Monday, January 24, 2022

PQ 13.2 Silhouette Tea Cosy

My second project for Project Quilting 13.2 Silhouette, got done in the nick of time. This is a popular and fun challenge dreamed up by Kim at Persimon Dreams.

In my family we all love our tea, a legacy from my mum. Tea made in a pot is the best tea, of course. Making it in a mug is rather gauche, she would feel. Every pot needs a tea cosy to keep it warm longer. Yes it really does help. After my mum passed away, Dayna wanted my mum's beloved teapot, and mainly due to Covid closing the border for so long to non-essential travel, and making it difficult since it has been open, she still has yet to get said teapot. Well, now she will have a tea cosy to put on it!



I hit upon my original plan well in advance of the deadline: make a pixellated heart cushion cover just like the current pixelated baby quilt underway. It would be a large one, 26". I had over half of the 70 squares needed in my 2.5" tray, so cutting was minimal, and it sewed up quickly. I would put the cat silhouette on the heart.

Or maybe off to one side in the white space.
Or maybe have its ears poking into the heart.

When I FaceTimed Dayna to get her input, she thought the silhouette didn't work with the heart, despite the symbolism of the love she has for Harper, her cat, and how cats always just have to sit on new fabric or new quilts.

Somehow the talk turned to tea (she was drinking one at the time) and long story short, I said I could make her a tea cosy for Nana's teapot. She loved the 'Spill the tea!' quip that Brianne had come up with for her tea cosy (there are two more in my Etsy shop available), so she said have that on one side when I'm feeling petty (I like the expression feeling hissy, get it?!) and the cat on the other for when she's feeling all snug and cozy having her tea.
(Sidenote: you will notice I spell cosy for tea cosy like that, and cozy for feeling cozy and warm, like that. I can only say that there is no real reason, though cosy with an 's' is British spelling and 'z' American. Canadians tend to do a bit of both, so I guess I'm a prime example. Mum would have spelled it cosy regardless of semantics.)

This was Saturday afternoon. Yikes! So I got right to work. I had both sides done by the time I went to bed. The cat just needed stitching around her outline.
She chose this white fabric with gold dots on it by Benartex for the outer layer.

Sunday morning, I got right to.... Yin yoga with Bernie Clark. Ahh. I needed that Hips flow. And then I went to work. I used a myriad of threads. Gütermann for piecing, Sulky for quilting, outlining the silhouette, and topstitching the binding down, Aurifil 28 wt for the tea saying. Exquisite pink and Gütermann black polyester were used in the bobbin with the pink and black top threads.
The cup appliqué is in EQ8.

With a minute to spare, I got it posted on Instagram and linked up at Kim's blog.
This is not the Instagram post. That one was thrown down beside my sewing machine - SNAP! Throw it on Instagram with the hashtag and tags, quick copy the link, link up...

The page refreshed and the time left in the linkup went from 1 minute to 30! What?? Oh well, my heart rate had mostly slowed down by the time the page refreshed. Mostly.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and took a few better photos, the ones you see in this post.

In the conversation with Dayna, she asked if it was reversible, since she loved the pink hearts lining fabric, which is Island Batik. At the time, I just had my two Etsy tea cosies for reference, so I tried it and by golly they ARE! Who knew? Must update the listing I guess.

Good news: Dayna is finally coming over to visit this coming weekend. It's two years since I've seen her in person. FaceTime is wonderful, yes, but in person is just ... well no explanation needed.

16 comments:

  1. Sandra, you will surely have a cozy time with your sister, Dayna, and gift her the new cosy! I'll bet you felt like you were under a blanket of cosies as you put those final stitches in place, trying to beat the clock. The cosy is so sweet, especially knowing she has so many choices as to how to display it---the cat, the saying, the reverse side. Enjoy your long-awaited visit!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My fabulous idea for PQ 13.2 is still just a fabulous dear. Good job at getting yours done on time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No explanation is needed indeed. So glad you get to see Dayna this weekend, and what a perfect compliment to the tea pot to be ready to gift her. <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gorgeous tea cosy & that is the correct spelling. So glad you are getting to see Dayna in person & can understand your reasoning as we'd not seen one of our sons & grandchildren for over 2 years just before Christmas & that was wonderful though a few of the grown up working grandies we've not seen for nearly 3 and DD in UK was mid 2019 & wondering if we'll ever get there again. Whoops...meant to say love the heart too. Take care & hugs.

      Delete
  4. We are obviously gauche in our home as we drink our breakfast tea from a (small) mug. Mostly we drink coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's great that you're going to have a visit. Have fun. I did not play along with this theme. It did not interest me, and I didn't want to waste time and fabric for something I didn't need. Looking forward to next week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So wonderful that you are going to be able to see Dayna in person! Love the tea cosy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such a fun project! Enjoy your visit with your daughter. Two years with no hugs, that's hard for both of you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So cute! I love the cat silhouette, and it's perfect for a tea cosy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think silhouettes always look so striking in quilting, and your tea cosy (and yes I had to look back at the post to check the spelling - hee hee), your cosy looks wonderful with a cozy kitten on it! Glad Dayna is finally visiting - face time is fine, but we all need some hugs from loved ones, and I know Dayna has needed a couple of especially big ones. Who would have thought we would still be living with COVID restrictions. Take care, and thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh I'm so excited for you that you will be seeing your daughter after such a long time. How perfect to be able to give her the teapot and cosy in person!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So wonderful to see another cosy and one for Dayna who you will see....yipeeee! What a long time it has been. Congrats on another PQ project done.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a wonderful gift for Dayna! Her nana’s teapot and a fabulous cozy to go with it. And what a gift for you! To be able to see her in person! I get it. It’s been two long years for us and our daughter and her daughter and grandson. It’s a long long way to Florida from Wyoming!

    ReplyDelete