linen napkins Act II

Mom has always given me old fabric usually in the form of linen napkins and doilies. I know they were carefully selected by her at least a decade ago, over the years laundered and ironed to within an inch of their lives, and then brought out to see the light of day as she hands them off to me. Not one to turn down an opportunity for recycling, I cut away a ton of frayed edges on the latest batch of napkins but they were clean and soft with a silky sheen and begging for embroidery and applique. As far as I can tell, linen just gets better with age.

Linen napkins sewn together and bias-taped for a new life as a table runner:

Making mitered corners with bias tape is still kicking my butt:

Lemon print circa 1990 will get the bias tape treatment next: