I just finished this piece and it's off to QuiltWorks for the gallery show today. Tea is No Minor Beverage is inspired by The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. It measures approximately 20" x 20". Here's my quilt description:
Tea is No Minor Beverage
Renée, a Paris apartment building concierge, has one true friend named Manuela. They meet for tea and pastry on a regular basis. Renée tries to hide her talents and interests from the people who live in her building. As the book progresses, Renée’s true character emerges and she develops deep friendships with Monsieur Ozu, a wealthy and cultured Japanese businessman, and Paloma, a precocious 12 year old girl, both of whom live in the building. Tea brings these characters together and seemed to me a fitting symbol of them all.
p. 91: “So, let us drink a cup of tea… I know that tea is no minor beverage. When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.”
This piece is created with hand appliqué; hand embroidery; hand dyed fabrics and threads; and cotton, linen and silk fabrics.
This is what it looked like last night. One of the things I did was to couch down a sample of handspun mohair that I made a couple of years ago.
In the past couple of days I added a bunch of quilting stitches.
Today I was adding the glass beads and buttons. I just ordered these blue glass buttons from Etsy and got them the other day. I had no plans for them, but they seemed just right here.
I think the back is always interesting to see. The heavier lines are created by quilting with a back stitch.
Finally a tiny hedgehog had to be on the back and my signature. This is what I finally came up with and I like it a lot. My signature post should be coming up soon.
***Lastly, I haven't heard from Val yet. Please email me soon, Val. I don't have your contact info in your comment. **