Raven and Sparrow

Gray runner redux

We are fortunate to have an avid fisherman for a neighbor who does not care for salmon. Yesterday he generously offered us a freshly caught king salmon which we decided to share. For a quick table setting I chose a runner that I made in 2010 and have used many times, because it works best with the dahlias that are just coming on in the garden and the honeysuckle that is starting to fade. There has been such a lull in dinner parties lately that finding the gray runner in the closet was like meeting an old friend that I hadn't seen for a while. I grabbed the gray plates and the pink glasses and that was that...a simple table that came together in a familiar way.

After taking the photos, I went back and found older pictures of the same settings with a different centerpiece. I used stargazer lilies in a larger, more elaborate arrangement (although still with honeysuckle) and pillar candles instead of the little pink tealights, but otherwise everything was similar. 

Each table is always a little different, and new elements always add fun and energy to the process, but sometimes falling back on old stand-bys is the best way forward.

 

One more for Lisa

When I start a seasonal series the first thing I do is take the plate I am working with to my local fabric store to see what colors complement it and jump start my ideas. I usually find one or two patterns that I want to work with, since making all the tablecloths by hand is just too daunting time-wise. In Lisa's case I found this canvas stripe that looks good with her dishes, and suggests summer to me, but I wanted to make summer myself so I could incorporate dragonflies into the design. I bought the canvas anyway and used it to make a bonus setting in the series, layering it over the same gray under cloth that I used for winter. The clean simplicity of the stripes is a fun change from the dense patterning of the other settings, but needs a jolt of color to spark it. Red geraniums offer the required brightness, while retaining the unstudied simplicity of the cloth. I put the flowers in white planters to echo the white centers of the plates and add to the clean, breezy feeling.

This cloth could work for any season by changing the color of the napkins and the centerpiece. Again, clicking on the pictures makes them look better.

Lisa's autumn

Lisa's autumn table begins with a pale golden square topped with the runner I made with my water-stained linen/silk fabric. Click on the photo to see the details. Actually, clicking on all the pictures makes them look better, so if you have time, I'd suggest that.

I have a pot that is the perfect gray for the centerpiece, but I had some difficulty finding appropriately colored flowers to go in it. I finally secured some roses called "cafe au lait" and combined them with alstroemeria, wheat ears and St. John's wort berries for the best approximation of autumn I could make in springtime. In true autumn appropriately colored dahlias and chrysanthemums should be easy to find. My pink glassware was just the warm tint to accent the reddish color on the runner. Brick red candles in gold holders and madder-dyed buttons relate to the darker red in the center motif.

After all the effort it took to dye the napkins and find the right flowers I was worried that this table wouldn't come together convincingly, but now I think it telegraphs "autumn" pretty clearly.

 

Lisa's summer

Lisa's summer table is built on the dragonfly/foxglove cloth I made over a very long period of time (documented here on the blog). After so many hours working and imagining how this cloth would work, I finally got to see it's effectiveness in action.

The high patterning of the cloth prompted me to keep the other elements on the table as simple as possible. I chose clear glass and plain, rounded shapes for for the vase and glassware, and kept the candles small and low. (The little tealights scattered about reminded me of fireflies, although we don't have those magical summer insects here.) Plain napkins tied with lavender ribbon echo the colors in the foxgloves and the purple edge.

 

The cloth works a little better up close because the details of the flowers don't read as well when you stand back. The dishes and flatware break up the '"picture" so it is harder to read from a distance. I think a table should look good from the doorway to entice you to sit down, and then be equally enjoyable as you take your individual place. I'm not actually unhappy with this table as I stand back, but I do see the difference. Another thing that I notice is the difference between the table in real life, and in the photographs I took. Melding two layers of fabric can be tricky. There is a whole lot of stitching around all of the motifs, but the areas that are not as heavily stitched are hard to keep from wrinkling. When I set the table it didn't bother me, but what looked textural and hand-made in person just looks wrinkly in the pictures. 

This square cloth is large enough to use without an under cloth which makes the table simpler than some of the other seasons. The checkerboard edge is important to bring a sense of summery lightness to the rather dark central section. Does it look like summer to you? 
 

Lisa's spring

 

If Lisa's winter table was underdone, the one for spring is the opposite. Soon after she agreed to participate in my project, we wandered together through the fun shops of a nearby town and came upon a woven scarf that we both really liked. It had various graphic patterns in dark grays and blues, shot with unexpected bands of bright color. We both thought of spring and bought it as the foundation piece for her spring table. Like the winter table, this runner speaks to spring as we experience it here in the Pacific Northwest. Spring comes early, but in fits and starts, with much variation in temperature and atmospherics. The clouds can be low and oppressive one minute and then break suddenly, allowing shafts of sunlight to pierce the dark and illuminate patches of new growth or flowering trees. (The view from Lisa's porch on the day I was there to photograph the tables was a perfect example.)  The bright color spectrums woven into the scarf also reminded us of the many colors of primroses that decorate the nurseries here in early spring...usually the first flowers available as winter comes to an end. 

