frayed at the edge

There's a fairy at the bottom of my garden .....

..... or there will be, once she's finished!  Yes, I know, I should be finishing all those WIPs, but yesterday I delved into my stash for something to take to patch'nchat.

 

I've only had this kit for four years (I bought it when we went to Melbourne for our very special holiday when Malcolm 'retired'), so perhaps there were other projects further up the queue, but who could resist such a cute little doll!!

 

By the end of the afternoon I had cut out most of the pieces, aided by the other two Annes, as the fabric supplied with the kit was only just big enough!  (except for the net for the overskirt - I was able to cut a second layer!)  Of course with all that hard work, I had to be fortified with not one, but two pieces of cake.

 

The sponge is another light-as-air offering from Annette, and the ginger cake is from Anne S., who has started baking again, now that she has a wonderful new oven!

 

This afternoon, I was out in the studio, sewing away at my Woodland Fairy

 

You can see the two layers of net skirt and her pretty underskirt

 

The body parts stitched and turned through, with the aid of my trusty bodkin!

 

She needs a face!!

 

I'll do her make-up later

 

No stuffing, so I'll shred this wadding

 

I ironed her underskirt using my mini-iron - less chance of burning my fingers!

 

only velvet is good enough for this fairy's jacket!

 

The next decision is her hair - the kit came with dried moss (front left), which I don't really like, so there is a choice of two colours of doll's hair at the back, or dressing gown cord, (front right) which unravels to make cute blonde dolls' hair!

 

Tomorrow, of course, it's a day out at the Woolgathering, so hopefully you will get to see the finished fairy on Monday, but here she is today, perched on the sewing machine

(don't forget to come back tomorrow to see Shadow Shot Sunday)

 

ps - for those of you who liked my pink knife, you can get a similar one from Lakeland .

The nice things that people say .....

...... can really make your day!  First it was Sarah on Thursday - when I said that I couldn't believe that Stuart is 31 next month, she said I must have been very young when I had him!  Then on Friday at chat'n'patch, Anne said that I had made her ears sore, I had talked so much.  Why did that make me happy?  Because finally the latest medication is helping with my sore face, and it no longer hurts to talk!!

I was also happy when the post arrived this morning - first there was this invitation to Lindsay's Woolgathering on Sunday

 

Lindsay makes wonderful envelopes from magazine pages - an excellent idea for recycling!

 

Isn't this a wonderful fabric picture!  It is actually part of a booklet that was sent to Malcolm, trying to persuade him to buy a new Golf Plus!! .....

 

..... the booklet is stitched together - I think they are targetting women to buy the new Golf (I should add here that it's my car, in case you think Malcolm drives a girly car!!)

We went into Hawick this morning for some shopping and of course went for a cuppa

 

It's a quirky cafe tucked up a side street in Hawick - but worth the effort to find, especially if you like second-hand books!

That was all a lot more pleasant than it had been first thing this morning when I went out for my walk

 

The photo looks out of focus - but it was just very wet, with a lot of low cloud over the hills.  However my feet were warm and dry, as I had on my trusty walking shoes and a pair of my handknitted socks

 

although as it was so miserable, perhaps I should have had my 'Happy' socks on!!

 

Why 'Happy' socks - simply because that is what the bamboo yarn is called (although I have been less than happy about the way the socks have washed - my wool ones wash much better!)

So now that the new medication is helping, I am just about back to my normal happy self (although when I said to Malcom I was back to normal, he groaned and said 'oh no'!!!!)

 

So much to tell you ....

... that I had better dive right in!

After all the excitement of Sarah and Andy's visit, there was even  more excitement yesterday when the post arrived.

 

This is the prize I won in the lovely Anne's recent giveaway 

 

she had stamped the envelope

 

stamped the tissue paper and made this beautiful gift tag

 

all that loveliness - and there was still the prize to see!

 

A set of wonderful stamps, complete with little sparkly decorations

 

my card isn't quite as good as Anne's wonderful work!

 

but of course it's the thought that counts

 

I obviously need a bit more practice!  I won't post this to Anne, but I will be sending her a little something else!!

Then of course it was off to chat'n'patch, where Chris was working on a lovely scrappy cushion cover

 

the fabric behind it will be the back of the cushion

 

and of course there was cake - strawberry pavlova - yum, yum, yum!!

 

I am sure you have all been fretting overnight to know if it stayed dry for Jim the farmer to get his hay baled.  Well, I am delighted to tell you that even as I write this they are busy baling it

 

after the tractor and baler have gone so far.....

 

..... out pops the hay bale!!

 

meanwhile, the other tractor driver had fun creating a circle!

