A Sentimental Tablecloth Meets My Grandma's Sewing Machine

As I was preparing to decorate a table for the women's brunch, I looked at the items I had set out. My centerpiece was prepared and I had borrowed a friend's dishes. The silverware was ready. All I needed was some cloth napkins. I tried out my brown cloth napkins, but they just didn't look right. I glanced down and saw an old tablecloth I had pulled out. The colors in the tablecloth matched, but it was too stained to use as a tablecloth at an event like this.

Why had I kept this stained, used tablecloth? My husband and I used it consistently the first year and half we were married. We lived in a very small rental. The kitchen was tiny and the house "came with" a kitchen table because it was the only table that would fit in the little eating area. (The table was even smaller than a card table.) The table was not attractive, but the size was right. To compensate for the ugly table, we had two tablecloths we used on the table. This one was my favorite of those tablecloths.

As I looked fondly at this tablecloth, I realized that it wasn't doing much good being stored away due to sentimental value. I would never use it because of the stains, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away due to all the fond memories I associated with it.

And then it hit me.

This tablecloth was the key to the cloth napkins I need for the brunch. I wouldn't use a stained tablecloth, but I would use slightly stained cloth napkins over and over again. I laid out the tablecloth, measured it, and began to cut it into 9 squares.

Then I pulled out my grandma's sewing machine and I was flooded with a new set of memories.

In my grandma's retirement days, she kept herself busy. One of her retirement hobbies was sewing and quilting. As she progressed in her quilting, she decided to buy herself a newer sewing machine. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would get the job done. I remember seeing quilts laid out in her living room and watching her work on them.

She hasn't been able to sew or quilt for many years now. First her arthritis made quilting nearly impossible. Today, her dementia has progressed to the point where I don't think she even remembers the sewing machine or her years spent quilting.

But I remember.

As I sat at the sewing machine, I smelled my grandma's perfume still lingering on the machine. I wished I could express to her how grateful I am to be able to use her sewing machine. While sewing, I fondly reminisced over our first couple of years of marriage. I am glad to have these new/old cloth napkins as mementos to keep and to use.

While setting the table for the women's brunch, I knew that the women wouldn't know that I made the cloth napkins the night before. They wouldn't know that the napkins were made out of a sentimental old tablecloth. They wouldn't know that I sewed them on my grandma's sewing machine.

But I knew.

A Scrappy Gift

Let's answer my previous question: "Now what to do with the leftover fabric..." The answer seemed pretty simple: a flannel baby blanket and a couple of burp rags!

About 6 weeks ago a new little baby girl was added to our family. Well, not our immediate family. I did not have any sort of secret pregnancy. This little beauty is actually my new little niece on my husband's side of the family. It worked out just perfectly to use my leftover girly fabric for a Christmas gift for this new little girl! I also really like the idea of combining four fabrics into one blanket.

So here is what I did with my scraps.

First of all, I wanted to make a full sized fitted sheet for my girls. I did my best to measure and cut the twin sized fitted sheets apart. (That was a headache since the fitted sheets had elastic all the way around and not just on the corners.) Then I sewed them together. Yes, with a sewing machine. And can you believe it? I even managed to do this sewing all by myself, without my mother's supervision.

With that project finished, I still had several flannel scraps left. Time to make a flannel baby blanket.

I used a self-healing cutting mat and a rotary fabric cutter to trim all the fabric scraps straight and to correct widths. My goal was for all the strips to produce an approximately 36" by 36" two sided flannel blanket. After cutting, I sewed all the strips together and then ironed the hems flat. Now I had an approximate 6 foot by 3 foot piece of fabric. I folded it in half (ugly side out) and sewed the three edges, leaving a six inch gap. Next I turned it right side out and ironed the edges. Finally, I sewed the edges all the way around, closing my six inch gap. Voilà, it's done!


For the flannel burp rags, I made two different sizes (only because my last scraps of pink fabric were so narrow). I cut the pink fabric and corresponding prints 7" by 16". The green fabric combos I cut 10" by 17". Then I followed the same process I used to make the flannel blanket. Overall, they were pretty quick and easy. Absolute perfection was not my goal with these. The way I figure, they are just going to collect spit up, right? 

Now, I have a great gift for my niece (that basically cost me nothing since all the fabric was scraps) and one more sewing project under my belt. I love that Christmas gifts inspire and motivate me to new levels of creativity.

Christmas Quilts

I have always enjoyed artsy craftsy projects, but sewing has never been one of my fortes. Many people have asked me if I sew and my response has always been, "I only sew buttons." Give me a needle and some thread and watch me stick a button back on a shirt. There have also been the occasional hems that needed fixing. For those, I either take them over to my mom to fix or do a hack job myself. And when I say hack job, I really do mean a serious hack job. I only fix hems that will not be visible.

In light of my sewing inexperience, you may wonder: Why did I decide to sew quilts for my girls for Christmas? There is just something about a nice, cozy flannel quilt. My husband and I have one on our bed and thoroughly enjoy it every winter.

Ayla's Quilt (Her favorite color is currently pink.)

Right now our girls share a loft full sized bed. At times they (ahem) need to be separated so that they will actually sleep at night. This is part of the reason our girls do not sleep in regular sheets and covers. They have a fitted sheet and then individual blankets. Mostly, they sleep with fleece blankets. The fact that they sleep with a purely synthetic fabric has bothered me for a while, but a few weeks ago my husband said that they needed better blankets. At that point, I made up my mind to make them quilts for Christmas.

I knew the basics and set out to buy twin sized flannel sheet sets to use for the fabric. (That was quite an adventure all by itself!) After finding a sheet set for each of them, I went to Joann Fabric and Crafts to find some flannel for the backing, yarn to use to tie the quilts and matching thread. (Yes, these are just tied together quilts. Nothing fancy here!)

Next stop: my mom's house. (No, I did not do this project all by myself.) At my mom's house we laid out the fabric, the cotton quilt batting my mom had, and the flat sheet. After pinning it in place, I sewed in the yarn and my mom followed behind, cutting and tying the yarn. Next, I cut off the extra batting and trimmed the fabric to the right size. Then I ironed over the edge of the fabric, getting it ready to sew.

Kylie's Quilt (Her favorite color is currently green.)

After folding over the fabric and pinning it in place, I headed to my mom's intimidating sewing machine. (Intimidating because of my lack of experience, not because of the sewing machine itself.) After my mom helped me get all set up, I started sewing away. Maybe sewing through two layers of flannel plus quilt batting wasn't the best beginners project, but I eventually got the hang of it. (Honestly, I was afraid I might give up in frustration and, in tears, ask my mom to finish for me.) Once the edges were finished, I sat back down with my mom and we pinned the corners. Lastly, I sewed the corners. Done! Yay! On to the next quilt.... (The second quilt went much quicker than the first one.)

Now, their Christmas presents are done. They are wrapped in boxes and under the tree. I can't wait to see their faces when they open the gifts. Hopefully, they love these blankets and use them for many years.

Now what to do with the leftover fabric...