This is FASCINATING!!

I didn't realise I could speak so many languages!
Till next time.
tich

Progress!!

A little bit of progress. This little quilt has been sulking in a corner, as I have been trying to make up my mind what kind of wadding to use, when I go to quilt it. It is a bit crushed and forlorn looking. Hopefully it will look a bit better soon!
Till next time.
tich

Surprise Giftie!!

This little surprise arrived in the post. Isn't it cute? I got it from one of my Bloggie friends.

It is made to be placed under your bobbin on your sewing machine.

I am working on my old Bernina 801 at the moment. Doesn't my new bobbin protector look much better than my old red one?

The bobbin protector is supposed to help stop your bobbin rattling, spinning round too quickly and to protect your machine ...

... but I think it also enhances my machine and makes it look snazzy! 

Only trouble is I was going to put this one on one of my featherweights, but my Bernina is crying, saying it wants it! 

 Oh well, I guess I will just have to get out the crochet hook and have a bash! Thank you so much, Cyn, for my cute present!!
Till next time.
tich

No Tangle Embroidery and September 18th 2014!!

You will remember this is the BOM 'Harrington & Hannah' which was given out free last year on the Raspberry Rabbits website. Click here and scroll down if you have missed any of the patterns or instructions. There is even a pattern for a cute rabbity postcard there as well. I have been trying to catch up with the blocks and have had my embroidery threads out. I want to thank one of the ladies who sent me such lovely gifts after my sister died. Unfortunately my computer died recently and I lost the database with all the details and addresses of the people who were so kind to send me such lovely goodies. One lady sent me this -

Two beautiful bundles of embroidery threads.

Look at the colours!!

Scrumptious!!

I can't make up my mind which one I like best!! Warm and wonderful, or ... 

...cool and cute!!

When I was at college studying embroidery, I was taught this trick to stop all the threads tangling up into an unmanageable mess.

 Fold the threads in half, to form a manageable length for embroidering (this bundle is just a perfect length for this). 

Cut!!

 Wrap a small piece of embroidery thread firmly round the cut end and knot. The hank of threads now has to be pleated . If you do not have anybody to hold onto one end (my husband was mucking out the horses) ...

 ... hang the hank on a hook where you hang your mugs (you can see some of mine 'hanging about'!)

Centering the hank on the hook, pleat those luscious threads together.

 Hold the end firmly... 

 ... and wrap another small piece of thread firmly round the end. Knot.

 To extract a thread, hold the end, pull out a thread slowly.
   

 No tangles...

... just beautiful threads!! (I did not bad photographing one-handed!)
When I was at college, using a lot of different threads, I used to cut lengths of the various threads, tie and pleat them as above. This meant I did not have to carry loads of embroidery skeins around with me, and I certainly had no tangles.

And

Devolution for Scotland!

545 days to go!!

September 18th 2014!!

Vote YES!!!!!!!!

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Till next time.

tich

The Great Tapestry of Scotland

I am so excited!! I am just about jumping up and down in my seat!! The Great Tapestry of Scotland is coming over to Sanday, and I have been asked to help coordinate it coming over here and get the word spread.

The Great Tapestry is the brainchild of Alexander McCall Smith CBE FRSE and designed by artist Andrew Crummy.  I will let you read all the details about it here, but needless to say I am jumping at the chance to take part in what will be part of our Scottish heritage for years to come! I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!

Till next time.

tich

Giveaway - Again!!

Well, I must have done something right the last time, as Fons & Porter asked me to review another e-book on quiltmaking. This time, the e-book is about modern quilts, and although smaller than the last e-book, this one has three, absolutely beautiful, modern quilts to make. Modern quilts - what does that mean? I had visions of grotesque colours and unsewn seams, but I could not have been more wrong!! The e-book says that modern quilts are -

'notable for their minimalist aesthetic, use of bright, bold

colors with large doses of white and other neutral solids,
asymmetrical designs, and free-form piecing. These quilts
are meant to be fun to make, and comfy to use.'Thank goodness I did not have to choose which pictures to select to show you, (all the quilts can be seen on the cover) because I would not have been able to choose between them! I raved about the last e-book, but this one is equally as good.

Readers of this blog will know that I love traditional patterns, but I think I have been converted! I cannot make up my mind which one I like best - or which one I am going to make first - you will notice I said make!! Baubles and Beads is a bright, cheerful quilt, with lots of lovely pastels and white - a beautiful combination. Rainbow Rhythm is made from half square triangle with a black border and is outstanding and Lemon Squeezy uses a quilt-as-you-go method to make an easy, vibrant, eye-catching quilt. 

The great news is that Fons & Porter are letting you all have access to this book again. Aren't they wonderful? I can't thank them enough for letting me have the opportunity to review such a great e-book and also for you to get this book free, Go on!! Click HERE and get going!!

(This post should have gone out at the beginning of the week, but I had to go over for an emergency appointment at the dentist to get an abscess drained - sorry!)
Till next time.
tich

RUBBISH!!!!!

Normally our beach is beautiful. I walk round by the road, or across the bay, depending on whether the tide is in or out, and I never know what surprise is awaiting me. If the tide is out, I can see the sand stretching into the distance, begging me to walk along it. 

Frequently I find a really beautiful stone. This one had particularly nice markings. There was a circle on the face and underneath, but in different positions. I might find an unusual shell, or a beautiful piece of seaweed, and sometimes, if there has been rough weather, some tangles (a type of seaweed) may have been uprooted at sea and swept to shore. 

Our dog likes investigating the seaweed. It must be the smell!!

Recently, I have never seen the beech covered with so much weed. It was like someone had been trying to build walls and passageways. 

Look how high the tangles are beside the dunes.

Look how small Penny is beside the tangles! 

Notice the stones at the bottom of the dunes. They are flung up there during the storms. On other beaches I have seen them totally covering the dunes, but not on this beach.

Now I have told you before, that, in Orkney, the weather changes very swiftly, sometimes three and four times a day, and it is the same with the beaches. I thought it would take ages for the tide to take away the seaweed, as we were having really nice weather, but a few days later ... 

... it was almost clear... but then the next day...

... it was back again.

Sometimes the seaweed is swept up the beech and then the wind sweeps on top of it, to make it look as if it is growing there right in the middle of the beech. I know i have been rambling...

BUT...

THIS IS WHAT THIS POST IS ABOUT...

As well as seaweed, the sea brings in the flotsam and jetsam that people discard without thought.

 A brush...

 and shovel,

 a crate lid,

 one right handed glove,

 one right handed glove,

 loads of litter,

 one left handed glove - a pair, who would have thought,

a creel,

 the dashboard of a car (!!!!) and...

would you believe it, one shoe!! How could you lose one shoe??? In the picture below you can see my husband going to look at a crate. He uses them to keep the plant pots close together, so that they don't blow away!

 We really do need to think what we are doing. Our beaches are not too bad, but I would like you all to look a this trailer of a film coming out later on -

CLICK HERE

EVERYBODY SHOULD WATCH THIS!!
Till next time.
tich