"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11 (NIV)

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Tea Towel Challenge 2014

A couple of weeks ago a quilting friend sent an email out to several of her friends, one of which was me.   In the email she proposed a quilt challenge for the first part of 2014.    The challenge was to make a quilt in which a tea towel formed a prominent part of it and set the color scheme for the quilt.   The challenge is based on the quilt that she made and is shown "Sophie's Cock-a-Doodle Quilt".

The challenge sounded like lots of fun so I said I was in and then the fun started in trying to decide what tea towel I wanted to use for my quilt.   I started by looking on Ebay to see what I could find.   And came across two of them that I ended up bidding on and winning.   The first one has a mama Siamese cat and her two babies.  Lovely browns, black, aqua and blues in this one.  

The second towel shows multiple locations around London, all that places I visited when I was out there in 1997.     When there I had picked up a stack of Rose & Hubble fabrics in colors that will work with the towel and that I haven't had a clue what I wanted to do with them until now.  =)    I plan to use them together in a quilt.

Both towels are made from Irish Linen, the London is a little looser weave than the other.  I'll need to wash it first before using it.   But if it doesn't tighten up then I'll layer it over a muslin backing before stitching anything to it.

Now comes the tricky part  - which one do I pick for the challenge?   I'm leaning towards London simply because I don't have to go trolling through the stash for fabric other than a background fabric.  But I love the Siamese one as well.........which will it be?   At least I have till January to make up my mind on it.

If you're interested in reading more about the Tea Towel Challenge for 2014 and signing up for it, click HERE to go to Sophie's blog and read about it.

Gratitudes:
1.  Thanksgiving and three days off from school is coming!

2.  Lots of exciting things are happening at the moment with my quilt designing.  

5 comments:

sophie said...

Like me, I think, you're facing an interesting choice. I like them both ... and either will make a cool quilt. I'm so glad you're IN.

Anonymous said...

Since you can make one now and the other later, you can "have your cake and eat it too." :-) Go for the easy to find fabric London one, but be on the lookout for coordinates every time you visit your stash for something else.

Now you can see why i have piles of fabric all over my apartment.

Claire

Anonymous said...

I agree with Claire. As busy as your life is, go for the easy one first! When summer comes (You know - those long, easy, carefree days? ha, ha, ha) you can do the cats. Or maybe you will feel like going stash diving during Easter break, and come up with things, or stumble across the fabrics while doing something else. Anyway, go for what's ready to go now!

Love both towels - and all the other links you sent me, you naughty woman!

Paulette said...

They're both great towels. Something about the cats draws me in, though. Love the colors!

roccagal said...

i luv the cats! great colors and the eyes are so piercing!