 

fuchsia flowers remind me of ballet dancers

 

a butterfly on the buddleia

 

I took this photo yesterday when I was out for my walk - the colour of the hydrangea is wonderful

 

it was sad to see this butterfly dead on the road, but the colours were still strong!

 

the grass was greener on the other side for this lamb!

I'm sorry these last photos are out of order - I just had so much to squeeze into today's post I forgot to start with them!!

 

 

A trip down memory lane

Yesterday I headed off up the A7 to visit Stuart.  The first excitement of the day was when I got to the outskirts of Edinburgh and got to drive on, first, dual carriageway, and second, motorway - so I could drive (legally) at more than 60mph - oooh, the thrill!!  My first stop was at Torwood Garden Centre for lunch

 

Suitably fortified with my carrot and orange soup, I set off on a nostalgic trip to see the various places we have lived in over the years.  Our first home was in Brightons, just outside Falkirk

 

When we lived there I did lots of of knitting and sewing, but I no longer have any of it!  We then moved to Hampshire and then to Cambridgeshire (I'll tell you about that another time), before moving back to Falkirk.  This isn't the best photo, but it was a bit awkward lingering in the lane to take photos!!

 

Please admire the fence - Malcolm cut the shape into the top of every upright!!  It was while living here that I got seriously involved in patchwork, having previously dabbled in it when we lived in Hampshire.  These are the first two quilts I made (but photographed in this house)

 

 

We sold that house when we went to Indonesia, buying a flat for Stuart to live in (and for us to stay in on trips home!) - it's the upstairs bit to the right of the lamppost

 I did do some sewing there on visits home, but I don't have photos on the the computer (sorry, not entirely organised after my two days away!) - but the sewing link comes from the view of the back of the flat - I made the Austrian blinds for our house in Cambridgeshire - so they are 20 years old!!

 

When Stuart left home, he moved into this flat in Falkirk High Street (technically, there was no parking in front of the flat, but he and his neighbours would sometimes park overnight - until Stuart got a parking ticket issued at 3am!!)

 

His were the three windows with the Roman blinds - yes, I made them, but the sewing connection is this cushion ... . it must be about 8 years old, but I took this photo this morning!

 

This was made using the same technique as the zebras -  it's funny, but the badgers are much clearer in the photo.  Just a little aside here - Stuart has tropical fish, the biggest of which is called Charlie (please don't ask me what kind he is!)  Last night, he posed for this photo ....

So where were we - oh yes, when we came back from Indonesia we moved here, in Larbert - again, near Falkirk

 

As you can see, this photo was taken when the house was for sale before we moved here - it doesn't look quite like that now, as the new owners extended into the right hand side of the garage!!  I did so much sewing when we lived there, it's hard to choose a photo, so we'll just go for the largest quilt!!

 

I can only claim credit for the applique, as I had it professionally quilted!  I made it for Stuart, but it was hard to part with it!!

I started with food, so I'll finish with food!  This morning I went to Aromas coffee shop, where Malcolm and I used to go every Saturday morning for breakfast (we would go in, sit down and start reading the papers and, as if by magic, our bacon rolls, tea and coffee would appear in front of us - the lovely waitress, Lindsay, gave up asking what we wanted as we had the same every week and Jane, the owner's daughter, would just start cooking the bacon,!!)  Although it's almost three years since we moved here, when I went in this morning, Jane said hello and started making what is possibly the best bacon roll in the world for me

 

There is a little footnote to this story - when I went into Aromas, sitting in her usual corner table was a lovely lady (who is also called Anne!) along with another lady who also had breakfast on Saturday mornings - not only did they remember me, but Anne said she had seen me taking a photo yesterday (it was the one of the Austrian blinds).

I hope you have enjoyed this look back over the years!!

 

Great excitement!

We have been very busy making sure the house and garden are spick and span, because we have very special visitors coming on Thursday (we don't usually tidy up that far in advance, but Malcolm will be away all day tomorrow visiting his Dad, and I'm going up to Falkirk to see Stuart - I'm staying the night, so I won't be home until Wednesday afternoon) - anyway, to return to our visitors - Sarah and Andy.  Sarah and I have become blogging friends, first leaving comments on each others' blogs, then chatting via e-mails.  So when I read that they were coming up to Northumberland on holiday (not that far from us) I immediately invited them to visit!  So, the big tidy up of the studio commenced

  

welcome to my studio

 

a neat and tidy table

 

the woodburning stove in summer-mode

 

quilting and knitting books

 

pretty threads and pretty things

 

quilts and pictures all hanging straight

 

stash tidied up

 

very cute things on display!

 

and now for the garden

 

front garden looking neat and tidy

 

beautiful alpine (complete with hoverfly in the middle!)

 

a lovely clematis

 

pretty in pink on the pergola

 

vibrant crocosmia (I'm holding it as it was blowing about in the breeze!)

