frayed at the edge

In stitches

Since I finished Oliver's quilt, other than working on the chickens, I haven't been doing any sewing, so I thought I would take the chance to show you some of my sewing over the years.

 

I made this for my Mum's birthday when I was eight or nine

 

This was done more than 30 years ago!

 

I love the colours of the butterfly

(I'm now gnashing my teeth - the following 6 photos were in pairs when I composed the post - but now they are all over the place!!!)

 

                           

Charles Rennie MacIntosh-style embroideries

                            

Small cross-stitch pictures

                           

Embroideries for my Mum, Rosemary and Malcolm's Mum, Doreen

Ruby Wedding sampler for my Mum and Dad

 

Ruby Wedding cross stitch for Malcolm's Mum and Dad

 

It's only now that I am writing today's post that I realise how many photos I took this afternoon - so I'll save the rest for another day (and that's only embroideries, I've got lots of patchwork photos as well!).  However there will be more sewing tomorrow, in the Tuesday Treasures - so do come back!

             

 

               

Borderlands

I got up at 6.30 this morning, put on my walking shoes (and some clothes!) and headed out into a glorious summer morning.  It's almost three years since we moved to the Borders, and in answer to the question - why did we move here ....

 

Looking over to the Eildons

 

The Minto Hills in the early morning sunshine

 

The morning rush hour!

 

The sweet smell of honeysuckle and the hum of bees

 

This afternoon, of course, it was off to Borderland fabrics for the weekly patch'n'chat.  Do you remember way back I was working on Malcolm's chicken quilt?  Well, I thought I ought to make an effort to get it finished, before the plump chickens turn into stringy old hens!

 

Just a few of the blocks

 

Eggs for us, a worm for the chickens, or would you prefer

 

Annette's strawberry pavlova!

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a job where you could lie down?  Cathy, Annette's right hand woman, seems to think that she has one!

 

But as she re-upholstered the chaise longue with some of her wonderful patchwork, I guess she deserves to occasionally put her feet up!

 

Have a good weekend, love, Anne

What could be better than......

going out for a cuppa on a summer Sunday morning!  Unfortunately, the weather didn't co-operate, and we had to sit in the car until the rain went off

 

We went to the Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells

 

As I believe in recycling, this is a photo from our last visit!

This afternoon we settled down to watch the tennis

 

I was finishing the hand-sewing on Stuart's cushions, and as the tennis went on ... and on...

 

I didn't just finish this one (do you like the fabric - it was a 25p remnant!) ....

 

I finished all four!  And still the tennis went on ......

Malcolm was busy cooking a leg of lamb for dinner - this is when is came out of the oven to be basted.  It has a coating of finely chopped rosemary (we have a big pot in the garden)

 

and still the tennis went on .... and then the lamb came out the oven to rest

 

and - all together now - the tennis went on ...... and we sat down to a wonderful Sunday dinner (I'm embarrassed to show this photo, it looks such an enormous plateful (and yes, I do love gravy!!)

 

so dinner was eaten, with a nice glass of wine

 

and yes, still the tennis went on - never mind the players, I was exhausted!  Malcolm lit a scented candle while I washed the saucepans

 

and we went through to the lounge to watch  --- yes, the tennis.  I had just transferred today's photos to my laptop and was about to start writing today's post, when ..... at last!!  In all the excitement of the afternoon, it's just amazing that Federer's wife didn't go into labour with their first child - that would have made for an interesting birth certificate - place of birth? - Centre Court, Wimbledon!

 

Just call me Delia!

As usual, Monday meant domestic things - shopping, laundry - yawn, yawn.  However, I also had one of those 'what needs to be used up' sessions.  First of all it was the fruit bowl - some plums and apples.  First stop of course was my favourite Delia book - and there it was - a recipe for spice plum and apple chutney!

Next, an investigation of the vegetable drawers in the fridge.  Sweet potatoes, sweet yellow peppers and leeks - it might sound a slightly strange combination, but it has produced some tasty soup for tomorrow's dinner (as usual the soup is thick enough to stand a spoon up in!)

 

The third thing wasn't using things up - it is just a little treat for Malcolm to take when he goes to see his Dad tomorrow - strawberries dipped in chocolate (I'm keeping this one for me!)

 

On Saturday night we watched Mama Mia! (again!) and in between singing along with all those wonderful songs, I finished Oliver's quilt

 

It is just so cute and colourful - I love it!

