frayed at the edge

Decorating

There have been two kinds of decorating going on in the house.  The first is the boring but necessary kind ..... we have been decorating the lounge - hooray, no more dull grey walls, instead they are a rich, warm stone colour, and the fireplace wall is going to be papered with a big bold patterned paper!

The other decorating is much more fun - starting with my little wallhangings, which I have made over the years.  They go on the doors in the hall, so that you see them every time you walk through the house.  The first one I made years ago - I designed it as a mystery wallhanging for a group I was Chairman of ... it was lots of fun, with people asking to see the finished one, so they would know what to do!!  It's looking a little worn now, and has lost the beads and bells that hung from the bottom edge ....

 

 

The next one was made from a kit - very simple, but pretty

 

This Father Christmas was also made from a kit - I love his fluffy beard and the little bell on the end of his hat!

 

And yes, this snowman was from a kit as well - the advantage of kits is that you don't have lots of fabric left over that you might not use

 

You have already seen the little elves that tell us how many days there are until Christmas, but they have now been joined by two little ornaments that can have a tealight in them - very pretty!

 

Our dining room windowsill is very deep - perfect for decorating.  It's a bit of a motley collection, but we like it .... first one side

 

and then the other

 

I made the runner for the dining table last year (and there are matching placemats) and I bought the napkin/salt and pepper holder just a few weeks ago

 

I had planned to put the tree up on Saturday, but things didn't go as intended, so hopefully you will get to see the tree tomorrow!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

Here's one I made earlier!

There just aren't enough hours in the day at the moment, and the one thing I didn't get done today was taking photos for tonight's post ..... so it's into the archives again!  I thought I would show you some of my wallhangings - some of them are really bright, which is a decided contrast to today's weather which has been grey and dreary again!!

 

 

I thought we would start with something seasonal - this is Cheeky Angel

 

 

this is called Blooming Bright - for obvious reasons!

 

 

another bright one - Funky Baltimore

 

 

it will soon be spring - this is Fresh as a Daisy

 

 

and what better way to finish than with this one - Simply Friends

 

Easy peasy gift bag

This is a little tutorial to show you a quick and easy way to make little gift bags - I have made mine in Christmas fabric, but you could use any fabric to suit the occasion.

Each bag is made with two rectangles - one fabric for the outer bag and a different fabric for the lining.  I made nine bags, so this photo shows the three fabrics I chose for the outer bags and two different fabrics for the linings

 

I cut my fabric using a rotary cutter and mat, but you could mark the fabric and cut the rectangles using scissors

 

The rectangles measure six inches by eight and a half inches.  Put a rectangle of a lining fabric right sides togehter with a rectangle of outer fabric.  I chain pieced mine, using a quarter inch seam, starting with a thread catcher

 

As you reach the end of each rectangle, feed the next one under the foot, without cutting the thread

 

When you have stitched all your rectangles, cut off the thread catcher and snip the thread between the rectangles

 

Next press the seams open

 

Fold the bag in half and match the seam - pop a pin in to keep it in place, then stitch. 

Press the seam open, using only the point of the iron (or a mini iron if you have one) so that you don't press the sides of the bag

 

The next stage is a bit fiddly - fold the lining  over the outer fabric, with the seam in the centre, making sure there are no wrinkles

 

This next photo shows the outer fabric inside the lining fabric

The next step is to sew across the bottom edge.  Start about half an inch from the edge, and sew in reverse to the edge, then sew across the bottom - when you reach the end, sew in reverse for half an inch

 

If you want, trim the bottom edge to neaten it, then turn the bag right side out

 

To finish the bag, take fifteen inches of ribbon, find the centre and stitch it on the seam about an inch and a half from the top

 

Here are my little gift bags, each with a little gift for friends

The bags are great for small gifts such as jewellery.  You could also put chocolate or sweets in them and hang them on the Chritsmas tree!

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial.
 

 
 
  

 
 
 
 
 
 

It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht ........

...... morning!  I took this photo yesterday just before 8 o'clock

 

it was a lovely clear, cold, frosty morning.  You can see the lights of Hawick on the horizon.  I then tried taking another photo of the moon using the zoom .... the background has come out very dark, but I was amazed to see the detail of the surface of the moon!

