Quilting on the Porch

Hello All!
Happy Monday!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day in our area. It was so lovely, I found myself on my front porch with a cup of tea, quilting in the morning sun!
That was pure pleasure!
I was counting my blessings right along with my stitches!

I am only just learning to quilt, inspired entirely by Frieda Oxenham, and I am totally loving it. Frieda's quilts are like fabric candy!
Check out her blog and see the delicious colors she works with,
she even sews lovely beads on her designs!
When I saw there was a beginners class at a nearby sewing shop, I signed up to make a sampler quilt. I did not pick traditional fabric though, a little more Asian,with some Batik thrown in!

I am loving the reds, pinks, and greens.

I am learning to hand applique.....patience is needed!
See the script fabric, it says lovely things about life and friendship.

There are 12 squares in this pattern, so you can try out 12 different block patterns.

"Whirling Geese"

"Four Patch Squares"

In my last post I announced my Birthday Gratitude Giveaway! Follow the link to leave a comment if you would like to enter to win this lovely tea for one!
You only need be a follower to enter!

May you all have a joyful and creative week.
Hugs,
Terri

Birthday Gratitude Giveaway!

Hello All!
Today is my 52nd birthday!
To celebrate, my family and I are
having an English tea.
(the fairy cakes above we made this morning)

To express my Gratitude for 52 years
on this planet,
I am giving away this Tea For One!

This beautiful tea pot and cup are the perfect way for me to say
Thank You to you all

for all your very kind comments, advice, and support!

I love the little gold star on the top of the lid.

And the pretty gold details on the handle.

A beautiful generous cup!
Any follower, or new follower, can leave a comment to enter into this giveaway. It doesn't matter where you live, I am happy to ship anywhere in the world.
Hugs to you all and Happy Saturday!
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday

Hello All!
Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday, where Martha and I dig into our china cupboards and bring out one of our china cups to share with you all.
As I have said each week,Martha and I
love doing this.
We love showing you our cups and we really
love coming to see your beautiful china tea cups.

My cup today is a little dramatic, so I have photographed it that way.
This is such a lovely cup for an evening tea.

I find this cup interesting. To me, this cup's decoration has an Asian style to it. Maybe even Chinese looking....do you think? But it was created in England, and as you will see in a photo below, there is an English castle in the lower right of the bottom of the cup.

It is a beautiful peachy pink color with plenty of gorgeous gold filigree.

The outside is white except for the gold ring. The cup sits on a modest pedestal,
also simply ringed with gold.

The handle too is very simple, with just a line of gold to adorn it.

You can see the interesting painting on the inside bottom of the cup better in this photo. Some of the flowers do not look like any in nature I have ever seen. Very fanciful!

A.B. Jones and Sons at Grafton Works was the company that produced this cup. They resided in Longton, Stoke On Trent, in England, where most English pottery was made.
This backstamp was used beginning in 1957. Before 1949 the "Royal" was not used, so you may have a cup that has a backstamp with just the name Grafton, or a backstamp with A. B. Jones on it. There were a number of variations of backstamps during the years they were in business 1900-1972.

Thank you so much for coming by to visit today!
If you would like to play along, create a post with a tea cup of yours and then come back to this site or Martha's and sign up with Mr. Linky below the post.
Tell us about your cup, show us the backstamp. We love seeing backstamps that we have never seen before. We love seeing all the many different tea cups that are out there. Many of you have shown us some absolutely gorgeous cups! Tell us what you love about your cup, how you came to have it, and if you know about the company who made it, share that with us too. We find all of this very interesting.
(Don't forget to check that the link goes to your own post)

Hugs to you All!
Terri

Artist Appreciation

Hearts are everywhere in nature
This beautiful Viola shares her joy with us all!

Today I would love to share about two artists that I have been blessed to meet online. One I have only just met, as she watched my Fairy School video tutorial series and created her own version of a school, just wait till you see this...it is amazing!
The second artist friend I have known for a while now, and we have swapped and traded together before. I am sharing her most recent gift to me, it is just gorgeous!

Brianne, at Wandering Moments has created a Fairy Learning Cooperative! She shared with me that creating it was a respite in a rather hectic time for her. She said "It was a craft piece that required nothing of me but my whimsical nature. It wasn't for money, for someone else's specifications (except the fairies, and they are not, as I found out, that specific about interior decor)." You can see from the photos below that she has an amazing creative imagination. Please visit her blog (which is full of Love and Joy) for more explanation of her school and to see more photos of her incredible work. Brianne, thank you so much for sharing your school with me!

I would love to have been a student here!

Intriguing items on her beautifully crafted bookcase!

Her Fairies are so adorable! Thank you so much Brianne for sharing!

