Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Conundrum of Butterfly Porportion

This is a pair of towels that I made for the Lovely Ms M. She is one of the Las Vegas nieces and is so kind to our kitties when we are away. She is a fan of butterflies and so I wanted to make her some "especially for her" towels. (No spoiler, since I don't believe she reads my blog. She is a "My Space" girl, so our circles do not generally overlap!)





These are larger motifs than I generally use on towels. Instead of putting them in the corner, I centered them on one side.




I didn't have any transfers in my stash that I thought were quite right, so I ordered this Aunt Martha collection from an ebay seller. They were not as detailed as the packets of designs for days of the week, etc, but I like the more contemporary feel.




They are uncomplicated designs. If I were more artistic with my stitches, I am sure there could be more "interest" or "texture", but I like how they turned out.



Towels are simple gifts, though that is part of their charm to me.

I have seen (and bought) lovely towels and other linens at estate sales that were still in the gift boxes that they were presented in decades earlier. I imagine because the recipient didn't want to "spoil" them by use, they were put away in a linen closet or perhaps a cedar chest. So the only enjoyment that they brought was looking at them occasionally.

I hope my embroidered gifts are useful and used. I would like to think that whenever one is pulled out of the drawer for drying dishes or wiping counters that it might bring a smile. I use sturdy fabric, (except for the unfortunate "tea pot towels" - which are still WIP...) and try to make all the knots tight and close so the designs will last through use and laundry. I don't want them to be saved for an eventual estate sale (or garage sale!)

If they don't last, or an unfortunate run in with a paint brush or dip stick ruins them, I will just have to make a replacement!

One thing that I have been puzzling over lately is whether they are "dish towels" or "tea towels". I have always referred to kitchen towels as tea towels, but it doesn't make much sense, when I think about it. Mother always called them tea towels, but never drank or served tea, as I recall... If she ever did have a tea, I am sure the she would have used something more formal on the table.

What do you think? Are they dish towels, or tea towels?

2 comments:

Iron Needles said...

Tea or dish, the butterflies are lovely. Miss M will love them.

Perhaps they were referred to as tea towels because they were intended for drying teacups?

I am groping here, I know.

Anonymous said...

Wisegeek.com has a good description of a tea towel. Whatever you call them (I say tea towel), yours are very pretty -- love the butterflies.