 

Of course, Friday means cake, and Annette triumphed with another of her sponges - a chocolate one this time

 

Unfortunately, the weather today was back to damp and dreary, but when it started to rain this afternoon, the sky was brightened by this double rainbow

 

I know I shouldn't be thinking of starting a new sewing project when I have so many unfinished ones lurking in the studio, but for the last few weeks, I have been thinking about making a new runner for the chest of drawers in our bedroom.  So this afternoon I got out one of my many notebooks and did a little drawing

I haven't done any applique for a while, so I am looking forward to getting started!

 

I was tidying up before I came back into the house at the end of the afternoon - and thought I would take photos of the silly tin I keep odds and ends in ...

The foam shark is actually the top of a pen, which I got as a free gift in a shopping mall in Singapore years ago - I never use it, I just like it!  The back of the tin is also silly .....

 
  
 
 
 
 

Another one bites the dust!

Hooray - it may have taken a long time, but finally today I finished the zebra cushions for Stuart!  It's so good to cross another thing off the to-do list.

 

 posed on my favourite chair!

 

 

I like the effect of the faux chenille

 

I used the same fabric as the binding on the opening on the back

 

Next on the agenda is to finish the gnomes - hopefully next time you see this ........

 

....... it will have been transformed into three Christmas gnomes!
   

 

What a beautiful baby .....

...... and Mia is gorgeous too!!  Yes, I know you can't really call a six-foot tall young man a baby - but he will always be my baby!!  Emma took these photos last night when Stuart called in to give Mia her quilt and shawl and forwarded them today so that I could pop them on the blog

 

Stuart, Mia and cute quilt

 

 

Stuart, Mia and her shawl

 

 

the two gorgeous babies!!

 

 

Cute baby quilt warning!!

Get ready to say awww - the baby quilt is finished!!

 

There was some feverish sewing after dinner last night, so that it would be ready for Stuart to give to Emma (along with the shawl) when he goes to see baby Mia next week.  He had some photos to show me - she is absolutely gorgeous, with a fantastic head of dark hair!  Watching while I stitched was Stuart's amazing fish, Charlie - he posed beautifully when he saw the camera!

 

Today I shopped...... but not quite until I dropped!!  Of course before indulging in a serious bout of Christmas shopping, you need the have a decent breakfast, which can mean only one thing - a trip to Aromas for possibly the best bacon roll in the world..  You can see a photo of the last one I had (and read about my last trip to Falkirk) here ( you'll have to read almost to the end of the post before you see the bacon roll - but it's worth it!!) 

After a successful bout of retail therapy, I headed off for lunch at yet another garden centre (delicious cream of broccoli and sweet potato soup), stopping along the way in the town of Bo'ness to take this photo of two very famous bridges

 

You can just make out the Forth Road Bridge (to the left of the lamppost), with the Rail Bridge behind it.  Next time I go up to see Stuart, I will have to make sure I have time to go along to South Queensferry for better photos.

To finish, I have some photos which I took yesterday when I was at the Falkirk Wheel.  Outside the Visitor Centre, there were some large lumps of rock ...... but then I looked more closely ......

I was going to say which one is my favourite - but I can't decide!!
 
 
 
  

A grand day out

First, of course, I have to start by revealing the Christmas cake, after it was unwrapped!

mmmm - rich and delicious!!  Several times between now and Christmas, I will drizzle brandy over it, so it will be even more moist.  In the past there have small disputes over the icing of our Christmas cakes, as I don't like marzipan, but this problem has been resolved - no marzipan under the icing, and marzipan fruits on the top for Malcolm!!

While we are on the subject of cakes ..... of course there was cake yesterday at patch'n'chat - in fact there were two -

 

a border tart

 

iced ginger bread

Yes, I had a piece of each!!  We could have eaten them in style, as the table in the shop has been laid to show off Christmas place mats

If you would like to make these mats, do check out Borderland Fabrics' website, to get in touch with the shop to buy the fabrics.

