Jewels of Summer Tea Box

Eighteen months ago I bought two of these boxes when they appeared at Create in Stitch, along with two Anna Scott kits for embroidered panels to fit in the top of the boxes. I finished one which my Adelaide daughter has in her office. The second was promised to my eldest granddaughter when she too gets an office or decent work space of her own. The boxes take up too much bench space for an average kitchen. 

Recently it occurred to me that the time may have come to see if my Canberra daughter would like one. Affirmative!

I bought another box and checked out suitable available designs for the lid. When I consulted with younger granddaughters, they too wanted one (for their glory boxes, which have nothing to do with marriage!) 

So back for more boxes while  they were in stock. 

The Canberra one was immediate, so I set to work on the chosen design, Anna Scott’s Jewels of Summer. It is a pleasure to stitch. Anna’s instructions are both concise and precise. The stitches are nicely varied and there is a logic to the sequence. I usually use up thread from a finished section elsewhere to avoid wastage, but didn’t with this, feeling compelled to obey instructions to get the best possible result. 

Each time I finished a section I really wanted to move on, to see how the next one emerged. The combinations of stitches and colours are ingenious.

It was a lot of fun and very hard to stop. I worked in a 10" hoop on a sitting stand, so minimised strain on my hands.

 I finished it around 10pm one night, and blocked it straight away, in the hope it would be dry in the morning. It took a few hours into the morning, but I had a piece of acid-free backboard and wadding, so, after a lot of checking, was able to mount it later that day.

I stitched the corners down first, with cotton thread, then laced it using a waxed thread from a reel that has survived from my childhood.

There were many jobs for which my mother would tell me "Go and get the black thread". I'm pretty sure I have some cream waxed thread somewhere, but I don't think the black will shed colour. It certainly won't give way.

I did use double-sided tape to hold it on to the lid. I can't guarantee it is archival quality, but as far as I could ascertain, it should be OK.

I'm very happy with the result. I can see why one of my granddaughters has also chosen this design, and stitching it again will be enjoyable. Another has chose a Galah - which will need a bit of adapting, and the third chose Stars of Winter, to which I am also partial.

It's an uplifting mission to be on.