 

I'm sorry you can't all come to visit, so I hope you have enjoyed your virtual visit - and fingers crossed for good weather on Thursday, so we can show off the glorious Borders to Sarah and Andy!

 

Running very fast .......

....... just to stand still!!  The last few days have been very busy, and I still have photos from Friday and  Saturday that I want to show you, as well as all the wonderful stuff from yesterday's Woolgathering.  So, let's get started!!

 

The table mats and runner which I was sewing in Friday

The brown areas are chenille = the texture is lovely

This is the swallow tail shawl, soaking in tepid water, with 'Ecover Delicate', for about twenty minutes.  I then rinsed it thoroughly and squeezed out the excess water (NEVER wring your knitting!)

 

I rolled the shawl in a towel, to soak up as much water as possible (I left it rolled up while I had lunch!)

 

Ready to block the shawl - a clean sheet, my new blocking wires, pins and tape measure 

 

It took a little while to carefully thread the wires through the top edge and then through the points of the swallowtails - but then it was so easy to stretch the shawl out to the correct size and shape and push pins into the carpet to hold the wires in place. (if you have never blocked a shawl like this - it is a long job if you are pinning each point and trying to get them even!)

 

lovely even points!

 

I knitted the shawl to wear with my good winter coat (which I've had since 1996) - I think it looks fabulous!

 

Many thanks to Helen for the beautiful yarn (it's alpaca, silk and cashmere) - and the shawl only took 32 grams - so I could do another two!! 

 

So yesterday, it was off down to Chesters for another Woolgathering, organised as ever by Lindsay. who was experimenting with some needle felting (do you remember Lindsay's lovely holiday cottage?  She still has some vacancies, so if you want to come and see the glorious Borders, do check out her blog)

  

Fiona was doing some more work on her amazing felted ram

 

Janet was spinning using her wonderful new spinning wheel

 

Lizzi was busy with her needlepoint

 

Tricia is getting to the end of her latest knitting project

 

Lorraine was working on her sampler quilt - it is entirely handstitched!  (and she has another one the same well on the way to completion!!)  (LtoR Tricia, Lorraine and Janet)

 

What was I doing?  Well after a bit of needle felting, I was working on my knitting that I can't tell you about, but Janet took this photo of me eating cake!!

 

Some of those there yesterday said I showed too many cakes on the blog - girls, girls, there is no such thing as too many cakes!!  So you know that I am going to finish with cake related photos!!  I got up at 5am to bake these scones - they looked so good I thought they deserved Granny's traycloth and pretty china for afternoon tea

 

Would you like a closer look - oh yum yum

 

Oh dear, I've just told you a great big fib - of course I didn't bake the scones - I bought them this morning in Morrisons! Complete with raspberry jam and fresh cream!)

That was a bit of a marathon post, but now I've caught up with all the things I wanted to share with you - I hope you have enjoyed it!

 

A tale of two cakes!

It has been such a busy week, that there is a bit to catch up on today.  On Thursday I met my friend Lorraine for lunch.  I had quiche and salad - a bit boring for a photo, but then ...... to justify sitting so long at our table, of course we had to order something else ....... and somehow we ordered chocolate fudge cake.  Well, what's a girl to do, of course I had to eat it!!

 

I told you yesterday that I was going to Borderland Fabrics in the morning - now I can tell you why.  Judi, assistant editor of (British) Patchwork and Quilting magazine, was coming to see the shop, in order to feature it in a future issue.  So the usual Friday afternoon gang all turned up early, so that we could show off the wonderful facilities we have for sewing in the shop.  While Judi was busy taking photos, I turned the tables and took one of her

 

The workroom was looking fabulous, with a colourful selection of quilts hanging all round the room

 

 

 

Isn't this just so cute!!  The article on the shop will be in the September issue, which will be on sale in the third week of August - who knows, I might even be in one of the many photos that Judi took (probably when I was sitting in the coffee shop enjoying my mid-morning cup of tea!)

After Judi left, we were all busy sewing.  Jane was trying to finish her wall hanging, which she started at a recent workshop in the shop.  Unfortunately, she didn't get her outer borders on, but it's looking pretty good

 

I was working on other set of placemats and table runner - this time for the dining room.  I forgot to take a photo yesterday, so I took one this afternoon in the studio ....... well I was going to show you a photo, but every so oftern Typepad throws a wobbly and won't show the photo - I guess you'll have to wait until another day!

This morning we were in Hawick as usual, and walked past the sub-post office as usual, but today I stopped to take a photo of - yes, another pillar box.  I don't know how many times I've walked past this one, without noticing how fabulous it is!

