Tag Archives: tea cozy

A Tea Cozy for Every Season: Valentine’s and Spring

“A tea cozy for every season,” requested my mom when we were talking about making quilts for family members. My mom loves tea and drinks a pot of tea every afternoon–no, she’s not even English!–so it really is a perfect gift.  For Christmas, I gave her the first seasonal tea cozy for the winter holidays, which you can see in my post Finishes New and Old. Today I sewed on the bottom binding, finishing the next seasonal tea cozy, which should take her into summer. I used Yvonne’s (Quilting Jetgirl) tea cozy tutorial, so the tea cozy is completely reversible and is suitable for two seasons in one!

One side is perfect for Valentine’s Day, since I used my Key to my Heart pattern:

tea cozy valentine's day

The reverse side features a bicycle inside the heart, which I think will be perfect for spring. My mom also loves bicycling, and she and my dad are known to plan vacations that include cycling from bed and breakfast to bed and breakfast in awesome European countries, where they surely enjoy actual tea time.

bicycling tea cozy

I thought about putting both hearts on one side of the tea cozy, but decided make one the “inside” and one the “outside”, with a coordinating solid backing. This way, one side of the tea cozy can be perfect for Valentine’s Day…

tea cozy valentines dayThen after February passes, you can just flip the tea cozy inside out and the other side is perfect for spring.

spring tea cozy bicycle

I technically made the Valentine’s Day side on the “inside” since I figure the bicycle will probably be shown more often. When turned to the Valentine’s Day side, the tea cozy is a little bit snug on my teapot (as you can see in the photo above), but I’m not too worried. I know my mom has a few different tea pots and I’m sure it will fit on one of them!

Now all I have to do is encourage my kids to finish their cards for Grandma (my mom) & PopPop (my dad) and get this all in the mail so it arrives in New Jersey before the 14th. I’m excited that I finished it in time, and hope my mom loves it as much as I do. This “tea cozy for every season” project is making me want a tea cozy of my own!

valentine's tea cozy

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday.

Key to a Cyclist’s Heart

Despite 18″-24″ of snowfall over the past 48 hours, we managed to keep our power!! Huzzah! That means I was able to sneak some sewing time in between the outdoor snowy play and the indoor snuggly game playing and movie watching time. I’ve been working on a second version of my Key to My Heart pattern (only $2 on Craftsy and Payhip), with the plan to make them into another seasonal tea cozy for my mom. I’m fairly certain my mom doesn’t read my blog, so I think the gift surprise is safe. If I’m wrong and my mom is reading this, —hi, Mom!!– I hope to get it in the mail so that she gets it before Valentine’s Day.

key to a bicyclists heart
I love matching thread! Aurifil hasn’t let me down yet!

 

key to a cyclists heart quilt

I can see myself making this block with MANY different fussy-cut centers. This one will become another reversible tea cozy, using Yvonne’s tutorial on Quilting Jetgirl. I was toying around with the idea of making one side both hearts, and the other side solid, but I think I’m going to mix it up. One side of the tea cozy will be the pink heart and pink solid fabric, and the other side will be the bicycle and teal fabric. That way, this tea cozy will be seasonally appropriate throughout the spring and summer, too! Key to my heart tea cozy progress

I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

Finishes New and Old

Remember back before Christmas, when I only showed you tiny peeks at most of my projects since they were to be given as gifts? Well now that the holidays are long over, now that I’m back and getting into the groove of home life, now that I finally have a free minute to blog about them,  now I can show you the full gifts!

I also have finalized and posted another Valentine’s Day themed foundation paper piecing pattern, which goes live in my Craftsy (for US buyers) and Payhip (for international buyers) today! It’s a day full of finishes, both new and old. A picture is worth a thousand words, so without further ado…

Open Wide Zippered Pouch by Noodlehead

I made this pouch for my sister, since her favorite colors are teal and lime green. The zipper installation was my FIRST ever zipper, and I think it came out quite well. I used linen blend fabric leftover from my Go Anywhere Bag, and I think my sister loved it! Anna from Noodlehead has the best tutorials, and this one was a perfect first-zipped pouch tutorial.

noodlehead wide open zipper pouch teal lime greennoodlehead wide open zipper pouch teal lime greennoodlehead wide open zipper pouch teal lime green

One thing I learned while making this pouch, though, is that when the directions say to “align… the side/bottom seams” while boxing the corners, you really need to line them up perfectly. The bottom and side seams for mine (as you can see in the photo above) did not line up perfectly, since I flew past that little bit of instruction, but now I know for next time! I’m hoping that the chocolates inside the pouch distracted my OCD sister from this slight misalignment! (Love you, Lucy!)

Reversible Tea Cozy

When talking to my mom about quilting about a year ago, she made it clear that she thought making a quilt was too much work and too time consuming, and therefore she did not want me to make her a quilt. She instead requested “a tea cozy for every season”, since it’s a quick project that can be completed in a couple hours. She also drinks tea from her tea pot every afternoon, so it will be well used and loved. It has taken me a while to get this first one made, but I don’t think the next one will be far behind. I used the fabulous tutorial by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl. I definitely will be using her tutorial again, since the tea cozy fit my mom’s large teapot quite well. Here are the two Christmas-themed sides of the tea cozy I made for my mom.

Reversible tea cozy christmasReversible tea cozy christmasReversible tea cozy christmas

A New Paper Piecing Pattern!

And finally, a recent finish: a new paper piecing pattern called Love Struck. Special thanks to Julie from That’s Sew Julie for her awesome pattern testing! This pattern includes printable foundation paper piecing templates including two “printer pages” to help save paper when printing multiples, clear assembly instructions, a coloring sheet on which you can try out color schemes before beginning, and sewing tips along the way. You can find in on Craftsy here (for those in the US) or on Payhip here (if you’re international). Both this and my Key to My Heart pattern are on sale for $2 until Valentine’s day!

Love struck pattern

We’re getting lots of snow this weekend up here in Maine, so I know what I’m doing all weekend–sewing (and playing with my kids in the snow). If you’re looking for a good weekend project, turn this block into a festive table runner or pillow. Here’s the pillow Julie made from four blocks. AND she says she “whipped up this whole thing in a week while taking care of five kids, one sick, and getting a double crochet hat order together.” Holy smokes, Julie! You’re amazing!!

love struck pillow by julie schloemer

Get the pattern here:

Craftsy (if you’re in the US)
Payhip (if you’re international)
…or go to Julie’s blog and comment to enter for a chance to win a free copy of the pattern!

If you do decide to make this pattern, share the love and tag me @nightquilter on IG or twitter, and use #lovestruckpattern. I’d love to see!

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and TGIFF. Happy weekend sewing!