I thought layering the scarf over an under cloth of spring green would evoke our springtime nicely, but the bright colors in the cloth just didn't read strongly enough, even up close. I tried to punch them up by adding embroidery, but it still was too subtle. I needed more bright colors on a dark background, so I dug up some navy blue linen and made a small square embroidered with strong springy (I hoped) motifs. Then I made napkin rings with the same colors and designs. It felt like I was pushing and pushing.....more, more, more.

When the table came together I could feel the effort behind it, which undermines the design I think. I continued the multi-colored theme with the glassware (thank you Amazon) and tulips. No candles or holders that I could find added anything to the table, so I left them off. 

The large quilted square I used under everything else worked really well. I like the texture and it is much easier to iron and handle than a plain cloth made of the same linen in a single layer, so that experiment was a success. The strong graphics of the scarf and the bright colors escape springtime pastel cliche, but cliches are also a way to communicate, and I cannot tell of this table communicates or confuses. Nonetheless....spring.

Lisa's winter

After an interminable time....years, in fact.....I have finished my seasonal series for my sister Lisa and photographed the results in her dining room. I started with her Kate Spade dishes with the dragonfly motif, which I like very much. I designed a table setting for each season, including the tablecloths, napkins and accessories. Some of the settings started with purchased yardage, and others involved the hand-dyed and embroidered cloths I made myself and have documented in fits and starts here on the blog. 

The first setting I'll show now is Winter. I made an under cloth of gray undyed natural linen to fit Lisa's table. On top of that I laid a square made of purchased upholstery cloth (washable, of course) in a brown leafy pattern with random black marks. It reminds me of the forest floor here in winter, long after the leaves have fallen and lost their colors, but still are ankle deep on the trails. It takes all winter for them to break down and we often don't have snow to cover them up or speed up the process. The lack of color speaks of winter too...our climate is gray and the days are very short, so the dimness is more appropriate for us here in the Pacific Northwest than jolly snowmen or other usual winter motifs.

On this I set the dishes, with black napkins and taupe tumblers. For a centerpiece I used a black vase filled with thin brown branches and a wiry garland of gold stars, placed on top of a tatted doily. Gold candlesticks and gold cord on the napkins added a little more glitter to a very low key table.

 

 

I miscalculated on the proportions of the doily because I set this (and all the tables) up first on my own table which is seven inches narrower than Lisa's table. There is a little too much empty space around the very minimal centerpiece. I must admit I really like the way the lace doily shows up against the background without being too showy. It just should have been twice as large. The whole process reminded me how rusty I am with the photography and how tiring it is to set and re-set the table, but it is done and I will show you the rest of the settings in upcoming posts. 

 

 

Linens for Lisa

Having finished the tablecloths for Lisa's seasonal series, Mike and I had to clear away furniture in the living room and take down our biggest picture to make a place to photograph them. It was enough trouble to make me put it off for quite a while and now that it is done I can see that I didn't get the lighting right. Oh well. At least I have pictures of most of the pieces I've made, starting with  foxglove and dragonfly Summer, which is a large enough square to use on the table without an undercloth.

For Spring I have the quilted square in fresh yellow green, to go under a runner that Lisa and I purchased together in one of our favorite shops. It is a woven wool scarf that we both agreed reminds us of Northwest springtime....darks and grays shot with the bright colors of flowers. When I started working with it I realized that the colored bits were a little too understated, so I tried to punch them up with embroidery in chartreuse and turquoise.

That still wasn't enough, so I added a 24" square of navy blue with bright embroideries. There are similarly embroidered napkin holders to go with it. The colors are not the usual spring pastels, but I hope the green undercloth will send the right seasonal signals.

For Winter I purchased fabric in a pattern of brown, gray and black leaves that I first thought would be good for autumn. The more I thought about it, the more it looked to me like the ground under the alder trees in winter after the leaves have fallen and turned to a brown jumble underfoot. It will go over the full sized undercloth in grayish natural linen that I made ages ago, with french seams.

I have recently shown the autumn runner, but here it is again to complete the set, with its quilted undercloth dyed with chestnut. Click on it to see the detail.

These are the textile pieces I'll be using to set her tables. I am down to the final details now. There is one bonus piece I purchased with a subdued broad stripe which looks really good with her dishes. It will go over the same gray full sized undercloth that I will use for winter. I am not sure how to accessorize it, but there is something simple and carefree about it that I like. I keep imagining geraniums with it, but it could be used in any season.

