Daffodil Thursday

Today in Australia is the official Biggest Morning Tea to raise money for cancer research.

This week I decided that I would plant some bulbs into some of the garden beds. I started with daffodils (the logo of the Cancer Council of Australia) and yellow jonquils.

Although the soil looks rich and red (see the spot on the bottom right), it is actually quite dry and poor. So I had to do some serious soil improvement using compost.

Step by Step Guide to Planting Bulbs

1. Pull the weeds.

2. Break up the soil.

3. Dig holes for the bulbs according to the  directions on the packet. The daffodils and jonquils needed to be placed 10cm deep and at least 5cm apart.

4. Pack the bulbs with composted soil.

5. Cover the soil with sawdust rich with broken down chicken manure. Water in.

6. Spread mulch over the soil to prevent weeds. I used sugar cane mulch. Dampen.

7. Mulch again with leaf litter or recycled wood chips.

8. Admire the preparation and wait for Spring.

9.  Enjoy a cup of tea and make a donation for cancer research.

Linking up to New to Me in May at Celtic Thistle Stitches with Fiona

I'm a Little Teapot

The Wombat Stew is back in business for 2013.  Wombat Stew is a group of 7 lovely ladies who love to quilt and also paper piece. We mostly met through Facebook's Quilt Club Australia and are made up of:

Kristy from Quiet Play

Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

Gemma from Pretty Bobbins

Marieka from Bespoke Bites

Jane from Where Jane Creates

Lara from Luellabella

and me.

This month Lara is Chief Wombat and she has asked for teapots (bless her!). Their bottom must sit on the bottom of the block and also include a selvedge. 

I had a few teapots pinned on Pinterest but this one struck me the most. There's something about the retro shape and floral design that appeals to me.

A ceramic Blossom Teapot by Swedish designer Camilla Engdahl

I had a fabric similar to this but the print was small. And Teal.

So I chose to use this brilliantly happy Anna Marie Horner Sunflower print instead. It is bold and large (and I have seen it in some lovely colourways).

A quick few messages to paper piecing guru Kristy and she whipped up a 'sweet as scones' pattern for me and sent it through as a pdf. I am sure the pattern will be available soon and if you want to be a pattern tester for this one, please email her. (kristyqp@gmail.com)

I was a bit out of practice with my paper piecing I'm afraid. I find it very hard to work in opposites and this time I used A4 copy paper that I could not see through. In general I have difficulty conceptualising things so paper piecing makes my brain hurt! My block has three extra seams than the pattern calls for due to my trimming fabric too closely as I pieced.

By the time I had come to piece the handle I was back into the pp groove and I only made one mistake with it.

And look at that selvedge yumminess! 

It is off to Lara in the post today...along with some RASK (random acts of scrap kindness).

Oh and if you'd like to try some paper piecing yourself, why not join us over at Quiet Play this month for the 'And Sew On' - a sewing themed, paper pieced BoM, where you can make this...

I still have to make one for myself. Oh and there are prizes for linking up your version by January 31st!

Easter Give-Away

I had no requests for my Easter prints in my Stale Stash Swap last week and so I am putting them up for grabs. I'd rather them being used that languishing in my stash unused. Perhaps someone can make a nice Easter fabric basket - too hard for me.

2 uncut FQs of Spring Tidings - Fabri Quilt
2 uncut FQs of Aqua baskets - Me and My Sister Designs   


All you have to do to receive half a yard of each print is tell me one of your Easter traditions. 


The number generator will pick a number at 8pm (Australian Eastern Time) on Thursday 5th April This give-away is open to Australian and overseas followers of my blog and a valid email address (you can join up if you need to).



Stale Stash Swap Update
                                                           


I also posted off 1.5 yards of fabric to Marian in Idaho today as part of the 'Stale Stash Swap'. 


Eggs, Sugar Bowls and Harlequin Trios


The lovely Rachel, from Nancy's Tea Shop, contacted me last week to say that she had found two Colclough sugar bowls and would I be interested in them before she listed them on her Etsy store. I snapped the both of them up in aqua and buttercup. And yes she included the Easter eggs - what a sweety!

