A finish, a fire, scorch protection and Craft Napa 2021
Finally, I finished “Tea and Silk”! I’ve been working on it for maybe a month and it really should not have taken that long. I wrote about it previously here:
This one was an emerging project – I didn’t have a plan in mind when I started it. When I first put the tea bags on that gorgeous silk, I swooned:
My photography does not capture the sheen of that fine silk, it is luscious. I made the tea bags in one of the most fun classes ever – Libby Williamson‘s Tea Bag Art class at Craft Napa last year.
I did have fun embellishing the tea bags with the simplest of hand embroidery. It was a little tough getting the needle through all those layers, but totally worth it.
Initially I put the tea bags right atop the silk, but they lost their importance that way. Layering them up on the hand dyed wool created prominence. Misty Fuse secured them to the little wool quilt-lette. The wool helped them sit up higher and it also framed the tea bag with a darker value. That was definitely a good choice.
I wanted a colorful sashing and found the well-aged batik in my stash.
The back was fun. I almost always use a high value contrast thread on my backs because I like the back to have a statement too. Oh how sweet – thank you for not mentioning that the binding is a hot mess. I appreciate your restraint:-) I’ll probably fix it because it bugs me and I know how to do a perfect binding.
I had fun designing that motif for the corner. I’m pleased. I will say I am NOT a fan of that Mettler poly and I wrote about that whole process in my previous post. It frayed and snapped and was thick then thin, highly annoying. I like the final design and execution. I’m not sure if I will be showing it. It is “pet quality”, a term I also wrote about in my previous post. Dang, now I wish I’d taken more care in the quilting because I’m otherwise pleased with my quilt.
In other news…it is summer, and it is California, so there are fires:
That is not a beautiful sunset across the street from me. That is mid-afternoon and there is an eerie glow from the fires beyond. It feels other-worldy, like the apocalypse is coming. And it’s humid and 105 and windy. Ick.
And that white stuff is ash. But we are fortunate to not be in the line of fire. Prayers are needed to cover those affected by the fires and there are many, including lots of animals too.
And I’m working another project. We love to sit on our back patio and the view is lovely:
But the arms on our patio furniture get wicked hot. I hatched a plan to fix that:
That is my first prototype of my arm cover. It will make it much more comfortable to sit out there – it is nicely padded and will cover the scorching hot metal arms. Here’s a peek into my materials:
Now I just need to make 19 more!
Aaaaand all the workshops and details of Craft Napa – Uncorked at Home are up. There is an even better selection of workshops this year! Because you are working from home, you’ll be able to “attend” no matter where you live.
Save the dates: Jan 13 – 17, 2021. There are many Craft Napa surprises to be revealed over time. Registration will open on Sept 15, 2020 at 9AM PST.
I’ll be teaching Doodle Quilting which is such a fun and encouraging class. If you’re newer to free motion quilting or even a brave beginner, this is the class to up your free motion quilting skills. Save Friday, January 15 to join in. You can start with your own design or use one of mine if you’d like. No matter what, we will have fun, you’ll learn some new designs and, how to skillfully combine designs. I can’t wait!
I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.
Love how you put together such different elements and they just play perfectly well together! Beautiful quilting and the teabags are little gems.
Thank you Lena! This one led me along, I really had no idea how it would look in the end. It does showcase my silks!
First, your Tea and Silk project is amazing. Your quilting designs are just sublime, especially the corner motifs, which kind of remind me of the way elegantly swagged theatre curtains from the 19th century would draw up to reveal the stage — so very effective and unique. I love everything about this piece. If this is your idea of “pet quality,” I would love to be adopted as your pet… ;-). You should link this post up with my Long Arm Learning linky party on Tuesday. Any kind of machine quilting is fair game, not just quilting done on a long arm machine, and I know that the other quilters in our little group would be inspired by your Tea and Silk piece and/or interested in learning more about your online Doodle Quilting class with Craft Napa.
Oh thank you for the invite, I must remember to post. I thought it was just for long armers! Thank you for your kind words, it is a little unusual and yes, somehow it did acquire a 19th century feel, have no idea where that came from!
Thanks for linking up with Long Arm Learning, Jenny!
The tea quilt is indeed luscious, and you are right about the blue wool behind the bags — the perfect way to highlight them. I think your binding is just fine, but then if it makes you crazy… ;-)
Hope you and yours stay safe from the fires — and everything else down there.
Thank you Margaret! Yeah, that binding is driving me nuts, will have to fix that. We should be safe in our area but so many are affected, including animals.
Beautiful work! Are those about the size of a tea bag? Or real tea bags? Your view from the front, and from the back of your home is so wonderful! I’m sorry about the fires and smoke. We have family in Modesto and have been hearing about it.
Those are real tea bags that were part of a kit of a class that I took from Libby Williamson at craft Napa last year. It was one of the most fun classes I’ve ever taken. Fortunately that the smoke is gone from my area but the fires remain in other areas.
ThankYOU for the invite!
Really lovely quilting, and how gorgeous does that background set off the teal thread! Wonderful color choices, and I’d have never said a word about the binding. Hurrah for done! Stay safe.
Thank you Julie!Yep, that binding… The color choices were outside of my normal comfort zone.
I just checked out the Craft Napa site and it makes no sense to me! How will you teach a machine quilting class online? I could understand a hand piecing or quilting class where I could sit in front of the computer, but not this. I recently did another quilting class, but the instructor did videos which I could watch as I needed to…
Hi Debbie; I’ve been teaching online and it works out well! Just as it does with a piecing class, students work on their own after instruction from me and share their work using their phone or tablet. I do have pre-recorded videos of my quilting and in some classes, that is available via a private FaceBook group. It’s fun and students are loving it!
Ahhhhh…..the Facebook group…..I am not on Facebook nor do I intend to get back on it… I guess I will check with some other teachers to see what their plan is.
Thanks so very much for your help!
FB is very useful at times and I am getting information in private groups that I would not have access to otherwise, works for me. Go have some virtual fun!