$500 for world’s best tea cosy

The Queensland town of Miles in Australia has become the tea cosy capital of the world with the inaugural World Tea Cosy Making Competition.

Click here to view photos of some of the 2005 entries

With four categories and A$500  prize for the Champion Tea Cosy, the competition drew a fascinating array of tea cosies from around the globe. “Legend has it that the tea cosy was ‘invented’ in the early 1800s by an Irish farmer whose woollen hat accidentally fell on a teapot,” said organiser Ann Gibbons.

The winners of the four categories were:
·               knitting /crochet - Mrs Brenda Wilson TAS
·               embroidery - Susie Geldard QLD (Champion)
·               any other medium eg appliqué, patchwork - Rosalie Head QLD
·               novelty - Penny Eamer QLD

The winner of each category received A$200 with an additional A$300 to the overall Champion.   The competition was an initiative of M.A.I.D. in Murilla, a partnership of the Miles Regional Arts Council and the Murilla Shire Council.   It was inspired by a stage play that was about to be performed in Miles in September 2005 about a group of people who argue about the best way to put their town on the tourist map.The play, The World Bra Unclipping Championships at Garimba, written by Hugh O’Brien directed by Queensland theatre legend Carol Burns, won the Australian National Dogwood Playwrights Initiative.

Elizabeth McIlwraith, 29, of Miles (pictured ) with her tea cosy creation.

“My generation has rediscovered tea drinking and it makes sense that we should come up with a new generation of tea cosies,” Elizabeth said.

Many of the tea cosies are still on display at the acclaimed Dogwood Crossing @ Miles while others have gone on tour to the Warwick Art Gallery and further afield. 

For entry forms for this year's competition see the 2006 World Tea Cosy Competion page.