Then she also listed these delicious Harlequin trios.

Here's what she wrote about them...


This lovely trio would look great at a vintage tea party with other china or on its own with your favourite blend of tea and a home made cookie!

Colclough Bone China was founded in Staffordshire in 1890 by Herbert J. Colclough a former mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, England. Herbert Colclough was a china lover and brought fine bone china to ordinary people rather than the rich few, making Colclough an important part of antique bone china history. The brand became part of the Royal Doulton Group in the early 1970s and was discontinued in 1996. This trio is likely to come from 1950s.


How could I resist?

So here is my tea set stash (is that a quilty word making it into mainstream?). It started with 2 tea sets from my mum and the rest is from Rachel's store.

I highly recommend Rachel's store. She photographs her china so beautifully and her prices are soooooo much cheaper than anything I have yet found in Australia at op-shops or antique stores. Not only that but she, or her mum, package everything up so carefully for the journey to the Antipodes.


I have to show some restraint but there are about 10 things in her store right now that are tempting me. Check out the sweet Scotch Thistle creamer and sugar bowl and this stylish 1950s tea pot.


Thrifted Thursday


I am linking up with...


                                               


I had to get an x-ray on my toe in Ballina on Monday and so, even with a broken toe, I managed to hobble into 2 op-shops this afterwards.


My discoveries

$3

too cute to miss at only $4

50c each - for Zakka Projects

pillowcase 50c embroidery $1.50

Not my cup of tea

Coffee drinkers have it so good. The cafe world revolves around them and their individual preferences: the latte, skinny cap, flat white, espresso, macchiato, decaf. moccacino on soy.  Then there's all the syrup that can be added to give them the flavour of caramel, Irish cream, butter toffee, cinnamon hazelnut, raspberry chocolate, southern pecan pie and even chocolate macadamia nut!

The whole industry is BIG and thriving in in my little local town. There are 7 cafes with their own baristas (one of them is my friend Slim) and machines within a 3 Km radius. 

But what about tea houses? 


I can count on one hand the tea houses I have found in Australia. One in Windsor, NSW (serves High Tea on tiered plates), 1 in Leura, NSW (has a collection of tea pots and is across the road from our wedding church) and 1 in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria called, Miss Marple's Tea Room (that we passed in the car after taking in afternoon tea at the famous Bavarian 'Cuckoo Restaurant'). 


And when you order a cup of tea, in a cafe, what do you get? 


It's rare to get leaf tea in a pot, rarer to get a choice of teas, and impossible to get it served in a china pot and tea cup. What you normally get is a 2 cup tea pot with 1 English or Irish breakfast tea bag dangling over the edge. Not strong enough for me. At worst, you get a generic tea bag in a coffee mug. So wrong!

Alas, when I am out with my coffee drinking friends (because it's always "Do you want to go out for coffee?") I will not order tea. I can't justify paying the same price as a double shot frappacino, and only getting a lousy tea bag in hot water.


There is an art to making tea (but more on that another time) just as there is an art to making good coffee. And I want my barista to work hard for the money. So I will order either a hot chocolate or an iced chocolate.

When I find someone who shares my passion for tea, tea cups WITH saucers and dessert plates, tea pots and crazy tea cosies, it's like finding a kindred spirit. I found this great online Etsy store that sells traditional and retro china tea cups. It's called Nancy's Tea Shop and it's worth checking her store every few weeks because she sells gorgeous stuff.

I bought 3 delicious pale blue, aqua and teal  tea cups last year. I ordered 2 more Colclough tea sets this month along with a tiered cake stand, creamer and an adorable pin cushion.

The two tea sets match one that my mother gave to me from her collection. Hers was pale blue and these two are pale yellow.

I have searched many op-shops and vintage stores, here in Australia, looking for tea sets but Rachel just seems to have exactly what I am looking for. Her prices and postage, from the UK, are so reasonable and she packs everything well. 

Rachel also threw in free pincushion and a recipe to try...it's those little touches that I love!

So this is my tea set collection. Just missing one more to make 8. I'll keep my eye out for that in her store.

And what a great idea to turn one into a pincushion. It's gone straight to my sewing room.