Tea-Time Tuesday ~ Lusterware & Weaving

I love this blue Lusterware teacup. I have a set with 6 cups & saucers, matching sugar & creamer with teapot . The set also came with dessert plates and salt & pepper shakers. I especially love the simple colors of this Lusterware. ( BTW, I've seen lusterware  also spelled lustreware , and this spelling is also correct. ) Blue is one of my favorite colors and when combined with the yellow-gold inside of the teacup it seems rich. The black handle enhances the teacup.

This piece of weaving goes perfectly with the tea-cup and fits in nicely with autumn décor don't you think ?

This hand-woven piece is one I found in a pile of linens being sorted for the estate sale my husband's family had after both his parents died recently. Being a very amateur weaver myself I recognized a hand-woven treasure instantly and found it had a tag sewed into one hem. I am 99% sure this piece of weaving came from my husband's aunt , Marion Lowery . She was a home-economics teacher in our state a few decades ago and collected such items on her many travels. Before she died she gave all of her precious items to family and friends , and my husband's mother was her niece.

Needless to say, I snatched this up completely aware of my good fortune in discovering my husband's family was happy to allow me to keep this hand-woven table-runner. After bringing it home I looked up the name on the tag and found The Fireside Industries of Berea College ~ Berea , Kentucky * is still weaving treasures today. They also have an interesting history* that surprised me and made me even more appreciative of their ongoing education in American crafts.

"Weaving is at the heart of Berea College Crafts. In the early 1890’s, Berea College President William G. Frost was astounded by ‘kivers’, woven coverlets produced in mountain homes. He established Berea’s “Fireside Industries” as a way to preserve traditional Appalachian crafts and to provide parents a currency with which they could pay for their children’s education. Berea College, through its support of traditional mountain arts, became a leader of the American Arts & Crafts movement and the Appalachian Craft Revival. In 1900, a Berea coverlet won a gold medal at the World’s Fair in Paris." quoted from Fireside Industries web-site.

I have grown to appreciate more simple things as I grow older. Carefully and lovingly done weaving, knitting, embroidery, quilting~ any needlework, worked in classic colors and designs is timeless. Simple tea things , home made meals and desserts, a simply but prettily set table offered with true hospitality are treasures one cannot put a price on .When you share a tea time or a meal where such hospitality is  woven through-out it is always a memorable time. For me the classic blue Lusterware and hand-woven table linen set the scene for sharing a cuppa with people I love as the weather outdoors keeps us inside.

I am joining these ladies for Tea-Time Tuesday :
Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
Martha at Martha's Favorites *
Ruth at Antiques and Teacups *
Bernideen at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog *