Raven and Sparrow

Catching up

It has been a while, huh? I had another terrible winter, spending both Christmas and New Years Day in the hospital with pneumonia. It really knocked me down...it was April before I was off the couch for any meaningful part of the day. The worst part was the dragging dullness of my mind and my life. I did nothing and had nothing to say for months on end. It was the latest backhand from fate, which I have handled less than gracefully. Now, however, I am recovering my energy and my interest in life and have returned (sort of) to some of the things I was working on when last I posted. 

One of my projects last fall was turning my stash of brown linen into a couple of under cloths for my own table. I had a couple of lengths of different weight linen in the same color. Of course, if I used the longest piece for my expanded table, I didn't have enough for a smaller one as well. I ended up adding a border to my remnant fabric to make it big enough, but I had to piece the border out of lighter weight linen to make it stretch. It was sort of a dull project whose corners I had pinned but not sewn when stricken. It sat wadded up on my sewing table for six months, but has finally been completed.

Remember the new brown plates? My first move after acquiring them was to go on-line shopping for likely fabrics that would work well with them. It seems like I scrolled through thousands of prints before I found a couple I liked. (I'm not too enthusiastic about shopping on-line.) They were expensive, but so is everything nowadays. When they came I wash tested them and then they, too, sat forgotten for many months. I made them into squares and had to bind off the edges because they are pretty heavy and just turning the hems would have been bulky. I made the binding myself out of linen for one, but used purchased bias tape for the other. Again, kind of dull as a sewing assignment, and rife with wobbles and clunky mitering, but also now finished. I have a vocabulary of textiles to use with my dishes, should I ever have the energy to entertain again. I hope that will be soon.

New plates

Although I have dishes stashed in every corner of the house and truly do not need any more, I have fallen victim to the Lure of the New and have purchased eight new plates. My daughter-in-law introduced me to the East Fork line of pottery when she married my son. They make simple, unpretentious dishes in a revolving range of alluring colors. This chocolate brown is a recent addition to their line called Molasses. Made in the US (one of the Carolinas, I think), their shapes and glazes are smooth and satisfying to touch. They are quite expensive and I had successfully resisted any purchases for myself until East Fork opened a pop-up store in Seattle and hired my daughter-in-law to work for them for a week. She got a fifty percent discount, which dealt a killing blow to my resolve. Having made the leap and spent the money I then was engulfed with second thoughts and self doubts. In truth, East Fork pottery colors look best in combination with each other and I couldn't justify buying more than one. Why this color and not one of the other more lively ones? Where will I put them? Are these dishes going to add substantially to my table setting possibilities or just clutter up my house? What do I have that will go with them? It is this last question that holds the secret to the splurge. They are different from anything that I have and so making new settings will require all the fun and more than fun of rooting through my linen collections and scrolling through new fabrics, envisioning the tables I can bring together. I never get tired of this.  

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.