frayed at the edge

There hasn't been enough bright daylight .....

...... for some of the photos I wanted to take this week.  First, there is my lovely twiggy arrangement in the hall.  Because I had to turn the overhead light on, some of the colour is washed out, so you can't see that there are two colours of twigs, and they are all sparkly ....... and sadly you can't smell that they are infused with cinnamon and nutmeg (no, I haven't been very clever, I bought them in Sainsbury's on Monday when I did the  weekly shop!)

 

Then I wanted to take a photo of the little picture that I picked up from the framers, after Malcolm hung it under the picture of the hare.  But it was difficult to get a photo without reflections.  This was the best I could do - you can see the wallpaper on the facing wall, and a bit of the ceiling light!!

 

I usually take photos of the birds in the afternoon, but these days when I come in from the studio it is too dark (never mind, it's not long until we get to the shortest day).  So I made the effort to take these photos this morning when it was quite bright

 

 

 

I almost finished the Christmas tree wallhanging this afternoon.  I just have a few more bits of bling to add ........

 

........ but the one thing that did photograph clearly, despite the light levels, was this afternoon's cake.  This was just delicious - very sweet, but oh so tasty.

 

I can't remember all the ingredients, but there were cranberries, crushed biscuits and Ovaltine

 

I am planning to bake the Christmas cake at the weekend ....... whatever you are planning to do, I hope you have a good time.  Love Anne

 

ps - don't forget to pop in over the weekend to see the wonderful shadow of Melrose Abbey that I will be posting for Shadow Shot Sunday!

 

A pinch and a punch ........

....... for the first of the month!  Yes, it's now December, so we can mention Christmas - hooray!!  I spent the afternoon quilting my 'snippets' tree.  You might not see the first lot of stitching in this photo

 

so here it is from the back

 

Having stitched the tree and the doves, I had to decide how to stitch the background.  When Malcolm brought me out a mug of hot chocolate (he is very good to me!!) I asked him what he thought the stitching suggested.  After a moment's thought, he said strings of Chritsmas lights ....... which was the right answer!!

 

 

I added the binding

 

Although it looks like Christmas fabric, it is a William Morris design

 

Hopefully tomorrow at patch'nchat I will get the binding sewn down on the back, then I can add some 'bling'

 

When I switched out the light in the studio when I had finished sewing, I was drawn to the cosy glow of the stove ......

 

...... while outside, the sunset was reflected in this little cloud and the moon was already out

 

To finish, what was the special treat for dinner tonight?

 

Lovely pots of tapas.  I added some spicy potatoes, and mixing cuisines, a focaccina.  This is dinner just out of the oven.

 

It was all delicious (and we now have three terracotta dishes to make more tapas in) ....... but we probably shouldn't breathe on anyone tomorrow, as we will probably reek of garlic!!

I think we might lead a sheltered life .......

 as we got all excited today about going to ........ a different supermarket!!  Not only a different shop, but one in a another country (ok, England is only thirteen miles away!!).  As we approached the border (on the side road, before we joined the main road), there weren't any cars behind us, so Malcolm stopped the car, I opened the window, and took some quick photos of the hazy hills

 

 

Further down the road, the sky grew more dramatic

 

You are not supposed to shop on an empty stomach, so we thought it advisable to stop and have an early lunch .......simple, but delicious, poached eggs on toast

 

I love this blue and white china

 

So why the excitement over the supermarket trip ....... because it was to Waitrose, which are few and far between here.  It is a very posh supermarket, and we oohed and aahed over the wonderful choice (well, you know how much we love our food!)  We bought something special for tomorrow's dinner - I will have to remember to take photos before we eat it all!  Of course we didn't just go all that way to do a bit of supermarket shopping.  We also had a wander round the nearby garden centre, then called in at Kirkharle, to browse round the wonderful craft shops.  We bought a Christmas present that I can't tell you about, and after I remarked that I really liked some necklaces, Malcolm bought one for my Christmas - but I will have to wait to see which one he got!

 

Back home, I popped out to the studio to start on a new project.  I decided that instead of continuing with fmq samples, I would find something among my UFOs to quilt.  I found this ....

