Sometimes, despite initial uncertainty, an idea for a piece to suit a theme presents itself and won’t let go.  Such is true for me with “When East Meets West”.  I am a very “Western” person (even though I was born and grew up in Eastern Canada 😉 )…and often a very literal interpreter of phrases.  This meant that I immediately thought “East” was referring to the Orient; hence my initial uncertainty about doing justice to this theme.

But thoughts began to come.  The first was the idea of hexagons, based on what I’d seen from the work of Yoko Saito, and the work I’d been doing on the Japanese-style ‘taupe quilt’ I am making for my son and his bride, using patterns from Sue Briscoe.  I decided that large, English paper-pieced hexagons in a selection of muted blue-grey and grey fabrics I’d collected (and which I knew, in part, had been imported from Japan) would provide just the right background for my piece.

The second idea answered the question of what to place on that background.  I found myself — a dyed-in-the-bean coffee drinker — researching the origins of tea, which began in China, spread to Japan and then, via British explorers and the Empire, to India.  Tea: steeped in pots of all shapes and sizes, and served in cups, likewise in variety.  I found examples of three typical pots: “veddy” English ;-), Chinese, and Japanese.  A photo of the latter included Oriental cups, which I decided would work better in the space than a full English-style bone china cup and saucer.

Once the background was pieced, I searched for just the right fabric to contrast with and complement its blue-grey tones.  Enter my former City & Guilds tutor, Linda Kemshall, who recently did a DMTV video about creating a sketchbook focused on a single colour: red.

Red!  The colour favoured by royalty in China, by the military in England, and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police here at home…and present in my stash in some wonderful batik fabrics.  It all went together quite quickly after that — and I’ve titled it, Tea, Anyone?  I hope you like it!

Tea, Anyone?

Tea, Anyone? – Detail 1

Tea, Anyone? – Detail 2

Materials: commercial cottons and batiks, cotton thread, fusible web.

Techniques: English paper piecing, machine applique, machine quilting.