frayed at the edge

We are always early .......

....... and this morning we were very glad when we arrived early for our visit to Paxton House.  We got there twenty minutes before the first guided tour round the house.  We paid for our tickets, and the woman on the desk told us about all the things we could see.  However, she didn't mention The Prestonpans Tapestry, which was the main reason for our visit.  When we asked about it, she said that the exhibition had finished yesterday.  No, no, we said, the advert that we had said it finished today.  At that point, the woman who was going to be our guide for the tour arrived, and said she would take us up to the gallery to see if the tapestry was still there, as she wasn't sure when the exhibition was being removed.  Hooray, it was still there, and we just had time to see it before the curators arrived to remove it!  Photography wasn't allowed, but you can see the whole thing if you click on the above link.  Meanwhile, here is a little taster from the fund raising leaflet ....

 

 

...... and the leaflet about the summer tour.  Check out the link to see if it is going to be anywhere near you - it is a fabulous piece of work - I could have spent hours looking at it!

 

 

We enjoyed our tour of the house ..... but photography wasn't allowed.  Our guide was very entertaining and showed off the house well, with interesting anecdotes about previous owners.  The next stop was for lunch in the coffee shop, which is in what was the stable block (don't worry, it had been cleaned!).  We both had pan haggerty - you can find a recipe here.  I could tell you that this was Malcolm's portion with the cheese on top, but it's mine!

 

 

After lunch, Malcolm took the one photo that is allowed indoors ..... however I declined to sit on the chair to show its size!

 

 

We then went for a walk in the grounds.  Paxton is probably the finest Palladian house in the country.  The style is strictly symmetrical ......

 

 

....... even the swallows have built matching nests!

 

 

The pink sandstone looked lovely, bathed in sunshine

 

 

Down by the river, we found this fish house, where fish could be stored for several days in the cool, damp conditions, to keep fresh

 

 

Just past the fish house was this wonderful boathouse

 

 

Inside, there was an unusual staircase, which was folded flat against the wall, so that there was more space for the boat

 

 

We don't know what this strange edifice is - some sort of folly?

 

 

As we walked over to admire the Highland cattle, we were getting a bit worried as there wasn't a fence.  However, once we were up close, we saw that there was a deep ditch between them and us!

 

 

This one kept turning his head away (has he been talking to the owls at the Waterwheel cafe?), but eventually I got a good shot!

 

 

We had a look round the gift shop before we left (I resisted buying  a book about recycling textiles!).  The woman who had sold us our entry tickets told us that three ladies had arrived to see the tapestry just after it had all been packed away - they should have been early like us!

 

 

Trying my patience!

We went into Hawick this morning, to collect our euros from the bank.  However the teller informed us that not only did she not have them, but she couldn't trace our order.  We said that we would go for a cuppa, while she sorted things out.  So we had a very nice cuppa and shared a delicious piece of cake and strolled back through the sunshine to the bank.  The good news was that the teller had tracked down our order ..... the bad news was that she still didn't have our euros.  OK, we said, we have some shopping to do, we'll come back later.  However, we were half way to the supermarket when she phoned to say that she finally had the elusive euros!  So we have money to spend when we go on holiday next week ....... I'll tell you on Monday where we are going!

 

(photo from Wikipedia)

 

This afternoon I popped out to the studio to do some more prep on my Baltimore block.  I have finished stitching the first pieces in place ......

 

 

..... so I started to position some more pieces under my polythene topsheet - and that's when my patience got tried again!  I was placing some leaves on the left hand stem - as you can see in the photo from the pattern, the leaves are separate from the stem ......

 

 

........ but the placement guide, from which I traced my topsheet, shows the leaves overlapping the stem

 

 

Then I noticed something else.  On the template sheet. only one template is given for leaf 'L', unlike the petal below it, which also has a reversed (r) template

 

 

But, as you can see, the leaves that I have marked with asterisks are reversed (there are more on the other side of the pattern).  Not a great problem, but just a little annoyance that the pattern (or the photo) isn't accurate

 

 

Never mind, I now have the next stage ready to stitch.  The ends of the leaves will be tucked in under the vase.

 

 

However, I had plenty of patience this morning, when the goldfinches reappeared in the garden!  I stood for some time taking photos - the are just such striking little birds

 

 

 

 

To finish, a strange little thing!  When we were having our cuppa this morning, Malcolm checked the solution to yesterday's crossword, as we hadn't quite finished it.  When he looked at the answers, he noticed that the letters at the bottom spell 'frayed' ..... and they are at the edge of the puzzle!  Could this be an omen of something good going to happen - just in case it is, we bought a lottery ticket for tonight's draw!