 

...... and this

 

I have to admit that these are ten years old!  I did them at a workshop with Cindy Walter.  It was the first workshop that I ever did at Houston - but I nearly didn't get to do it ........ first, the friend I was going with pulled out of our trip at the last minute, my flight to Paris was delayed by fog and I missed my connecting flight to Houston.  Having managed to get another flight - I got to Houston, but my luggage stayed in Paris for two days.  So of course, I didn't have my stuff for the workshop.  However when I explained to Cindy what had happened, she organised everyone to give me bits of fabric, gave me some of her steam-a-seam  and let me use her scissors.  The pieces were made by putting steam-a-seam on a selction of fabrics, then cutting them up in to little bits (remembering to take the backing paper off first!)  Then we arranged the little bits into the wreath and the tree and pressed them into place.  Simple but fun.

I have layered the tree ready to quilt, using lots of pins round the tree, as it was too much of a struggle to pin through it

 

The final thing I did was decide which thread to use.  Much as I love veariegated thread, I knew that it would be lost among all the busy fabrics, so I got out this set of threads with strong clear colours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the fun of the fair!

On Saturday morning, Malcolm headed off into Hawick as usual and I packed all my goodies in the car and headed down the road the Southdean Village Hall.  There was a moment or two of panic when I saw the size of my table - how would I ever fit everything on it!  I wasn't the only one with that concern, but the idea of the organisers was to have lots of small tables to provide a wide variety, rather than just a few large tables.  Eventually most things were squeezed on

 

with the bargain basket on a chair in front of the table

 

Then I realised that the bunches of dried lavender were still in a poly bag - oops ...... so that meant another photo!

 

My friend Lorraine had the table next to me  - and she sensibly had brought an extra little table to add to the front to give her more display space for her wonderful, cakes, jam, chutneys, liqueuers ...

 

..... and her fabulous marzipan fruits

 

So how did it go?  Quite well ...... of course I would have liked to have sold more, but I did sell a reasonable amount (and then spent a large part of what I had made buying something for Malcolm's Christmas!)  There is still rather a lot in the bargain basket, but the rest of the stuff is now packed into one box (except for the painted pine cones - I only sold one packet of them!)

 

And I may just have bought something for myself ....... well, could you have resisted this!  It's only about two inches tall - I think I will put it in a little box frame

 

Yesterday we went to Melrose, as we had a voucher for free entry to Melrose Abbey.  You can read about the Abbey here and here.  Although there was a chilly wind, the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue.  Most of the photos will be appearing in future Shadow Shot Sundays, but here is a little taste

 

 

Back home, by the time I had tidied away the leftovers from the fair, I just had time to do a little bit of sewing.  You might have noticed that I didn't do my Farmer's Wife blocks last week, so I thought I had better get one done!

 

Then a quick fmq ....... a little bit of background filler

 

...... and back to basics with a little bit of stippling - I love this variegated thread

 

Now to the knitting update.  I have finished one sock .....

 

..... but haven't done the heel on the other one, as I knitted (yet) another pair of Cranford mitts.  I finished them on Friday morning, just in time to take them to patch'n'chat to give to my friend Jane - sorry, i forgot to take a photo!  I have also finally made a start to the Glimpse scarf.  Although it looks complicated, it is fairly simple to knit.  The blue edge at the top is the provisional cast-on.  This will be the centre of the scarf.  After knitting the first half, I'll pick up the stitches from the cast-on edge and knit the second half

 

To finish, two photos which I took on the way home yesterday.  The first one isn't too clear, as I was pointing the camera towards the sun .......

 

....... but in this second one you can see that it is a shepherdess, complete with crook and two sheepdogs!

 

A sweet smelling gift

I made two more things for my sales table yesterday.  First, I made six bags using two remnants of beautiful Liberty fabrics

the rectangles measure 10" x 5"

 

stitch together and press the seam open

 

stitch, matching the centre seam, and press the seam open

 

Oops, I forgot to take a photo of the next stage ..... decide which is the lining fabric, and tuck the outer fabric inside and stitch across the bottom, then turn the bag right side out.  I decided to fill the bags with a mixture of lavender (from the garden) and rose petals (bought)

 

I cut pieces of cotton wadding to wrap round the filling - it gives a nicer appearance to the finished bags

 

All that was left to do was tie the tops with ribbons

 

I also made simple organza bags, folding a rectangle in half and sewing the side seams.  I popped some sets of bangles into them and tied them with gold cord

 

I spent quite a lot of time today putting tags on everything

 

Then I 'made' one last thing ....... I sprayed three lots of pine cones, with gold, silver and 'snow'

 

Once the paint was dry, I put them in bags and added labels.  Looking at all the stuff on the table, I think there is more than will fit on the small table I will have on Saturday!

