Finding tea at the local Quilt Expo

The Newnan-Coweta Historical Society held its Second Annual Quilt Expo last week, and once again, I had a terrific (and inspiring) time admiring quilts, buying a few goodies, and visiting with friends old and new. In the collage above, you can see one of my favorite quilts at top left, a design featuring the iconic image of our Coweta County Courthouse.

I really want to get going on some sort of craft project this fall, and when I asked my tea-loving pen pal and fellow quilter, Sandy, whether I should finish an old project or start a new one, she suggested I do both, so I actually went there with that intent. I would get inspired to finish up something old (I'm thinking that yo-yo quilt I've had going for several years), and then I figured I would get inspired to start something new! I ran into an old friend, Hettie, whose beautiful quilt is shown here. When she told me it took 1,000+ blocks, I just shook my head and said that isn't going to happen until I retire. She smiled and told me that's when her own quilting took off!

The old train depot where the exhibit was housed is set up nicely with booths on the interior surrounded by lots of vendors on the outside. I made several rounds so I would be sure to see everything, and this booth of beautiful felted appliqué pieces caught my eye. My tea radar was working, because my eye went pretty quickly to what's within the red circle.

It was a kit for this adorable felted needlebook in the shape of a teacup! How darling is this! I'm missing a few supplies necessary to complete it, but when it's done, I'll be sure to share a photo.

The designer, Laura Bosma of nearby Peachtree City, was super friendly, and when I told her I love tea things and had to have this kit, she kindly pulled out some pieces that weren't actually on display to show me. Apparently she has an open-studio event with a tea theme each year around Mother's Day, and one of the projects was this teapot design that reads, "The best days include Tea and Stitches."

I believe she said the women received only the felt teapot and then embellished it and pieced it however they wanted.

Here's another teapot design, and both are just lovely! I will definitely be keeping her contact info handy so I can stay informed about her work! (She has an Etsy shop here, although none of the teacup needlebook kits are listed at this time.)

So obviously the tea pieces were my favorite finds of the day, but I also enjoyed just seeing the beautiful artistry of all who contributed quilts for the exhibit.

Now I'm already looking forward to next year's show!