Sunday, December 4, 2016

A tea inspired layered quiltlet


Today I'm joining two of my favorite challenge blogs with a single post.  Moo-Mania and More is asking us to make art of any kind, shape, size, or color as long as it's inspired by coffee or tea.  Likewise, although I'm almost too late for the party, Try it on Tuesday's latest theme is layers.  I may not have nearly as many layers as some, but I have a few at least.

This is my offering, a quiltlet, and I'm going to walk you through how I made it.


I began by creating a few tape transfers of birds.  I overlaid one tape transfer on a teabag holder.   Using Ultimate! glue, I then adhered those to the actual tea bag that came from the holder.

It's really hard to see the tea bag holder through the tape transfer in this photo.  I was also surprised how long it took the tea bag to dry so I could use it.

While the tea bag was drying, I painted a strip of white sheet I had torn to size.  I know how much the recipient likes these colors, so that's why I chose them.

Next I adhered the teabag and tape transfer assembly to the fabric.  So far, there are four layers.

To shift gears, I overdyed the grape juice fabric I made a few weeks ago with strong coffee and allowed it to dry.  By this time, my entire craft room smelled good.

Because I'm mailing this gift, I didn't want a lot of bulk.  Therefore, instead of adding batting between the front and back layers, I simply sewed circles around the back of the piece (a single layer) and added Bleubeard's and my names to the back.

Next, I sewed the two fabrics together using a zig zag stitch.  To make sure it would hang without flapping or flopping, I added a piece of Starbuck's stirrer stick.  You can see part of what I removed above the quiltlet.  Then I sewed it in place.

Finally, using my hole guide, I cut two holes using my Crop-a-dile and added the two fibers.

Once I scanned the piece, I was thrilled to see the tape transfer actually looked as good as it did in person.

Now all I have to do is send it flying on its merry way and hope it arrives on time.

Meanwhile, please join me at Moo-Mania and More for coffee and/or tea, and for a few more hours at Try it on Tuesday with your layers and layers.

Of course, I appreciate your visiting me, too.  You are always too kind and I am very grateful.

16 thoughtful remarks:

Jeanie said...

Yay! A certified success in the present-making department. One recipient is going to be very lucky indeed!

chrissie said...

Great ideas on this quilt Elizabeth and thank you for sharing how you made it. So pleased you made ot in time to join us at Try it on Tuesday

Love Chrissie xx

Valerie-Jael said...

Love your little quilt, so pretty, and great that you had coffee aroma to fill your workplace. Have a good start in the new week, hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

This quiltlet is really BEAUTIFUL! Love all your layers - love that you have used an empty teabag - I love to use them as well, but in my work nobody sees in the end that it was a teabag, whatever I do it always gets altered tooo much...lol.
Thank you do much for joining Moo Mania & More as well as Try It On Tuesday dear ELizabeth! Much appreciated as you know!
See you tomorrow again!
Happy start of the new week to you!
oxo Susi

My name is Erika. said...

Like it-but I wish you could still see that circlely stitching you did. Can you lift the top piece to show it? I like the bird transfer. I haven't done a transfer for a while. There's so many techniques I just kind of forget about because it seems at this time of year its easy to get into and art rut and just do the same thing over and over. Thanks for the inspiration and the piece came out beautiful. Hugs-Erika

CJ Kennedy said...

Where did you get the bird pics? Were they from magazines? I like how you picked up the yellow color from the bird's chest with the background color of your quiltlet.

Darla said...

I always like seeing your quiltlets, this one is no exception. I like tape transfers although in the past I found them sometimes hard to integrate due to their shiny surface. The shine worked in your case.

Anonymous said...

Love this Elizabeth! What a sweet project. That tea bag image is a winner too! xox

CJ Kennedy said...

I've only done tape transfer with photocopies of a picture and water.Are you using another method? And by all means, add my blog to your blog roll. Thank you

Krisha said...

This is just gorgeous, love how you created all the layers.

Meggymay said...

Its a beautiful project Elizabeth and I can see that you enjoyed making this. Love the photos you added to show some of the steps while making it.
Thank you for joining us at TioT's.
Yvonne xx

Sandra Cox said...

Love it! You are so creative.

pearshapedcrafting said...

This so beautiful - good to see where you are using the grape juice fabric too! A wonderful entry for Moo-Mania too! Hugs, Chrisx

Lula said...

Love all the layers of your beautiful piece! Thanks for sharing it with us at TioT this time.

Cindy McMath said...

Wow this is gorgeous! At first I thought - what a cool teabag package - maybe I could learn to like spiced tea - haha. But when I read your description i was doubly impressed. Lovely finished piece!

Rike said...

How creative to use the tea bags for this fabulous piece of art! I like to read step by step how you created it!