 

Did you notice my mug ...... it says forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate!!

A good yarn

I picked up a bag of assorted balls of wool for a mere £2 in an antiques shop this morning.  There were several part balls, but there were also these full balls, still with their labels

I've never seen 'mothproofed' wool before!

 

I could use this pale yellow along with this .......

 

...... cream - it says on the side the wool is 'patonised' - I wonder what that means?

 

this one was produced just up the road in Galashiels

 

I wonder if this Disney wool is still available?

 

I've never heard of this brand!

 

I made some more things for the sales table this afternoon, which I will show you tomorrow.  I just had time at the end of the afternoon to have a very quick fmq practice ...... round spirals and square spirals

Gold!

I was heading round to the front garden this morning, to refill the bird feeders, when I saw a little bird sitting on the bin store

 

Oh dear - the camera was out in the studio, at the far end of the back garden. I ran to get it (well, walked very quickly!) and hurried back.  The little bird was still there, and sat there quite the thing as I crept closer .....

 

....... and closer - I looked at the little bird

 

and the little bird looked back at me

 

I went into the garden to take a photo from the other side ..... and it still sat there!

 

So what is this delightful little thing?

 

It's a goldcrest (probably a female).  According to my bird book, it is the smallest European bird, smaller even than a wren.  It is also described as being tame and approachable.  This is the first time I have seen one, so I am thrilled that I was able to get so close!

 

After that, the rest of the day was quite tame!  Lorraine, Tricia and Anne S. arrived for our regular get together.  After all the hard work getting things ready for the Fair on Saturday, I decided to have a day of playing with some fmq patterns.  Sorry, I forgot to take photos along the way (ok, I was too busy chatting!) but this is what I ended up with ...... a big sea anenome and two little ones, mussels, pebbles and seaweed

 

I then had a lot of fun just trying out different patterns.  This is a first attempt on a bit of scrap sandwich

 

This is the second, somewhat tidier, attempt

 

I concentrated hard on my spirals - they are gradually improving

 

I then did some squished spirals and another pattern which would be a good background filler

 

And finally ...... I just doodled

I have so much to tell you ......

....... that I don't know where to start!  So I guess it makes sense just to work through the weekend in chronological order.

On Saturday, Malcolm discovered that he had been given a 'foreign' coin, although at first glance it looks like one of ours - if you read the wording round the edge of the right-hand coin, you will see it is from New Zealand ........ perhaps we could go there on holiday to spend it!

 

 

Having finally received my slider, I lost no time in fitting it to my sewing machine.  It really does make a difference - the quilt sandwich moves much more easily under the needle

 

I also unearthed a different embroidery hoop to use.  As the hoop is used upside down, the screw for tightening the outer ring was on the bottom under the quilt sandwich, and would occasionally catch on the edge of the extension table.  Although the slider now covers the edge, I thought using this smooth plastic hoop would help too.

 

When browsing through the fmq patterns, this one caught my eye - mussels - which I thought went well with my sea anenome

 

I looked out the things I had made for previous fairs, and marked them down to half price - well, we all like a bargain, and I really don't want to have to bring it all home again!

 

The collection of new stuff is growing

 

Yesterday morning, we went to a craft and design fair in Kelso.  There were lots and lots of wonderful stalls, but as it was a much more formal sort of event than next week's fair, I didn't like to take photos.  However, when I was talking to one of the stallholders whom I know, she mentioned that she had forgotten to bring her camera to take photos of her stall.  I offered to take photos for her, and she was happy for me to share one with you (you can see more of Linda's work here)

 

We had a pleasant walk along the river - but the rest of the photos have been filed for a future Shadow Shot Sunday!

 

Back home, I stitched some more mussels, and tried a little filling of pebbles

 

Looking round the studio, I thought that perhaps it was time for a tidy-up!

