No.4.....The Yellow Block

Block 4 has taken its inspiration from long lazy summer afternoons, with the smell of newly baked scones, homemade jam.....has to be red........with cream & a fresh pot of tea. Have I died & gone to heaven ? Will I share with some friends ?......um....depends on the number of scones........& possibly, which friends.
Our scones have been served in a wicker basket with a checked teatowel to keep them warm.
The tea is served in two favorite cups & the teapot is gorgeous. I want one.
I have used yellow cottons to back the hexagons to continue the feel of summer days. The checks & stripes remind me of tablecloths & linen tea towels. The roses & other blooms are the beautiful summer gardens & have been used for the centres as well as the backing & binding.
The instructions & diagrams are plentiful through the patterns & there is an email address on
each pattern so if you do need any extra advice........please ask

Time for Tea.............

Time for tea is an embroiderers cushion.........
This cushion was inspired by hours of chronic
neck & headache & wise advice from a dear friend
( oh for goodnes sake.....put a cushion under your
work & lift it up you idiot ) The cure was almost
instantaneous.
Hence the need for a more respectable looking
cushion that helped stop the bits & pieces from
getting lost down the sides of my armchair was
called for.
It is 15" square and has four corner pockets

to hold pins & needles, scissors & threads while you work.

The central square has been back stitched with a quote
from Henry James...... "There are few hours in life more
agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known
as tea".......a man with a profound understanding of
the epicurean qualities of tea. These words have been
backstitched through a thin layer of wadding as well as
the top layer of fabric.
The teacups on each corner pocket have been painted &
stitched onto calico & lined in a co-ordinating plain coloured
fabric. The lining has been cut slightly longer so that a fine
band of the colour can be seen along the edge. This is a quick
& easy cheaty way of having a piping look without the hardwork.
The seam is then top stitched to hold the fabric in place. This
method is explained in the pattern.
A fifth teacup has been colourwashed, stitched & made into a
needlecase with a little recycled cardboard , wadding & glue......
again all the pattern pieces & instructions can be found in the
pattern. These are available on my ebay store.......see link at
bottom of page.

The Green Block

I have shown you my Pink & Blue blocks........here is the Green Block.
Parties for the very young was the feel of the first two blocks. They fit well together with half of the party verse on the blue block, the other half on the pink. Butterfly cakes & smarties round things off nicely.
The third block is quite different. I remember my Grandmothers kitchen crockery was cream with a fine green band around the edge & had a very 30's feel to it. I also remembered some bits & pieces my mother had when I was very young.....cabbage & beehive sugar pots as well as other quirky stuff. Most of this must have been gifts from the late 40's & early 50's. It was far too frivolous in nature to have been chosen by my mother......but being a practical person, who had an almost pathological loathing of waste, they were all used in the kitchen until they were broken.
I recalled them from my very early childhood, thought they were fabulous & had fun researching their beginnings on the net, at my local library & through friends who collect the wondrous & bizarre.
The photos I have included show the spotty cup as it has been coloured in stages to give a clearer idea of how the tinting process works.
All the colouring is done on unwashed calico..... This seems to be the only fabric that is made with enough sizing to hold the washes. The sizing is added to the fabric through the manufacturing process & is evenly distributed through the fibres. Its like working with a pre gessoed canvas.......
Each part of the work is hand tinted with a brush & acrylic paint mixed with heaps of water. This gives the colour a beautiful translucent watercolour feel to the work......... The stitching over the top defines the colour & shape of the finished work more than the painting. The colour wash simply adds a richness & depth that, unless you are prepared to spend hours satin stitching & thread painting, is the only other way of achieving the full potential of the design
You may have noticed that the number of images have increased with each block. This is because, even though the original intention was 3 per block, I couldn't decide which I preferred.
I simply couldn't leave out a spotty cup,............... or the daisy cup......... or the Clarice Cliff teapot .............or the beehive...or the sugarbowl & jug.
The first photo is the finished block with all the pieces embroidered, backed & stitched together.
The second set are of the spotty cup so you can see how I have worked the colour in sections allowing the parts to dry before continueing on to the next bit. This allows me to add some simple shading to help the images look more three dimensional.
The third set are all the images with their embroidery & backing.