A House for Tea: Free Printable and Giveaway

There has always been a teapot in the house.

I remember coming off the bus after school as a young child, and there was a table ready with a pot of tea and a snack. The teapot may have first been filled with hot chocolate, but eventually it was replaced with tea.

So it was no surprise to me when my mother showed me the designs for a tea cozy for the next book. She had already made a very simple one for me once, as I like to keep my tea nice and hot. I was excited to see the final product, and am hoping to carve out some time to make one for myself.

Along with a love of tea, I have learned much from my mother about hospitality. Being an artistic family, we cannot help making a party look beautiful. It was never about impressing the guests, but the fun of making things for the people we love. We decided to create a tea party based on the House for Tea project from Seasons of Wool Appliqué Folk Art.

The wintry side of the tea cozy features blues and browns, so we went for a blue tablecloth with brown and white accents. A few pine cones and sprigs of greenery add a nice wintry feel to a simple table. Most of the color actually came from the food: sparkling red jam, shiny fruits, golden gingerbread cookies, and white scones. You can dress up the table for Christmas by adding a few reds or golds to your accents. Come spring, you can use the other side of the cozy to make a springtime tea table!

We hope you are inspired by our simple tea set-up. To help you plan your next Christmas or winter tea, we are putting up a free download for the place cards to go with your own House For Tea cozy. Having place cards is always fun, because they are something your guest can take home to remember a splendid afternoon with friends or family.

We firmly believe in this family that useful things can be beautiful, too. That’s why the tea cozy is such a fun project. We hope it can be something you use for a long time to keep your tea warm and table festive.

Want to make your own House for Tea? Head over to our website to purchase a kit and a copy of Seasons of Wool Appliqué Folk Art. Check out the other kits from the book that are available as well! 

www.rebekahlsmith.com/shop 

And since the Christmas season is upon us, we would like to do a giveaway. Two prizes will be awarded randomly to those who answer our question in the comments. 

Each of the two prizes includes: 

• A copy of Early American Life Magazine's 2017 Christmas issue, featuring a tree skirt designed by Rebekah L. Smith 
• A Merry Mittens pattern and kit for the black mitten
• A needle minder kit

Please note: your comment will not appear until approved, which may take a day or two. Winners will be chosen Monday, Dec 11, 2017 at 9 am EST. Comment submissions will be closed at 8am for final round of moderation. 

Comment with an answer to the following question to be entered into the giveaway: How do you like to entertain during the holiday season? 

Click here to access your free download of A House for Tea Place Cards. 

Post written by Kelsey A. Smith 

Rebekah's Tour of International Quilt Market

Lori Ann Corelis, Kelsey A. Smith, and Rebekah Smith adventured together to Houston for International Quilt Market. 

We had the opportunity this year to experience the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. My publisher C&T Publishing always has a booth at Market, and their authors are welcome to join them for a book signing session. I felt this was a great time to see what Market is all about, and have the opportunity to meet some of the shop owners who carry my book. My daughter Kelsey, and our friend & fellow folk artist Lori Ann Corelis skipped out of Ohio for a few days and headed south.

Houston is a beautiful city and we stayed down town. The Convention Center was enormous, and filled with a fabulous quilt exhibit and plenty of booths to visit. We found old friends, met firends we had only ever emailed with, and made new ones. As this is the wholesale event, there was not a lot of items to be purchased. We did find a few great buys, however.

We had a great time, ate some wonderful food, and did a ton of walking and talking! We took lots of pictures so you can walk around with us virtually. Here's our tour of International Quilt Market!

Rebekah, Kelsey catching up with friend Debbie Maddy, a amazing farbic designer and shibori dying expert. Check out her work at http://www.calicocarriage.com

Kelsey was especially excited to meet the ladies from Lunares Patchwork who distribute the Rustic Moire Thread, one of her favorites. 

Coming to Quilt Market mean we finally got to meet people who we've only ever emailed! Here we met Pati Violick from Marcus Fabrics. We love their fabrics and their wool! marcusfabrics.com 

 We caught up with Mary Jean Murphy from Stella Lighting. Rebekah can't stitch without hers! www.stellalighting.com

 Meeting up with Shawn York from the Rusty Crow. www.rustycrow.com

The morning view from our hotel window. Beautiful city! 

Hello! From Kelsey

You may have noticed that someone else is answering your emails these days. That’s me!

So I thought I would take over the blog today and say hello! I’m Kelsey Smith, Rebekah’s daughter.

