Nellie"s Needles

Monday, January 29, 2007

May Day Tea Party

This "ortwork" piece was one of eight quilts that made up the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild's entry to the 2003 AQS Ultimate Guild Challenge. We won second place.

"May Day Tea Party"- 36"x36" - 2003
I had made up several large "ortwork" pieces using scraps of fabric and thread. I also added cut apart silk flowers that I had chopped up. I made 6" blocks, then butted them together and connected them with zig-zag stitching. Those seams are reinforced with 1/2" strips of bias fabric hand-sewn over the seams on the back of the quilt.
The teapot and mugs are machine appliqued. I used the freezer paper technique. The shapes were drawn on the paper, the wax side ironed to the fabric, the shapes were cut leaving an allowance to fold over and then pressed. The handles are bias tubes of the black and white fabric stuffed with upholstery cording. The raw ends are caught under the shapes, otherwise the they hang loose. I outlined the teapot and mugs with a permanent fabric marker to define their shapes against the background.
The elixir pouring from the teapot into each mug is a long, furry yarn couched in place. It was too subtle, so I painted each furry strand using a variety of glitter glues to make the stream sparkle and seem magical.

This piece was a Christmas present to my granddaughter that year and it hangs in her bedroom.


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8 comments:

Beverly said...

Wow- I love the colors and how I can keep looking at it and continue finding something I hadn't seen before! I've no doubt your granddaughter loves having that on her bedroom wall!

Elaine Adair said...

wooo hooo - this my kind of quilt art! Wish I could figure how to 'get' to a place like this in my feeble head.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Nellie. Just stopping by to say hello from Nashville. I grew up in Oak Ridge (and Elaine above lived there for a while too), My mother lived in Knoxville until just 2 years ago. I miss opportunities to visit Gina's and the other place whose name I can't say without choking. Would love to know what brought you south and how long you've been there. Love your work.

Kay said...

What a beautiful melange of color in that background. I also like the way you keep fiddling with things to make them better: the glittler glue for instance. Not everything can be planned ahead, can it?
I posted a picture the Quilt of Valor I was working on. I took your suggestions about the border, and it worked well. Thanks.

meggie said...

Hi Nellie, I have really enjoyed meeting you, & reading your lovely informative & interesting posts. Love that you include your lovely little granddaughter too.
I am originally a Kiwi, living in the land of OZ now. I do miss our green land, & the lovely native flora.
Love your work, it seems filled with joy!
I am here from Joyce's, J's Quilting

Helen said...

That is a really cute piece of "ortwork".

Jodyrose said...

Love all of your work Nellie, a throughly delightful visit and I agree with Elaine, I wish I could figure out how to get where you are :)

Shelina said...

Wow, this is such an intricate quilt. And a pleasure to admire and look at while I drink my cappucino.