A welcome back from an old friend and goodbye to a new friend....

It has been a wee while since I have blogged.  Alas and alack, I like this blogging but I also like sewing and meeting up with friends and my darling hubby back from the sea.

First and foremost my darling hubby Andrew. His ship came back from the Caribbean, sailing into the East coast of Scotland where I drove over to meet him.

He (and the rest of the ship) have been very busy over the last few months and I have missed him sooooo much.  He is very supportive of my sewing and never even comments on the increasing size of various piles of delicious fabrics and hanks of wool.  I will be driving over to see him tomorrow (after visiting the Good Food show at the SECC).

With the joy of Andrew coming back there was a wee goodbye to say too.  A new friend of mine, Carrie, has flown back to the States (Seattle) today.  Yesterday, along with the other Flava Girls, the Gourock knitting group where I met Carrie, we had a lovely meal at the Tontine Hotel in Gourock and said our farewells before 3 of us had to catch the ferry back to Dunoon.  I have only known Carrie for a few months, when we met up most Thursday nights at the knitting group, but during this time I have found her to be a genuine and charming lady with immense talent.  We all consider ourselves to be so much better off for getting to know Carrie and it was our complete pleasure to give her a spinning wheel as a gift for her to take away back across the pond.

Happy spinning Carrie and haste ye back to our shores.

Angel Swap

I tried to include this part in the original blog for today but could not upload more than one photo so they are going to be added separately.

This project is for the Angel Swap. I spent ages deciding what to make, on the them of Roses, Roses, Roses. Roses appear, aplenty and I also included some Harris Tweed, a real favourite of mine and something I hope will add a touch of the West Coast of Scotland for the recipient of this.

The final completed project I want to share with you today is Olivia's Quilt. Olivia is the new baby daughter of a friend of mine. Born a couple of weeks ago.

Well, as you can see, I have now managed more than one photo in a blog post... I should really edit the first one and join it all up but I would rather go sew.

Would love to hear from you via a comment.

Cheerio from Dunoon.

Bags of Evidence

Sometimes we can talk quilting and shop quilting and enthuse quilting, but actually completing quilting is another thing entirely!

Well I decided I was going to put my stitching where my mouth is and complete more projects! Two projects were completed out of necessity, the best motive for production yet ... They were the Friendship bag swap and the Angel swap. The pictures are here too!

I have to say that this is not the best photograph ever, but it shows some of the colours. I filled the bag with some goodies but I forgot to photograph that !! Off it all went to Norway.

The bag swap was great fun, a small swap in as much as the work needed to make the project but the results are really nice. I think this was a great idea and a wonderful swap.

The weekend is here!!!

I have been looking forward to the weekend, well basically since Monday. Now pelase don't think that I do not enjoy my work, generally I do, it is a great organisation that I work for but sometimes the niff naff and trivia just detracts from the general enjoyment......

Hopefully I can have a happy and productive weekend, there is afterall so many items that are clammering for attention. If it decides to rain this weekend which will not be that unlikely, I will be a bit more productive as my energies will not be torn between going and and staying in to sew.

My back is sore and my energy levels are low. Not sure that my production levels will be high after all.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hugs

Anne

Texan cruisers and Australian Pipebands

Today I went to Glasgow to meet up with my son then to to see the World Piping Championships in Glasgow. Yesterday the weather was abysmal with rain etc etc and I was rather concerned that Glasgow green would not be the most comfortable place to be and be a bit more like Glasgow brown. The rain, however eased off this morning and by early afternoon the sun was out (with the wee ocasional shower but nothing serious). With our changeable weather, however, by the time we arrived at the ferry to go home, the wind was up and the rain was back on.

Now my journey up to Glasgow involves a ferry and then a train ride. On the train I met a lovely couple from Texas (Waco to be exact though I dont know if that is how you spell it). Anyway they came off a cruise ship at Greenock and decided to take the more interesting option and the train journey to Glasgow. I applaud them for that as they were working on a tightish time scale I believe that we see more when using public transport. They planned to take the tourist bus around Glasgow so they could see as much as possible before they had to come back. I hope they managed and got back to Greenock in time to catch thier cruise ship! I ended up giving them a hug in Glasgow central station and have thought about them alot since wishing them bon voyage. I hope they had a good sail out of the firth of Clyde (and past my house :-) ) as I often watch the cruise liners pass by. They were also looking for a castle. There is a castle on route but they were too late and I dont think you can actually see it from the train. They asked me if the purple flowers on the sidings were heather but I explained it was a weed (or a wildflower). I question myself whether I should have said it was heather. If anyone is reading this what is your opinion???

As i have already mentioned, we went to see the World pipe band championships at Glasgow. This was a good event and not too muddy underfoot. Amongst several Grade 1 bands (these are classed as the best pipebands) we watched and listened to an Australian pipe band which made me very nostalgic for the holiday my darling hubby and I had "down under" earlier this year. They apparently didn't win but I enjoyed them....

I also did a wee bit of shopping, getting some lovely Rowan wool to make a jumper for myself for Winter. It is georgeous wool and a lovely pattern amd I spent far too much!

Must go, dinner has arrived...

Woolfish,St Abbs, Scotland.. www.woolfish.co.uk: Knitting Retreat & Gardening Scotland

Woolfish,St Abbs, Scotland.. www.woolfish.co.uk: Knitting Retreat & Gardening Scotland

From Regs to Riches

It is a sad'ish fact of life that there is just not enough time to do everything we would like, especially in the needlework department. With this in mind I wonder why I found more things to do.

Yesterday I took part if a workshop on rag rug making. This is a craft which I used to do with my mother when I was a child and I loved it then that is why I was keen to try it again. Luckilly one of the very few experts and teachers in the field lives here in Dunoon. Her name is Mary Dayton and she is a lovely lady. Anyway she has been hold some classes in Dunoon lately but for one reason and another I have not been able to go along. However yesterday I managed to and I had such a good time! As usual my enthusiasm was fired and I have added this craft to the list of things to do. I should have taken my camera to the class yesterday but forgot it and today the battery is flat so i need to charge it up then take a photo or two of what I produced yesterday. As usualy I have great plans and i would like to make a rag rug or two for the home somewhere. My only concerns with that is that my darling Phoebe whould just consider it another bed and as much as I love her she can be a little smelly and currently is shedding so much hair!!!!

Today the weather is sunny and it is not raining. This means I really need to go and tame the garden a bit. I live in such a lovely part of the world and I would love you all to see the view of the river Clyde i have just now and the lovely lillies I have growing in the pot on the decking.

I will post some photos whne I charge to camera up.