Stitching Memories

Dear Liza,

This past month in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I saw an idea I really liked. I usually don’t go for their ideas; they are too fancy or expensive or just not my style.

But this one struck a chord with me. The idea is pretty simple, really. You have dinner guests sign your tablecloth with a pen (or in my case, pencil) that will wash out.

You embroider over the signature, then wash the tablecloth, and there is the beginning of a keepsake!

I think this struck a nerve because for so many years we could (and did) have dozens of friends to our house. Dinners, parties, pizza, you name it. But then two things happened in succession. First, we moved away from our home of 35 years, Salinas, to Portland, where we knew literally three adults.

And just as we were getting to know more folks, Covid kept us from having guests over. Having taken all those guests for granted now feels criminally negligent. I want to cherish their presence in our home, to have them with us even when they are gone.

With vaccines, we are able to have people over again! I started the new project last week with Auntie Katie and her friend Marion, and I like the way it looks. I hope to get this tablecloth really crowded with signatures before long.

Including yours, when you visit this spring!

Love,

Grandma Judy