Monday, January 10, 2011

quilting pictures in my head

for a number of weeks now, i've had a recurring picture in my head of a patchwork tea cosy.  it was, in my mind, a project that would use up all those little scraps that you end up with after larger quilt projects. but i hadn't really had any other quilt projects going on until recently. it was getting more urgent and the past few days, i actually woke up thinking about this tea cosy design, so on sunday, i sat down with the scrap basket and started to sew.

scraps of anna maria horner's innocent crush line
and it began to come together, remarkably like the picture i had in my head. even down to the colors.


after a week of building quilts following directions from the marvelous fresh quilting book, it was quite liberating to take the experience i'd gained and forge off on my own. to do a bit more experimenting and to feel a bit more playful. i used malka's advice in the actual free-form quilting i did with my machine, so i didn't abandon her lovely book altogether. a project this size was perfect to experiment and get comfortable with the free-form quilting, as it's quite manageable to maneuver under the quilting foot. i had intended to back this with an old felted sweater, but the size was a bit wrong for the felted sweaters i had on hand, so i've used a thick cotton batting and a simple purple cotton on the back, more like a normal quilt.

side 1
i'm quite surprised how this project went from a pile of scraps and an (albeit rather clear) picture in my head to a beautiful handmade tea cosy that i'm now using with a smile as i make my morning tea. and i'm even more surprised how much it did end up looking like i had pictured it. it was one of those moments of inspiration that kept coming back to me - a picture, fully formed in my mind, flashing into my head unbidden at odd moments. i will definitely be working on those more often.

side 2

the shape ended up a little wonky on the top, but i'm ok with that - it just lends to the handmade charm. even husband really likes it - and it brightens up the kitchen significantly.

what are you going to create today?

18 comments:

Elizabeth said...

WOW!!!!

That is a very beautiful teacozy. Keep playing around.

Any plans for Manilla or just reminiscing?

Tracy Golightly-Garcia said...

Hello Julie

You know I love it!!!!!! I don't have a teacozy--:)

Have a great week

Best
Tracy :)

inna karenina said...

wow, it's so beautiful!

MissBuckle said...

I love it!

julochka said...

just happened to be using the manila cup today. :-)

Sammi said...

I SAW ROBOT SALT AND PEPPER POTS! I can't remember where, but that robot reminded me of them, and I think you should have them.

I love your tea cosy it looks awesome :D

Numinosity said...

Lovely tea cozy indeed. Glorious color!

xoxo Kim

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Life is alittle wonky, but as long as there is charm and bold color and function, it's awesome. This describes your tea cozy, too :-)

Kathryn Dyche said...

It's beautiful, I love it.

Char said...

totally rad! i could see coffee pot cozies, blender cozies, and so forth. all bright and colorful - great pops of color in a kitchen.

Life As I Know It said...

oh, I love it!

Unfortunately, all I'm creating today is 23 spring hats for 23 kindergartners ;)

mrs mediocrity said...

i love when the final product looks like the picture in my head, in whatever medium i am using.
and, um...i want one of those!

Lisa at lil fish studios said...

I love those colors together. It turned out beautifully.

I made mittens today, out of neccessity, Coasters, out of obligation. And wool pieces for a rug for me, out of a desire to do it. Wanna guess which one was my favorite? I suspect you'll know.

The Queens Table said...

Love the fun colors! Always great when the image in your head turns out so wonderful and sometimes even better than your imagination! You are in the flow now!

Anonymous said...

these vivid colors caught my eye while i was reading your other post. your scraps blended beautifully for this cozy...great job! and, yes, it would put a smile on my face in the morning as well!

celkalee said...

Adorable, great color. I had the great fortune to meet and learn from Kaffe Fassett recently. Wow, color explosion! Your artistic sense of color reminds me of him......

Helen said...

I love your teacosy.....so colourful and funky!

Lily said...

This tea cozy is a beautiful! love it!

tea cozy