Not your Grandma’s Cup of Tea

Fellow Quilters,

How have you been?  The last time we chatted, it will still winter.  For the past few weeks I’ve been buried in an avalanche of paperwork and video editing for looming deadlines but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I’m excited to be travelling to A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge TN June 6-9 to teach 4 classes, two of which are already sold out – woohoo!  If you’d like to take my Panel Pizzazz (#44) or Hexie Crush (#21) class don’t delay – they’re selling fast.

Mountain Quiltfest classes available June 7th and 9th

I did a Quilt-along with my Hexie Crush pattern a year ago, and I’m thrilled to be sharing all my tips for this lovely quilt with the MQF posse.  In the Panel Pizzazz class, we’ll talk fabulous flying geese and incorporating panels in our quilts.  There are so many great panels available, and I can’t wait to see what the students bring to class.

Speaking of panels, my Hometown Holidays pattern is hot off the press.  Featuring Northcott’s Howdy Christmas, it includes 3 size options and would work equally well with just about any standard 24” x 42” panel.

Two new patterns

And Stratify is a quick contemporary quilt that showcases a selvage-to-selvage ombre.  I used the gorgeous new Bliss Ombre and love how it looks in both the lap size and the queen-size.

Now that I’ve resurfaced, I see that the sun is shining, the tulips are popping up and the birds are twitterpated as Bambi would say.  Spring is here!!  Soon we’ll see the pale pastel colors of young buds and soft Spring grass – the colors that remind me of Easter.  So pretty!

Those same lovely delicate shades are also in this month’s Quilt Block Mania organized by Carolina at Always Expect Moore, and the theme is “Tea”.  The 16 participating designers went all out creating assorted cakes, baked goodies, stacks of cups and the like.  Here is a complete list of the designers’ blocks and links to their blog posts today:

Tea Time Mug by Carolina Moore
Afternoon Tea by Inquiring Quilter
Not Your Grandma’s Cup of Tea
Stacked Tea Cups by Appliques Quilts and More
Tea Time by Manon Hunt
Muffin Quilt Block by Julia of Inflorescence
Teapot by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
T is for Temperance by Scrapdash
You Can Brew It
French Macaron by Penny Spool Quilts
Tea Party at Perkins Dry Goods
Teatime Cakes by QuiltFabrication
Broken Sugar Bowl by Becca Fenstermaker
Cake Anyone? by Kaye Collins
Tea Time by Patchwork Breeze
3-Tiered Serving Tray by Nancy Scott of Masterpiece Quilting

Being a tea drinker, I went straight to the good stuff – tea leaves.  I like mine good and strong.  By the time my morning cuppa has steeped, it rivals most cups of coffee for caffeine levels.

So, the traditional Tea Leaf block is quite old, and has some unusual angles in it, resulting in bias edges on the block – no so quilter-friendly.

The original tea leaf block and my re-imagined block

Examining the block, I re-imagined it without bias edges – much better for flat quilts.  I present to you my “Not Your Grandma’s Cup of Tea”.   You can find the pattern here.

Not Your Grandma’s Cup of Tea by Patti’s Patchwork

I’d like to share a couple of tips for cutting the pieces with the templates.  Tip #1:  Fold your fabric wrong sides together to cut mirror-image pairs of pieces using the asymmetrical T2 and T3 templates for the outside “leaves”.  It’s much faster than cutting single layer pieces and wondering if you have the correct number of each piece.

Tape the template to the underside of a ruler, aligning it with the ruler edges, then cut along edge of ruler

Tip #2:  Tape the paper template to the underside of a ruler to cut the pieces of T1, T2 and T3.  You won’t inadvertently trim your template each time you cut, and it’s faster.  Many of us have these assorted triangle rulers, and this is an excellent opportunity to get double duty from them.  Who doesn’t like a tool that does more than one thing?

Make a 38″ x 13″ runner with 3 on-point blocks and 4 quarter-blocks

This block would make a lovely table runner, perfect for afternoon tea – so pretty!  Just 3 blocks and 4 quarter-blocks and you’re done.  You could start it this morning and have it done by Tea Time.

Time for tea and chocolate with a friend using the good stuff

For my photo, I pulled out my good china and silverware.  I quite like it but seldom use it, but I think that’s about to change.  You see, I lost a dear friend last week, taken much too soon.  I am reminded that life is unpredictable.  Laundry and cleaning will always be there.  Friends – not so much.  So let’s make a promise to use the good dishes, eat the chocolate, buy the fabric, and have tea (or wine) with our friends.

Hugs,

Patti