Afternoon Tea by The Sea: Table Arrangements

The Mahone Quilt Guild's, Afternoon Tea by The Sea with Extraordinary Quilter, Elaine Quehl, was a great success. We had lots of lovely compliments on the event. One of the highlights were the table arrangements put together by Beth Lawrence and Linda MacDonald. They decided in February, to take on this project. Last Wednesday morning (May22), they came with boxes of wrapped teapots, cake trivets and cups/saucers. Here's the results!  The pincushions were drawn for from the signed tickets and found new homes. 

The back of one above

 This centerpiece was on the table as visitors came in the door.

Great job ladies!
The event couldn't have happened without the many volunteers who signed up to do the various jobs listed and to those ladies who answered my many questions, gave advice, offered recommendations and donated their time to meet with me - you are all very special people. Thanks!!

Letty Mac's Tea Room

The ladies at the yarn shop also told me about Letty Mac's Tea Room. After the visit to the Fabric Center, we (husband & I) walked to the tea room. The food was awesome! I was served tea in a vintage china cup and saucer. Did I mention that the whole place is vintage? Yep! Very charming too.


Enjoying a cup of tea!



Vintage Coke Cooler

A Library of Teacups

On Saturday, I attended the opening reception at Devon House of A Library of Teacups by pottery artist, Maaike Charron. There are over 400 different teacups in the collection. Maaike wanted to do something a little different and decided to make a teacup for every book she owned. This included text books, fiction, children's books, non-fiction . . . the list goes on. The cups are arranged on shelves the same way as if they were books. It is a very eye catching exhibit and if you live in the area it is well worth a visit.

Maaike is a self-taught potter from St. John's, NL. Here is what she wrote about this show:

Books and tea are two of my great loves in life, and they go together swimmingly. I have made one cup inspired by every book I own. Each is one of a kind, varying in size, shape, colour and clay body. Some are very simple, and others much more ornate.

Why teacups? Because (much like books) they lend themselves to individuality, to standing as one in a herd of many. There is a cultural expectation of uniformity for household food vessels - everything matches. But mugs and teacups have largely escaped this rule. What kitchen does not have a cupboard or two of chipped, mismatched and utterly loved mugs?

The deeply personal and individual act of cradling a cup of tea is best carried out, it appears, with the assistance of a personal and individual teacup. And the enjoyment of a good book is best enhanced by a cup of tea.

Here are some quilt related sites you might enjoy!
Quilting Gallery Mug Rug Inspiration
Pink Penguin Teapot Pattern 
Connecting Threads Sidecar Coasters
Piece by Number Tea and Coffee Cups

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I hope this is a good day for everyone. When I posted Mother's Day Ideas on April 10, I missed Mother's Day:100 + Homemade Gift Ideas & Projects by Tipnut. Lots of nifty stuff on that site. The one that caught my eye (among others) was for the Gardner Mom: Teacup Bird Feeder Project.
The projects listed on this site are great for any occasion, you just need to set some time aside and do one or two. You may even want to make something for yourself!

Talking about teacups, here's my 'Have a Cup', a felted teacup I did for an exhibit, Tea For Two, several years ago. It was my first attempt at wet felting. This piece was purchased at the show.