Now I have to set a date with Lisa.

 

 

End in sight

With the purplish gray napkins for Lisa's autumn table finished, I am very close to the end of this incredibly drawn out project. I still have to photograph the foxglove square, and should probably do the winter and spring cloths too, just for documentary purposes. I have to iron everything and pack it up so as not to have to iron it again, and tote all the elements down to Lisa's house, about an hour and a half away. There I will take pictures of all the settings with her dishes and silverware and then hand them off to her and keep the pictures for myself. The centerpieces are the wild cards, since I won't know what flowers are available until the last minute. It will take a full day to get it done, not counting the packing and list making. It has really been a long time since my last seasonal project for Becky. Lots has happened, or stopped happening, in the interim. I am thinking ahead to future ideas, and wondering if my pace is so slow as to make the whole idea unfeasible. I don't know. it does feel satisfying to get Lisa's table to the finish line. I hope the settings will be worth all the time it has taken.

Pattern on pattern

It has been a long time since I have set a "new" table. In recent years the pandemic and my illness combined to keep my table settings infrequent and minimal, always defaulting to the easiest options that I had set before. This weekend, finally, I tried something different. Because it is so close to Valentine's Day, the grocery store was full of red roses so I thought maybe something in red would be appropriate for the season. I don't use red very often, but I did have a length of dull red linen from a project that never got going and I thought it would be easy to pair it with a lacy runner and the red roses to make a romantic sort of feeling on the table. Once I pulled those things together, though, they were flat and uninspired. I kept thinking PATTERN was needed, but was at a loss for what to do until a search through my bins yielded a chintz square that I made in the nineties when big florals were the rage. I thought it had the requisite romance, and because it introduced blue into the scheme I could use my Wedgewood reproduction plates for pattern on pattern. I usually use the little round red candle holders as vases, but they easily switched roles and echoed the true red of the flowers. It is pretty simple, really, relying on the patterns to underline the intense, dense roses as the the focal point. I'm not sure it is the best thing I have ever done, but it felt good to flex my ingenuity a little and come up with a response to the moment. The dinner party was quite successful in introducing some people who didn't know each other before and I hope the setting helped make them feel cared for and welcome.

The Sabbath

 
     I usually find Ezra Klein's podcasts for the New York Times interesting, but every now and then he talks about something that really draws me in. The recent one with Judith Shulevitz about the Sabbath prompted me to purchase her book The Sabbath World and the book that they referred to many times, The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel. I read Heschel in a couple of hours and am halfway through Shulevitz. On the podcast Ezra worries about the creeping hold technology is exerting on our lives and wonders if returning to the old "day of rest" practiced by the Jews forever and many Christian sects as well (remember the blue laws?) would help us re-assert our humanity in the face of ever the escalating badgering of phones, computers, texts, emails, and social media and the demands of commerce. Taking a day off from technology and endless striving might be a way for us all to remember that we are not just what we produce and give us time to bolster connections with the people we care most about. That was the purpose of the original Jewish Sabbath...one day out of seven that was dedicated to being rather than doing. This reminds me of the current emphasis on mindfulness and presence in the moment. It seems like working out the balance between one's interior life and the demands of the world is an ancient problem. Reading these books about the Sabbath have prompted me to think about the purposes of religion and the ways that people have tried to incorporate sacredness into their lives. There are a lot threads to pull here and I feel like I have just begun.

     So many of the descriptions of Jewish Shabbat....the preparation, the attention to beauty, the abrupt cut-off to all fussing when the time has come, the gathering, the meal, the feeling of complete immersion in the experience of community....remind me of throwing a dinner party. I do work hard to prepare most of the food ahead of time and of course I always try to make the setting as beautiful as I can, but once everyone has arrived (I don't have a sunset cut-off but it is usually about that time of day) all cleaning, cooking and tweaking stops and the event...the gathering...becomes the essential focus. The emphasis shifts from the ratcheting pressure to provide things (food, clean bathroom, pretty table) to the interaction between people and the dynamics of the group. No matter how good the food is a party is never successful unless the people around the table are joining together wholeheartedly. Their interactions can never be controlled but outside interruptions (checking cell-phones) can definitely de-rail the flow of the party. Sitting face to face around a table makes it possible to tune-in completely to your companions and I think this interaction is holy. Merriam Webster defines holy as: exalted or worthy of complete devotion.  Making space and taking time for extended interpersonal exchange is the kernel of holiness that links a secular dinner gathering with historical religious practice. Setting a whole day aside for personal concerns, including sitting down for lengthy meals, can seem impossible for many of us, nor do we wish anymore to be required to conform to religious requirements, but in our ever more secularized world some of the essential connections are being lost. It seems to me that the dinner table can step in to hold some of the essence the Sabbath used to offer as we rush into our future.