Monday, February 3, 2014

And Away We Go!

I had a relaxing weekend and was able to spend a few hours on the Tea Towel Challenge quilt.  Translated, that means a lot of staring and pondering and fabric fondling...minimal actual sewing.

So I was thinking I'd start (easy) by making the first round a strip of triangles, picking up on the triangles in the neck area of the chickens.  Let's do a sample in green, I thought...but I didn't want to use my "good" green yet, so I dug through my green scrap bin and found a little piece of lime green and white.  Never intended to use that color with this project but—bam!—what do you know, I liked it.  Too bad there wasn't any more  than a small scrap available, so I puttered around to find other things I could use alongside.  Enter two more fabrics not on the originally-pulled-for-this-project stack.

And here is where it is so far.  It's way too early in the month to know if this first border will actually stick or fall completely off the design wall.  But that's the fun of working without a net.

Using this triangle border would mean trimming off the outside printed borders of the tea towel, which I'm totally okay with, as I think they're quite busy.  However, I would try to incorporate those back in elsewhere. 

We visited an antique mall yesterday, where we saw some more great Georges Briard (designer of this vintage tea towel) pieces.

Norm spotted this strawberry tray from several yards away.  Good eye, that guy!

Flower power!

I loved this cake plate.  Briard used the crown in many of his designs, and it's in my tea towel too.  I hope to find a way to incorporate at least one crown in the TTC quilt.  Appliqued?  Paper pieced?  It's a mystery even to me. 

I found a fab stash of Irish linen tea towels at the antique mall too.  Careful, those peaches are radioactive!

Speaking of hot-hot-hot, did you catch the Superbowl Halftime Show?  Bruno Mars...and the Chili Peppers!?  That's how it's done, son!

8 comments:

Diane said...

So, are we looking at a tea towel for next years challenge? Those are fab!

Kim said...

You certainly have an eye for finding the perfect fabric to happily co-exist with whatever you are working on!! Looks like you are having the best time with this challenge. What wonderful finds...and yes 'that guy' certainly has a good eye. Love the strawberry dish...AND...you found more gorgeous tea towels...however do you find these treasures...do you have tea towel ESP or something!!

Shay said...

Those vintage teatowels are fabulous- you find the best things when you op shop!

I am absolutely loving that border you did for your tea towel project ...perfectly perfect. Cant wait to see this project develop.

Kevin the Quilter said...

I love your innovation with the triangle border, and finding a test fabric that worked out as a pleasant surprise was even better! I completely agree about Bruno! Class act! I loved Renee Flemming's version of the Star Spangled Banner as well. And, if I were a betting man, I would have been rich, because I had a dream that the Seahawks beat the pants off the Broncos last week. Just my luck it came true!

Anonymous said...

The Triangles are super wonderful with that center. I like it!

Angie in SoCal said...

Wow that row looked so right with your tea towel, I thought it was part of it. You're on to something!

Wendy said...

that pic of the woman and man is a rendition of Marie A on the way to her beheading.

Elizabeth said...

I'm so behind. I love those triangles for the border. They are awesome! And I also love that Norm is such an awesome thrifter!

xo -E