Works For Me: Embroidered Tablecloth

One of the faithful readers here is Elizabeth, a high school friend of mine.  And I use the phrase "high school friend" loosely; a more accurate account would be "she was a senior when I was a 7th grader and I thought she was sophisticated and smart and pretty while I had a bad perm and braces."  But then the world aligned just right so that we grew up to live in the same city, and we are actually friends, and (saints be praised!) I no longer have a bad perm.

And this whole story has basically no point at all, except to tell you that today's WFMW tip comes straight from Elizabeth's grandmother, and I wanted you to know about whom I was speaking.  So techincally speaking, this doesn't work for me, it works for her, but it's such a cute idea I had to tell you anyway.

Where in the heck was I?

Ah yes, the tablecloth.

Elizabeth's grandmother kept a white tablecloth on her dining room table.  Whenever any guest would come over, she handed them a pen and had them sign the table cloth.  Then every so often, she would go over their signature with a needle and thread, embroidering all her guest's signatures right on to her table cloth.  Is that the most fun keepsake you've ever heard of? 

And hand-embroidering over a signature is NOT hard.  It's a simple up-and-down with the needle.  If you can play connect the dots, you can teach yourself to embroider.  This also helps. 

If you have a fun idea you'd like to share with Bloggityville, leave your link below.  WFMW guidelines can be found here.  Remember, link directly to your WFMW post, not to the front page of your blog.

Oh, and don't forget to check BloggyGiveaways.com this week--there's some really fun stuff over there!

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Comments

[diatribal]

I've read about this. It sounds like such a sweet idea!

[Pass the Torch]

THAT is cool. Someday I will do needlepoint.

[Mandy Houk]

Oh my goodness, I love this idea! I most likely wouldn't have it on the table every day, but I most certainly will do it on holidays. Maybe we could have each guest write the holiday and year, too, just to remember who was with us each Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter ...

Thanks, Shannon, via Elizabeth!

[Smockity Frocks]

Thank you, Shannon.

I love that idea! So sweet!

[ellen b]

What a marvelous hospitable idea. Hats off to Elizabeth's grandmother!

[Mandy Houk]

Whoops. I guess I meant to say "Thanks Elizabeth, via Shannon."

Now I'm confused.

[Michelle at Scribbit]

Okay for the first time in a decade I'm sitting here at the right time on Tuesday and I'm thinking, "Hey, I'll actually get to be first--or nearly first--this week" followed by "Well, while I'm waiting for her to post I'll just mosey around a few of these archived posts.

D'oh! Twenty minutes later I'm number 16. You sucked me in.

[Anne Glamore]

I'm in awe of needlepointers and people who use tablecloths. Or placemats. Yes, we use napkins.

[WorksForMom]

That is a clever idea - now if only I was crafty. I even had problems with those hook-a-rug kits!

["Amanda"]

This would be an even better idea if my white tablecloth didn't become permanently stained with koolaid and peanut butter. Maybe a wall hanging. Or something on the ceiling?

[Alexandra]

Wow, that is a really neat idea, and so personal....like a little time capsule!

[Dawn]

I love that idea.

[monica]

What a wonderful idea!! Might be nice to modify for a bridal/baby shower gift or activity for a tablecloth or blanket.

[Karen@FamilyBriefs]

This is such a neat idea! I'm afraid I'm up to my armpits in everything else, that I'd just have a tablecloth with a bunch of signatures on it :) Well, maybe when I'm a grandmother (or at least have everyone out of diapers :)

[Kandy]

That's one of the cutest ideas I've heard of yet...sounds so totally like something my grandmother would have done...

[Deb - Mom of 3 Girls]

That sounds like a wonderfully crafty idea! :)

[Joyful Days]

Now that is precious!! A true keepsake. It could be done for all visitors or a special birthday party--all sorts of neat ideas.

Thanks!!

[Jodi]

thanks...really enjoying stitching! maybe i'll try it some day!
Jodi

[Lana G!]

What a fabulous idea! Love it!

[Proverbs31]

What a really neat keepsake!

[Jenn]

Lovely idea, I like Monica's bridal party, baby shower take on the idea.

[Melissa]

i loooove wednesdays! been looking forward to today/tomorrow all week ;) thanks for hosting this!

[Overwhelmed With Joy!]

Great idea! I'd love to see a picture of one of your grandmother's table clothes! :)

[margalit]

I read about this for someone's Thanksgiving table cloth, where the family members would write what they were thankful for that particular year, grandma would embroider it, and then add to it year by year. I think that's SUCH a lovely idea. But I have to admit, I've been working on the same dumb tablecloth for about 12 years now. It takes FOREVER to do a whole tablecloth.

[Karen]

My friends did something similar for me at Jack's baby shower. One of them purchased a handmade antique baby quilt and had each of the guests sign their name somewhere on the squares. Then one of the hostesses embroidered over each signature.

It is something I will treasure for a lifetime.