Recently viewed

You haven't yet viewed any products on our store. If you've been here before, you may need to sign in.

Stravaiging

Stravaiging graphic

A visit to Farfield Mill

A few days before Christmas I was able to visit Farfield Mill to see their current textile exhibitions before they closed for the festive season.

What we did on our holidays

Christmas 2024 was spent in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales (in northern England). We booked a week in a wee first floor apartment with woodburning stove on the southern edge of the green in the village of Reeth. We have visited before, together and separately, but never stayed a night.

Chocolate Orange Bread

Because we all need a little escape, and hiding in a chocolate infused bubble works briefly.

Falling leaves, slowing down

We are all just creatures, all of this planet, and only nominally in control of our bodies at any time. And if we are also all stardust, why do we expect so much of ourselves and of others? Isn’t it a feat that we can tie our own shoelaces, let alone use mobile phones and TV remotes? Why do we push onwards, feel guilty about extra coffee breaks or not ticking adequate numbers of things off lists? Where are we trying to get to?

The Border Tart’s Retreat in March 2025

This post is solely about the retreat I am planning for March next year. It is now open to all and there is a copy of the application form below to download and complete, if you would like to participate. It sets out the cost per attendee and the payment schedule. 

How you live your days...

...is how you live your life.

Mellowing?

I've been musing on my age. Not in a mournful way but choosing to embrace some of the changes the passing years bring.

Tart Retreat in 2024

This post is solely about the retreat I am planning for May next year. It is only open to newsletter subscribers so if you are a blog subscriber only then pop over to the website home page and sign up for newsletters to be eligible.

Blooming?

Summer takes me by surprise. Every day recently I have woken to the suggestion of, or actual, sunshine. It seems such a long time since the northern UK had this long a spell of warm weather. The many light hours are enriching and full of promise with early mornings and late evenings the loveliest.

Back to Lewis

The week before last was spent in the Outer Hebrides. We drove up to Ullapool, building in dog walking stops and a late picnic lunch at the edge of a forest. The crossing takes two and half hours across the stretch of water known as the Minch. It can be challenging around each equinox with high seas running but we travelled in reasonable comfort, thankfully.

Cake is always a good idea

Yesterday I had a wee cooking session and one of the outcomes was Mozart Cake.

Messy, unfocused, curiously stressful.

WARNING - Stream of consciousness ahead.

Two Northumberland Beauties

In October I wrote about being in Yorkshire. In that same North of England trip I also caught up with two rather talented women who run businesses closer to home.

Surfacing

Books. My little world would be much smaller without them and I know I am far from alone in that feeling.

Glimpses of the Past

Last week I had the good fortune to be in Halifax.

Courgette Cake Season

I like cake. Specifically I like interesting cakes/loaves with lots of flavour. (No Victoria sponges here, thank you, and buttercream about once a year)

Blissful Blues

I'm encouraging you to share the calm and beauty of natural indigo today, with a collection ranging from traditional boro to contemporary weave and block print.

Close to home

You may know I have a soft spot for the church on the corner that I pass so frequently when out with Bruce. More specifically a fondness for the churchyard itself.

Exploring Berwick

Ok, I am biased. I don't live far from this most northerly English town (although in another country) and have always had a soft spot for it. As with so many places, its once thriving main street (Marygate) is a sad shadow of its former self but there are many gems to be found.

Time and Tide and Tapestry

In April we travelled to Orkney for a week of wild weather and wide horizons. Catching up with old friends was fun, and for me seeing what I recognised after three decades away was always going to be interesting.

bordertart

🪬I love making and packaging and finding quirky fabrics to incorporate in my kits. I’ve never lost my childhood delight in playing with scraps of paper and pencils, yarn and fabric.
BUT
I have a more recent love too, planning and leading textile tours in the UK and beyond. Whole new vistas have opened up for me and I don’t want to miss a thing!
SO
The Tart shop will close late summer. In the meantime I have new makes and interesting bundles to add to the shelves. Newsletter subscribers always know about these first and often snap up my limited edition goods before I have time to tell anyone else. 
PLEASE
Sign up so you don’t miss out! There are bargains to be had from now until late summer.
THEN 
I hope to have some time to be creative in other ways for quite a while.
❤️🧶🤗
I needed a very simple project yesterday. Picked some red mix random 4ply leftovers, held them double and cast on the simplest of hats. Just love how it’s turning out!
🤗🧶❤️
🤗
Such a bright uplifting day
🌞
Picking a few blooms in the perfect shade
💜
Watching Bruce have a happy tail-wagging dream
🐾
Finding dal in the freezer - no dinner invention required
🥣
Digging out yarn to cast on a new sweater
🧶
Drinking too much coffee
☕️
Simple pleasures
🙏🏻
Taking nothing for granted
🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

NOW SOLD!
I am planning to sell my lovely Lendrum spinning wheel.
Do you know of anyone in the UK who might like it?

#lendrumwheel 
#lendrumspinningwheel 
#spinningwheelforsale 
#spinnersofinstagram 
#handspinnersofinstagram
🌼🌞🌼
Sunny Wednesday windowsill
Love the deep sills in this old place

#wednesdaywindowsill
#oldandquirkyhouse
🌞
Coffee 
in a handmade mug
on a handmade coaster
in my quiet conservatory 
on this sunny March day

What a privilege in this fractured world
🙏🏻
🇲🇦 ❤️🇲🇦
Delighted to have this wonderful book waiting for me when I got home. 
The stories of 25 women who weave, spin, make buttons, embroider and sew, keeping alive their textile traditions with strength, generosity and dignity in a rapidly developing country.

The women of Morocco rock!

#womenartisansofmorocco 
#textileartisans
#womenraiseeachotherup
🍸
Worth the wait!
A quirky hotel tonight - Morocco meets Wild West - 
After a day of fossils, a gorge walk and fascinating landscape 🌄

#moroccotour 
#highatlasmountains 
#antiatlasmountains 
#inspirationeverywhere

Newsletter

Fancy my regular newsletter in your mailbox? Just sign up here for news, early bird offers and other subscriber bonuses.

Loading