 

Just look at the ornate top

 

After looking at the royal initials from all angles, we think it's VR - what do you think?

 

So I started with cake, and I'll finish with cake!  Annette produced another masterpiece for afternoon tea yesterday - I gave her 12/10 for this one!!

  

 

The big reveal

So what did I make with the fabrics I showed you on Saturday?  I made two faux chenille panels, which I am going to make into cushion covers for Stuart.

How did I do it?  First I cut the zebra fabric in half (it was folded in the photo) and drew a diagonal line across both pieces.  It's very important that you do this on the diagonal - you'll see why later.

 

The zebras face opposite ways, so I drew the diagonals to go the opposite way as well

 

Then I cut three layers of calico (I could have used coloured fabrics) for each zebra and pinned them ready to sew

 

The first line of stitching is on the marked line

 

Then each line of stitching is half an inch from the previous one.  I know that if I shift the  needle to one side and use the edge of the foot as a guide I will stitch my half inch lines

 

The next line is stitched in the opposite direction, so that the work isn't distorted.  This mean moving the needle over to the other side

 

Work from the centre to one edge, then from the centre to the other edge

 

Then comes the really scary bit!  Using very sharp scissors, I cut through the zebra farbric and the first two of the calico layers (don't cut through the third layer or your piece will fall apart!!)

 

Oh dear, that was a fib - it takes a while to cut all the rows with scissors - so of course I have a gadget!!

  These are long strips made of the same stuff as cutting mats - you slip them through the channel

 

then cut using a long ruler

 

and a rotary cutter, I quickly cut all the channels

 

Once all the channels were cut, I put the two pieces in the washing machine with two old towels, and put it on a standard wash, then I put both pieces, again with the towels in the tumble drier.  This is where it is important that the cuts are on the diagonal - if they were on the straight grain, the fabric would fray too much, but done this way, you get soft fluffy edges - but you can still see the original design

 

and here in the centre is our fluffy zebra!

 

I hope you have enjoyed this quick look at how to do faux chenille - I hope you'll try a piece of your own.

Making an exhibition of themselves!

This morning Malcolm and I went to Kelso, to see the Embroiderers' Guild Exhibition.  There was some stunning work on display, and they very kindly let me take some photos.

 

Maasai Muse by Pat Lewis

 

Gone fishing by Anne Stevenson

 

Goldwork flower by Colina Harris-Burland

 

Dragonfly by Anne Stevenson

 

Dragonfly box by Mary Lock

 

My calico garden by Tricia Marshall

 

detail of the door

Although it is a small group there were a lot of varied exhibits - a good way to spend a Saturday morning (and there might have been cuppas and cakes as well!)

 

After lunch, I headed out to the studio, determined to make up for my lack of things to show you recently.

This length of chunky i-cord

 

has been lying in my knitting basket for so long, I've forgotten what the yarn is called

 

it's funny flat sort-of felted stuff!   However, I now have a rather smart pot stand!

 

I also made a start to something from the to-do list, using these fabrics

 

Hmmm - I wonder what it's going to be?

 

To finish, remember the lovely plant with the red flowers?  Now, thanks to Jen, I know that it is called bee balm.  Amazingly it has survived the rain and I took these two photos this afternoon

 

 

Do come back tomorrow to see  my latest shadow shots!

Wet,wet,wet

No, I wasn't being serenaded by Marti Pellow this morning - it was just rain, rain, rain when I went for my walk!  I did think about turning over and going back to sleep, but then I thought about the clothes that are getting a little bit tight ....

I'm writing this at 6.20 and it so wet and miserable that we already have the lamps on, and Malcolm has turned on the 'flames' of the electric fire to make the room cosy (for goodness sake, it's the middle of July!!)

Never mind, as usual it was off to Borderland fabrics this afternoon for patch'n'chat.  We were delighted to hear that Pam is recovering from her hip replacement (she had some unfortunate complications) - get well and come back soon Pam - we miss you!  Jen came in to get fabric to bind her quilt - she has only been quilting for about five minutes, but this is what she has produced - fabulous!!

 

One of the other Annes (there are three of us) was working on her hexagon quilt.  Unlike my hexagon quilt (well the beginnings of one) this one isn't worked in the traditional way over papers.  Instead Anne has used a rubber stamp to mark the cutting and sewing lines on the wrong side of the fabric.  She then stitches the hexagons together by hand (she is not a fan of sewing machines!!)

 

After last week's magnificent strawberry pavlova, the question on everyone's lips was - can Annette possibly have made something as good?  Yes she had - a yummy lemon meringue .... just like my Mum used to make .....

 

In the time that it has taken to write this, the rain has finally gone off and as it is so windy it is starting to dry up - fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow!!  Have a good weekend, love, Anne.