 

As promised, the next stages in making Stuart's cushions.  If you haven't made cushion covers this way before, the assembly seems strange - you start by putting the front right side down

 

Then the two pieces of the back go on right side up, aligning the outer edges so that they overlap, then pinning them in place

 

Why do I put the pins in at right angles?  So that I can take them out as I go, as I sew the binding on

 

I stitched the binding on to the two sides first.  It was then trimmed and pinned in place on the wrong side

 

The other two strips were then added and trimmed (leaving enough to turn in at the corners).  The cushion cover now looks like this

 

The binding is just pinned on the back, but I hope to hand-stitch it in place tomorrow, when we have our last Kist, before taking a break for the summer.

 

Almost done!

As promised, I took Oliver's quilt to patch'n'chat yesterday.  After trimming it to size, I then cut strips for the binding, which I folded in half and ironed

 

This is the first strip, seen from the right side

 

and this is it stitched into place on the wrong side

 

I hope to finish the hand-sewing of the binding this evening!

 

When Stuart was here for a visit (quite) a few weeks ago, he chose fabrics for some new cushions.  Somehow they just didn't get done, so this afternoon I went out to the studio determined to get on with them.

 

The cream fabric was a sample curtain, the coffee coloured one a remnant - these two are for the fronts of the cushions.  The pale green fabric is a man-made 'suede', also a remnant, which is for the backs.

 

The two cream and the two coffee fronts

 

The eight pieces to make the backs

I am putting binding on the cushions, in the same way that I bind a quilt.  Those of you who have been reading the blog long enough, will remember that's how I did my Jennie Rayment cushion.  (If you haven't been reading it that long - why not?  You've missed all sorts of wonderful things!!)  I decided to bind the cushions with black, to go with his black leather sofas.

 

The binding strips folded in half and ironed, and the edge on the green fabric turned over and ironed, ready to hem (as it doesn't fray, it only needs turned over once).  So are we ready to sew - no, not quite, there is one last thing to do

 

Before I start a new project, I always clean the machine.  The lint on the brush is just a fraction of what was under the bobbin case!!  I also always put in a new needle.  Now I can start sewing.....  but I'll tell you about that next time!

 

Knitting and sewing!

Yes, today's content is all about knitting and sewing, after the distractions of the last two days!

First, what do you do with a pile of squares?

 

Well - influenced by the way I assemble quilts, I have started sewing them into blocks of four.  Certainly as far as patchwork is concerned, sewing squares into blocks and then joining the blocks keeps things square.  If you sew them into long strips and then join them, there is more chance of the end result being distorted, so I'm applying that principle to my throw.

 

Tomorrow afternoon when I go to patch'n'chat, I will be getting on with Oliver's quilt.  I thought I had sewn in all the ends, but when I laid the quilt out to take a photo - oh no, of course I has missed one!  Don't worry, I sewed it in before I took the photo

 

Now, I know the last photo is of a book - but it is a book about knitting, so I think it's allowed!  I was jumping up and down with excitement when I saw this book in Tesco this morning (ok, not literally, but in my mind I was!)  I so enjoyed the first book, (even if I did weep buckets at the end) I think I might have to read this before I finish the book I am currently reading (which is a big thick one that I'm only half way through).  So what is this wonderful book .....

 

While I'm writing this, we are watching the first semi-final of the cricket Twenty20 World Cup - it's exciting stuff!  (Yes, I know most of you will think that exciting cricket is an oxymoron!)  The second semi is tomorrow and the final is on Sunday.  We will hardly have time to draw breath before Wimbledon starts, then of course England play Australia in the Ashes Tests - but in case you think I'm a sports fanatic, don't worry, I don't watch rugby, despite living in the Borders, where they are all rugby mad (when not out on their horses!) and I only watch football when Malcolm makes me watch Newcastle lose play!

Chained to the sewing machine!

I spent yesterday afternoon and this afternoon in the studio, working on Oliver's quilt.  The construction of it might have been quick and easy, but the quilting is taking considerably longer.  I have now quilted all the tractors

 

They look lovely on the back, but not quite so lovely on the front ....

 

Non-quilters will probably be wondering why all the ends are on the front - it's so you don't sew over them - after you've had to unpick your quilting because you have sewn over the thread on the back, you make sure you don't do it again!!  I sat and sewed in most of the ends last night while we were watching the cricket, and I'll sew in the rest tonight, when England will be hoping to win to stay in the competition.