 
 

 

I don't believe it!!

I had almost finished tonight's post, when Typepad started acting up, so to be on the safe side, I clicked on 'draft' and 'save' ...... and that's the last I saw of my post!!  (I have had to put quite a lot of money in the swear box).  I can't face doing it all again, so I will give you a quick post, and tell you the rest tomorrow!

I spent the latter part of the afternoon in the studio, working on my Baltimore blocks.  I traced the block that I had to have enlarged on to the polythene topsheet, but it didn't look quite right.  I put the freezer paper template for the vase underneath ....... yes, the pattern hadn't been enlarged enough!

 

 

So I put that one aside, and instead I chose a fabric for the vase for the next block, and ironed the freezer paper template on

 

 

I cut it out and turned the edges under, using the glue stick.  I also prepped two calix, and as I had already made the bias, I was able to put the first pieces of the block in place .......

 

 

....... ready to sew tomorrow

 

 

So, tomorrow I'll tell you about the rest of our day, including a bit of a rant about buying sun lotion!!

Lets stick together!

When I was doing more prep on my Baltimore blocks this afternoon, I decided to try out a technique that I have been reading about on Teresa's blog ..... you can find out more here and here.  It's a very different way to use freezer paper to the one that I use, but as it looked quick and easy, I thought I would do a sample piece.

I started with a leaf-shaped piece of freezer paper ironed on to the RIGHT side of a scrap of fabric, a glue pen, cocktail stick, and an old ruler to work on (as suggested by Teresa, as it is easy to clean)

 

 

! put a line of glue along the edge - helpfully, the glue is blue so that you can see your line

 

 

I turned the seam allowance over, using the cocktail stick to smooth out the curves

 

 

For the next stage, I got out my box of cotton threads .....

 

 

...... a scrap of backing fabric, my favourite applique needles - and a vital piece of equipment, a needle threader!

 

 

I peeled the freezer paper off, pinned the leaf to the background fabric and started stitching

 

 

Then I encountered a small problem.  I had too much glue on the ends of the leaves, making it difficult to make neat points.  Once I had finished stitching, I washed the sample to remove the glue, and ironed it dry.  Apart from the untidy points, I was pleased with the result.  It is a quick way to prep the pieces, and I think I will use it for this quilt

 

 

Just after lunch, I heard a great deal of noise coming from the field across the road.  I looked out to find Billy the Farmer trying to persuade these sheep to move in to the next field.  As you can see, they weren't in any hurry to move!

 

 

A lot of the noise came from this little chap .... but he soon grew tired of trying to be sheepdog!

 

 

A small delay

I've been doing some more work on my applique project.  I remembered a method I had been shown at a workshop some years ago, which means that you don't have to mark the placement of the pieces on your background fabric.  This means that you can change the layout as you stitch.  The tutor had proper bought stuff to use, but I have improvised with cut up polythene bags!

 

 

The idea is very simple - you trace the pattern on to the polythene, and use it to put the pieces in the right place.  This shows the polythene, with a large 'x' showing the centre, over the first pattern ...... and this is where the delay came in - because I realised that the pattern needs to be increased in size (the only one of the nine which isn't shown full-sized!), which meant a visit to the copy shop yesterday!

 

 

So here is the second pattern being traced.  You may spot that the pen has changed.  That's because the first pen did indeed write on any surface, as the packaging said ..... but unfortunately, it just wiped off again!

 

 

This is the tracing placed over the background fabric - so when I'm ready to start stitching, I just need to centre the pattern over the fabric then slip the pieces underneath the plastic and line them up with the drawing

 

 

While I was working on the tracings, I was watching this film

 

 

Meryl Streep is at her glorious, over-the-top best.  I love her great booming voive - and her hilarious French accent!

 

 

As I got organised to go back in to the house, I had a look round and thought that perhaps I need to tidy the studio .....

 

 

...... and it doesn't look much better from the opposite angle!

 

 

We had a rare visitor to the bird table yesterday - a collared dove

 

 

We're off to Morpeth in the morning to see Jennifer for a special occasion ..... I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

A new project

Ok, ok, I know I'm not supposed to start another project before I have finished some of the UFOs, but ....... I have a wonderful set of patterns that I bought years ago in Houston, and recently they have been calling to me.  So I got them out, and started geting organised.  I recently saw this idea on Janet's blog, and filed the idea away for future use, not realising that I would use it quite so soon!

