Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Vintage Tea Towel Tuesday and H.E.L.P!

What a lovely way to display a vintage t.towel!
image via Design Sponge


I can't wait for our kitchen to be finished so that I can finally display a few of mine.

Before I continue, I have to admit, that we have painted over an almost identical yellow in our kitchen. And, it was a hallelujah! moment when we did.

Almost our whole house btw, was painted in that yellow with royal blue trims and ceilings! If you follow Aussie rules, picture the West Coast Eagles. Get the picture? Hmmm, lovely, and I'm not kidding! (this was even more awful for us because we are Richmond supporters! Having confessed to that however, we would NEVER paint our house yellow and black!)

Anyway, as usual I digress (it's my last post for a while, I'm allowed to. Ha!) this is where the H.E.L.P! comes in...

Yesterday I received an email from Austin (Hi Austin), have a read

Hi Kylie,

I'm Austin, I'm visiting Melbourne from the U.S. and I have been assigned a mission to bring back some tea towels.  I came across your blog and I was wondering if you had any advice for me, where a good place to shop might be?  Many thanks,

Cheers,
Austin

As most of you know I'm a Perth girl, and as it's been at least three years since I was last in Melbourne, my knowledge of the  local vintage t.t. scene sucks.
Can you help???
I'm sure someone can.
Any info would be really appreciated.
(remember, I've got my rep to uphold! Ha-ha!)
All you have to do is leave your suggestion in a comment - I know Austin is going to check back and read them.
We can't have him failing his "mission", can we?
Thanks in anticipation, for your suggestions x

Now, the tea towel du jour

The Great Kitchen, Saltram, Devon
Pat Albeck for The National Trust

This t.t. dates from the 1970's and I love it. Do you?
Turns out Pat Albeck is legendary among t.t. designers. She has designed heaps of t.ts. for The National Trust and even has a slight Australian connection. See, here she is with a boomerang

Pat Albeck, honourary Aussie?
 
Click here  To learn more about Ms Albeck and to check out some of her awesome designs.

note: this is a wonderful link whether you like t.towels or not! I hope you'll have a look.   

And here's The Great Kitchen (built in the 1770's)

image via
look, those copper pots are on the t.towel...

Now, I know this post is all-over-the shop, but I think it would be remiss of me not to share this...remember my post on Iwanoff's Marsala House? I thought you might find this interesting:

The Sunday Times, 6 May, 2012
(apologies for poor quality)

Phew! That's it, I'm outta here!
Back in a few weeks, until then take care and have fun.


x

28 comments:

  1. Love the look of the tea towel as part of a wall display.
    I will miss your lovely, interesting blog posts Kylie. x

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  2. thank you so much for commenting on y blog and leading me over to your amazing vintage space. I was in heaven finding your blog. By the way, I have a small collection of tt's or should it be TT's. x
    Bless me!

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  3. You could write the best book about t towels.
    That little display looks fantastic, and I usually loathe yellow.
    I hope you come back soon. I love your blog, so stylish and informative with that essential addition of humour.
    Take care, tea towel lady.

    Lucy x

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  4. Hi Kylie, the first photo is so bright and cheery! I am picturing your West Coast Eagles inspired colour scheme and laughing. I am a Tiger too but no yellow and black decorating here either. See you when you get back to blog land :)

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  5. Jings - that woman with the boomerang looks a bit fierce!
    Come back soon refreshed and raring to go!
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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  6. Fabulous TT Miss Kylie, as always.
    I hope you have a wonderful break filled with lots of happiness and fun.
    Love v

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  7. Oh banana yellow, as equally foul as my custard! Enjoy your break and hope the kitchen reno goes well- looking forward to seeing some teatowels up on display in all their glory when you return. melx

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  8. I do hope you're going to show off your brand spanking new kitchen to us all, Kylie. Have I requested this before? Probably. Missing you and my Tuesday dose of tts already. Have a lovely break. xx

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  9. You had me at the yellow wall!!! So serendipitous (love that word) when a comment on a blog you love (rowanteee) takes you to one that is soooooo delightful:)
    Lovely to meet you Miss Kylie and looking forward to reading as many back posts as I can!!!

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  10. I'm fascinated by the "Kitchen Tea, "Best Tea," "Coffee" and "Best Coffee" labels. Coming from Texas where just about the only tea we drink is iced tea, I'm unfamiliar with labels of this type.

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  11. I love that kitchen table! *OoOHH* It's so lovely.