The next stage was to meander quilt round the tractor pictures, so I changed to the free motion foot and dropped the feed-dogs

 

The variegated thread gives extra interest

 

The quilting gives a lovely texture on the back

 

While the fleece makes a lovely cuddly quilt, it does stretch a lot, and by the time the centre is quilted, it has distorted quite a bit.  To try to stabilise the shape, I put the walking foot back on and quilted the borders with straight lines.  I quite often finish a quilt like this - I like the chequered effect in the corners

 

All(!) that remains now is to trim the edges and put on the binding - that will probably have to wait until Friday, as I have a rather busy week!

 

Malcolm very kindly washed my car for me today - when I'm heading back with the shopping trolley tomorrow morning, I will have to remember that I am looking for a RED car, not a MUD-coloured one!  And .... even as I type this he is busy cooking the dinner - roast duck with his signature orange sauce!

The big reveal

It's Friday, so of course this afternoon was chat'n'patch.  Pam has been working hard on a quilt which contains a lot of Laura Ashley fabrics, which someone had given her.  She has completed the main part, and had brought it in so that she could select fabrics for her outer borders

 

Although all the blocks are the same, the different fabrics make some of them look quite dissimilar.  Pam was in a bit of a state this afternoon, as she had just got word this morning that she has finally got a date for her hip replacement - so hopefully the next time you see her, she will be doing a quick Strathspey round the room!  Just behind Pam, you can see Jane, who recently not only broke, but also dislocated her elbow (ouch), but she is such a dedicated quilter, she was still sewing while encased in plaster from her upper arm to her wrist!

I was busy working on Oliver's quilt.  The quilting doesn't really show on the right side, so here is a detail from the wrong side, showing where I have been quilting round one of the tractors

 

On the knitting front, I have now finished my thirty squares, although there was a slight hiccup last night.  Before I started the last square, I counted the finished ones... and there were only twenty seven, instead of twenty nine.  Oh no, had I counted wrongly, I only had enough yarn for one more square.  However, further investigation revealed two squares which had jumped out the back of the basket and were tunnelling under the armchair to freedom, to a land where they could be what they wanted to be ... heck, they could even be circles (oops, sorry, a little flight of fancy crept in there!)

 

So, now, to the main event, the big reveal .....

We brought the mirror back from Indonesia - can you see that the curved band at the top matches the wall!  Malcolm gave me the phone holder for my birthday ages ago - it matches too!  We got the 'Anne's kitchen' sign in Florida, when we took Stuart to Disneyworld (that was in 1990!!)

 

I bought the antique hooks for Malcolm in Majorca this year - they look great with our two copper pans

 

Do you think I like chickens?

 

The kitchen was painted in matt paint, but we much prefer silk finish as it reflects the light - especially as the kitchen faces north west, and doesn't get the sun until late in the day.

 

I know I keep saying it, but I love my dresser - and did you notice that cheeky little monkey has sneaked into the photo!

Have a lovely weekend, love, Anne

A busy weekend

I don't know where the weekend went - suddenly it was Monday morning!  However, progress was made with the squares for the throw - I have now done 19 from 12 balls of yarn, with 7 left, so I'm hoping to do 30

 

I didn't get as much work done on the baby quilt as I had hoped to, but I did get it ironed and then layered up with the fleece (sorry about the patch of light, but I have veluxes in the studio roof, and the sun wouldn't oblige by popping behind a cloud)

 

I put the walking foot on the machine

 

I did get a little of the quilting done, but I'll wait until I've done some more before I take another photo.

 

This afternoon I went for my last session of acupuncture.  I'm still amazed how having needles stuck in you makes you relax, but yet again I fell asleep!  While I enjoyed the sessions, I'm not sure if they were of any great therapeutic value......

 

When I came home, my eye was caught by this iris, which has just flowered in the front garden

 

I also couldn't resist taking a photo of these two poppies.  Although they are past their best, they remind me of blowsy old theatrical ladies, all too much rouge and black stockings wrinkled round their ankles - and a half bottle of gin hidden in the chamber pot!!

Oliver's quilt

After lunch, I went off to Borderland Fabrics, determined to get on with the quilt for my new great-nephew.  I started with strips ....

 

which I stitched together....

 

I then cut strips of strips (!) and put borders round the tractor fabric .....

Once I have given it a good iron, I will layer it with this lovely blue fleece

 

Then of course I have to quilt it - I haven't decided yet how I will quilt it - perhaps quilting round the tractors, and a bit of meandering on the grass!  Then I will use the rest of the strips to make the binding - a quick and easy way to make a lovely bright quilt for the newest member of the family!

 

Have a good weekend, love Anne