 

 

I took a photo of each of the patterns, then made them into the mosaic, to have a vague idea of what the finished quilt might look like.  Of course it won't have the wording on it.  I have decided to do it in batik fabrics, in shades of purple and green.  So at the weekend, I pulled these fabrics from my stash

 

all sorts of purples

 

 

greens, and a little brown

 

My favourite way of doing applique is with freezer paper, so I have made a start to tracing and cutting out the pieces

 

 

I have decided to use the same fabric for the bias stems in all the blocks, so I have made a start to making the many inches that I will need - using my favourite little gadget

 

This is a very long term project, but one that I will enjoy immensely.  I love doing applique, but for some reason haven't done much recently.

 

I have also finished the other 'four fat quarters' quilt top.  Now, I will have to get some fleece for the back and get them quilted

 

 

I had some more fun at the weekend, taking close up photos in the garden

 

a rather bedraggled clump of grape hyacinths

 

 

flowering currant

 

 

I don't know what this is, but I love the vibrant colour

 

 

rainwater on alchemilla mollis

 

When one of the hellebores flowered some weeks ago, there was no sign of the other one - for some reason it doesn't keep its old leaves over the winter ...... then, suddenly, up it popped and flowered within a few days

 

A special quilt

This afternoon, Katy brought in the quilt she is making for her husband's birthday - a very special quilt.  She printed photos of his magnificent Highland cattle on to fabric, then made them up into the centre panel of the quilt.  A friend embroidered the wording for her.  (Highland cattle are kept in folds, not herds)

 

 

Then Margaret, who isn't a regular patch'n'chatter, called in for a little while.  She does the most wonderful quilts, all by hand.  This is her latest one - work came to a halt as we all ooohed and aaahed!

 

 

There is so much beautiful stitching, it was hard to pick a detail to show you, but I settled on this very cute little fellow

 

 

Since I got my big camera, I have struggled with  taking close ups, whether using the intelligent auto or macro settings.  Then when I was out for a walk recently, I took a very good close up ..... then realised that I had the camera on the 'wrong' setting.  Since then I have been taking all sorts of photos .......

 

a tiny feather caught in the mud

 

 

a hawthorn leaf (and thorns)

 

 

a dried weed in the verge

 

 

a helebore flower

 

But now, the most important photo of the post - yes, it's the Friday cake ...... a delicious chocolate sponge

 

 

Our weather was supposed to improve this afternoon - but it is rather cloudy and windy this evening.  Hopefully it will improve for the weekend.  Whatever the weather, I hope you all have a good weekend.  Love Anne

A good day for sewing!

I had already decided to stay at home to get on with my sewing today, instead of going with Malcolm for our usual cuppa and scone, so when I got up and saw the wind and rain, I was glad that I wasn't going out.  To start the first quilt, I lined up the two floral fabrics on the board ready to cut. 

 

 

Having trimmed off the selvedges and squared up the top edge, I cut four x four and a half inch strips

 

 

I then lined up the two Fossil Fern fabrics - it was very important to make sure I had these fabrics the right way round.  A fat quarter is approximately 19 inches by 22 inches, and as the strips I was going to cut total 20 inches, I had to check that I had the longer side going across the cutting board.  A quick tip - if you are going to cut a lot of strips the same size, mark the line on your ruler with post-its or masking tape.  It saves a lot of time checking you are cutting the right size every time ..... and stops the dreaded mistake of cutting the strip squint!

 

 

I now had eight x four and a half inch strips, and sixteen x two and a half inch strips. 

 

I stitched a  narrow strip to one side of each of the wider strips, using chain piecing - you can see that I have fed the next pair under the needle without cutting the thred

 

 

I then sewed the remaing narrow strips to the other side of the wider strips, and pressed them

 

 

The new strips now measured eight and a half inches, and from each strip I cut two squares, giving me sixteen squares in total.  I arranged these on the design wall

 

 

The next step was to sew the squares together in pairs.  No matter how experienced a quilter you are, it is all too easy to sew the squares together wrongly!  I always use the same method - I flip the right hand square over the left  one and put a pin in the edge that is to be stitched

 

 

Having stitched all the pairs, I put them back on the design wall to make sure I had them the right way round

 

 

I then sewed the two parts of each strip together, and then sewed the four resulting strips together, completing the quilt top

 

 

I cut the strips for the next quilt, and did the first stage of stitching them together, but I didn't want to do any more, as I will take it with me to patch'n'chat tomorrow, to show some of the others how the quilt is made.  However I did arrange four of the strips on the design wall, so that you can see how it will look

 

 

Recently I have been watching my box set of Shogun, starring Richard Chamberlain, while I'm sewing.  I loved the book, and was unsure about watching the tv progamme when it was first shown, as all too often the actors chosen don't match up to the pictures I have formed in my head of the characters.  But apart from an American playing an Englishman and a Welshman playing a Spaniard (without changing their accents!), the cast were excellent.