 

I was threading string through holes with a large needle when this happened - oops!

 

After the delay in receiving the slider, I was pleased today when this parcel arrived within the one hour time-slot given on the delivery firm's tracking page

 

a little clue to the contents .......

 

...... no, not jam jars, but super bottles to put the sloe gin in (but I will be buying jars and labels and more bottles - there are all sorts of goodies on the website!)

 

The knitting update ...... another pair of Cranford mitts -I only started these on Friday night, and finished the second one at 10pm last night!  This pair is for my friend Cath

 

another pair of afterthought heel socks ...... just the heels to do.  You can see where I have picked up the stitches on one side, and started picking them up on the other

 

To finish, another silly photo!  Malcolm spotted this yesterday ....... but was the car really on top of the fishermen's hut?!

 

Slipping and sliding!

I had ordered something online at the start of the month, and waited and waited for it to arrive.  When it didn't, I emailed the company.  When they didn't teply I emailed again, and when there was no response, yesterday I phoned.  Profuse apologies were offered, somehow my order just hadn't been dealt with.  So I was delighted this morning when the postman came to the door with an envelope to be signed for  .......

 

.... followed by an email apologising again and saying that the item in question had been sent out recorded delivery, and that hopefully by the time I read the email, the parcel would have been delivered.  So what was it that I was so anxious to receive?  A Supreme Slider, which I am confident will magically transform my efforts at free motion quilting into works of art

 

The pictures on the back of the package make it all look so simple ........ I will let you know on Monday how I get on with my first attempts!

 

Last night I knitted my little swatch for the Glimpse scarf.  It proved to be quite straightforward!

 

The hole was really quite easy to make - I haven't done a pattern like this before, so I'm looking forward to knitting the scarf, as it is very pretty

 

The front garden was alive with sparrows this morning, but one little blue tit was brave enough to use the peanut feeder

 

I love the bold markings on the male sparrows - they would make a good quilting design ....

 

It's Friday, so of course that means it is time for cake!!  Today we had Annette's lovely light cupcakes ....

 

...... topped with chocolate sprinkles - delicious

 

Over the weekend, as well as playing with using my new Slider, I will also be making some more things for my sales table for next Saturday (oops, starting to panic slightly!!)  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

Too many cooks may spoil the broth .......

....... but two cooks make a good dinner!  Usually one or other of us cooks dinner, but today's was a joint effort.  I started my dish by finely slicing a large apple and onion, arranging them in an ovenproof dish, and adding orange juice and thyme

I seasoned it with this wonderful salt that we brought back from Majorca

 

then I put pork chops on top, spooned some of the orange juice over them, and added some black pepper

 

Malcolm's contribution was cauliflower and broccoli cheese - here are the two dishes just out of the oven

 

Delicious!!

 

To backtrack to this morning, when we were in town, we saw this bird on the River Teviot - neither of us knows what it is - but I'm sure one of you will be able to tell me (my book only has garden birds!)

 

Over on the River Slitrig, this duck was quite well camouflaged

 

unlike the drake, resplendent with his beautiful plumage

 

This was a tiny little rose

 

a fraction of the size of this gorgeous full one

 

After lunch I went out for a walk ...... I had hardly gone any distance when I had to step on to the verge to let this waggon go past

 

This photo is for Thimbleanna, who loves sheep ..... especially Scottish ones!!  But the little rascals will turn their bottoms to the camera!!

 

When I saw this horse, I thpught it was in the garden, but then I realised that there was a fence between it and the house!

 

I'm not the only one who has to avoid large things on the road ...... the truck just managed to squeeze pat the JCB  (I think I might have to put that JCB on my list for Father Christmas!!)

 

Back from my walk, I headed out to the studio.  Today's fmq was fun!  I think this pattern was called sea anenome

 

I really enjoyed doing this one, and would use it as an all over pattern on a quilt.  The little bit of green quilting that you can see is from the practice session I had on the other side

 

Malcolm, meantime, was up in the loft putting down the last of the insulation - he moved just as I snapped, so you can't see him, but he is there at the far end ...... the tiny glimpse of orange in the middle of the photo is his boiler suit!!

 

ps - I wasn't paying proper attention when I was slicing the apple with the mandolin ........