A Downton Abbey High Tea Party - With Quilts!

photo by Theresa Nielson

The Clawson Quilting Sisters include some die-hard Downton Abbey fans. In celebration of the Downton Abbey movie release, they held a high tea at the community center.

Members contributed a block to make the teapot quilt below and they had a chance to win the quilt.

Note the real tea bag labels on some blocks!

Lucy Lesperance organized the quilt making and set the blocks together. Barb Lusk donated her skills and time to machine quilt it. When Esther's name was drawn she broke down in tears of gratitude and told me she felt blessed.

Esther with the Teapot quilt the group made

We shared tea-related quilt projects for show and tell. The quilt below used the Downton Abbey fabric line created some years ago.

Below is my mini quilt, "Tea, Earl Gray, Hot" inspired by Jean Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The ladies did an amazing job decorating the tables! Flower petals and sprays of ferns were the centerpieces. We had cloth napkins and name placards.

 Members contributed teapots. Everyone brought their own teacup and saucer.

photo by Theresa Nielson

The finger sandwiches and desserts were amazing! The display could have graced any article in a glossy magazine story.

photo by Theresa Nielson

Many of the ladies dressed for the occasion.

We had displays of teapots and teacups and tea sets and more!

I wish I knew the stories behind all of these beauties. Below is Barb Lusk's grandmother's teapot with hand-painted gold trim. The green Depression Glass, circa 1920, sugar and creamer were collected by my mother.

The creativity and attention to detail by the team of ladies who organized the event was on full display. 

My husband and I saw the Downton Abbey movie and it was jolly good fun!

Clawson Quilting Sisters Losses

The Clawson Quilting Sisters have been meeting in the local park this last month. Before that we had Zoom meetings and before that no meetings since the lockdown in early March.

Over these months we have not lost anyone to COVID-19, but there have been losses.

Shirley Williams, a founding member of the group 20 years ago, died June 16 after a stroke. She was 94 years old.

And Lucy Lesperance had a stroke on April 1, which was discovered to be related to brain cancer. She passed away on July 9 at age 85.

Here are some photos of these women and their quilts.

Lucy's quilt Lucy in the Sky with Sapphires appeared in a number of local quilt shows and was juried into the American Quilt Society show at Paducah.

Lucy with her quilt
Lucy in the Sky with Sapphires

Every year Lucy made a quilt to be raffled off at her family Christmas gathering. They were always stunning.

Lucy organized the making of the teapot quilt for the Downtown Abbey Tea Party, which you can read about here.

Lucy at the Downton Abbey tea party with the raffle
quilt she organized

 

Lucy's Cardinal quilt won the CAMEO Guild challenge contest

Lucy in center front with a pie potholder

Shirley Williams was unable to continue her crafting at the level she once did but she found new ways to express her creativity by scanning photos on fabric and making mug rugs.

Shirley Williams and a mug rug, complete with tea bag pocket

In the photo below Shirley holds her quilt of miniature quilts which shows off her high skill level.

The photo above was taken at Shirley's 91st birthday party held by the quilters.

Shirley with blue icing!

Shirley in a vest she made

Shirley with one of her quilts

Shirley often told me the story of falling for a young WWII pilot. She took one look at him, removed her engagement ring, and announced that was the man she was going to marry!

A young Shirley with her husband

He taught her how to fly.

Shirley as a young woman

We don't know when the community center will reopen or when groups will be safe to meet indoors again. But when we do, things will not be the same.