In a Spring Garden - the teapot trivet

Nope, there’s still no spring around here today!  In fact, I’m wearing a cardigan - this is utterly unheard of for Brisbane in November.  Never mind, there’s plenty of pretty florals to find solace in.

This morning I was going to finish this …

But I became carried away with sewing wee white triangles to wee green triangles that were snipped off the above Mayfly blocks.  And then there were 16 half square triangles squares and they were too pretty to put away and lost forever.  Perhaps they’d make a sweet border.  With a palest pink square in the middle - and a pretty spring plate.  Yes - that would be nice! 

See, I’ve become besotted with Posy’s living room and passion for Cath Kidston - but I know that floral teapot trivets will be the closest I will ever get to producing this look in my home - Julian would have a nervous breakdown, surrounded by all those flowers!)

This involved some applique …

And lots of quilting - a la Mary Mashuta’s FABULOUS new book Foolproof Machine Quilting - I feel terribly empowered already and I’m only a third of the way through :-)

And now I have a very pretty teapot trivet for afternoon teas in a spring garden.  But after all of yesterday’s talking of Christmas presents, I have decided to share this one with you my dear readers!  So, I shall randomly choose a reader who knows the answer to this question …

Who grumbled “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents!”

Leave your answer in the comments and I will draw a winner on Thursday morning.  And once again - swamped as we are here in Brisbane with thick, dark grey skys and drenching rain - but VERY grateful that my home is intact and we are all safe and sound - and sad for those who are suffering from Sunday’s storm disaster, there’s no nice photos to be had - just these ghastly ones.  

The colours of the trivet really are very pretty! And with many more Mayflys and Christmas beetles cut out and waiting by my sewing machine, I foresee more trivets for Christmas stockings.  Very jolly to be able to produce presents from what can easily be dropped into the bin. -) 

p.s. I now have a jar of pink buttons to add to my collection - hee! hee! hee!

27 Comments

  • Lucy
    18 November, 2008 at 11:32 am

    Jo March - Little Women

  • christine
    18 November, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    One of my favorite books! We’ll be reading it aloud for school this winter.

    Jo from Little Women

    Have a wonderfilled day!

  • betsy
    18 November, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    I have no idea but your trivet is awesome!

  • Jana
    18 November, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    I am pretty sure the Grinch said it ;)

  • Cathie
    18 November, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    hmmmm - “Little Women” I believe!

    This is lovely - you did a great job!

  • Katy
    18 November, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    eeek! Little women! Jo said it!
    I often use the ‘it’s so dreadful to be poor’ quote when my husband tells me I can’t buy any more fabric (because sometimes he can be quite mean). I LOVE that book!

  • anne from finland
    18 November, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    Ho, ho, ho, that was Jo from Little Women. I see the film once a year with my DD 2! Santa is still waiting for your wishes….

  • nettie
    18 November, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    little women–Jo (I think). I need to reread that book, it’s a good one.

  • Karen
    18 November, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    I have no idea, but you are sooo creative, putting you “scraps” together and coming up with such an adorable little trivet;)

  • MichelleB
    18 November, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    That trivet is adorable. I am always amazed at what you come up with in a day. And I do believe it was Jo from Little Women that said it.

  • gayle
    18 November, 2008 at 3:51 pm

    I have no idea on the quote.
    I just wanted to say how lovely the trivet is, and how generous you are to give it away!

  • Kathi
    18 November, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    That’s what Jo said in Little Women. I even think it’s right at the beginning of the book.

  • Mackenzie
    18 November, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Jo March from Little Women for sure! A favorite book. :) I love the little quilt wall you’re doing!! So inspiring. :)
    ~Mackenzie

  • Heather W.
    18 November, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Does it count if I recognized the quote but only remembered when I saw everybody else’s answers? Love the trivet!

  • amy
    18 November, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    I’ve emailed my answer (before looking at the comments but after Googling the quote). :-) Cheerful trivet! Would definitely brighten things up around here!

  • Nanette
    18 November, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    Little Women - sweet Jo. How fun. I love that book. I think I’ve read it 3 times. Everything you make Lily - jumps out of your blog. It all has such life. I love this one.

  • Bev
    18 November, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    Gosh, everyone seems to know the answer. It’s Jo, Little Women.
    I once had an English test where we had to identify famous first lines of 20 literary classics. >shudder<

  • kristine hanson
    18 November, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    Jo from Little Women, cute trivet!!

  • rachal
    18 November, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    Darling Jo from Little Women. One of my favorite books/films ever!

  • Tine
    19 November, 2008 at 8:00 am

    Jo from Little Women! I love this trivet :)

  • jmbmommy
    19 November, 2008 at 8:21 am

    I wanted to enter…but I have to admit I cheated (It was Jo) I found it on this crazy thing called the “World Wide Web”. yes, you can just type in things that you care to know and fun answers appear. You should really try it yourself, it is great.
    ;)

    PS
    I like how you just come up with all of these things, a trivet quilt…now that is a great idea!

  • Robin Ferrell
    19 November, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Jo March, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - an unusual thing for me, for some reason I loved the movie better than the book!!

  • Shari Jamieson
    19 November, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    That is such a sweet trivet. I thought Buzz said the quote in Home Alone 2. Haven’t read Little Women since I was a girl. Should try it again now that I’m a mother myself. Glad to hear you came through the storm ok. I must have been living under a rock as I didn’t realize how bad it was until the news yesterday? Just been working too hard I guess.

    Cheers Shari

    I visited you from Lurline’s blog.

  • Emma
    20 November, 2008 at 3:30 am

    Very pretty! I am impressed, as always, with your ability to make something useful from a few scraps. Do you teach classes, Lily?

  • Ivory Spring
    20 November, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Lily!! The tea trivet is soooo cute - it just speaks of SPRING!!! You did a lovely job.

    It’s funny you would mention 123 stitch because I was just there yesterday. I found a new designer that I like… Mon Ami Pierre - I don’t know if you are aware of her, but her cross-stitch patterns are just too French to pass up. I too have an ongoing list of patterns I would like to stitch up. An unrealistic list, but one could still strive, couldn’t one?! ;)

    Take care!

  • threeundertwo
    20 November, 2008 at 4:40 pm

    That is absolutely lovely! Sounds like another quilting book I need to look into.

  • Patty
    21 November, 2008 at 12:32 am

    Jo in Little Women !
    I love your the colors you chose

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