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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