Mad Tea Party

“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone, “so I can’t take more.”
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”

This is The-Big-Quilt-Of-The-Year for me and it turned out a bit more hectic than planned, but I think it's still a true rendition of the theme :))) Two of the previous posts show the background piecing and raw-edge appliqué in progress.

The idea was not to literally illustrate the text, but rather play with the familiar imagery and take the"crazy" part to the extreme, combining and transforming the various elements to the point of dizziness. The cups gradually turn into hats, gateaus into chess pawns, petals into cookies and milk drops, the cake plate serves as a clock (and a melting one, too).

I abandoned my beloved vivid colours for a softer vintage palette plus dark outlines and"hatching" inspired by Tenniel's illustrations. I have very few patterned fabrics, especially with this kind of chintzy vintage patterns, so I collected some bits and pieces specially for the china in this quilt.

The space and time are warped and everything is shrouded by the smoke of the caterpillar's hookah.

The quilting was a big unknown till the last minute, as I'm too lazy to quilt each square in the corresponding black or white, changing the threads and burying the ends all the time, and an overall fill could break the shapes. Smoke was the game-changing idea. It meant I didn't have to stick with black-and-white thread, and instead went for a variegated YLI thread in pastel hues which worked well with the vintage-style prints and softened the sharp contrast of the background. The smoke comes out of the stack of cups, which is a (very obscure) reference to the caterpillar.

The wavy-flowy quilting was quite enjoyable, although it did take a long time, but the fun and game ended when, on the home stretch, with the last corner left, I realised the spool was empty.

I used a full spool of thread on the quilting (top only, the bobbin had a neutral colour), and had to order another one. Needless to say, the shop I bought it from was out of stock... So, I had to wait a couple of weeks until they restocked and could send it to me to finish those last five minutes of quilting.

The roses are one of my favourite parts.

Linking up to:
Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Patchwork and Quilts at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué