Tea Towel Treasures

It seems amazing that we are already into 2010. Feels like only yesterday that we were celebrating the new millennium in 2000. I'm happy you joined me today. I'm linking this post to Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally, Mosaic Monday hosted by Little Red House, and Three or More Tuesday hosted by The Gypsy's Corner. Thank you to each of these ladies for hosting these fun events each week.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day, I received a package from a dear friend who lives in France.

The little package on the left saying "Merry Christmas" contained this fabulous red and white tea towel. It's made of the finest linen. Feels so elegant to the touch! And it is woven with bands of red along the edges. So French!

This mosaic shows you the details of this beauty which features the Arc de Triomphe, L' Opera, and Tour d Eiffel. Judy knows The City of Light is my all time favorite city. I have a thing about the Eiffel Tower. She also knows that I adore tea towels as much as I adore pottery. Both are works of art as far as I'm concerned.

The other package on the right and saying " . . . and a Happy New Year" appropriately held this 2010 calendar tea towel. Judy lives in Brittany and is a friend I met through the Quimper Club. This blue tea towel features my favorite motifs found on Quimper pottery. Click on the photo to enlarge and you can see the details of the Breton people and the French coqs.

Here is the month for January, my favorite. It's my birth month!

I have some other tea towels from Brittany. Want to see them?

This is one that features the work of Quimper artist François Le Villec.

This Corentine de Quimper towel features the pieces of a faience tea service. Doesn't it make you want to heat up the water and enjoy a cup of tea? These French tea towels are larger and make great little accent cloths on a small table. A table set for tea perhaps?

Take a look at this lovely pair! The towels are made from natural linen and chain stitched to portray a Breton couple, he on one and she on the other. The embroidery is done in a cherry red, not the pinkish color that shows in the photo. These were an unexpected, but most appreciated gift from Fran, another Quimper friend. Thank you, dear Fran! I absolutely LOVE these!

And look how well they go with the linen Christmas towel Judy sent to me last Christmas. I might add that these towels are large. They measure a generous 20"x 30". Definitely NO dirty hands are going to be allowed to touch these beauties. Rather I'm going to come up with a safe creative use for this pair.

The darling towels above were Christmas gifts. I have a neighbor who shares my affinity for MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check. She gave me the towel on the left with the topiary poinsettia in the CC inspired cache pot. Pretty cute! Thanks, Shannon!

This beautifully wrapped gift arrived this fall. It was a thank you from Laurie @ Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie. You see I'm one of the lucky ones who got to "chat live" with Laurie. You can read about our visit here. Laurie, Thank You Again for these thoughtful gifts. It was such a treat to meet you!

The pink polka dot package contained a sweet personal note from Laurie, a little French dish with an A no less, and a darling tea towel. Wow! I guess Laurie knows a little bit about me. The little dish sits on my desk beside my computer and holds clips, and pens, and stuff.

The tea towel gets to hang about, but I don't let anyone actually use it. LOL It is too wonderful! The detailed work on this is amazing. The teapot is pieced as if it were from a quilt square, is embellished with beautiful embroidery, and appliqued to white cotton. It was made by Cupcakes and Cartwheels. The name is as cute as the towel itself.

This little waffle tea towel was a gift from my sister. She spent 6 weeks in Provence last January to be present for the birth of her grandson. It's special to me because it reminds me of what a special time my sister had while there and how excited our family was to welcome Beau Hubbard into our family.

I've lots more delightful little tea towel art to share, but I'll save it for a future post. I know you want to get back to visiting more posts for Mosaic Monday, Blue Monday, and Three or More Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment. It will make my day!