 

Now on to today - we set off this morning for the village of St Abbs over on the east coast.  It was a beautiful morning and we had a lovley run over.  We were heading to another event organised by local wool shop Woolfish - a cornucopia of all things woolly.  Malcolm came in to have a cup of coffee, but then he left me to immerse myself in all the wonderful woolly goodies.  (he went for a walk along the clifftop - taking lots of photos for me, which you can see tomorrow in Shadow Shot Sunday!!)  I haven't yet taken photos of the things I bought, but of course I did take photos of some of the stalls.  First is the exceedingly colourful stall of my lovely friend Lindsay 

Every time I see Lindsay she has made all sorts of different, interesting things, and they are always beautifully presented.

The next lot of loveliness was on the stall of Janis Embleton - all sorts of super handwoven delights

And then I succumbed to the most beautiful hank of pure silk lace weight yarn from fyberspates - I will have to knit something very special with it

Unfortunately the llamas and alpacas weren't there today - I know I showed you photos of them when we were there in the spring, but you can never have too many photos of such lovely animals!!  
  

 

 

I've fallen in love ......

....... with our new neighbour!  He's gorgeous - young and handsome, with beautiful big eyes ....... and oh, you should see his muscles!!  Would you like to see a photo of him?

 

 

isn't he lovely!!

I was slightly worried when he came over to the fence - he is very big!!

 

Now I have some lovely news to share with you.  Stuart's colleague Emma gave birth to a daughter yesterday.  She is called Mia, and Mum and baby are both fine.  I took another photo of the hat and socks ......

and now I can tell you what I have been knitting over the summer, which has been a closely guarded secret, as Emma reads the blog .........

........ a shawl.  It's not quite finished, I am just sewing on the last of the edging, and then it will be washed and blocked (stretched).   It's knitted in two-ply, so it's quite fine ...... and it's a well travelled shawl, as I knitted quite a lot of it on holiday!

When Emma told Stuart she was pregnant, he promptly said that I would make a quilt for the baby!!  So today I had a browse through my stash, and came up with four very different ideas

very, very bright

tasteful pastels

fun cows

very cute sheep

I can't decide which one to choose - perhaps you could leave a comment and tell me which one you prefer!

 

This week's word for 'weekword' has been chosen by Leenie - do pop over to her blog to find out what word she has chosen - and maybe you could join in this week!
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

The wonder of the internet

Some time ago, I had a post called easy peasy tutorial - it didn't attract a lot of interest at the time, so you can imagine my surprise, when in the last few weeks it kept showing up in my stats.  A little bit of investigation has revealed that the tutorial is listed on this blog, which comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina!!  I have no idea how I ended up on the blog (I don't mind!!) - so I have e-mailed the writer of the blog to ask how she found out about me - I'll let you know if I get a reply!

 

Today had been another miserable day, grey, wet and increasingly windy, so this afternoon I was quite glad to retreat to the studio, especially as the Malcolm had lit the log burner for me!  Last night I finished the tea cosy - here it is sitting on the teapot

 

As you can see, it is a little bit big, so I decided to felt it - I put it in a bowl of hot soapy water, then gave it a good pummelling (for once ignoring the rule about only squeezing handknits!)  I also washed (but not in hot water!) the baby hat and socks that I knitted recently (the baby is due next week).  I took them all out to the studio to dry in the heat of the stove

Oh dear,  Typepad had thrown one of its periodic hissy fits and won't put in the photo - but I think (I hope) if you click on the red cross you will see the photo!  If you can't see it, it shows the tea cosy, the socks and the hat warming themselves in front of the stove - the best place to be on a miserable afternoon!  The tea cosy still isn't quite the right shape/size, so once it's dry, I will use a bit of needle felting to tweak it into shape!!

Malcolm made the dinner tonight and I wondered why he was shouting at me to bring the camera, when he was dishing up .... well this is why - he was so delighted with how his fish pie had turned out!!

mmmmm - it was delicious, and the sliced potato was a nice change from mashed potato on the top!!  And on the subject of food - of course there is a photo of yesterday's cake - the patch and chatters think it's hilarious that Annette's cakes have a fan club!!  So here it is - a yummy peach flan with cream .....