The Diary of a Northern Belle

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Tea Party EPP & Embroidery Mini-Quilt Stitch-Along 2022

     Anne      2 Comments

 

I can hardly believe that this lovely mini-quilt project is now coming to a close! What a fun time it has been. In 2021, I had the joy of discovering – and falling in love with – English paper piecing (EPP). I made a little hexie flower each month with Mollie Johanson’s super cute embroidery patterns (found here on her Wild Olive blog). It was so enjoyable having a mini-embroidery to work on each month and anticipating what new design Mollie would come up with.

I knew I wanted to continue in 2022, and decided to create my own patterns to share with whoever might be interested. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if people would actually be interested in participating, or would prefer just seeing the progress on Instagram. I had this vague idea of combining the embroideries with EPP and turning them into a mini-quilt, but having never really quilted before I wasn’t *too* sure how I’d eventually go about it.

As more and more new followers showed interest in the project and began to stitch my little patterns, I became really excited (and scared!) to actually put the project together. But – no surprise there – mini-quilts are such fun to make, and hand-quilting is very addictive! I gathered lots of inspiration and had recourse to some fabulous tutorials by Emma of Vintage Sewing Box and Sarah from Pretty Fabrics & Trims (both of which I highly recommend checking out!).

 

The Finished Mini-Quilt

 

For my first mini-quilt, I am so happy with how it turned out. I wanted to challenge myself to use only fabric I already had on hand. Luckily I found the perfect cotton floral prints to go with the embroideries. EPP is wonderful for using up pretty fabric scraps!

It is entirely stitched by hand; from the embroideries to assembling the EPP hexies together, appliquéing, hand-quilting, and hand-binding. Very relaxing to do actually, and lots of fun coming up with ideas for the hand-quilting. I’m not yet very equipped for it in terms of threads and needles, so I just used embroidery floss and cotton perle, and an embroidery needle. I just worked a simple running stitch around each embroidery, and around the hexie panel and over the background fabric. To bind it, I used the seam allowance from the backing fabric, creating a lovely floral border that matched the hexies.

 

Stitch-along combining EPP & embroidery

This project has been a free stitch-along for email subscribers since January 2022. I’ve been sending out a mini-embroidery pattern each month, all “Tea Party” themed. Yesterday, I sent out the complete instructions for making the mini-quilt. It’s not too late if you’d like to join in the fun and get all the patterns too! Simply subscribe here to my newsletter, and everything shall be sent to you. (Be sure to check your spam folder and complete all the steps until you get a confirmation that you’re subscribed).

The project will remain free for the remainder of 2022! After that, it will be available for sale in my Etsy shop. New freebies will be offered for 2023!

May’s Rosy Teapot, June’s Strawberry Basket, and July’s Piece of Cake

I really hope that you’ve enjoyed this Tea Party stitch-along and that you have fun putting the mini-quilt together! Of course, if EPP and mini-quilts are not as much your thing, you can definitely use the patterns to make something else. Many of the designs look really lovely just on their own, too.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who has participated in or shown enthusiasm for this project! It was such a pleasure to share little stitcheries with you. I love seeing your work, so don’t hesitate to tag me on Instagram or email me with photos! 😊

 

You Might Also Like:

english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes
English Paper Piecing Basics: Cutting & Basting
How to Turn Embroideries into EPP hexies
Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial: Simple & Pretty

Fondly,

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Fabric Tea-Dye For the March Mini Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

March is here, and that means it’s time for a new mini-embroidery pattern to turn into a hexie for the Mini-Quilt stitch-along! I have prepared a darling little teabag for you, because after all, what’s a tea party without the tea? So let me pour you a cup of steaming jasmine and stay a bit while I tell you how to tea-dye fabric for your embroidery. If you’re new here and you’d like to join in on the fun, you can read this post to see what the project’s all about, and sign-up to my newsletter here to receive the mini patterns straight in your inbox each month!

