Two years ago, I hosted twenty people for Thanksgiving. Since it had been many years since I had hosted this holiday and special meal in my home, I created coordinated linens for the dining room that included tablecloths, chair covers, hot pads, and cloth napkins; all were embellished with fabulous machine embroidery designs. I placed scented candles in decorative wine glasses, and my tables were beautiful.
Because my Thanksgiving décor is complete, I can concentrate on Christmas for my projects this year. While I am hosting the Thanksgiving feast again this year, I am also having several Open House receptions during the Christmas season. I will need projects that can be easily laundered so that they are fresh for every set of guests.
Several years ago, I created pillow covers for the throw pillow on my couches. These covers are created with holiday themed fabric and were constructed using foundation piecing to attach the fabric to a layer of batting and backing fabric. I then stitched the front to the back and finished the covers. Every year, these covers get freshly washed and pressed before taking place of honor in the living room. These covers utilized techniques I generally use for making quilts. This year, I will take them apart, add some machine embroidery for a fresh look and then stitch them back together.
Since my home has an open floor-plan with living, dining, and kitchen all flowing into one another, I need to color-coordinate the dining room and kitchen to my pillow covers. I have several beautiful tablecloths that I’ve collected over the years, but they are starting to get small holes and frayed edges.
In order to salvage my beloved tablecloths and coordinate my holiday home, I will use embroidery designs utilizing fabric appliqué to cover the holes. To freshen up the hems, I will stitch yards and yards of free-standing lace borders. I love this style of machine embroidery! I will stitch festive designs on one of my smaller cloths and drape it over the curtain rod in my kitchen, bringing the celebratory décor to that utilitarian room.
To finish off my décor for the receptions, I will use a free embroidery design I have that makes a collar that gets placed on the stem of a wine glass, making it easy to identify who it belongs to. These are quick and easy to make and elicit lots of wonder from my guests.
After wining and dining our guests, we will see them off with a little drawstring goody bag. These easy-to-make pouches will be decorated with tiny embroidery designs and filled with chocolate coins. A sweet treat to help our guests remember the evening and also have a little bag to hold jewelry or coins or anything they desire.
While I truly believe that good food and wonderful friends are all that are needed for a fabulous gathering, I also believe that a beautiful setting can make it even better! Celebrate and enjoy life!
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