WorkUp Page Series

Series by definition means coming one after the other; I make no promises but I have begun a 'series' of scrapbook pages reflecting on and culminating in photo-documents of the quilting work I have done over the past ten years. That marks the time of our being in North Carolina and my actually having a sewing room in which to work (a first!).


Page one of the photo layouts is "Tea Cozies," a part of life and dining that has been very important to me. I traveled within and studied British culture for decades, being fortunate enough to have had tea in many places: The Grovsner House, Liberty's of London, Harrod's, the Birmingham Museum of Arts, and several historical house estates including Chatsworth with the Duchess of Devonshire. But my favorite was always Fortum and Mason on Piccadilly, tea vendor to the world. For that reason I felt a responsibility to spread the cultural habit, not easy in a land of coffee drinkers.

Because I was smitten with tea drinking and tea culture years ago when it came to making gifts I adopted the habit of making quilted tea cozies. Americans are less acquainted with the tea cozy for keeping the 'pot hot' as it is not necessary in the age of the microwave but the British will always use them if not for energy savings for the decorative quality they bring to the table.

The page shown is just nine of many of the quilted pot covers; some with pot holders, place mats, table runners or other table accessories. Others were given away years ago before the notion of documenting via photography occurred to me. All these have been shot in the digital age and with my recently acquired scrapbooking skills are the few that will prove my efforts.

Of those pictured, the lower right is the first cozy made for my sister, the second being middle row left, to match her newly acquired kitchen scheme. The bottom row center is the orange tea cozy made for the Orange County Arts Commissioner, and mid-row right (red), is the rancho-themed set made for niece Meghan's wedding present. The cozy is almost always made with a color scheme in mind and a mess of scraps begins the process.

Yes I do have tea cozies, three currently and yes, I did use them. Until quite recently when digestion problems caused the doctor to say NO to all caffeine; coffee, tea, chocolate etc. (Double Bummer). Perhaps one day soon.

Also See:
http://www.fortumandmason.com/
http://www.chatsworth.org/
www.artsorange.org

TEA TIME

A cup of tea is always right for a cold, blistery winter's day, but I like to add some excitement to tea time by making tea cozies. What, you ask, are those?

In Europe and especially in England where the ambient room temperature is much cooler than most American homes, the cozy is essential to keeping 'the pot, hot.' Another words the heat in the pot lasts much longer if you keep it covered. While you may not think your table needs a cozy, I beg to differ. Since DH decided that our winter-set temperature would be 69 degrees instead of the 72 degrees I prefer, we have been creating a smaller carbon footprint (he really wanted 68 degrees but I can endure only so much).

Partly to keep the pot, hot but for more emotional reasons than practical I found a way to used up my stash of 'crumbs,' as per Bonnie K. Hunter and give my relatives something of me that is handmade and I hope they will use in years to come. Today I am finishing the stitches on the table top set for niece Amanda, recently remarried and inherited two step-daughters in the process. Amanda gets not only a cozy, but a scrappy table runner, two placemats and two blue-white Williamsburg reproduction dinner plates. Jan is also planning to add a teapot to the set before the hand off later this year.


Yesterday I delivered a tea cozy and hot pad to sister Jan (meeting at Exit 154 on I-40),a second cozy for her to fit the scheme of her new kitchen. The yellow and green lemon printed fabric was cut from her new apron, the rest are scraps of this 'n that (right).



Last fall I shipped a tea cozy and runner to niece Meghan, married to husband Blake in September. Her scheme was intended to look 'upscale BBQ' to fit their ranching and horse riding lifestyle (red tea pot a gift from Jan).

And come Monday one more set will be done and shipped out to Texas (right). Cousin Ron's has been in the works for two summers. It is time he had a hot cup of tea before the winter ends. Ron's is done mostly in blue and white because I have it on good authority that he inherited Aunt Inez's Blue Willow ware. The teapot is also a gift from Jan.

Even before Ron's was in progress, our niece in common, Andromeda was married last May and for her Florida home she received a table set (bright Florida colors below). Show with the floral side of the table runner the opposite side is the deep gold with white trim.

Today's major BLOG intention was to post several blogs that have captured my imagination lately. First, you may not know that the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Charlotte NC is exhibiting orchid-designed quilts: see Susan Brubaker Knapp's chronicles the preparation for the show “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched,” at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (DSBG) at : wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/.

These are fantastic orchids finished in fabulous fabrics, giving me all sorts of ideas about my own experience photographing orchids. Susan's photos document the hanging and installation of the show which are reminiscent of working with Glenda Alexander a few months ago in mounting "Naturally Inspired," a DOQ exhibition at the newly-re-opened NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill.

Ellen Guerrant also writes about the orchid show and includes her 'Hearts' showing for the Valentine's weekend: www.ellenguerrant.blogspot.com/.

You may also enjoy the Subversivie Stitchers blogsite: http://subversivestitch.blogspot.com/. See the introduction to "A Single Thread, a Novel" from Marie Bostwich.

And lastly, a new site for me: http://susanshie.blogspot.com/2010/01/catch-up-blog-entry-nov-09-to-jan-2010.html. Quilter Susan Shie describes herself as an 'outsider,' but after examining her quilts the word needs re-defining. . . . . . . until later...bbf