 

 

By the time I came back into the house, the rain had gone off, but it was still windy.  The birds had re-appeared, and were pecking at the seed that the wind had blown off the bird table ........

 

 

 

....... except for this little tit, whcih preferred the peanut feeder

 

 

The wind has now dropped to a breeze, and the sun is shining in through the window, right in my eyes!

 

Carried away!

At the weekend, I finished the quilting on the Linus quilt - at the second attempt.  It looked very good .....

 

 

...... but I had to fill in some gaps

 

 

But finally, the gaps were filled in and the quilting was finished.  I then cut strips for the binding, joining them with a diagonal seam

 

 

I cut the excess off

 

 

 

Usually, patchwork seams are pressed to one side, but the seams in the binding are pressed open

 

 

When the binding is folded in half and pressed, you can the why a diagonal seam is used - a straight seam folded in half would give too much bulk

 

 

But I wasn't really paying attention as I joined the lengths together - I got somewhat carried away and made twice as much as I needed (don't worry, I'll use it for another quilt!)

 

 

I sewed the binding on this afternoon, so all that remains now is to stitch it down by hand on the back

 

 

I looked out some fat quarters for two small quilts which are quick to make

 

 

 

Two of the fabrics in the first photo are 'Fossil Ferns', which were designed by Patricia B Campbell.

 

 

 I did a workshop with Pat in 2003, in Houston.  I hadn't seen a photo of her beforehand, so was somewhat taken aback when this Tammy Wynette look-alike came into the room!  She was an excellent, if strict, teacher.  There were two sisters sitting at the front of the class, one of whom kept taking copious notes.  Pat told her quite firmly to stop, as she wasn't paying full attention to what Pat was saying if she was writing things down.  Her sister said that she constantly took notes, whether it was watching tv or listening to the sermon in church - but that she then filed them away and didn't look at them again - strange!!  During the workshop, Pat asked who had travelled furthest to go to the workshop - of course I won, as I was the only one there from outside America.  My prize - a set of Pat's wonderful patterns

 

 

I kept meaning to take a photo of this pot in the garden - finally today I remembered.  I was going to remove the dead plant, but then I thought it added to the picture!

 

 

I hope to get at least one of the little quilts done in time for tomorrow's post! 

I'm still smiling!

So why am I smiling - because I've got my lovely new teeth!  I had a rather long visit to the dentist yesterday afternoon, during which he did the final fitting for my new partial dentures.  He thinks that the support that they will give to my own teeth, and the help they will give to aligning my bite properly, will finally sort out my 'face-ache'.  So here I am this morning, smiling!

 

 

Malcolm took the photo of me when we were out for a (long) walk this morning.  We parked the car at the Woodside Garden Centre, then set off along a path, which led us to another, steep path.  We toiled on and on up the slope (my poor legs were complaining!), then at last our destination came into view

 

 

What, you don't think that looks as if it was worth a long slog - perhaps you'll change your mind when you see the whole thing (with Malcolm, as always, providing the scale!)

 

 

This is the Waterloo Monument, on Penhiel Heugh.  The tower is 150 feet tall, and this sign over the door tells you some more about it

 

 

This is the highest point for miles around, and the views are spectacular

 

the Eildons

 

 

Ruberslaw

 

 

looking down to the River Teviot

 

Although we hadn't carried a stone up the hill with us, Malcolm used one that was lying around to add to the small cairn

 

 

On the way back down, Malcolm spotted this - it is a viewing point, but we don't know what for

 

By the time we got back to the garden centre, it was lunchtime.  A big bowl of soup was just the thing to have after our two hour walk - I chose the celeriac and pear

 

 

Back home, I headed out to the studio, to have a quick session working on the tractor quilt.  I decided to do the border with a leaf pattern.  This is the front .........

 

 

....... and this is the back

 

 

I finished one side, and hope to do some more work on it tomorrow.  This evening, I will be sitting with my poor weary legs up on my footstool, sipping on a glass of white wine (the bottle is in the fridge chilling) and doing, as always, some knitting!