My Early 2009 Madeira Selections

I had my older sister on the phone with me to assist in my first purchase of an actual Madeira linen tablecloth. We both went online to Ruby Lane (http://www.rubylane.com/) and found a lovely design with GREY stitching. Grey? An appealing idea since it will work well with my sterling silver bits and the china set I inherited from my mother.

Large Flower and Geometric Pattern

This cloth measures 50 x50 inches and is in perfect condition. It appears to have never been used. I consider giving this a nice soak to freshen it up, yet I see no storage stains or other markings. It has received good care.



Here's a close-up of one of the corners. I live in a small ... er, efficiently sized home and I see this table all day. I enjoy how this corner panel drapes down revealing this lovely corner pattern (below). The beige or cream color of the tablecloth blends nicely with the newly reupholstered chair (gold damask). OK, I admit it. This cloth has been folded up for the past 20 months. Sigh. It's a learning process.

After this acquisition, I start my own hunt. At this point, back in January 2009, I prefer to go with as much open-work embroidery as possible. I'm thinking this will minimize or eliminate the ironing. Yes, I own a Rowena iron. I've never used it. but I do happen to own one.

Spider Mums and Open Work

This cloth is 48 x 47" square and the thread appears to be a beige on an off-white linen. This cloth just jumped off the page at EBay (http://www.ebay.com)/ ) and I had to possess it. I fell in love with the open spaces which show well on my glass table. In the art world, I believe that is known as the negative space. I love the plumpness of the mums since they look like palm trees to me.



The design provides a lively sense of "flow" around the table and I could not be more delighted with my purchase. How interesting that I quickly moved from "bland" white drawn-work linen to this artistry.