Many of you know me as a fraktur artist and, more recently, an embroiderer. My mother has shared my work with you before. But now we are teaming up in a bigger way. Technically my title is “Operations Manager” but I may also be referred to now and again as “Assistant Extraordinaire.”  When we tried to come up with a title, it was difficult. I am doing so many things for the business it is hard to pin down.

As part of my introduction to the inner workings of Rebekah L. Smith’s business, I thought I would share with you my job subtitles and what I have been working on: 

Graphic Designer: I lay out all of the individual patterns, make the lines smooth, and design the covers. Advertising, tags, business cards, logo—these are now all my job!

Online Sales: Customer service, wholesale and mailing are all part of my day. I get your orders processed, packed and shipped out as fast as I can.

Organization Strategist: This is one of my strengths, and I enjoy helping keep everything on track and recorded. Anything from files to pictures to processes, I love to strategize and organize!

Social Media Manager: While I have not completely taken over, I help Rebekah plan and post for Facebook, Instagram, and her blog.

Traveling Companion: I will be traveling with my mother to workshops, a job which can also be classified as “pack mule.” So I will be seeing more of your lovely faces!

Etc.: You know, all that other stuff. Tea-drinking, brainstorming, eating, laughing, coming up with ludicrous ideas, taking notes on the ludicrous ideas, planning to rule the world…etc.

If you have any questions in these areas for me, you can email me at workroom@rebekahlsmith.com 

I am excited about my new position here, and happy to help! 

A Love of Linen

Wool may be my mainstay, but confidentially, linen is my first love. Long before I delved into the world of wool appliqué, I had begun my collection of linen tow grain bags. Tow is the rough, heavy, but beautiful material that was sewn into bags to transport grain. Farmers would take their re-useable bags with them to the mill to be filled with their milled grains. Often these bags are found with a name, a number or both.

My collection of linen includes many items from a variety of eras. These pieces are for wearing, table covering, displaying, and working. Stitching to linen is one of my favorite ways to blend two textile mediums together. The wool lays so nicely on the surface of the linen and your floss just glides through their layers.

Linen is the end result of processing the flax plant. I have grown flax, and it has the most beautiful tiny blue flowers, and it is quite a site when grown in large quantities. The stalks of the flax plant are fibrous. This is what is broken down into string and spun into thread.

Linen is beautiful in the endless amount of colors available to dye it with, but it is just as wonderful in its natural color. 

How do you like to use linen? 

Season's Winner

    We have a winner for the Seasons of Wool Applique Folk Art & wool bundle! Thank you, Debbie H. of Texas for your comment.

    A huge "Thank you" to all of you who left such kind, and generous comments. I appreciate your enthusiasm and support so much!

A New Season

  It is a new season. What started almost two years ago is about to be complete. The second book of wool applique projects that I have compiled is due to be released this June. So many of you reached out to me about the first book and how you were inspired by it that I wanted to give you a second which I hope will bring you a lot of great projects to enjoy. The title, Seasons of Wool Applique is a reflection of how each season inspires my work. There is a constant ebb & flow of ideas, and each special season of the year feeds that creativity.

    So, here is a special Give-Away! If you leave a comment from now until Monday, May 22, 2017 at 8am, you will be entered into a drawing for a autographed copy of my new book and a bundle of my own hand-dyed wool. Please only one entry per person. One thing to note: I moderate all of the comments left on my blog so, please, don't worry if you do not see it right away. I will eventually publish it.

            Also, this will be my last Re-Shaped project from my first book Wool Applique Folk Art. It is a shadow box turned necklace cupboard. This was another purchase from Homegoods. I found it in the frame section and  the inside came already finished with the  padded fabric and push pins. Simply tape off the glass to paint the outside. I chose a taupe color with a flat finish. The wooly is stitched on printed cotton and steam pressed when finished. Using double-sided tape, I fixed it to the inside of the door, carefully stretching it tight so that there were no wrinkles. Then it was covered with another piece of printed cotton by again using the double-sided tape. I added the twill tape at the end to give it a nice finished look. This was glued on.




 

Pattern Pieces for the Necklace Cupboard Wooly

Flowers:  Wooly Windows  p. 54

Shield & Rossette: A Patriot's Rug p. 88

Leaves:  Wooly Bindings p. 60

For information on pre-ordering Seasons of Wool Applique published by C&T Publishing, go to www.rebekahlsmith.com/book.

Fall's Stage

       
Ah, Fall! It is that time to enjoy the respite from the summer's heat, and just soak in the moments, colors, and smells of my favorite season.