 

embroidered teabag onto tea-dyed fabric

 

When I first started this design, I thought it would be really neat to add a touch of something that wasn’t thread to make it stand out a bit, while still matching the rest of the project. So far, I’ve been embroidering my montly patterns on cotton muslin in an off-white/beige colour. The fabric is a wee bit thick for EPP, so I decided to switch it up this month. I didn’t have other fabric in a similar colour that would be suitable, so I decided to experiment with a little tea-dye! What could be more fitting? 😉

 

How to Tea-Dye Your Fabric

The process is honestly really simple. However, different fabrics might react differently so it’s a good idea to do a test on a piece of scrap first. I’m using a white cotton blend from my stash of scrap muslins…not 100% sure as to its exact fibers, but any cotton/linen blends will likely work. Even if there’s some polyester or other man-made fiber in it, it should be fine (I know mine wasn’t 100% natural).

First, you’ll want to boil the water for the tea. Depending on the size of your piece of fabric, you may need a lot. If you’re just wanting to dye a small piece, such as for the Jasmine Teabag embroidery, a teapot-size amount of water will be sufficient.

Next, pour the boiled water over a teabag or two, either in a teapot or in a big pot (I wanted to drink a cup while I was at it, so teapot it was!). If you want get that old-timey, classic tea-stained browned look, you’ll want to use a strong black tea. Orange pekoe or Earl Grey are great for this, but other black tea blends can also work. The more tea or teabags you add, the stronger the tea, and the darker the stain will be. I used only 1 teabag since my piece of fabric was very small.

 

flat lay showing embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, teapot, teacup, a book, and dried florals

 

Let It Steep!

Let the tea steep for a good half-hour, if not more, until it’s very dark. Add your fabric to the pot once it’s cooled down, or pour the tea in a different container over the fabric. I just used an old tupperware, with the tea completely cold. Make sure that your fabric is fully submerged, and leave it to soak for several hours. You can stir it from time to time, to make sure it will be evenly dyed. I didn’t leave the teabags in while doing this, but you probably could!

When the fabric is looking nice and stained, wring it out gently and set it out to dry. I just placed mine on a soft towel. When it’s alsmot dry but still a little damp, give it a press with the iron to remove the wrinkles and help set the dye.

Fabric is now ready to be embroidered on 😊. Mine was still see-through enough to transfer the embroidery pattern with a lightbox and pencil no problem. Certain spots are still a bit white and it’s not fully even, but that’s the fun with tea-dyeing, and exactly the look I was going for.

 

white fabric and tea-dyed fabric side by side showing the before and after

Note: I haven’t tested the colourfastness of this method, so it might not be suitable for pieces that are going to be repeatedly washed. For the purposes of this embroidery project, or any embroidery you don’t plan on washing, it works great.

 

Jasmine Teabag Pattern

embroidered teabag with jasmine flowers on it

 

I’m calling this a “jasmine” teabag, even though I don’t think jasmine flowers have a purple center…but for this tea party, they do! You can of course, personalize your tea bag and embroider whatever tea motif you’d like. The jasmine was my inspiration simply because I wanted a floral motif somewhere on the design, and it was the first one I thought of that has to do with tea. Chamomile would have also looked really cute, but I love the scent and colour of jasmine for this time of year.

 

Pale green, flavourful, reminiscent of budding tree leaves…It just feels like a very “spring” tea! Although I’d go for a cup of Earl Grey anytime, and I do love my chamomile in the evening.

flatlay showing the embroidered teabag on tea-dyed fabric, Afternoon Tea book, and dried florals

Do you have a favourite kind of tea? What sort of lovely things would you include if you hosted your dream tea party?

 

I hope you enjoyed this post dear friend, and you’ll find the embroidery pattern waiting in your inbox tonight at 7pm EST if you’re a newsletter subscriber. If you’d like to sign-up, you can click the link here! Stitch & thread recommendations are included with the pattern, and I’ve got all the stitch tutorials you need here on the blog if you get stuck.

It’s a really simple little embroidery, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! Follow on Instagram for more embroidery content if you fancy. 🙂

 

Fondly,

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