    Fabulous tea towel, I love blue and orange together.
    =)
    See you in a few weeks!

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  12. Lovely tea towel to end with Kylie. Enjoy your few weeks off! Don't forget to come back when you feel inspired again. xx

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  13. How happy am I that I found your blog. I love it!
    I am partial to Vintage Tea towels myself.
    Just going to carry on reading.
    Emma (Oooh Betty) x

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  14. Are you off on a trip Kylie or just knuckling down to the renovations? Take care anyway and come back soon. Love that first photo from Design Sponge - you've brought me over to the TT love I think! xx

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  15. Hi there Kylie & Austin ... ok - if you're looking for vintage TT's (or anything vintage, retro and just blooming cool) then you MUST MUST MUST go to the Chapel Street Bazaar in Melbourne - just Google for Directions - It's legendary!! Catch ya!

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  16. Hi Kylie and Austin!
    I agree with Brown Paper Packages about Chapel St Bazaar. Also try 'Lost and Found Market' - has 2 locations in Collingwood and Brunswick East. www.lostandfoundmarket.com.au for more info. If you head out into the burbs, I recommend the 'Waverley Antique Bazaar', or down on the Peninsula you can try 'The Vintage Shed' in Tyabb. Hope that helps!! xx

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  17. I confer with all said above, good luck on your search Austin! And Kylie I will miss you :(

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  18. Hey Kylie, thanks so much for your post. The awesome places I love in Melbourne and beyond are The Ugly Duckling in Richmond, The Mill in Geelong, The Vintage Shed in Tyabb and The Coolstores in Tyabb. I googled vintage tea towels in Melbourne and got a few hits. Don't know if they are original or repos but worth a look. Richmond is the place to head, just walk the streets and you will be in vintage/second hand heaven! Smith street, Chapel Street, Victoria Street, Mailing Street (Surrey Hills). Google these streets and see what comes up!Good luck. I love your blog by the way!!

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  19. Sadly i can't help with the sourcing the tea towels for you but im loving your one today. You have the best collection ever. Have a great break from blogging. Take lots of care, dee x

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  20. I must admit that I am no fan of yellow, and combined with royal blue that would do my head in. Thank goodness for white.

    I love the freestanding kitchen. We ripped out our ugly 1970's kitchen, now ours is very similar. The great think is you can change pieces around no worries.

    Enjoy your break. take care, T x

    p.s. Sorry can't help with the tea-towel hunt :(

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  21. Hi there,
    The tea towel on the wall looks amazing! I have to say though if I put any of mine up that would be a disaster, what they have to deal with living in a farm kitchen with one clumsy mummy and two messy kids, they really are an embarressment and spend most of the time in my washing machine turning various shades of grey. Still inspiring seeing one proudly displayed!! Keep up the good work, Kat x

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  22. I like that first pic inspite of the yellow.Our hallway was painted mid yellow when we moved in,it became our paint sample wall.

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  23. Hey chickadee - loving the TT display and i cant wait to see your new kitchen! Have a great break (blog break or holiday) Scarlett x

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  24. The first one is amazing - in fact the whole display is!

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  25. Had to laugh as we are slowly getting rid of our yellow walls also. When we moved in eleven years ago they made the place brighter as it is a bit pokey with poor light. We even repainted the same colour in some rooms. However now we are OVER IT! The yellow is slowly disappearing. Love the tea towels!

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  26. I lost your email and realised I NEVER replied to your last one. I am so sorry, you must think me very rude. Think you were offering me an Aussie mammal book..........sorry love that I never got back. Work took my brain away and I forgot to do loads of things.
    I am guessing that you have given the book to someone else as you said you would if you didn't hear back. Let me know if it's not too late though my dear!
    LOVE your tea towels.....like the wall display one. I think it looks great.
    Hope all is well out there
    Gem x x x x x

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  27. by far, kylie, your best tea towel ever. oh my, it is a beauty.
    and agreed on the added link; i will go back to read up on the different pages, it looks very appetizing and interesting.

    and by the way, i'm dearly missing your all-over-the-shopness. i hope you return to us soon. so you know.
    X and courage.

    did you know?
    you have started on your kitchen after me, and you have overhauled me, by a very long shot. i am still struggling, would you believe it? i keep telling myself, i will get there... so did the turtle.
    n♥

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  28. Darlin'
    I have deleted my whole inbox by mistake. Can you email me so that I have your email address to reply to with my address re the Aus Mam LB!
    Will send you something in return.
    x x x

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