The flowers that bloom in the Spring

Tra la! I’m taking a stack of vintage tablecloths to Sage Farm this week. The color theme for the show is “pastels for spring.” After the endless winter we’ve been having, I’m starved for some wonderful color. I bet you are, too.

Here’s what I’ve chosen out of my stash.

I can’t get over how much work was put into vintage embroidered linens. I really don’t understand why they almost never sell.

This crisp, linen tablecloth is embroidered with a small garden of flowers. Pink stitching finishes off the hem and coordinates with the variegated pink crocheted edging. Someone put so much work into it! I don’t think it’s ever been used. It could be topped off with a clear plastic layer to keep it forever fresh, but that’s just not my style. Wouldn’t it be lovely for Easter?

Peachy-pink poppies and polka dots! Now that’s a combo to make you smile.

The next batch is a lot less formal and would cheer up your table any day at all.  They’ve got bright pink pears, cherries, and strawberries. Pink poppies. Blue polka dots. Pink and white leaves!

Two tablecloths that never made my heart go pitty-pat. Something about the colors. Who knows? Taste is so subjective!

The hot pink and lime green on the tablecloth on the left looks 1960-ish to me. It’s linen and has a wonderful weight and drape. The lightweight cotton tablecloth on the right is splashed with peach and pink roses and a dark green that seems straight out of the 1950s.

Startex? Wilendur? For all my love of tablecloths I never cared a piffle for identifying the makers. It’s a cute pattern, but I’m just not wild about the colors.

These two tablecloths have an identical pattern, but that’s all that’s the same about them. The turquoise cloth is a heavy twill, the pink tablecloth is a much thinner cotton. The floral pattern reminds me of the forsythia that still hasn’t bloomed here. Will spring ever arrive?

I have a red cloth that’s the twin to the pink fruit bordered one. And I’m going to miss that blue tablecloth if it sells!

The last two also come from different eras. The simple blue and white pattern of ribbons and bouquets is an exact color match to the delphite blue tile in my 1940s kitchen. I’m going to find it hard to let this one go! The final tablecloth of pink, red, grey and turquoise morning glories is pure 1950s. It clashes with all my dishes, so I’ve never used it. It still makes me smile, though.

Will they all make other people smile and take them home? I hope so!