Tea Themed Collections - Linens 'n Things

Yesterday we awoke to approximately 12 inches of new fallen snow.  The local children got a snow day from school, and I hunkered down inside my house too.  It was a perfect day for staying inside to work on my blog.  Below are photos of the snow from both the front and back views of my house, as well the street. Detroit got 16.7 inches which is the 3rd highest snowfall total recorded in the city's history.

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, and the little furry creature was said to have seen his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. Wouldn't it be nice if getting rid of winter were as easy as a wolf eating Punxsutawney Phil?  ;-)

My linen collection is a natural progression from yesterday's apron collection.  Apron Expert, Ellyn Ann Geisel, has also written a book about linens, but as yet I haven't purchased it.

Tea towels make up the largest part of my tea themed linens.  My favorites are the hand embroidered ones.

~ A few are souvenirs from places I've traveled ~

The tea towel on the right below matches the apron I blogged about yesterday.

I have several tea linens from Sandy Clough. 

The two tea towels pictured below are part of a Monday through Sunday set, and were part of my kit when I sold her products.

Confession... the only tea towels I actually use are terrycloth towels such as the ones pictured below.  

~ Linen tea themed tablecloths ~

I bought the linen tablecloth below at an antique show from a lady who traveled from Connecticut. It is 28" x 30" with a crocheted edge, from the 1920's, and is in pristine condition.

The pretty, lacy teapot/teacup tablecloth below came from Walmart.  When I was doing Sandy Clough home parties, one of the hostesses gave it to me.

Repro teacup carriers/totes.  

Below is what they look like on the inside.  There's a separation between the teacup and the saucer to prevent breakage.  In times past ladies would bring their own teacup to a tea party in a handmade fabric tote because the hostess usually didn't own enough to share.  

Some time ago I bought the pattern to make a teacup carrier, but I've never gotten around to doing it yet.

Below are three large 6-cup teapot 'wrap around' cozies. The one on the right is a Thistledown cozy.

 ~ Small dome-like teapot cozy ~

Below is a 'dome' style teapot cozy.  I had it made several years ago, and the fabric is still available at Hobby Lobby.

Lastly is a Victorian porcelain half-doll tea cozy.  It's a beautiful reproduction.

While not really a linen, I'm including my antique 'Carriage Cozy' in today's post since it's made of fabric.  Some say these were used to carry tea by carriage to a picnic or other destination.  Others claim they were used by the downstairs staff to carry the tea to the upstairs residents.  What a clever way to keep a pot of tea hot in transit.

Below is an inside view of the teapot carrier.  The fabric on mine has been replaced.