to capture this rosehip

 

but I didn't need it for this beech nut

 

I like how the moss is growing on top of the lichen - and I like the colours ..... an idea for a quilt perhaps?

 

You know that quite often I have close encounters with large lorries when out for a walk, but today I had just turned back into our road when this monster roared past!!

 

To finish, a spllash of colour ...... a tub full of crocus outside the house at the end of the road

Young and old

I have made many baby quilts over the years, which have been given to friends, neighbours, relatives and charities.  I rarely see the quilts again, but Stuart sent me this photo this morning of Mia, the daughter of his friend Emma.  Poor Mia was a bit unwell yesterday ........ there is nothing better than cuddling up under a quilt when you're not well!  (photo used with Emma's permission)

 

At patch'n'chat this afternoon, Charlie brought in a quilt top which has been made by her mother Peggy, who will be eighty in June!  Charlie had acquired the top from her Mum's house and had brought it in to ask Kay to longarm quilt it, as a surprise present for her Mum.  The blue and white quilt is one of Kay's which she had brought along to give Charlie an idea of how it might be quilted

 

Jen was working on a beautiful sewing box, which she had started at a recent workshop

 

The pegs are holding the edge of the  lid in place while the fabric glue dries!

 

I got quite a lot more prep done on my Baltimore block

 

We were spoiled for choice when we went through for our cuppa, as Sheena had been to Border Meringues for some extra goodies!!

 

Delicious as they all looked, I instead chose to have a piece of my favourite apple and sultana cake

 

I hope you all have a good weekend - no doubt I will be busy sewing!!  Love, Anne

 

Has spring sprung?

Looking round the garden this morning, it would certainly seem so!  First in the front garden

the hawthorn hedge

 

flowering currant

 

lupin

 

poppy

 

Then in the back garden (oops, I've forgotten the names of the first two plants)

 

 

The helebore suddenly has several flowers

 

 

It's not just the plants that think spring has arrived - the first sighting of a greenfly!

 

This tiny seedling must have grown from a seed from one of the cones that I has put in this large  pot

 

When we were in Hawick this morning, we popped into the Shelter charity shop ....... I was doing my bit both for charity and the environment by handing in an empty printer cartridge.  We had a browse, and found these little books.  They are beautifully produced, and have excellent photos of lots of wildflowers - as they were only 50 pence each, I splashed out and bought all three!!

 

After lunch, I started work onn my next sample for Anne.  The beautiful fabrics ......

 

...... the patterns for twelve stitcheries

 

and the embroidery threads

 

will (eventually!) make this quilt

 

I started by cutting the squares of fabric, and the squares of thin wadding, for the stitcheries, then used the iron-on transfers - a quick and easy way to mark the fabric.  Next I tacked the wadding on to the back of the first stitchery

 

The last job of the afternoon was to wind the threads on to card bobbins and select some embroidery needles

 

I'll start sewing later, once I've had a browse through my favourite blogs!!

 

 

Hi ho, hi ho .........

...... off to work I went!!  We headed off down the road to Longframlington this morning, so that I could deliver my samples to Anne.  She was very pleased with them, and produced the pile of stitcheries that she has done to be added to the quilt top.  While I was busy choosing fabrics for my next sample quilt top, Malcolm made his debut as assistant blog photographer, and took photos of a few of them

 

 

 

 

When Anne was stretched out her length cutting some wadding for me, she made the mistake of saying to Malcolm that it would make a good photo for the blog ....... so of course he snapped her (and me ....... oh dear, I must stand up straighter!!)

 

Laden down with all the fabrics, wadding and embroidery threads for the new project,* we went on down the road to Morpeth, and picked up Jennifer to go for lunch.  There was a slight delay on the way, as we had to stop at a level crossing ........

 

....... although I was expecting the train to hurtle past (this is the East Coast Main Line from Edinburgh to London) I still jumped when it appeared, and before I could take a sharper photo, it was gone!!

 

We went to one of our favourite places for lunch

 

While Malcolm was up at the counter placing our order, the people at the next table got their food.  Jennifer and I took one look at their chips, and decided we wanted some too!  I went to ask Malcolm to add a portion of chips to our order, but he was walking away from the counter ........ but, hooray, he had ordered chips (can you tell that a) I like chips, and b) very rarely eat them!) 

delicious chips with salt and vinegar

 

my lunch - poached egg and black pudding salad

 

Jennifer's - a wholemeal roll with coronation chicken

 

Malcolm's - a roll with roast beef and horseradish

 

Malcolm was under strict instructions to slow down/stop if we saw any lambs.  (Only, of course, if it was safe to do so!)

 

*By the time we got home, the light wasn't good enough to take photos of the new project, so I shall do that tomorrow!

All done!

I finished stitching the binding on the second Linus quilt last night, so that's both of them ready to hand over to Sandra, our lovely Linus lady

 

So what would I do next?  I thought I ought to get out my Baltimore blocks, which have been neglected for some weeks (ok, quite a lot of weeks!).  I stitched the vase in place, then went to add the top layers ....... oh dear, they didn't fit

 

Looking at this photo of the pattern, they should fit ........ but unfortunately, that's not the template for the vase, which is given separately on the pattern sheet.  It is narrower and rounder than the one that shows the extra pieces

 

I trimmed and re-tacked the pieces to fit ......

 

...... and this is them all stitched in place

 

Next I started placing some of the leaves - I'm looking forward to getting more done, as I really enjoy applique

 

Yesterday when I was doing the weekly shop in Sainsbury's. I was pleased to find this book being sold at half price

 

I have always loved Marion Keyes' books, going way back to 1997 and Watermelon.  Her gentle humour is so entertaining, and sometimes you just don't know whether to laugh or cry! 

 

 I knew that she had been very ill with depression - but even in the depths of her misery, she finds humour  ......"Medically speaking there is no such thing as a nervous breakdown  Which is very annoying to discover when you're right in the middle of one".  The book relates how she started baking, and gradually, the more she baked, the better she got.  Although I rarely bake, I still enjoy looking at recipes, so combined with Marion's views on anything and everything, I shall enjoy reading the book.

Making a splash

Fortunately on Friday I had the camera handy when this male blackbird decided to have a bath.  He had a very good splash, before flying off

 

 

 

More at home in the water is this heron, which we saw yesterday morning when we went for a walk along the river in Jedburgh

 

As always after our walk we went for a cuppa.  We thought we would try Border Meringues, as it is now open on a Sunday

 

They are famous for all sorts of cakes, not just meringues.  I have tasted some of them before, when Annette has served them at patch'n'chat, when she has been too busy to bake.  The coffee shop is lovely, light and airy, and the cakes are fabuous.  I succumbed to a slice of lemon meringue pie

 

and Malcolm had a slice of Border Tart (needless to say after all that cake, we didn't have any lunch!)

 

We also had a tiny meringue each, which came with our drinks - crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle - perfect!!

 

Back home, I had a busy afternoon, quilting the frog quilt and putting the binding on

 

 

As you can see from the first photo, I had still to stitch down the binding on the back, so I pinned a corner to let you see what it looks like  - it also shows you the pretty variegated thread

 

I had another piece of the frog fabric, but I didn't have another fleece, so I had a look in my stash and found this brushed cotton sheet, one of several that I bought half-price in a sale some years ago, knowing that I would use them eventually for quilt backs!!

 

I made a start to the quilting yesterday, then finished it this afternoon. I used quite a thick polyester wadding, so you can see that the quilting is much more defined

 

 

To finish - I was tempted to indulge in a spot of dognapping yesterday - it was hard to resist the sad expression of this dog patiently waiting for its owners at Border Meringues!!