In yesterday's blog post I showed a few online tutorials I was going to have a play with, and one of them was Kerryanne's simple, but gorgeous, raw-edge applique tea towel.
I loved that she had no pattern templates, just an instruction to cut all the applique shapes by hand with no actual form - just letting the shapes be random and fun. The other bonus was that it was more an idea that she was sharing as opposed to an actual pattern, so therefore no two tea towels will look the same.
With 'fun' in mind, I gathered a washed white tea towel, some of my pretty Tanya Whelan "Petal" fabric stash, and declared my afternoon playtime officially underway!
I decided to go with five houses like Kerryanne had done on her tea towel, but drew my shapes smaller as I had an idea in mind for the finished project...
Once I'd cut out my house pieces and fused them in place along one end of the tea towel I used the sewing machine to applique them.
Because I do hand applique in all my own designs, having a play with raw edge on my machine was incredibly fun - with no need for straight lines I could just let the needle go where it wanted. If you're a perfectionist like me this is a good lesson in 'chillin' out'...
I don't free motion quilt, so you won't see any swirls here, but I did add some interest to the row of houses with trees and fencing...
I decided against using ric rac under the houses as Kerryanne had done, and added an uneven strip of fabric instead...
The final touch was butterfly buttons...
Cute, huh!?
Now, as I said earlier, I had a project in mind for my 'houses & homes' tea towel once it was finished.
You see, we lived without a microwave for six months and just the other week we went and bought a little one for Blossom to heat her meals when she comes home later than usual.
The spot where the microwave now lives used to house my mixer and blender, so they were moved to the top of my little white bookcase - and truly, they just looked clunky and unattractive in full view of the dinner table.
So, this is what I did with my new 'houses & homes' tea towel!
Way better view, right? After I took this photo I machined down both sides of the tea towel and it sat perfectly over the mixer.
But that blender is still an eyesore.
So what is a girl to do? Find another tea towel and start stitchin' again...
Just one house this time, with a sweet little letter box...
...and turned along the wider side as I needed this cover to be narrow and high when it had the seams sewn.
How much sweeter is the view now?
But wait!
I needed a runner along the top of the bookcase; one that matched the covers on my appliances. Fortunately I had some 'Petal' yardage, so I quickly quilted a nice long runner, with pockets across both side overhangs...
One side holds my shopping list, a pen, and some glasses, and the other is perfectly placed to hold our iPhones when they are charging...
Loving the finished result, and all this took was three hours and one coffee.
Do you want to know what Mr E was up to while I was playing working?
He'd just arrived home from another trip away with his job and Princess Sophie wasn't about to let him out of her sight...
Are you going to make some tea towels?
hugs