I met Rella online at Paperwhimsy and Marie Antoinette Mail Art Ning group. She is a multi talented artist and a very dear soul. She is also the owner and Queen Bee of MAMA. Her main blog is Faerieluna and she has just created a new blog to share the process of building her new doll house. She sent me a beautiful package wrapped so lovely I didn't want to open it.....but I did! Inside was some chocolate, some ribbon she had beautifully hand dyed, more lovely ribbon, some delicious tea, a little bouquet of pretty flowers, a dear card, some incredible artist fabric and the main item....a brilliantly well crafted heart with a very special sentiment on it.

Don't you love unwrapping such a lovely packaged gift?

Rella created this heart from vintage laces, ribbons and many other fine embellishments.
The sentiment "Let Joy Be Your Compass" is a favorite of mine.

How beautiful when it opens too! *swoon*
There is stamped script underneath some cheesecloth!

Some beautiful roses, buttons and lace.

A perfect feather for healing!

Thank you so much Rella for this precious gift and all the wonderful goodies you sent with it!

That is my sharing for today. I appreciate both these talented ladies.
I appreciate all of you as well.
I am working a little of some new projects I hope to share soon.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday-Blue

Hello All!
Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday,
a day where Martha and I
get all warm and fuzzy about china tea cups!

First of all I would like to thank you all for your very
kind messagesfrom my last quick post.
My heart was warmed to see such good wishes from you all! Thank you!

I also want to share that my daffodils are blooming already!
They say that spring is on it's way!
The tulips above are from Wallmart,
they lasted so well and looked so lovely for days.
What a delightful treat!

So on to Tea Cups!

My cup today is another new one. I found this at a local antique store. I do not usually buy blue tea cups, but this one was so pretty, and felt so good in the hand, I brought it home.

It is a simple blue pattern on white.

But such a pretty blue floral pattern. A perfect pattern for a cup of cheer!

I am fascinated with the molding of this cup. I did not know what you call it when the shape is like this. On one of the R.A. sites it said that this cup has a Shelley shape. I just find it lovely. There are striations in each "petal" shape, the photo does not show it.

A simple loop handle, no spur or thumb rest, but two ridges or rings around the loop.

This pattern is called Dainty Blue (and so it is!) and was manufactured by Royal Albert as you can see by the back stamp. This pattern was produced from 1966-the 70's.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!
If you would like to join in and share one of your tea cups we would love to come and see it.
Create your post about your tea cup first and then come back here and sign up with Mr. Linky.
Check your own link once it is up to make sure that it takes us to your post.
Share how you came to have your cup, what you love about it and even it's history. I love seeing the backstamp on the bottom of the cup!

Healing Opportunity

Hello All!

I just thought I would pop in for a moment to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I have been resting and taking some time to feel better. I shall be back hopefully this weekend with a new post. I have missed visiting your blogs and seeing how and what you are doing.
I appreciate you all very much!
Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday!

Hello All!
Tuesday again, and another day for us to ooooh and aaahhhh over tea cups!


Martha and I have been enjoying hosting each week,
where we get to showcase some of our favorite tea cups,
and we get to come and see your beautiful tea cups too!
We are both very thankful for each one of you playing along!

Today I am sharing a cup that is new to me.
I am quite fond of gold filigree on a cup. This cup has plenty,
so I am quite delighted with it.
It is also from one of my favorite companies, Paragon.

What is so special to me about about beautiful cups? Hmmmmm, I think it is the beauty, and maybe that beauty inspires one to pause and consider more beauty. When I pick up a beautiful cup to have tea in, it motivates me to choose a nice tray, and then linen, and a pretty cream and sugar, a lovely spoon, and maybe even a flower in a bud vase.......next thing I know, I am having a beautiful quiet moment to drink in the tea and the beauty all around me.

This cup has a lovely ruffled edge trimmed in gold.

A very simple handle, with a mild thumb rest and spur.

The outside of the cup is simple white with a little gold trim.
It has a pedestal base with a little gold around it as well.

In this closeup of the base inside the cup, we can see the beautiful details in the many flowers.

And here is the backstamp attributing this cup to Paragon.
Paragon was carefree with their backstamps, and often used ones that were not registered. They may have just used what they had transfers for, until they were used up. So it is difficult to have a really firm date for a cup. From what I can find on the internet, this stamp may be from somewhere after 1963.

If you would like to play along, choose a tea cup to share with us and create a post about it. Tell us what you love about it, how you came to have it, who manufactured it (we love to see the backstamp!). Then come back and fill in the Mr. Linky so we can come and see your beautiful tea cups! Remember to click on your own link to test it out, you want to make sure it works so we can find you.
Please do not sign up unless you are showcasing a tea cup. Thank you so much!
I am also joining Lady Katherine today for her tea time!
Hugs to you All!
Terri

(Mr. Linky is doing maintenance this week...so??? Also, I am trying out a new linky, if it does not appear to work, please come back and see if it is fixed later)